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The FBI has arrested and charged a 17-year-old from McKinney, Texas, for allegedly planning to assassinate U.S. Representative Keith Self and carry out an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in North Texas.

The juvenile was taken into custody on October 5 after acquiring a firearm, according to federal sources. He remains in federal custody; his name has not been released, according to WFAA.

Federal investigators said the recently radicalized teen, who was already under monitoring, planned to target Self at an event last Saturday and conduct a broader attack in the region on behalf of ISIS.

Self, a House Freedom Caucus member and co-founder of the Sharia-Free America Caucus, has been one of Congress’s most vocal opponents of political Islam and Sharia law.

In a statement to WFAA, Self said:

“Protecting our Constitutional Republic from radical Islam is getting messy. I served in the military for 25 years with the mindset that defending freedom was worth the sacrifice. Our elected leaders should govern with that same mindset.” When asked whether his positions on radical Islam may have made him a target, he replied that “if it’s ISIS related, you kind of have to believe that… if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”

Self later posted on X that he is grateful to the FBI for stopping the threat, that he and his family are safe, and that the incident only strengthens his resolve:

“I am grateful to the FBI and law enforcement for stopping this threat. My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas’ 3rd District.

Preserving our constitutional republic from radical Islam means accepting the costs that come with it—name-calling, threats, and worse.

Our Founders believed this country was worth the sacrifice. I served 25 years in the military because defending freedom was worth the sacrifice. This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down.”

I am grateful to the FBI and law enforcement for stopping this threat. My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas’ 3rd District.

Preserving our constitutional republic from radical Islam means accepting the costs that come with it—name-calling, threats, and worse.

Our Founders believed this country was worth the sacrifice. I served 25 years in the military because defending freedom was worth the sacrifice. This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down. https://t.co/FdUMUQ7wk6

— Rep. Keith Self (@RepKeithSelf) October 21, 2026

This is not an isolated concern in Self’s district. In August, the McKinney City Council voted 7-0 to approve a large new Islamic center and mosque complex (roughly 32,000 square feet on a multi-acre site) despite hours of heated public opposition, warnings about political Islam, and Self’s direct testimony urging the council to honor its constitutional oath and resist what he described as the progression from accommodation to intimidation.

The Gateway Pundit previously covered the raucous meeting, including the testimony of an Iranian Christian Sharia survivor who warned council members they would regret ignoring people who had lived under the system, and the outrage after the unanimous approval. Self has repeatedly argued that Sharia is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution and Western values.

Self co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus with Rep. Chip Roy in December 2025; it has since grown to dozens of members.

He has introduced the Preserving Our Constitution Act to bar federal courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign or religious laws (including Sharia-based practices) that conflict with the Constitution, and he recently filed a concurrent resolution denouncing Sharia and affirming the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

His district sits in the middle of rapid growth in Islamic institutions in North Texas, a pattern he and others have flagged as a long-term challenge to American legal and cultural norms.

The case fits a pattern of recent ISIS-linked activity in Texas and elsewhere that federal authorities have disrupted, often involving young men radicalized online.

While the suspect’s name remains sealed, the plot’s targeting of a specific anti-Sharia lawmaker who has fought the expansion of a major Islamic center in the same city underscores the real-world stakes of the debate Self has been leading in Congress.

The post FBI Arrests 17-Year-Old Texas Teen Accused of Plotting to ASSASSINATE Anti-Sharia Congressman Keith Self and Carry Out ISIS Terror Attack in North Texas appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump tore into CNN and ABC reporters while departing the White House en route to Clemson, South Carolina, on Wednesday, calling them “dummy” and “stupid” before trashing the outlets. 

Trump smoked both reporters as they tried to frame his Russian prisoner release, for which Trump said the US gave nothing in return, as an exchange.

As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier, Trump announced the release of Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American English teacher and U.S. military veteran from Michigan.

“Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” Trump wrote.

Trump further said the United States “was not required to give anything in return” in what he called “an unprecedented situation for Russia.”

Trump also highlighted his temporary waiver of sanctions on Russian diesel exports in a Truth Social post this morning, writing, “Numerous people, who requested that sanctions be immediately imposed on Russia, have called to apologize to President Trump in that they didn’t know that he was negotiating the release of Stephen Hubbard, a truly big and important deal for the U.S.”

He continued, “If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt.”

Trump then slammed his critics while speaking to reporters about Hubbard release at the White House earlier. We have a gentleman coming home from Russia that they’ve been after for years. He was captured or taken during the Biden administration. Wouldn’t have happened if I were president, but he was taken,” Trump said. “And we were in the midst of negotiating, and a lot of stupid people said, and people that don’t know how life works, they said, why aren’t you putting Russia sanctions or all this in the midst of a negotiation to try and get a long-term hostage back from Russia?

When interrupted by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who asked whether Trump gave anything to Russia for Hubbard’s release. “So, you did give something in exchange,” Collins said, and Trump went off.

“You don’t know anything. I mean, you fake news CNN,” he said, emphasizing that “if you would have put those sanctions on or whatever you want to call them, you could forget about him. You’d never see him again. He’d be back in jail for 25 years.”

Trump further added that negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine are “very delicate,” but “we are maybe close to a deal for the first time in a long time.”

When Collins interrupted again, attempting to press him further on whether the waiver of sanctions is an “exchange for Hubbard’s release,” Trump fired back, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a dummy. You’re a low IQ person. You’re a dummy, and you work for CNN.”

“Let me tell you, if I’m negotiating to get a man back, a man that we wanted back for years, a man that was a prisoner in Siberia or some place in Russia, and we’re getting him back because of me — it should have never happened, but he should have been brought back during Biden because he was there during the Biden,” Trump continued. “The negotiation would obviously come immediately to an end” if he reimposed sanctions on Russia.

Trump then received the exact same question from an ABC’s Karen Travers, and he said, “Are you a stupid person? Who do you work for?”

After she responded ABC, Trump said, “You’re a stupid person, and by the way, your network is the worst of all.”

WATCH:

Trump similarly went off on reporters during an event in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person?” he asked the Independent’s Andrew Feinberg during a hilarious exchange.

“I actually think there’s something wrong with you,” Trump added.

MORE:

HILARIOUS! Trump SHUTS DOWN Screaming Reporters: “What’s Wrong With You? Are You a Sick Person? I Actually Think There’s Something Wrong With You” – Reporter Fires Back on X (VIDEO)

The post WATCH: Trump Eviscerates CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and ABC: “You’re a Low IQ Person, You’re a Dummy!” – “Are You a Stupid Person? You’re a Stupid Person” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Note: The information provided here or in any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice. Gateway Pundit benefits from purchases made through our sponsors.

A white envelope sits in the kitchen drawer, under the takeout menus and the spare batteries. The logo in the corner belongs to an employer you left years ago.

Inside is a statement for an old 401(k). You haven’t touched that account since your last day on the job.

For some people it is a TSP from their years in service. For others it is an IRA they opened once and never looked at again.

On the fridge there is a yellow sticky note. It says “Call about the old retirement account.” The corners have curled up, and the ink has gone a little pale.

Every few months you mean to deal with it. You sit down at the kitchen table, open the laptop, and start reading about forms and transfers. Then you hit words like “custodian” and “distribution,” and you start to worry about doing it wrong. So you close the laptop, and the envelope goes back in the drawer.

All that time, the money in that account sits in dollars. Dollars whose value you have watched shrink at the checkout. You’ve watched the same cart of groceries ring up higher every year.

Meanwhile, life keeps moving. The grandkids’ birthdays come around faster every year. The trip to see relatives keeps sliding to “next summer.” The day you finally hand in your keys at work gets closer. Those years on the back porch, at the ball field, and at the church potluck are the years that old account was meant to help pay for.

Every dollar in that old account is a bet on one thing: the dollar. But gold is different. Gold isn’t printed by any central bank. No government can run off more of it, and right now the money in that envelope holds none of it. And ironically, the world’s central banks themselves are buying gold. The World Gold Council says central banks bought a record amount of gold for the second quarter this year.

Which is why a lot of people are transferring some of their retirement accounts into a Precious Metals IRA where they can hold gold.

Gold doesn’t go up every year. It has had long flat stretches. That’s why people hold part of their savings in it and keep the rest where it is.

If that still feels like a big step, you’re not the only one. One customer, June M., said: “Diversifying my IRA with metals was scary at first. After pondering about it for a year or so, I did quite a bit of research, and picked Goldco for the company. Then the team that helped me, was just awesome. Professional, knowledgeable, and made me feel at ease.”

What a Precious Metals IRA is

A Precious Metals IRA is a type of self-directed IRA. It is still a retirement account, and the same general IRA rules apply. That old 401(k) money can buy real IRA-eligible gold and silver coins and bars. They sit in a vault under IRS rules.

The metals are held through an IRA custodian and stored at a bullion depository.

How a rollover may help with the old account

One common way to fund a Precious Metals IRA is a rollover or transfer from an existing account, like a 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or IRA. Rollovers often happen when people change jobs or retire.

Rollovers aren’t limited by the yearly IRA contribution cap. With a direct rollover or a trustee-to-trustee transfer, the money moves straight from the old plan to the new custodian. Done that way, a rollover may avoid taxes and penalties. The rules matter, and a mistake can be costly, so it’s important to talk to a specialist and your tax professional about your own situation.

The steps look like this:

• Open the Precious Metals IRA.

• Fund it with a rollover or transfer from an existing retirement account.

• Select IRA-eligible gold and silver.

Distributions later can be cash or physical metal, subject to IRS rules.

A Precious Metals IRA also comes with costs, like setup, storage, and custodian fees. Ask the precious metals specialist about those costs before you decide.

Who helps you matters

The paperwork is the part that keeps most people stuck. So it helps to have someone walk you through it.

Goldco helps Americans open a Precious Metals IRA and walk through each of those steps, including finding a custodian experienced with gold IRAs. They have helped thousands of Americans place over $3 billion in gold and silver.

If your circumstances change later, Goldco says it offers a Buy Back program guaranteed at the highest price.

One customer, Clayton, wrote: “There’s no pressure to work with them. If you’re not interested, that’s fine… I wish I had learned about GOLDCO sooner. The people talk TO YOU, not AT YOU, and they take their time explaining everything to you.”

Shirley wrote: “I am very happy with my experience in rolling over my IRA with Goldco. They are so knowledgeable and make everything clear to understand.”

Goldco is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and has earned over 8,000 five-star customer ratings.

Start with the free kit

You don’t have to fill out a single rollover form right now.

Goldco offers a free 2026 Gold & Silver Kit, with no purchase needed. It includes a printed guide, an audio guide, and a video guide, with $0 shipping and handling. It walks through how a Precious Metals IRA works and what the rollover path may look like.

The request form asks for your name, phone number, and email. A Goldco precious metals specialist may call to walk you through it.

The envelope has waited in the drawer long enough. You can make this the week the sticky note finally comes off the fridge.

Get your free 2026 Gold & Silver Kit and get help from Goldco here.

The post The Retirement Account From Your Old Job Is Still Sitting There – There’s A Way To Turn Part of It Into Gold appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

In August, three Secret Service officials were reportedly escorted out of their offices and designated “do not admits” as part of a criminal investigation into the leaking of classified information to the media.

CBS News identified one of the employees as Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi. The other two individuals also reportedly worked in the agency’s communications office.

All three had their security clearances suspended and lost access to their government-issued devices.

According to Real Clear Politics, Anthony Guglielmi is out at the agency because he may have been involved in the leaks to the media.

Sensitive information about President Trump’s secret plane swap in Turkey over the summer were leaked to The Washington Post and CBS News.

“Multiple Secret Service sources tell @RCPolitics Guglielmi is not coming back to work at the agency, although the Secret Service and FBI leaders have not disclosed the allegations against him and are keeping the matter under tight control. Several agents believe it has something to do with the press reports on the Secret Service’s use of a decoy plan to ferry President Trump out of Turkey,” RCP reporter Susan Crabtree said.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, President Trump was secretly transferred from Air Force One to a smaller C-32A military aircraft before departing Ankara, Turkey, on July 8.

Trump was reportedly moved between the aircraft inside an airport catering truck while the original Air Force One departed as a decoy carrying administration officials, Secret Service personnel, White House staff and members of the traveling press.

The highly sensitive maneuver was reportedly ordered after U.S. officials received intelligence concerning a possible Iranian plot to target Air Force One with a surface-to-air missile.

President Trump later confirmed that the Secret Service and military instructed him to use another aircraft.

“It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do,” Trump told reporters. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane.”

SCOOP: Sidelined Secret Service Comms Director Anthony Guglielmi’s photo, name, and title have been removed from the agency website.

Guglielmi was removed from the website several weeks after he was escorted out of the building and put on administrative leave, along with two other members of the Secret Service communications department.

Yet, Guglielmi’s personal social media accounts still identify him as the Secret Service communications director.

Both the FBI and CIA are participating in the inquiry, pointing to a probe with more weight than a routine internal personnel matter.

Multiple Secret Service sources tell @RCPolitics Guglielmi is not coming back to work at the agency, although the Secret Service and FBI leaders have not disclosed the allegations against him and are keeping the matter under tight control. Several agents believe it has something to do with the press reports on the Secret Service’s use of a decoy plan to ferry President Trump out of Turkey.

The Secret Service has not returned @RCPolitics press inquiries since LAST DECEMBER, when we reported on an FBI raid of an agent’s home as part of a sprawling IRS allegation.

The apparent black-listing of a reporter from receiving answers to pressing Secret Service questions occurred even though this reporter received the 2024 DAO Award for Investigative Journalism from her peers for her Secret Service reporting in the wake of the Butler assassination attempt against President Trump.

Over the last year, RCP has submitted numerous dozens of inquiries to the Secret Service press shop that went unanswered. In just the last week, the allegations involve a friendly-fire drone takedown over the Army-Navy game last year first reported without sourcing and context by @60Minutes; whether outgoing Deputy Director Matt Quinn has conflict-of-interest issues with his former employer, Fortem Technologies, and a $1 BILLION contract for drone hunters that Fortem makes; whether that contract was competitively bid and whether his announced departure has anything to do with this conflict-of-interest or other allegations of Secret Service personnel taking kickbacks on other contracts.

Other @RCPolitics inquiries that went unanswered include several agents’ arrests, including one for indecent exposure and masturbating in a hotel hallway, another for a DUI, another for NYE charges involving the shooting and death of a half brother; and still another for a manslaughter charge for a near-fatal fraternity incident, and just last week, an inquiry into who is in charge of communications at the Secret Service with Guglielmi sidelined and under investigation.

Do you think there’s a legitimate reason why @RCPolitics has been blacklisted for Secret Service responses to my inquiries while 60 Minutes and other reporters who don’t regularly cover the agency get invited to the agency’s Rowley Training Center to do softball interviews?

I’ll include my story on Guglielmi’s late August departure in the link below.

— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) October 21, 2026

The post WHOA: Ousted Secret Service Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi May Have Leaked Story on Trump’s Secret Plane Switch in Turkey Amid Iranian Threat appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The United States has officially entered what is being described as a “watershed moment in American finance” that helps cement America as the crypto capital of the world and is also being compared to President Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863.

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had issued a final rule for GENIUS Act stablecoin rules.

“The GENIUS Act marks a watershed moment in American finance, further cementing the United States as the crypto capital of the world. Just as President Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863 established a national framework for bank-issued currency, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the digital age,” Bessent announced on X.

“The OCC’s final rule carries that landmark legislation forward, providing a clear, practical foundation for private-sector innovation, competition, and American leadership in digital assets.”

The GENIUS Act marks a watershed moment in American finance, further cementing the United States as the crypto capital of the world. Just as President Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863 established a national framework for bank-issued currency, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the digital age.

The @USOCC’s final rule carries that landmark legislation forward, providing a clear, practical foundation for private-sector innovation, competition, and American leadership in digital assets.

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 21, 2026

Per Trading View, the final rule will set requirements for both permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s oversight.

The rule also covers certain custody activities by the banks the agency supervises.

“Today’s final rule advances President Trump and Secretary Bessent’s vision for American leadership in digital assets,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould explained “We are providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management.

“The OCC is drawing on its longstanding supervisory expertise to support responsible growth and innovation for this new industry.”

Back in July 2025, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law.

Per The Street, this act requires stablecoin issuers to retain 100% reserve backing using liquid assets, such as short-term U.S. Treasuries.

President Trump says this legislation will make America the undisputed leader in digital assets, prioritize consumer protection, strengthen the U.S. dollar’s reserve currency status, and bolster national security.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, the GENIUS Act is necessary because stablecoins have already grown into a massive, systemically important financial market operating largely outside the federal regulatory framework.

Without clear U.S. rules, the industry would continue developing under foreign regulations, creating consumer and national-security risks while allowing strategic competitors to shape the future of dollar-backed digital finance.

Bessent is also correct to compare The GENIUS Act to what Lincoln passed and signed so long ago.

Before 1863, the U.S. had no national banking system at the federal level, and banks simply issued banknotes that were easily manipulated.

But with one universal banking system with clear rules, this fraud was completely eliminated.

This system served as the foundation of U.S. commercial banking until the Federal Reserve System was created in 1913.

From The Street:

The National Currency Act is a landmark law that Lincoln signed in 1863, establishing a national banking system at the federal level and helping standardize the national fiat currency in the U.S.

Prior to the law, thousands of banks issued their own unique paper banknotes. Their values varied wildly and counterfeits were common.

The National Currency Act addressed these problems by creating a nationally chartered banking system that issued a uniform form of paper currency and establishing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to charter and supervise national banks.

Both the final rule and the GENIUS Act take effect on January 18, 2027.

The post Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Announces Final Rule for Trump’s Important Crypto Legislation – Compares It to President Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller tore into foreign fraudsters and scammers ripping off Americans during a White House roundtable on cybercrime. 

Miller said that the Trump Administration has “declared cyber warfare against the cyber criminals” under the President’s March executive order, titled “Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against Americans.”

“With the executive order that you signed, for the first time ever, we are using offensive cyber capabilities to dismantle, disrupt, and disable these foreign scam centers,” Miller said.

Miller went on to highlight the “common theme” with Trump’s handling of various issues, including “welfare fraud where we’re getting ripped off by these refugees and foreign scammers” and “cybercrime where you have entire foreign economies that are propped up on stealing from American seniors.”

“What you’re saying is America is not a pile of treasure for other countries and other people and other scammers all around the world to loot for themselves. You’re protecting American wealth for American people and American families in a way no leader has ever done before. Thank you, sir,” Miller said to President Trump.

WATCH:

Transcript:

Everybody knows the stories. It’s affected almost every family in America. Your grandmother, your grandfather, your parents, they get a phone call saying a loved one has been arrested. Wire $10,000 right away to get them out of jail.

Except nobody was arrested, nobody’s in jail, and the money goes to a foreign scam center. And then that pension, that retirement account that senior citizen has saved for their entire lives is gone, and then you have senior citizens who were going to be living their golden years are now living in poverty. And for years and years and years, this went unmet and unanswered.

With the executive order that you signed, for the first time ever, we are using offensive cyber capabilities to dismantle, disrupt, and disable these foreign scam centers. That has never been done before, and then we’re working with foreign governments and the Department of Justice to bring these individuals into our prison system to face real jail time here in the United States for their crimes against the American people.

So, you have effectively declared cyber warfare against the cyber criminals, and that is saving the pensions, the life savings, the retirement accounts, the earnings of countless American citizens. Not to mention protecting people from sextortion, from child trafficking, from human trafficking. So, we’ve talked so much, Mr. President, about how you’ve brought crime to record lows, violent crime to record lows, the murder rate to the lowest in 125 years, but now you’re bringing cybercrime to the lowest level since this has existed as an industry.

It’s just one more example of how you have put the American people first. You’ve put the American people’s safety first. I’ll make one more point on this. There’s a common theme in all of the challenges that you have systemically tackled and solved, whether it’s the trade deficit where we’re getting ripped off by foreign countries, whether it’s welfare fraud where we’re getting ripped off by these refugees and foreign scammers, or it’s cybercrime where you have entire foreign economies that are propped up on stealing from American seniors.

What you’re saying is America is not a pile of treasure for other countries and other people and other scammers all around the world to loot for themselves. You’re protecting American wealth for American people and American families in a way no leader has ever done before. Thank you, sir.

The post WATCH: Stephen Miller Goes Off on Foreign Scammers During White House Roundtable on Cybercrime appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday blasted a screaming protester at his rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, trolling him for his greasy hair, saying it’s “very obvious that he has not washed his hair in about three months.”

“And we all know that the people who haven’t washed their hair in three months, they vote for Democrats, not for Republicans,” he said.

The heckler, who snuck in wearing a MAGA hat, was seen throwing his hat on the ground, then screaming at Vance from behind before security dragged him out.

As he was removed, it could be seen that he was sporting a man bun.

Vance initially laughed at the protester, then responded.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Now that guy, that guy, he was trying to pretend to be MAGA. Do you know how he- you notice how he took off his ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and drew down?” Vance said

“Here’s the problem, ladies and gentlemen. He told on himself because when he took that hat off, it was very obvious that he has not washed his hair in about three months,” noting that it’s a clear indicator of his political leanings.

WATCH:

President Trump also faced hecklers last week during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, and he mercilessly trolled them.

“He’s going back home to mom. Look at him. Look at him. Terrible,” Trump said of one obese protester before hilariously slamming them for their weight. “Oh, he’s got to go on a diet. He’s a fat guy. Wow! Wow!”

“Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do,” Trump added as the crowd chanted “USA!”

WATCH: “He’s Gotta Go on a Diet, He’s a Fat Guy, Wow!” – Trump Trolls Several Protesters, One Obese Lunatic PUMMELED by Supporters Before Police Haul He/She Out!

The post JD Vance Trolls Screaming Heckler in Man Bun During Cincinnati, Ohio Rally – “Very Obvious That He Has Not Washed His Hair in 3 Months” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A New Mexico judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion penalty for misleading Facebook users about data privacy.

The judgment is related to the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal from nearly 10 years ago.

The jury found that Meta had more than 40 million violates of New Mexico’s unfair practices act.

CNBC reported:

Meta was ordered to pay $25 billion in penalties by a New Mexico court on Wednesday as part of a data privacy case that stemmed from the company’s Cambridge Analytica scandal from nearly a decade ago.

The penalty, revealed in a court filing, comes after a jury in a Santa Fe courthouse found in September the social media giant liable for misleading state citizens about how it safeguards and collects user data and prevents harmful information from flourishing on its services.

Although the jury concluded that Meta had over 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices act, with each transgression carrying a civil penalty as high as $5,000, a New Mexico judge was responsible for determining the ultimate fine. The Wednesday filing showed that the state was awarded $219.5 billion, but the penalty was ultimately reduced to $25 billion.

“The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act – $5,000 per violation found by the jury,” New Mexico district court judge Francis Mathew wrote in the filing.

The judge added that interest on the penalty shall accrue at the rate of 15% each year until the fine is paid off in full.

In August, a court ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund over child harm.

New Mexico Judge Bryan Biedscheid compared Meta to air pollution and called it a “public nuisance.”

“Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico’s youth established by the substantial evidence in this case,” Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote in the ruling over the summer, CNBC reported.

In March, a Los Angeles, California, jury found that Meta and YouTube were liable for a teen’s mental health and awarded her $3 million in damages.

The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM or “Kaley,” said she became addicted to Meta’s app Instagram and Google’s YouTube as a child.

KGM said she developed body dysmorphia and had suicidal ideations because of her addiction to the social media platforms.

Legal experts said March’s landmark decision against the social media giants is comparable to a previous settlement agreement with “Big Tobacco.”

The post JUST IN: Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion Penalty for Misleading Facebook Users About Data Privacy appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

This is big news!

The Cook Political Report shifted Minnesota’s US Senate race toward Michele Tafoya, the polished and unapologetic Republican candidate.

Tafoya is running against a wild-eyed far left socialist, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.

According to The Washington Examiner, the forecaster moved Minnesota’s Senate race from “Likely Democrat” to “Leans Democrat” in a blow to Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan as she takes on Tafoya for the open seat.

Tafoya is making up ground, pounding Flanagan for her role in the massive Minnesota welfare fraud scandal.

If Tafoya is able to defeat the massive fraud by Democrats she will be the next Senator from Minnesota and the first Republican Senator since Norm Coleman who was defeated by Al Franken in 2008 after state officials happened to find extra ballots in a car that put him over the top!

Dead voters were so moved by Franken’s campaign that they came out to cast a ballot for the far-left Democrat in 2008.

Democrats will be Democrats.

Tafoya needs to WIN BIG to beat the crooked machine in Minnesota.  She might be the one who can do it.

** Please support this incredible woman by donating at this link!

Michele Tafoya will be an amazing senator (for any state) and she has guts!…  Something desperately needed in the US Republican Senate!

The post Cook Political Report Shifts Minnesota Senate Race toward GOP Candidate Michele Tafoya! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump will participate in a roundtable at the White House today focused on the Trump administration’s efforts to combat cybercrime. 

Per News Nation:

Seniors, children, and low-income families are disproportionately targeted by online cybercrime, losing their benefits and savings, the White House official told NewsNation.

These crimes are often perpetuated by Transnational Crime Organizations (TCOs) based outside the United States. The administration said it will focus on addressing ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, sextortion schemes, impersonation scams and financial frauds.

The Homeland Security Task Force has restrained approximately $833 million in cryptocurrency tied to overseas scam centers and cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Authorities have seized 503 fraudulent cryptocurrency investment websites; these websites display fake gains to lure Americans into transferring money into criminally controlled accounts.

Investigators said they have identified and warned nearly 9,000 Americans who were actively being victimized, preventing an estimated $562 million in losses.

“President Trump is unleashing every available tool to stop foreign-based, organized criminal organizations that exploit Americans in cyberspace,” a White House official said in a statement.

“The Trump administration is taking on a $50 billion threat to American families and businesses … and disrupting the networks by targeting the transnational groups behind scam centers and fraud schemes, stopping the money fast by freezing stolen funds before they leave the system, then sizing them for victims and returning it to the victims by putting recovered funds back in the hands of the people who lost them.”

This comes after Trump, on Tuesday, announced the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud’s new Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, which rewards tipsters who help the government catch fraudsters stealing from government programs.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump announced the new program, promising a 1% “commission” to Americans, including journalists, who report the theft of taxpayer dollars to the new tip line.

“It’s a lot of money, and if it’s 10 billion, 200 billion, 400 billion, we’re giving a 1% commission to that person,” Trump told reporters, suggesting that it could be the “largest commission ever paid” given the trillions of dollars in fraud to be uncovered.

WATCH: Trump Announces 1% Commission To Reward People Who Expose Fraud

The roundtable is scheduled to begin at 2:30 pm ET.

Watch live below:

The post WATCH LIVE: Trump Participates in White House Roundtable on Cybercrime – 2:30 PM ET appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.