Authored by Newt Gingrich via RealClear Wire,

We are now living through the longest general election campaign in history.

With President Donald Trump’s victories in Iowa and New Hampshire – and his massive lead for the Republican presidential nomination in national polls – the Republican nomination was decided on Jan. 23.

No one has ever tried to have a national conversation for 286 days before an election.

The only president to lose re-election and then come back and win was Grover Cleveland, who won in 1884, lost in 1888, and then won again in 1892. However, in that era campaigning was relatively short and episodic. There was no television, radio, or social media.

Now, we have a country with a high capacity for boredom (there is a reason virtually all the top-rated television shows are NFL football games, and that various fake reality shows can be found all over the place).

Furthermore, the news media is desperate to fill the air 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The news producers, editors, and reporters were hoping for a long nomination fight to give them lots to cover. They are now in a state of shock – and even more desperate to find some news hook that will draw in viewers and readers.

There will be constant pressure to find something negative with which to attack and undermine the Trump campaign in particular – and Republicans in general.

In the short run, Congress will get more coverage than it normally would during primary season. However, most Americans do not follow congressional activities. While important, most debates on the floor of Congress are not terribly exciting.

A long campaign is also a significant challenge for the Biden administration. Joe Biden’s people would have loved to watch the Republicans tear each other apart for months (and catalogued every candidates’ opposition research on Trump).

In the ideal Biden world, all political coverage for the next six months would be negative – and about Republicans.

Instead, the 2024 political drama will be about President Trump dominating the landscape and leading a political movement unlike anything we have seen in modern times.

A vigorous series of Trump rallies will be an amazing contrast with the passiveness, slow, meager Biden campaign effort. You aren’t going to be seeing 20,000-plus excited Biden supporters relishing a 90-minute speech by their candidate. The rhythm and pattern of the two campaigns is going to be a case study in asymmetry.

The biggest advantage President Trump has is the ability to campaign in states where he can grow the party and strengthen candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House.

The second great advantage of being finished with the nomination campaign is Trump and his team will now have time to develop positive issues and themes throughout the country.

The American left and President Biden would like to make this election about the recent past – and especially Jan. 6. They want to create Trump into a fantasy demon who poses an existential threat to the survival of American freedom. (Note, as the left is actively trying to arrest and strike from ballots its political opponent, it is also claiming democracy will die if he wins the election.)

For their leftwing fanatic base, that image is real, powerful, and emotionally fulfilling. For the rest of the country, it is dwarfed by the realities of Biden’s practical failures on virtually every front – and the degree to which most of the country rejects the radical left’s values and actions.

President Trump and the Republicans have a simple model to follow that will create a trap in which to capture the Biden record. Essentially, it’s a sandwich.

For the bottom piece of bread, they can refer back to the achievements from Trump’s first term. As a former president, Trump is in a unique position to describe what he has done and what he will do. His administration grew the economy. It made America energy independent while lowering the price of gasoline, natural gas, and heating oil. The Trump administration kept inflation under control. It controlled the border. It supported law enforcement and fought crime. It stopped terrorism and exercised effective power in the world. It rebuilt and strengthening NATO and negotiated with foreign governments on trade and other issues with great effectiveness.

The middle of the sandwich contrasts Trump’s achievements with Biden’s failures. Virtually, every public opinion poll shows that most Americans think Trump’s past policies worked better for them than Biden’s current policies.

For the top slice of bread, Trump and Republicans can project forward and describe a future of extraordinary opportunities that will strengthen America. They can talk about increasing Americans’ standard of living, and stopping illegal immigration, drugs, and crime. They can describe a dramatically better education system. They can talk about a renewed and reformed military that can protect America, help our allies, and deter our opponents. They can outline breakthroughs in space, health outcomes, and artificial intelligence that will improve Americans’ lives.

Ideally, each layer would get roughly equal time and focus. Biden will be painfully trapped between Trump’s success in the past – and his promise of a better future.

With the nominating race over – and 286 days to campaign – no Republican has ever had the potential to grow such a startling majority. If Trump cheerfully contrasts his past success with Biden’s failure – and focuses on a positive future, he could attract people who have never talked with or joined Republicans.

This is going to be an extraordinary campaign.

For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. Also, subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.

In what appears to be a groundbreaking clash between the legacy of artistic creation and the exponential growth of AI, the estate of comedy legend George Carlin has launched a legal salvo against the creators of an AI-generated ‘comedy special’ that mimics the late comedian’s iconic voice and style.

The lawsuit, filed in California Federal Court, accuses the makers of “George Carlin: I’m glad I’m dead,” a video uploaded by the Dudesy channel on YouTube, of committing an egregious act of copyright infringement and a violation of Carlin’s right to publicity.

The hour-long video showcases a series of AI-generated images while an uncannily similar voice to the comedian delves into familiar territories of religion and politics, and even Carlin’s own death. This legal battle underscores the emerging complexities surrounding AI in creative industries, a contentious issue that was one of the catalysts behind a significant writers’ strike in Hollywood last year, primarily over the studios’ adoption of AI for scriptwriting.

AI has resurrected George Carlin to make us laugh once more.
And it’s terrifying. pic.twitter.com/I4TlMT6KYd

— Vanessa Harris (@technologypoet) January 12, 2024

“Defendants’ AI-generated ‘George Carlin Special’ is not a creative work. It is a piece of computer-generated clickbait which detracts from the value of Carlin’s comedic works and harms his reputation,” reads the complaint. “It is a casual theft of a great American artist’s work.”

The Dudesy YouTube channel, operated by comedian Will Sasso and writer Chad Kultgen, is at the heart of this controversy. Both, along with several unnamed individuals involved in crafting the video and developing the AI technology, find themselves listed as defendants. In response to the uproar, Sasso, on a podcast, stressed that the AI rendition was far from a replacement of the real comedic genius.

“I learned that AI cannot replace Geroge Carlin and therefore AI cannot replace me and my pal Chad,” said Sasso. “It is interesting how heated people get about it.”

Kultgen, in the same episode, touched upon the essence of the controversy: unlike previous AI experiments that merely mimicked Carlin’s voice, this creation ventured into reproducing an hour-long standup routine, effectively claiming the capability to replicate the art form itself.

“The other ones, it was just ‘look, we can kind of mimic his voice.’ This isn’t just mimicking that, it’s taking the art form itself, an hour-long of standup comedy, and saying ‘I can do the art form as well.”

Kelly Carlin, the daughter of George Carlin, expressed her disdain and disappointment in a poignant statement.

“”I understand and share the desire for more George Carlin. I, too, want more time with my father. But it is ridiculous to proclaim he has been ‘resurrected’ with AI,” she said, adding “The ‘George Carlin’ in that video is not the beautiful human who defined his generation and raised me with love. It is a poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals to capitalize on the extraordinary goodwill my father established with his adoring fanbase.”

The estate’s attorney, Josh Schiller, paints a grim picture of the potential future with AI, warning of it becoming a tool for bad-faith actors to supplant creative expression, exploit existing works, and profiteer at the expense of genuine creators.

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A recently disclosed report by an alliance of retired and active duty FBI agents and analysts claims a concerning decline in FBI recruitment standards due to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) priorities, posing a potential threat to national security.

The report, handed over to the House Judiciary Committee, alleges that these DEI requirements have compromised standards in areas such as physical fitness, drug use, financial and personal integrity, mental health, and work experience.

The alliance, which includes senior former executives and agents from counterintelligence and counterterrorism branches, alleges that the FBI’s recruitment focus has shifted from selecting the “best and brightest” to emphasizing candidates based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.

The report cites instances of new agents failing to meet even relaxed fitness standards, displaying literacy issues requiring remedial English lessons, showing reluctance to work overtime, and even having serious disabilities or mental health concerns.

The authors, who indicated in the report they chose to remain anonymous owing to fear of reprisal, express concern that the current trajectory of FBI special agent recruitment, primarily driven by DEI measures, may significantly impede homeland security efforts.

The report suggests a series of corrective actions, including performing a 90-day audit of FBI recruitment practices, legislation to strengthen the oath of office for FBI special agents, and congressional testimony by FBI Director Christopher Wray to address potential concealment of deficiencies or misinformation by subordinates.

“These findings are alarming, require immediate action, and corrective measures must begin without delay,” the report’s authors wrote.

An FBI spokesperson strongly refuted claims that their standards in selection and hiring have been compromised.

“The FBI continues to maintain the very highest standards in selection and hiring,“ the spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. ”Any notion that standards have been lowered is both inaccurate and an affront to the talented and patriotic men and women who dedicate their lives to serving others.”

“Random and anonymous allegations devoid of any supporting data or other evidence cannot change the facts: the FBI continues to recruit the best and brightest candidates from all walks of life, and year over year only a small percentage of applicants ultimately make it through our difficult process to become a special agent,” the spokesperson continued, adding that “the suggestion that we are lowering standards to increase diversity is both offensive and not true.”

Neither the the House Oversight Committee nor the Judiciary Committee replied to a request for comment. However, a spokesperson for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told the New York Post—which broke the story—that the committee has received the report and is reviewing it.

The House Judiciary Committee account on X shared the New York Post’s story, which cites the spokesperson, giving further confirmation that the committee is looking into the matter.

‘Bread Crumbs’

The report’s authors note that the sources and sub-sources on which the findings are based are either currently employed by the FBI or are retired.

All have been given code names such as SIERRA 51, said to be a 20-plus year veteran of the FBI, which a sub-source (identified as ROMEO PAPA 14) has known for 10 years and knows them to be “honest and trustworthy” with a “great, unblemished” reputation at the agency.

Many of the sources and sub-sources had direct access to and firsthand knowledge of the information they provided, according to the report’s authors.

The current and former agents and analysts say that an increasing number of lower-quality candidates, which one source described as “bread crumbs” because they were rejected from other law enforcement agencies, have been submitting applications to become FBI agents.

“And the FBI is selecting these candidates to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI’s priority to meet Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mandates,” they wrote.

These “bread crumbs” candidates are being selected instead of more qualified candidates based on DEI priorities.

Not only that but assessors who are responsible for evaluating candidates for agents are also themselves being selected based on DEI criteria rather than competence.

Even worse, when some FBI Special Agent applicant coordinators at the agency’s field offices tried to intervene to block the applications of unqualified candidates, they were reportedly overruled by headquarters.

In one case described in the report, SIERRA 72 disqualified a black female candidate for being more than 50 pounds overweight and unable to pass the agency’s physical requirement test. The candidate even reportedly told the evaluating agent that she “hates working out and was never active.” But despite the agent’s attempt to disqualify the candidate, headquarters reportedly ordered them to continue with the application process.

The current and former agents and analysts say that the DEI policies affecting the FBI’s hiring practices mean that the “law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading.”

The FBI spokesperson pushed back on these claims in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“Our agents continue to meet the highest standards of personal and professional conduct and rigorous physical fitness requirements,” the spokesperson said, while providing some recruitment statistics that suggest hiring practices have, at least in some regards, remained constant.

“The average age of new agents has remained steady at about 31 years old, which means they bring a wealth of experience and well-developed skills to the Bureau,” the spokesperson said.

“The number of agents with prior military and law enforcement experience has remained steady at around 20-30 percent of each new class, while the number of new agents with advanced degrees has swelled to nearly 40 percent of each new agent class,” the spokesperson added.

‘Liberal and Racial Bias’

Despite Mr. Wray’s previous claims of soaring recruitment numbers, the report contends that Special Agent hiring has, in fact, decreased, while retirements have increased.

One of the authors who spoke to the New York Post attributed this decline to a diminished public trust in the FBI following controversies during the Trump era, attracting recruits more interested in being “agents of social change” than in protecting the country.

A source cited in the report (SIERRA 23) notes that not only is today’s FBI “concerned more about diversity over competence,” the agency has also been infected with a liberal and racial bias.

“SIERRA 23 believes that if you are conservative and/or white male or female, the FBI will treat you harshly for the same offense committed by a minority, gay, or transsexual employee,” the report states.

FBI field agents who want to investigate “self-generated cases” often face hurdles in the form of being forced to pursue “politically driven cases such as January 6th and anti-abortion protestors,” per the source.

SIERRA 23 also said that FBI headquarters seems to be driving more investigations than field offices, which are “investigating legitimate crimes and threats impacting its regions.”

Another source, SIERRA 17, said that the reason the FBI is lowering its standards “to attract a larger pool of candidates with more politically ‘left of center’ views” and these candidates are only employable thanks to reduced standards in terms of physical, academic, or professional accomplishment.

The FBI is the latest federal entity to face criticism for DEI priorities in hiring.

‘Woke Warfighters’

Last year, the Department of Defense (DoD) sparked criticism for a program that pushed diversity in the military as a “strategic imperative.”

“Diversity is a strategic imperative critical to mission readiness and accomplishment. We were on site for the 2023 inaugural @DoD_ODEI Summit as DEIA experts led forums to advance the DEIA and DoD mission—because our people matter,” the DoD said in a post on X on Feb. 18, 2023. (ODEI refers to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, while DEIA refers to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.)

The DoD’s promotion of DEI attracted criticism, both online and off.

“Your strategic imperative is defending the United States,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to the DoD post.

Some lawmakers also shared critical takes.

“As Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, ensuring our military is focused on lethality and readiness, NOT wokeness and DEI, is my top priority,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said in a post on X replying to the DoD’s message.

Congressional Republicans flagged the Pentagon’s DEI push as a major vulnerability. A GOP report from November 2022 called “Woke Warfighters” blamed the Biden administration for “weakening warfighters through a sustained assault fuelled by woke virtue signaling.”

The report cited a number of DEI measures in the military, including critical race theory (CRT) being taught at military academies or plans to implement DEI into the training curriculum for U.S. Special Forces.

“The only goal of our Special Forces should be effectiveness,” the report states. “Every other consideration must be subordinate to and in service of that end.”

Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A group of 24 Republican legislators in Pennsylvania have filed a federal complaint against President Joe Biden, Gov. Josh Shapiro, and representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of State, saying they have usurped the authority of the legislature by changing voter registration and election rules.

The legislators say the Elections Clause and the Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution give state legislators the sole constitutional right to determine the manner of elections, and there is no role for the president, governor, or other executive officials, such as the secretary of state, to create, rewrite, or disregard the laws established by the legislature. The group alleges they have been unconstitutionally excluded from the law-making process regulating federal elections for president and Congress.

The plaintiffs are Pennsylvania state Reps. Dawn Keefer, Timothy Bonner, Barry Jozwiak, Barbara Gleim, Joseph Hamm, Wendy Fink, Robert Kauffman, Stephanie Borowicz, Donald (Bud) Cook, Paul Michael Jones, Joseph D’Orsie, Charity Krupa, Leslie Rossi, David Zimmerman, Robert Leadbeter, Dan Moul, Thomas Jones, David Maloney, Timothy Twardzik, David Rowe, Joanne Stehr, Aaron Bernstine, Kathy Rapp, and state Sen. Cris Dush.

Their complaint in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania asks a judge to declare three actions unconstitutional: a voter registration executive order made by President Biden; a voter registration action by Mr. Shapiro, and some Department of State directives. They also request that the judge issue an order prohibiting the president, governor, or state executives from making future changes to the elections process in Pennsylvania without following the legislative process.

Biden’s Executive Order

The legislature alone must provide elections regulations, including those relating to the registration of voters, the court papers say.

In 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14019 for “promoting access to voting,” requiring all federal agencies to develop a plan to increase voter registration and participation.

In response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in 2022 that federal health centers across the nation now have the discretion to participate in activities—including voter registration—that are outside the scope of the health center program project.

“Such voter registration activities may include making available voter registration materials to patients, encouraging patients to register to vote, assisting patients with completing registration forms, sending completed forms to the election authorities, providing voter registration materials in waiting rooms, and allowing private, non-partisan organizations to conduct on-site voter registration,” the HHS website says.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development instructed more than 3,000 public housing authorities managing some 1.2 million public housing units across the country to run voter registration drives in those units.

The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to universities, directing them to use Federal Work Study funds “to support voter registration activities.” The letter said: “If a student is employed directly by a post-secondary institution, the institution may compensate a student for [Federal Work Study] employment involving voter registration activities that take place on or off-campus.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued letters to state agencies administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women’s Infants and Children’s (WIC) low-income food program, instructing them to carry out voter registration activities with federal funds.

The legislators say voter registration drives are not a government function.

“Typically, private parties—including plaintiffs, campaigns, political parties, and organizations—conduct voter registration drives as acknowledged and regulated by federal campaign finance laws,” the court papers say. “Federal campaign finance laws apply to private parties’ voter registration activities. Voter registration drives … are a federally recognized private function, not a government function.”

President Biden’s executive order also directed federal agencies to use taxpayer money to choose “approved, nonpartisan third-party organizations and state officials to provide voter registration services on agency premises.”

The Pennsylvania state legislators have, through legislative acts, passed a law that prohibits the influence of third-party entities in elections. The executive order contradicts Pennsylvania state election laws, court papers say.

Shapiro’s Automatic Voter Registration

In September 2023, Mr. Shapiro announced in a press release that he was changing voter registration laws by enacting automatic voter registration. According to the press release, anyone eligible to vote is automatically registered to vote when they get their driver’s license.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have tried several times, using the legislative process, to implement automatic voter registration in Pennsylvania. Every attempt has failed. At the time Mr. Shapiro announced this change, there was another bill pending in the legislature to enact automatic voter registration. Lawmakers in the court filing say Shapiro’s action was not legally authorized by any state law.

“Governor Shapiro’s edict instituting automatic voter registration in Pennsylvania is inconsistent with existing Pennsylvania law,” the court filing says. “Governor Shapiro does not have the unilateral power to oversee and participate in making legislative decisions regarding the times, places, and manner of Presidential and Congressional elections, including the registration of electors in Pennsylvania.”

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) called that claim “groundless,” and told The Epoch Times in an email that state law grants the Secretaries of the Commonwealth and Transportation broad authority to determine the form of Pennsylvania’s combined driver’s license and voter registration form. The changes to the voter registration process through the Department of Transportation in September have resulted in a 44 percent increase in new voter registrations over the same time period two years ago, and are “consistent with both the National Voter Registration Act and Pennsylvania law,” the DOS said.

Department of State Directives

The Pennsylvania Department of State has issued numerous directives that contradict laws established by the legislators, according to court papers, including a 2018 directive concerning Help America Vote Act (HAVA) matching drivers’ licenses or Social Security numbers for voter registration applications. This guidance instructs Pennsylvania counties to register applicants even if an applicant provides invalid identification.

State legislators say they passed a law regarding verification of information on voter registration applications, but directives issued through the Department of State contradict state election laws.

This created confusion in counties as local officials had two sets of directions—one from the Legislature and one from the Department of State.

The DOS told The Epoch Times the HAVA-Matching Directive issued in 2018, is also “fully consistent with applicable law and remains active.”

“If permitted to stand, similar directives can occur again in the future,” court papers say.

The Epoch Times asked the governor’s office for comment for this story.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has dispelled President Joe Biden’s absolute lie that Congress needs to act to pass a $110 billion aid package which would include money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – a bill, mind you, that would still allow as many as 150,000 illegal crossings per month, or 1.8 million per year, before any of the proposed border shutdown authorities would be triggered.

“President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border, but he knows that is untrue,” said Johnson.

“As I explained to him in a letter late last year, and have specifically reiterated to him on multiple occasions since, he can and must take executive action immediately to reverse the catastrophe he has created.“

He doesn’t need this bill to do that. https://t.co/Gzir4pWrUu

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2024

Recall that Biden signed three executive orders on day one of his presidency which reversed significant border protections put into place by former President Trump, and made it clear to migrants worldwide that the door was now open.

President Trump, meanwhile, is circling on this like a shark – telling a crowd on Saturday in Las Vegas “When I’m President, instead of trying to send Texas a restraining order, I will send them REINFORCEMENTS!”

President Trump: “When I’m President, instead of trying to send Texas a restraining order, I will send them REINFORCEMENTS!” pic.twitter.com/6qSmLkBGaW

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 27, 2024

David Sacks breaks things down perfectly (via X): 

WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON

Neocons had a problem. The big Spring-Summer Counteroffensive, which was supposed to kick the Russians out of Ukraine, was a miserable failure. Even TIME Magazine was reporting that Zelensky is delusional, the Ukrainians are running out of soldiers, and Ukrainian officials are stealing like there’s no tomorrow.

House Republicans, fearing their base, began to have cold feet about throwing more money down this bottomless pit. So Biden and the Neocons came up with a plan: package Ukraine aid with border security. Each side would get want it wants.

But Senate RINOs couldn’t help themselves — they turned the border security provisions into an amnesty bill.

Meanwhile Biden picked a fight with Texas over what little remains of our border security, reminding Republicans that he can’t be trusted to faithfully execute the law. So now the deal has fallen apart.

So what is the Administration to do? There’s only ever one answer for that: blame Trump. Supposedly he is responsible for Ukraine losing the war AND the southern border being overrun. In reality, Biden and his handlers have nobody to blame but themselves for both policies.

Shakespeare put it best: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”

DeSantis lays out the problem with the amnesty bill…

DESANTIS: BIDEN BORDER DEAL WOULD CODIFY 1.8M ILLEGAL MIGRANTS ENTERING THE COUNTRY ANNUALLY pic.twitter.com/KH6Szahp7m

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) January 27, 2024

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will intensify its scrutiny of the sports industry’s reporting of tax losses, as part of its reported crackdown on wealthy taxpayers.

On Jan. 16, the IRS announced the “Sports Industry Losses campaign” which is “designed to identify partnerships within the sports industry that report significant tax losses and determine if the income and deductions driving the losses are reported in compliance” with the agency’s code. The IRS provided no further information in the announcement.

The agency’s focus on the industry could be the result of lucrative tax benefits that come with owning teams. Existing rules allow teams to write off intangible assets like TV rights and player contracts over several years. This accounting adjustment can enable team owners to report losses on their operations every year.

If the ownership is structured as a partnership, then the losses can be used to offset the individual tax dues of the wealthy owners.

A wealthy individual who has a multi-million dollar tax bill and offsets it with losses from owning a sports team “would draw the attention” of the IRS, Eric Nemeth, Varnum LLP partner, told Bloomberg. The IRS can even use the campaign to boost its image, he said.

“Frankly, it could be good politics, too. ‘Look what we’re doing. We’re really examining the ultra-rich here,’” Mr. Nemeth said. “And don’t rule out the possibility that the IRS uses this information, provides information to Congress, and Congress possibly writes some statutes to address certain areas, too.”

Mark J. Weinstein, a tax expert and partner at Hogan Lovells, said that the way a potential owner buys a team also comes with tax benefits.

For instance, “if the purchase is financed with other people’s money (i.e., debt), then, subject to certain limitations on the deductibility of interest, the tax advantages to the team owners (and investors) is even greater.”

He isn’t convinced that the tax write-off rules for the sports industry “is being gamed,” pointing out that it was Congress that implemented the system and put in place many of these benefits.

“You buy goodwill, you get to amortize the cost over say 15 years, and if the end result is a loss; so be it … This is the law. If the IRS wants to change it, they need an act of Congress,” he wrote in a note.

The new IRS campaign targeting sports industry partnerships follows months of increased scrutiny of such entities by the agency.

On Sept. 20, the IRS announced it would establish a new division to target “pass-through” entities in a bid to hold America’s wealthiest tax filers “accountable.”

A pass-through entity is a business that does not pay tax on its revenues. Instead, its income is passed on to owners of the business, who then file taxes based on their individual tax rates. At the time, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said that pass-throughs are used by some partnerships to “intentionally shield income to avoid paying the taxes they owe.”

General partnerships, sole proprietorships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, and S Corporations are all considered to be pass-through business entities.

Sports Team Tax Benefits

A 2021 report by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica detailed the prevalence of tax-saving strategies implemented in the sports industry.

ProPublica reviewed tax data from dozens of owners across four of the biggest professional sports leagues in the United States. They found that these owners frequently reported team incomes significantly lower than their real-world earnings.

Records reviewed by the nonprofit showed that Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, paid only $78 million in taxes from his $656 million in earnings for 2018. This was an effective income tax rate of only 12 percent.

Such a tax rate is made possible because Mr. Ballmer owns the NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers. The U.S. tax code allows individuals who purchase businesses to deduct almost the entire cost of the purchase from their income in the following years.

The reasoning is that since the purchase is composed of assets like buildings, equipment, and such, the value degrades over time, and the price paid to buy the assets should be counted as an expense.

Mr. Ballmer spent almost $2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers.

Some have criticized the rules, pointing out that several assets of sports teams, like player contracts and TV deals, are likely to increase in value over time rather than degrade. There is little risk that a popular sport would suddenly stop being popular and thus make massive losses on TV deals or player contracts.

As the IRS has been infused with billions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its stringent actions against partnerships are intensifying. The agency has indicated its intention to use part of these funds to boost enforcement measures against large businesses.

A July 2023 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the IRS only audited 54 large partnerships in 2019, which was just 0.26 percent of the 20,052 such entities in operation that year.

Since 2007, the IRS’ audit rate for large partnerships has declined, a trend the agency attributes to “resource constraints,” according to the report. This was noted in the context of the recent funding infusion received by the agency from the IRA.

“As part of its audit selection process, IRS uses statistical models to help review partnership returns for potential noncompliance, but the models were developed without using representative samples of returns and with untested assumptions,” the report said.

“Additionally, IRS has not developed a plan to incorporate feedback from audit results into the models. Addressing these modeling issues could improve IRS’s ability to better identify and audit noncompliant partnerships.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may find herself out of a job, after a Georgia lawmaker filed a resolution Friday to impeach her for various acts of “malfeasance, tyrannical partiality, and oppression,” after allegations emerged that the Special Prosecutor she hired to go after Donald Trump turned out to be her lover, who she paid almost $700,000 – before he dropped thousands of dollars to take her on lavish vacations.

“Fani Willis has a laundry list of potential conflicts that make her unworthy and unfit to be the District Attorney in Fulton Count,” said state Rep. Charlice Byrd (R) in a Jan. 26 statement accompanying the introduction of H.R. 872, a resolution to vote on impeachment charges against Willis.

With freedom on the line, bold action is necessary. It’s time for the legislature to do its constitutional duty and hold corrupt Fulton DA Fani WIllis accountable, which is why I have introduced H.R. 872, articles of impeachment against Fani WIllis. Read my full statement below: pic.twitter.com/o4xqP4ZdTX

— Rep. Charlice Byrd (@charlice_byrd) January 26, 2024

Willis brought a 2020 election interference case against former President Trump and over a dozen co-defendants under Georgia laws intended to fight organized crime. In particular, Trump asked Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ‘find’ votes for him. The context, however, was that Trump was commenting on all the votes ‘found’ for Biden in the middle of the night, so ‘find’ Trump votes in the same vein.

Byrd’s 10-page resolution lays out the case against Willis, accusing her of violating her oath of office which states that “Any public officer who willfully and intentionally violates the terms of his oath as prescribed by law shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.”

The impeachment resolution comes on the same day that the Georgia State Senate voted to establish a committee that will investigate various allegations of misconduct against Ms. Willis, ranging from accusations of prosecutorial misconduct to questions about the use of public funds and allegations of an unprofessional relationship with the lead prosecutor in the case.

Ms. Willis’ office did not respond to a request for comment on the impeachment resolution by press time. –Epoch Times

More via the Epoch Times:

The resolution calls Ms. Willis’ indictment “the severest case of gross abuse of discretion” while alleging that the Fulton County DA “grossly violated” her oath of office, in which she swore to be impartial.

Ms. Byrd’s impeachment resolution also accuses Ms. Willis of engaging in an “inappropriate” and “unethical” relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade while alleging that she profited from the relationship.

There are a total of 22 articles of impeachment in the resolution, each an alleged violation of Georgia Code 16-10-1.

Nineteen of the impeachment charges are allegations that Ms. Willis’ prosecution of President Trump and the 18 other co-defendants under Georgia’s organized crime laws was done for the purpose of advancing her political career and so “grossly violates” her oath of office.

While the resolution doesn’t go into detail about the allegedly political nature of the prosecution, similar claims have been made by House investigators.

The remaining three articles of impeachment are for allegedly perpetrating “prosecutorial vindictiveness” in withholding material evidence from the jury, allegedly falsely claiming she was “not the holder of any unaccounted for public money due the state” while owing late fees stemming from her candidacy for office; and of swearing in her oath of office to take “only my lawful compensation” while allegedly profiting from her relationship with Mr. Wade.

Ms. Merchant also accused Ms. Willis of using funds meant for clearing a pandemic-era backlog of cases in Fulton County to pay Mr. Wade a large sum of money.

Documents show Mr. Wade has been paid at a rate of $250 per hour for his involvement in the case, or around $650,000 in total.

Mr. Wade, who has been asked to provide evidence as part of a House Judiciary Committee inquiry into Ms. Willis’ conduct, is playing a leading role in the election interference case against the former president and the co-defendants.

Prosecutors have not yet filed a response to Ms. Merchant’s motion, although they have said they intend to.

The Fulton County Audit Committee has asked Ms. Willis to address the allegations in Ms. Merchant’s filing. Bob Ellis, the Fulton County Commissioner, called on Ms. Willis in a Jan. 21 letter to provide explanations, including regarding special prosecutor payment and expensing by Feb. 2.

Also, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee indicated on Jan. 12 that a hearing on Ms. Merchant’s motion would be scheduled after the court has received a response from Fulton County prosecutors, with the earliest likely being in mid-February.

Ms. Merchant’s filing argued that Ms. Willis’s’ alleged misconduct was grounds for the dismissal of charges against Mr. Roman and the dismissal of Ms. Willis and her team.

President Trump has also made similar demands, saying that both Ms. Willis and the case have been “totally compromised” and the case against him should be dismissed.

The Georgia Senate resolution that passed in a Jan. 26 floor vote establishes a committee to investigate the various misconduct allegations against Ms. Willis.

Despite having wide-ranging powers to carry out the investigation, the panel will not have the ability to impose sanctions on Ms. Willis.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

From the perspective of Japan’s historically conservative-nationalist society, ethnic ancestry – not citizenship, language, or culture – is the crucial prerequisite for truly being considered Japanese, thus disqualifying ethnic Ukrainian Karolina Shiino in their mind and making her crowning an insult to all ethnic Japanese women.

Asia and especially Japan are considered to be bastions of conservative-nationalism but the crowning of a Ukrainian model as “Miss Japan” last week shows that liberal–globalism has spread there too. What’s meant by these terms in this context is the contrast between traditional and so-called “progressive” notions of identity whereby the former relate to ancestry while the latter is malleable. It’s important to elaborate on these concepts in order to avoid any malicious misinterpretation of them.

Anyone can migrate anywhere so long as they do so legally, after which they can receive citizenship and pass it on to their descendants, who’ll ideally assimilate and integrate into the host country’s society. As for 26-year-old Ukrainian-born Karolina Shiino, she’s lived in the country since she was five following her mother’s marriage to a Japanese man. Karolina speaks fluent Japanese and became a naturalized citizen in 2022, which is why she identifies as Japanese instead of Ukrainian. In her words:

“I wanted to be recognized as a Japanese person. After all, we live in an era of diversity — where diversity is needed. There are many people like me who are worried about the gap between their appearance and (who they are). I kept being told that I’m not Japanese, but I am absolutely Japanese, so I entered Miss Japan genuinely believing in myself. I was really happy to be recognized like this.”

Just because she identifies as Japanese and is legally considered as such doesn’t mean that she’s recognized that way by society, however, which is why her crowning as “Miss Japan” reignited a fierce debate about identity according to the BBC. This historically ethno-religiously homogenous country began opening its borders in recent years following its drastic population decline, and foreign-born residents are now almost 2.5% of the total, with most being Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean.

While this statistic might appear miniscule to most observers, Karolina’s crowning as “Miss Japan” brought this gradual demographic shift into the open after the judges declared her the “Foremost Beauty of All Japanese Women”, which offended many ethnic Japanese. From their perspective, ancestry – not citizenship, language, or culture – is the crucial prerequisite for truly being considered Japanese, thus disqualifying Karolina in their mind and making her victory an insult to all ethnic Japanese women.

Liberal-globalists condemn this conservative-nationalist viewpoint as “bigoted, racist, and xenophobic”, but societies have the right to identify however they want, as well as acknowledge or withhold this from others based on widely agreed-upon criteria no matter how subjective they might seem. The context within Karolina was just crowned “Miss Japan” concerns Tokyo’s indirect arming of Ukraine with air defense systems via the US and its newfound embrace of immigration, thus suggesting political motives.

The first-mentioned are self-explanatory while the second requires a bit more explanation since readers might not be aware of this policy. Here’s what Bloomberg reported over the summer:

“The number of foreigners rose 11% from a year earlier to comprise 2.4% of the total population, or just under 3 million people…It often goes unremarked that the number of workers from overseas has more than doubled in the last decade alone, while the broader foreign community (including students and families) has risen 50%. Based on population projections, conversation has already been shifting to a future where foreigners will make up more than 10% of people in the country 50 years from now.”

What they omit is that the foreign-born population will likely have their own children at some point, thus leading to the non-ethnic Japanese population reaching much more than 10% in less than 50 years’ time.

The Western liberal-globalist (“progressive”) elite and their “fellow travelers” in Japan want to reshape this historically conservative-nationalist (traditional) society’s attitudes towards foreigners in order to facilitate this demographic shift. To that end, they’re leveraging their allies in civil society and the permanent bureaucracy, which explains why Karolina’s crowning as “Miss Japan” was arguably a form of politically driven “shock therapy” aimed at forcing ethnic Japanese to accept this emerging trend.

The veneration of one’s ancestors is an extremely important part of Japanese culture, which Ukrainian-born Karolina is unable to participate in due to her not being ethnically Japanese, nor do her ancestors share the same historical experience as her formal compatriots. Being a Japanese citizen, speaking Japanese, and participating in the outward expressions of its contemporary culture aren’t sufficient for her to be deemed Japanese by most of its people no matter how much she wishes otherwise.

The same goes for her 3 million or so fellow foreigners in the country, not to mention their descendants, but the support that they receive from liberal-globalists at home and abroad could lead to them exerting disproportionate influence in reshaping local attitudes with time as their numbers continue to grow. The goal is to erode the traditional concept of identity and ultimately replace it with a “progressive” version whereby official designations and media endorsements take precedence over ethno-ancestral ties.

The model that they plan to apply is a copy-and-paste of the one that they’ve already successfully imposed in America and Western Europe where the liberal-globalist socio-political elite apply maximum pressure on the historically conservative-nationalist masses to accept their new definition of identity. Some still resist, but the fear of being smeared as a “bigot, racist, and/or xenophobe” coerces most to passively accept this politically driven trend, which is also now being imposed in Poland too.

That country has a similar ethno-ancestral concept of identity as Japan does despite the centuries of ethno-religious diversity under the erstwhile Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth where Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, Protestant Germans, and Orthodox Belarusians and Ukrainians lived under the same state. By contrast, Japan never had any such diversity in its history except for its foreign conquests in China, Korea, and Southeast Asia, which makes it a much tougher nut for the liberal-globalists to crack in this case.

Karolina’s crowning as “Miss Japan” was meant to be a milestone in their plot to artificially manufacture a “progressive” notion of identity in this historically conservative-nationalist society, which’ll inevitably be followed by other examples of politically driven “shock therapy”. Average Japanese can’t do much to stop this either since their elite are beholden to the US’ liberal-globalists, who’ll force them to promote the imposition of this concept onto their compatriots in exchange for continued military support.

Earlier this week we reported that the primary reason why bitcoin has been sliding ever since the arrival of bitcoin ETFs on Jan 10 – an event that had been lauded as very bullish for the crypto space but instead promptly sparked a bear market…

… has been the relentless liquidation of residual bitcoins by the bankrupt FTX estate which has been aggressively building up cash – and selling bitcoin into every market meltup – to maximize recoveries for stakeholders.

Specifically, as CoinDesk reported first, whereas legacy bitcoin vehicle GBTC had seen aggressive outflows at the time when the pack of new ETFs were pulling in new cash to convert into bitcoin, a large chunk of the exodus from GBTC was FTX’s bankruptcy estate dumping 22 million shares, or about $1 billion of the $2.5 billion in GBTC outflows through Jan 22. And, as we pointed out, it also meant that instead of the GBTC outflows being recycled and netted off, a large portion of them was FTX liquidations – a one-off event, and not a systemic pressure on the underlying crypto asset, contrary to what some bears had said.

Well, today we got confirmation that it was indeed the bankrupt FTX (or rather Mike Novogratz’ Galaxy which was picked last summer as advisor on managing the estate’s holdings) that was responsible for much of the selling in crypto in the past two weeks. According to Bloomberg, FTX is “unloading cryptoassets and hoarding cash as bankruptcy advisers look for a way to repay customers whose accounts have been frozen since the platform collapsed in 2022.”

The fraud-tainted crypto firm’s four largest affiliates — including FTX Trading Ltd. and Alameda Research LLC — together nearly doubled the group’s cash pile to $4.4 billion at the end of 2023 from about $2.3 billion in late October, according to Chapter 11 monthly operating reports. The company’s total cash is likely higher including the rest of its affiliates.

As shown in the chart below, FTX was furiously dumping assets during the crypto meltup that started in October and which sent the price of the digital currency from $27 in October to $45K by the end of 2023 .

Indeed, FTX said in a court filing last month that FTX raised $1.8 billion through Dec. 8 by selling off some of the firm’s digital assets. Of course, we also now know that FTX had continued raising cash by liquidating about $1 billion in GBTC-tied assets.

But wait, there’s more: as we showed on Jan 23, all the major downward moves in bitcoin in the past week had been due to liquidations in perpetual bitcoin futures, and had little to do with sales of ETFs or underlying tokens.

All the major BTC moves have been due to futures liquidations pic.twitter.com/I3umtqRmbS

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 23, 2024

We can now also blame FTX for those sudden, jerky bitcoin futures liquidations because as Bloomberg adds, “FTX also said it’s conducting Bitcoin derivative trades to hedge exposure to the coin and generate additional yield on its digital holdings.” Translation: FTX (via Galaxy or otherwise) has been shorting bitcoin to “hedge” its substantial exposure and minimize risk to stakeholders.

To be sure, stakeholders in the bankrupt FTX are delighted with the results: customer claims worth more than $1 million traded at around 73 cents on the dollar as of Friday, almost double from around 38 cents on the dollar in October, according to investment firm and bankruptcy claims broker Cherokee Acquisition.

The flipside are all those investors in bitcoin, whether spot, ETFs or futures, who expected the rally into the ETF launch to continue. Instead they were rugged by the relentless FTX selling.

The good news for bitcoin bulls is that FTX has almost nothing left to liquidate (not that its customers will even benefit: as a reminder, dozens of FTX customers are challenging a company proposal that would peg the value of their digital assets at the time the company filed bankruptcy, meaning they’d miss-out on a yearlong Bitcoin rally and rebound for other tokens.) FTX also doesn’t expect customers will be fully repaid, which means that almost all of the “cashing out” has been concluded.

The question therefore is if not FTX customers, then just who is benefiting from the FTX liquidations of legacy crypto assets and its aggressive shorting of bitcoin futures. And, continuing down that train of thought, what will happen to FTX if one or more aggressive market players decided to squeeze whoever is pulling the FTX strings and has built up a major bitcoin short.

Authored by Rystad Energy via OilPrice.com,

• Political changes in over 70 countries will impact oil markets and renewable energy policies.

• Natural gas and hydrogen will play key roles in the ongoing energy transition and meeting global energy needs.

• Renewable energy growth will continue with solar and wind power leading the charge, despite challenges in offshore wind and coal power sectors.

Hot off the heels of another tumultuous and eventful year for the global energy landscape, 2024 is already continuing the trend of disruptions, headwinds and opportunities. Last year ended with a momentous agreement at COP28 to cut global methane emissions, a significant contributor to emissions worldwide.

The coming year will be another rollercoaster ride for the industry, posing important questions about whether the net-zero targets outlined in the Paris Agreement can be achieved. Elections, supply chain issues and the maturation of nascent industries are all on the cards.

Last year was a pivotal one for the energy world. Renewable energy capacity expanded rapidly, keeping up with global power demand growth for the first time. Solar PV needed to grow by 220 gigawatts (GW) in 2023 to track the 1.6 DG scenario for global warming. The latest figures now indicate that it could end up at above 400 GW. And there is now supply chain visibility for an annual delivery of 1,500 GW. Global coal demand most likely peaked in 2023, and clean energy technologies are now more affordable than fossil fuel alternatives in most parts of the world. Fossil fuels will, however, remain an important component of the energy mix for the next decades. Countries like Denmark, Finland and Portugal are close to achieving zero carbon power sectors, successfully dealing with the intermittency challenge of renewables. Still, there are also setbacks in renewable deployment, like the cost inflation seen in offshore wind, and governments will need to step up stimulation to get these sectors back on track. This year could see more inflection points in the energy transition, with impacts felt well into the latter half of the decade

Jarand Rystad, CEO

Rystad Energy advises governments, organizations and companies in every corner of the energy landscape, so we are well placed to illuminate the trends that will shape the industry in 2024.

1.  Geopolitics to shape the oil market more than ever

It is often said that oil is the most political of all commodities. This year, about 4.2 billion people will face political change with general elections in more than 70 countries. The outcome of these will have a significant impact on national politics and geopolitical developments and, inevitably, on the oil markets. The future of the US’ support for Ukraine, EU’s climate policy ambitions, tensions in the South China Sea, trade frictions between China and the West, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East all threaten to upset the market drastically.

Jorge Leon, Senior Vice President, Oil Market Research

2.  Natural Gas to help secure energy needs and support the energy transition

Gas will continue its effort to solve the energy trilemma (security, affordability, and sustainability) in 2024. Global gas production is expected to grow by 3% or 130 billion cubic meters (Bcm) in 2024. Investments in greenfield LNG projects are set to slow down this year compared to 2023 but remain at a robust level to support global LNG demand, reaching 500 million tonnes by 2027. Gas will play an enabling role in the energy transition, especially in the power sector. It will be relied upon on a global scale for the foreseeable future, including in Europe. 

Xi Nan, Senior Vice President, Gas and LNG Market Research

3.  M&A trend moves into the supply chain 

The consolidation trend that has gripped the upstream oil and gas industry lately will cross over into the supply chain in 2024. As interest rates stabilize, or even fall, elevated cash flows will encourage suppliers to explore strategic acquisition opportunities to grow capacity inorganically. This will be true for the oilfield services and clean energy markets, where organic capacity expansion may not be the most efficient option, given the peak activity in O&G in 2024 and excess capacity within low-carbon sectors..

Audun Martinsen, Head of Supply Chain Research

4.  Hydrogen projects take off in 2024

Activity in the clean hydrogen sector is surging globally, fueled by maturing policies in Europe and the US, in addition to early commercial-scale projects in the Middle East, Australia and Africa. However, 2024 promises more than just momentum – it’s a year of clarity. Several key feasibility studies will be completed, revealing promising new use cases for hydrogen consumption. In the US, expect both a surge in clean hydrogen project approvals (FIDs) and potential cancellations, thanks to the long-awaited 45V tax credit regulations from the Inland Revenue Service (IRS). In 2024, a series of global auctions and grants will unfold, providing essential insights into key aspects of the emerging clean hydrogen sector. These events will shed light on pricing dynamics, technological advancements and the eventual victors and contenders in this transformative landscape.

Artem Abramov, Head of Clean Tech Research

5.  Muted US shale growth helps OPEC

Oil prices are expected to stay elevated in the near term, but evolving strategies in the US shale sector mean output is not growing as quickly as in previous years. Investments in the shale patch are not expected to grow in 2024, keeping activity and output relatively flat, and enabling OPEC to effectively regulate the market. As a result, extended periods of high oil prices could be in store.

Espen Erlingsen, Head of Upstream Research

6.  Renewable growth doubling down  

This year is expected to be another record breaker for the solar and wind markets, adding more than 510 GW of solar PV and wind capacity globally. The resulting new generation from these sources – more than 900 terawatt-hours – will be enough to cover most of the growth in demand, helping limit the need for fossil-fueled power generation. Although capacity will continue to grow, governments need to put in place the right incentives for renewable energy projects to ensure the momentum continues.   

Carlos Torres Diaz, Head of Renewables & Power Research

7.  Potential for an OPEC+ type group in refined products markets, notably in China

China’s downstream oil sector has revamped its strategy with a bullish move in shifting from quarterly to annual crude import quotas and broadening product export allowances for independent refiners. This is a signal for higher flexibility and autonomy in China refining, both state owned and independent players to keep markets guessing of their next moves, potentially injecting volatility into crude procurement and product exports. This points to an expectation where run rates are set to climb near 15 million barrels per day (bpd), staying elevated throughout the year and peaking at 16 million bpd by September. Notably, the combined refinery capacity of China, the Middle East and Russia, totaling around 38 million bpd, has surpassed that of North America and Europe. The rise of a supply management framework in the refined products market, resembling OPEC+, could be an emerging trend to look out for in the year ahead.

Mukesh Sahdev, Head of Downstream

8.  Offshore wind not out of the woods yet, but long-term outlook is robust

In 2023, challenges like inflation, interest rates and supply chain issues led to project setbacks and renegotiations in offshore wind. While the year ahead may not bring a drastic shift, a change can be noted with authorities supporting long-term goals with improved terms in auctions and industry-specific inflation adjustments. At the same time, the soaring inflation experienced in recent years is flattening out, removing the need for further interest hikes and rising capital costs for developers and suppliers. Despite market uncertainty, 2023 saw a record year for FIDs for over 12 GW of offshore wind projects globally (excluding China), suggesting healthy activity levels in the coming years. Furthermore, governments are expected to uphold commitments moving forward, with increased auction volumes, realistic pricing, a focus on faster permitting, and emphasis on supply chain efficiency—all adding to the momentum that’s needed to maintain the energy transition journey.

Alexander Flotre, Vice President & Head of Offshore wind

9.  Coal generation to start decline in 2024 as Asian growth slows

Global coal-fired power generation will decline in 2024, thanks in part to the evolving Asian power grids. We predict coal generation in the power sector will fall by 33.7 terawatt-hours (TWh), a 0.3% annual decline, as Asia starts hitting the brakes on new coal power projects. The modelled fall is small but significant as 2023 represents the high water mark for global coal power. China, India and Indonesia remain the top coal consumers for now, but the tide is turning. Surging new renewable energy capacity installations and aging coal plants will soon tip the scales clearly in favor of fossil-free alternatives and a falling share for coal in the power mix will only gather pace.

Steve Hulton, Head of Global Coal Industry Research

To dive deeper into our research and analysis on the energy transition, register now for our upcoming webinar “Rystad Talks Energy“.