Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice.com,

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NYSE:DJT) have surged nearly 70% after the company agreed to merge with fusion startup TAE Technologies in a $6 billion deal. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders of each company will own roughly half of the combined entity on a fully diluted equity basis. Trump Media, majority owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, will now become the holding company for TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences alongside current holdings Truth Social, Truth+ and Truth.Fi. 

Founded in 1998, TAE Technologies aims to deploy commercial, utility-scale fusion energy. The company plans to commence construction of its first fusion power plant in 2026, expected to generate 350-500 MWe.

TAE Technologies has raised more than $1.3 billion thanks to backing by high-profile investors, including Google, Chevron Technology Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Sumitomo Corporation of America. The company plans to employ neutral particle beams and magnets in its fusion reactors instead of standard lasers.

Widely regarded as the Holy Grail of low-carbon electricity, nuclear fusion works by ‘smashing’ together hydrogen atoms to create helium and release energy through the famous E=MC2 mass-energy equivalence. Fusion is the process by which stars, including our own sun, generate vast amounts of energy in their cores. 

Nuclear fusion is able to generate four times as much energy as nuclear fission from the same mass of fuel. Fusion reactors are highly regarded not only because of their massive power output but also because they produce much less radioactive waste and cannot melt down, unlike fission reactors, where uncontrolled chain reactions can be catastrophic. 

Nuclear fission is a process where a nucleus (usually of a heavy atom like uranium) splits into two smaller nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy and additional neutrons. These released neutrons can then induce further fission events, leading to a chain reaction.

After a long period of stagnation, nuclear fusion is hot again thanks to the ongoing global nuclear renaissance amid surging energy demand. Back in August, Sam Altman-backed Helion Energy began construction of its first commercial nuclear fusion plant in Chelan County, Washington. Helion’s project has already undergone rigorous environmental assessments as part of the Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process by the State of Washington. 

Two years ago, Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ:MSFT) signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Helion Energy to buy electricity from the nuclear fusion startup beginning in 2028. Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) was appointed as the marketer for the zero-carbon electricity Helion plans to generate at its Orion plant.

Helion has scored some important fusion milestones, with its Trenta prototype the first private reactor to achieve nuclear fusion on a commercial scale. Trenta–Helion’s sixth fusion prototype–has been able to achieve a critical fuel temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, widely considered a benchmark for commercial fusion viability. 

Testing of the prototype began in 2019 and concluded in January 2023, during which the facility completed nearly 10,000 high-power pulses and operated under vacuum for 16 months. Trenta uses a pulsed magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) approach to generate fusion energy. It accelerates two Field Reversed Configurations (FRCs) of plasma to collide, compressing them to fusion temperatures and directly recapturing the released energy as electricity, bypassing the traditional steam turbine cycle.

China Enters Fusion Race

That said, China has entered the fusion race with a bang. Whereas the U.S. was among the world’s first countries to bet big on this futuristic gambit, China’s foray came much later. China has been making rapid progress over the past decade, and now owns more fusion patents than any country according to industry data published by Nikkei. Further, China is building projects at record speed. 

China’s private fusion energy company, Energy Singularity, has achieved several significant breakthroughs in developing high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tokamak devices aimed at accelerating the commercialization of fusion energy. In June 2024, the company’s HH70 device successfully achieved its “first plasma,” making it the first and only operational full high-temperature superconducting tokamak built by a commercial company globally. The HH70 device was designed and constructed in under two years, a world record for the fastest development and construction of a superconducting tokamak.

In early 2025, Energy Singularity’s large-bore D-shaped HTS magnet, named “Jingtian” generated a world-record magnetic field of 21.7 tesla in a test. This surpassed the previous record held by a U.S. company/MIT collaboration and is a critical step for developing smaller, more cost-effective fusion reactors.The company is now developing its next-generation device, the HH170, which is planned for completion by 2027 and aims to achieve a tenfold energy gain (Q>10), a crucial milestone for commercial viability.

Interestingly, just like it did with AI models, China is pulling off impressive fusion milestones with much less. To wit, Energy Singularity has so far received just $112 million in private investment, significantly less than U.S. fusion startups. For some context, Charles Seife, director of the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism at New York University, estimates that France-based International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project costs have surpassed €20 billion ($21.8 billion), more than four times the original budget of €5 billion (then $5.5 billion) and nearly a decade late from its 2016 delivery date.

That said, Energy Singularity is not the only fusion startup that’s pursuing small reactor designs. Deven, Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems is collaborating with MIT to build its small fusion reactor. 

The company has achieved major breakthroughs in fusion energy by developing world-record High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets, enabling smaller, more powerful tokamaks like their SPARC device, which aims to be the first to produce net energy. They’ve secured massive funding (around $3 billion), validated their magnet technology with the U.S. DOE, and demonstrated key magnet performance milestones. CFS is now building its SPARC reactor to prove net-energy fusion, paving the way for its first commercial power plant, ARC.

Outside of local reporting in Seattle, corporate media outlets at the national level have entirely ignored the brutal attack on a 75-year-old woman by a repeat offender. The silence is telling and underscores how progressive criminal justice reforms continue to backfire spectacularly, enabling a revolving-door chaotic environment that releases serial offenders back onto the streets with nation-killing consequences.

That’s correct. There has been no coverage in the mainstream press. The reason is very simple: corporate media outlets no longer function as independent news organizations, but as public-relations arms that filter stories based on narrative control rather than public importance. 

0 AP stories on Jeanette Marken
0 PBS stories on Jeanette Marken
0 NYT stories on Jeanette Marken
0 NPR stories on Jeanette Marken
0 WSJ stories on Jeanette Marken
0 BBC stories on Jeanette Marken
0 CNN stories on Jeanette Marken
0 WAPO stories on… pic.twitter.com/KogLaTWrWd

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 21, 2025

KOMO News released new surveillance video showing a horrific and random attack outside the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle earlier this month.

75 year old Jeanette Marken was victim of an unprovoked attack by REPEAT violent offender Fale Vaigalepa Pea.

She lost an eye and broke her nose and cheekbone.

Fale has a long violent record of stabbings to drugs.

Judges kept releasing him to terrorize others.

This must stop! pic.twitter.com/vBFJu8BdWu

— C3 (@C_3C_3) December 22, 2025

According to charging documents, 42-year-old Fale Vaigalepa Pea used a wooden stick with a protruding screw to strike 75-year-old Jeanette Marken in the face.

BREAKING: Violent repeat offender who was known to police just randomly slashed a 75-year-old woman in the face in Seattle and permanently blinded her pic.twitter.com/fXH2bXpsMc

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 21, 2025

KOMO said court records show Pea has been known to law enforcement for years and has a long history of violent behavior.

In 2011, Pea stabbed two people at a party in SeaTac, including one victim who was stabbed eight times. He was later convicted by a jury and sentenced to 18 months of community custody. Since then, he has been charged in multiple assault cases, including one in 2020, four in 2023, and another in 2024.

This year alone, Pea has been booked into the King County Jail eight times. Despite repeated arrests for assault, indecent exposure, drug offenses, property destruction, unlawful use of weapons, and malicious mischief, none of those arrests this year resulted in charges before the random attack on the 75-year-old woman.

Pea now faces a first-degree assault charge and is scheduled for a competency hearing later this month. Prosecutors argue that his actions and criminal history show he’s a danger to the community.

What’s most shocking is that body camera footage from officers at the scene described Pea as a “regular” and noted, “He’s notorious for random assaults on Third.”

Elon Musk commented on the shocking video on X, saying, “This keeps happening to innocent people.”

Unacceptable… Judges must be held accountable! pic.twitter.com/HIDONCoF0R

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) November 26, 2025

Musk is likely referring to the fatal stabbing in Charlotte of a Ukrainian refugee by yet another serial offender released onto the street by progressive judges.

Judges must be held accountable https://t.co/bgDbt5rbH0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2025

It’s time to hold left-wing politicians, judges, and anyone in between accountable for allowing repeat criminals back onto the streets, slaying the innocent.

This is why we need to Nayib Bukele America’s judicial system.

“We had to remove corrupt judges and corrupt attorneys and prosecutors!”pic.twitter.com/jxs5lJHV41

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 22, 2025

In the meantime, continue to avoid crime-ridden, Democrat-run cities and stay vigilant. None of this chaos should be happening, yet it has been allowed through nation-killing policies pushed by Democrats who follow a globalist framework aimed at undermining America from within.

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

Instacart said it is ending a pricing experiment that allowed different customers to see different prices for identical grocery items after consumer advocates said the practice could inflate grocery bills at a time when households are already struggling with high food costs.

In a blog post published on Dec. 22, the company said it would immediately halt all “item price tests” conducted on its platform, acknowledging that the practice fell short of customer expectations at a time when inflation-weary households remain sensitive to grocery bills.

“Our customers have high expectations for Instacart. And for some, we fell short of those expectations,” the company said.

“At a time when families are working exceptionally hard to stretch every grocery dollar, those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart. That’s not okay—especially for a company built on trust, transparency, and affordability.”

The decision means that if two customers shop for the same items, at the same time, from the same store location on Instacart, they will now see the same prices, the company said.

Instacart said retailers will continue to control pricing on the platform, including whether online prices differ from in-store prices or vary by store location. But the company said it will no longer support item-level price testing tools that result in different prices for the same product at the same store.

Consumer Groups Flagged Pricing Risks

The pricing experiments drew public scrutiny earlier this month after a report by Consumer Reports, along with progressive advocacy groups Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union, found that many Instacart shoppers were shown multiple prices for identical items.

The groups conducted four identical Instacart shopping sessions with 437 volunteers across four states, comparing prices for the same 18 to 20 products purchased at the same time. A fifth group purchased the same items in physical stores for comparison.

The analysis found that roughly three-quarters of items were offered at different prices across shoppers, with markups ranging from a few cents to as much as $2.56 per item. In one September test, total cart prices for the same groceries ranged from $114.34 to $123.93, with just 8 percent of shoppers receiving the lowest total.

In one example cited by Groundwork Collaborative, shoppers ordering a dozen Lucerne eggs from a Safeway store in Washington were shown one of five prices—$3.99, $4.28, $4.59, $4.69, or $4.79—despite ordering at the same time from the same store.

“At a time when food price inflation outpaces overall inflation, and Americans report that the price of groceries is their number one cost concern, pricing experiments used by companies like Instacart are making the situation worse,” Groundwork Collaborative wrote.

Consumer Reports cited customer feedback describing the practice as deceptive, saying shoppers were unknowingly subjected to pricing experiments that left them questioning whether they were being overcharged.

“Instacart shoppers we spoke to say they were unaware that they were participants in active Instacart pricing experiments and view the practice as manipulative and unfair,” Consumer Reports wrote.

The company’s variable pricing experiments also drew scrutiny from lawmakers. On Dec. 11, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Committee on Agriculture, sent a letter to Instacart citing the consumer group findings and requesting detailed answers about the company’s pricing practices.

“I am writing to express my deep concern with Instacart’s use of sensitive personal information to inflate grocery bills for families based on their financial situation,” Craig wrote. “The practice of charging my neighbors different prices for the same groceries at the same store is unacceptable, especially when families are being squeezed from all sides.”

Instacart said in its Dec. 22 blog post that the pricing tests, conducted using software from Eversight, were randomized and not based on personal data, shopping history, demographics, or real-time supply and demand.

“These tests were not dynamic pricing or surveillance pricing,” Instacart said, adding that prices were not tailored to individual users.

Earlier this month, Instacart confirmed it had been offering the Eversight pricing tools to a limited number of retail partners since 2023, saying the short-term tests were designed to help retailers understand category-level price sensitivity and were not designed to increase the average markup set by a retail partner.

FTC Settlement Adds to Scrutiny

Instacart’s decision to end the pricing tests comes just days after the company agreed to pay $60 million in consumer refunds to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In a Dec. 18 announcement, the FTC said the settlement resolved allegations that Instacart engaged in deceptive practices, including misleading advertising about free delivery, charging undisclosed service fees, and enrolling consumers in paid subscriptions without clear consent.

“Instacart misled consumers by advertising free delivery services—and then charging consumers to have groceries delivered,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

The FTC alleged that Instacart advertised “free delivery” on first orders but then charged mandatory service fees that could add up to 15 percent of an order, without clearly disclosing the costs. The agency also accused the company of falsely advertising a “100 percent satisfaction guarantee” while making refunds difficult to obtain.

Under the proposed order, Instacart must stop the alleged practices, clearly disclose fees and subscription terms, and obtain express informed consent from consumers. The company has denied wrongdoing but said the settlement allows it to move forward.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, an Instacart spokesperson said the company’s pricing, marketing, and fee policies are transparent and comply with the law.

“We flatly deny any allegations of wrongdoing by the Federal Trade Commission, and we stand firmly behind the integrity and transparency of our programs,” the statement reads.

Looking ahead, Instacart said it will focus on encouraging more retailers to move toward in-store and online price parity, while clearly displaying each retailer’s pricing policy on its platform.

“Trust is earned through clarity and consistency,” the company said. “Customers should never have to second-guess the prices they’re seeing.”

Mary Prenon contributed to this report.

Malicious actors are impersonating government officials to secure sensitive information and steal funds, the FBI said in an alert on Dec. 19.

“Activity dating back to 2023 reveals malicious actors have impersonated senior U.S. state government, White House, and Cabinet-level officials, as well as members of Congress to target individuals, including officials’ family members and personal acquaintances,” the alert said.

“If you receive a message claiming to be from a current or former senior U.S. official, do not assume it is authentic.”

As Naveen Athrappully reports for The Epoch Times, the threat actors have sent text messages and artificial intelligence-generated voice messages as part of their impersonation campaigns.

In the scheme, criminals contact a target by impersonating a U.S. official and briefly engage in conversation on a topic the target is well-versed in, the agency said. They then request that the communication be taken to an encrypted mobile messaging application. In most cases, the initial contact is made via SMS, and the conversation is then moved to an app such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or Signal.

Once this communication channel is set up, they inquire about events such as bilateral relations, current affairs, and trade and security policy negotiations, according to the FBI.

The malicious actor then suggests setting up a meeting between the target and the U.S. president or other high-ranking officials. They also lie that the target is being considered for nomination to the board of directors of a company.

According to the FBI, targets have been asked to take certain actions, including providing an authentication code allowing the fraudsters to sync their device with the contact list on the target’s phone, supplying personally identifiable information and copies of personal documents, and wiring funds to a financial institution located abroad under false pretenses.

The Dec. 19 alert is an update to an earlier alert issued by the FBI on May 15, which warned that once a target is lured into a messaging platform, he or she may be presented with malware or hyperlinks designed to steal log-in information, such as user names and passwords.

The malicious actors may use voice phishing tactics, which involve audio generated by artificial intelligence to impersonate public figures or personal relations to boost the believability of the scheme.

In the latest alert, the FBI issued guidance to help identify suspicious messages. It advised people to verify the identity of the person contacting them and to listen closely to the tone and word choice during a call or voice message to assess whether it is AI-generated.

It asked people to refrain from sharing sensitive information with those they have only met online or by phone and to not send money or assets to such individuals.

According to the 2024 report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, there were 17,367 government impersonation complaints filed last year, more than the 11,554 complaints filed in 2022.

Meanwhile, losses from such complaints jumped from roughly $240 million to more than $405 million during this period.

People aged 30–39 filed the highest number of government impersonation complaints in 2024, followed closely by those in the 40–49 age group.

AI Impersonation, Social Security Warning

In September, the FBI and the American Bankers Association warned that AI-backed deepfake impersonation scams were getting harder to detect.

“Imposter scams in particular are on the rise. … Criminals are using deepfakes, or media that is generated or manipulated by AI, to gain your trust and scam you out of your hard-earned money,” the agency said.

Deepfake content can include altered audio, video, or images. The scammers can impersonate public figures, such as celebrities or the target’s family and friends, the FBI said.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) also issued a warning in November about a new government scam targeting Social Security recipients via fake emails, texts, or letters.

The scam involves criminals threatening beneficiaries that their Social Security numbers will be suspended within 24 hours and that their cases will be referred for criminal prosecution, urging them to contact the OIG using the provided number.

When victims call the number, the scammer impersonates an SSA employee and requests the target’s personal information.

“Scammers continue to exploit fear and confusion by using official-looking letters and real SSA employee names to threaten you and convince you they’re legitimate so that you will respond and provide them with your personal information and money,” acting Inspector General Michelle L. Anderson said.

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft that violated restricted airspace over President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 21, military officials said.

The aircraft entered restricted airspace at about 9:20 a.m., prompting an F-16 fighter jet to conduct what is called a “headbutt maneuver,” in which the jet flies directly in front of a civilian plane to get the pilot’s attention, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a news release.

NORAD, which oversees the airspace of the United States and Canada, did not specify the type of aircraft involved or its point of origin or destination.

Temporary flight restrictions went into effect at 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 19 ahead of Trump’s arrival in Palm Beach later that night for his annual Christmas and New Year’s visit to Mar-a-Lago. The restrictions, issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), are set to remain in place until 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2026.

Under the restrictions, most flights are prohibited within a 10-nautical-mile radius, or about 12 miles, around Mar-a-Lago. A larger outer ring extending to 30 nautical miles, or roughly 35 miles, allows more limited aircraft movement, according to the FAA.

When an aircraft violates the restricted airspace, air traffic controllers would try to contact the pilot and instruct them to exit the area. If the pilot does not respond, NORAD may dispatch fighter jets to intercept the aircraft. Intercepting pilots may fly alongside the plane, tip their wings, release flares, or perform other maneuvers to attract the pilot’s attention.

Pilots who violate temporary flight restrictions may face penalties ranging from warnings and fines to suspension or revocation of their pilot certificates, the FAA said.

Since Trump was elected to a second term, he has made multiple weekend visits to Palm Beach County, triggering flight restrictions each time he is in town.

In early March, less than two months into Trump’s second presidency, NORAD said it had already intercepted 20 civilian aircraft for violating temporary flight restrictions near his Palm Beach residence.

A more recent incident occurred on Nov. 30 during the Thanksgiving weekend, when NORAD dispatched F-16s after a civilian aircraft entered restricted airspace. In that case, fighter jets released flares before escorting the plane out of the restricted zone, officials said.

NORAD advised pilots to carefully review all Notices to Airmen and temporary flight restrictions before they take off.

“NORAD employs a layered defense network of radars, satellites, and fighter aircraft to identify aircraft and determine the appropriate response,” officials said in the Dec. 21 statement.

“The identification and monitoring of aircraft demonstrates how NORAD executes its aerospace warning and aerospace control missions for the United States and Canada.”

Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

A federal judge has allowed most claims in a senior Secret Service agent’s lawsuit alleging a hostile workplace, retaliation, and discrimination to move forward despite Department of Homeland Security opposition, according to court documents.  

Rashid Ellis, a 14-year veteran of the agency with expertise in drone systems, sued DHS, which oversees the Secret Service, three months before the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Ellis’ lawsuit accuses agency leaders of dismissing complaints, elevating problematic colleagues to oversight positions, and punishing him for advocating for advancements in drone technology and racial unity within the agency.

The claims of retaliation, discrimination, and hostile work environment took place when Alejandro Mayorkas was DHS secretary and Kimberly Cheatle ran the Secret Service. Cheatle was forced to resign after severe criticism of her testimony to Congress about the Butler failures.

Even though Ellis’ former agency is now led by Trump-appointed Secretary Kristi Noem and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, so far there has been no effort to settle the case out of court.

Ruling Preserves Ellis’ Core Allegations

U.S. District Judge Emmit Sullivan ruled in late September that most of the claims in Ellis’ lawsuit could proceed. The decision, which RealClearPolitics is first to report, rejects the government’s motion to dismiss the case, clearing the path for legal discovery into allegations of systemic leadership failings, which Ellis argues enabled bias, stifled innovation, and endangered the agency’s mission.

A graduate of The Citadel who was consistently awarded “exceeds expectations” ratings in his performance reviews, Ellis served on former President Joe Biden’s protective detail, the elite Counter Assault Team, and as an instructor at the Secret Service’s James J. Rowley Training Center on counter-surveillance and the use of drones. His role as the Secret Service point person for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, a lobbying entity that offers legal services, retirement benefits, and other support, amplified his advocacy for racial equality. Ellis argues it also made him a target for Secret Service leadership.

Multiple Secret Service shortcomings were evident in Butler on the day Trump was nearly killed, including the failure to detect the shooter’s drone in the air over the rally site. On the one-year anniversary of the Butler assassination attempt, the Secret Service announced reforms, including the creation of an Aviation and Airspace Security division “dedicated to maintaining the agency’s critical aerial monitoring capabilities.”

Ellis’ lawsuit detailing his experiences with Cheatle at the helm, which RCP reported on last year, reads like a case study of the agency leaders’ long-running tendency to engage in petty squabbles, favoritism, and retaliation instead of keeping its focus on the big picture – its mission of protecting presidents, vice presidents, Cabinet members, and former presidents.

In a detailed 63-page opinion, Sullivan determined that Ellis had sufficiently alleged civil rights violations.

The judge was unpersuaded by DHS attorneys’ arguments, including that Ellis didn’t truly suffer any adverse action because he never lost his salary and that he didn’t exhaust administrative remedies on his charges before filing suit.

DHS attorneys also argued that federal employees are held to a higher standard than those in the private sector when it comes to experiencing adverse actions. Sullivan dismissed this last argument as one that has repeatedly failed in previous court decisions.

“As discussed below,” the judge wrote, “this theory has been rejected by every judge on this court to have considered it.”

Ellis’ attorney, David Blum of Alan Lescht & Associates, P.C., told RCP: “We look forward to litigating the merits of this case.”

The Secret Service has declined comment on Ellis’ case and ignored several separate questions about the agency’s history of resisting efforts to implement an extensive aerial drone program and the readiness level of that program. Prior to the assassination attempts, the Secret Service had an aerial drone program, but it was limited in scope, sources told RCP.

“As a matter of longstanding policy, the U.S. Secret Service does not comment on pending or proposed litigation,” a spokesperson told RCP last year. The agency did not respond to a request for comment on Sullivan’s ruling.

The lawsuit depicts a corrosive Secret Service culture in which leaders engage in intimidation, and supervisors ignore harassment reports, neglect investigations, and retaliate if personnel complain of mistreatment.

Ellis argues that Cheatle, then serving as the head of the Secret Service’s Office of Protective Operations, backed by human resource managers and other bureaucrats, blocked and retaliated against him for trying to transfer jobs to work full-time on a special drone project he was developing, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.

Some of these agency officials, Ellis asserts, also retaliated against him for lodging complaints about personal and inaccurate attacks based on his perceived religion.

Cheatle and a group of senior Secret Service officials went to great lengths to prevent Ellis from serving in a key role in the Airspace Security Branch of the Secret Service’s Special Operations Division, which oversees the drone program, according to court records Ellis filed last year.

Instead, the agency wanted to send him to the vice presidential detail to help provide security for Kamala Harris, her husband, and their extended family, and wouldn’t budge when he appealed the decision – even though the agency had formally listed the airspace position as “hard-to-staff.”

Ellis, who is black but eschews racial divisions, referring to himself as “American,” filed suit against DHS in April 2024 and amended the complaint in late July to outline a pattern of harassment. The lawsuit accuses agency officials of orchestrating an elaborate scheme, beginning in 2021, to undermine his career in retaliation for his efforts to transfer to an Airspace position. Ellis wanted the position so he could play a direct role in establishing and implementing “a special project involving drones,” according to the lawsuit.

Ellis’ lawsuit alleges that those who conspired against him include Cheatle; then-human resources head Susan Yarwood; Elizabeth Lewis, Yarwood’s then-deputy; then-Technical Services Division Assistant Director Darren Giacolleto; then-Human Resources supervisors Danielle Watson and Thomas Hamman; and others.

Specific Leadership Failures

Incidents of harassment Ellis endured include:

• A fellow agent, whom the lawsuit identifies as Michael Hackney, allegedly used a training exercise to physically attack him and pulled a live weapon on him as a joke while he was working a protection detail. Ellis reported the incident to his superior, who took no action, telling him, “The juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” according to the lawsuit. Two years later, Hackney allegedly aggressively drove his SUV toward Ellis and his pregnant wife and one-year-old son as though he was going to run them over.
• Another agent, who Ellis says witnessed the aggressive driving threat, warned him not to report Hackney because “that’s how some people joke.”
• Ellis, a Christian, believes his complaints about Hackney, whom he said also misidentified him as Muslim and called him a “terrorist” based on his Islamic-sounding first name, contributed to his failure to land bids for two hard-to-staff positions in the agency’s Airspace branch, even though he argues he was eligible for both positions.

The lawsuit further alleges:

• A senior official acknowledged agency-wide racism and backed Ellis’ 2021 drone position bid, calling him the “number one selection,” but failed to counter Human Resources’ disqualification. Lewis and Yarwood deemed him ineligible despite his qualifications and the endorsement.
• After Ellis appealed that decision, Danielle Watson twisted his frustrated comment about the process “driving him to drink” into cynical claims that he admitted to abusing alcohol. Yarwood, after consulting Lewis, directed Watson to draft a memorandum falsely alleging Ellis admitted to drinking, family disputes, and related issues – proven false by video evidence. The agency then placed Ellis on administrative leave and forced him to surrender his gear while recommending a nine-month sobriety program. Those decisions were overturned shortly afterward, but nonetheless damaged Ellis’ reputation.
• Cheatle supported the phony alcoholism narrative, recommending administrative leave and the sobriety program, and allegedly provided misleading statements in an affidavit about the sources of information that informed her decisions.
• Giacoletto denied Ellis’ appeal the day the agency imposed the administrative leave and was involved in the initial disqualification.

A supervisor warned Ellis of “a lot of trouble” for pursuing grievances, while others told him that the real source of his troubles with the agency was his pro-drone advocacy.

These incidents, Ellis claims, reflect a Secret Service pattern of weaponizing human resources processes against those who complain of mistreatment, a similar refrain among numerous former agents and the lawyers who have represented them.

Connections to Broader Secret Service Challenges

Despite new leadership, the Secret Service has experienced a string of continued lapses and embarrassing incidents. As RCP first reported, two female officers were involved in a physical fight outside former President Obama’s D.C. residence; Secret Service officers also missed a Glock while screening bags at Trump’s Virginia golf course; a Uniformed Division officer fell asleep on the job and left his fully automatic rifle unattended while protecting the United Nations General Assembly in New York; and an agent openly celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination in a Facebook post. Trump’s detail also allowed protesters at a D.C. restaurant to get close to Trump and several of his top Cabinet members and taunt them.

Ellis’ lawsuit alleges that his blocked transfer to a leadership position in the drone program quite possibly hindered advancements that might have prevented the 2024 Trump assassination attempts. A Senate report on the Butler failures faulted Secret Service leaders for denying counter-drone requests and technical failures. Then-Acting Director Ronald Rowe admitted to lapses during congressional testimony last year.

Ellis himself ties the Butler failures to Cheatle and prior leaders’ DEI priorities, arguing they favored quotas over merit, eroding standards and morale and agent retention. As the discovery process proceeds, the case may force DHS to address these leadership decisions.

“The relentless push by Secret Service leadership to meet diversity quotas has compromised our ability to meet our protectees’ needs,” Ellis said in a video posted on the Independent Women’s Forum website. IWF is a nonprofit conservative advocacy organization.

Despite efforts to dismantle DEI under the current administration, Ellis cautions that it will take years for the agency to recover.

“If we do not clean out the rot, our people – and our protectees – will pay the price,” he warned.

More than a year after Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow, and some mainstream media outlets are finally taking a critical eye to the new Sharaa/Jolani regime and its human rights abuses, religious oppression, and war crimes.

While the West and Gulf countries celebrated Assad fleeting the country for Russia in December 2024, with the al-Qaeda linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) taking over Damascus, the new government quickly got to work persecuting, massacring, and disappearing religious minorities.

First Alawites were targeted last spring, then Christians, and more recently Druze – or anyone not acting according to the HTS brand of fanatical Islam and jihad. But CNN and other establishment news outlets have ‘moved on’ and are turning a blind eye. 

But somewhat surprisingly, Reuters has issued a new report which highlights the country simply traded Assad’s ‘notorious prisons’ for Jolani’s dark dungeons:

The first wave of detentions in the new Syria came almost immediately – just after victorious rebels flung open the doors of Bashar al-Assad’s notorious prisons.

As ordinary Syrians stormed detention complexes last December to search for loved ones who had vanished under Assad’s rule, thousands of the deposed dictator’s soldiers who had abandoned their posts – officers and conscripts alike – were taken prisoner by the rebels.

Then came the second wave in late winter: Hundreds of people from Assad’s Alawite sect, mostly men, were seized by the new authorities throughout Syria. Their detentions spiked after a brief uprising along the coast in March killed dozens of security forces, sparking reprisals that left nearly 1,500 Alawites dead. Those arrests continue to this day.

In the next wave to be targeted for mass detentions by the new government were Druze, especially after fighting and unrest was sparked in the south between locals and Jolani’s Sunni security forces.

Reuters underscores, “Prisons and lockups that jailed tens of thousands of people during Assad’s rule are now crowded with Syrians detained by President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s security forces and held without formal charges.”

The outlet has compiled names of over 800 Syrians held under such circumstances, and says the true figure is likely much higher.

Syrian general security headed towards Aleppo calls Kurds pigs. Not the SDF. Not the Asayish. Kurds.

“We’ll step on your necks, God willing.”

This is the “inclusive” Syrian government. pic.twitter.com/LWzxJdX3ls

— Lindsey Snell (@LindseySnell) December 22, 2025

The secular rule of the Assad family over the years consistently saw widespread accusations of torture happening at government detention sites. But again, it seems the country has simply moved to jails now overseen by torturers who are bearded jihadists: 

In December 2024, Sharaa pledged to “close the notorious prisons” of the fallen dictator. But Reuters found that at least 28 prisons and lockups from the Assad era have been operational again over the past year.

Asked for comment on the findings of this report, Syria’s Information Ministry said that the need to bring those involved in Assad’s abuses to justice explained many of the detentions and the reopening of some facilities.

“The number of people involved in crimes and violations in Syria under the former regime is very large, given the scale of the abuses committed,” the ministry said. “There are past crimes, involvement in new violations, and threats to security and stability by those associated with the regime, in addition to other crimes.”

So it seems this is more about mass revenge against non-Muslim communities, and detainees interviewed by Reuters say they’ve been insulted with fanatical and religious language. “You are infidels, you are pigs,” one Syrian farmer who was arrested by the new regime described.

Another Alawite man recounted, “Everyone ordered me to bark like a dog. They beat me with the butts of their rifles, their fists, their boots. I thought my life was coming to an end.”

Shocking how #ISIS has become more powerful and present in #Syria since Trump made #Jolani and the #NewSyria Takfiris part of the Anti-ISIS coalition. LOL pic.twitter.com/poM3LzwLnh

— Vanessa Beeley (@VanessaBeeley) December 17, 2025

Reuters also included the story of a Christian merchant who was tortured and killed under the new regime:

Among the dead was a detainee at Kafr Sousa, a 59-year-old Christian merchant named Milad al-Farkh. His family said he was arrested on August 24 on allegations of hiding weapons, working as an arms dealer and selling expired meat at his butcher shop.

Al-Farkh’s family described the arrest as an attempt to pressure them into paying $10,000 in protection money.

Two weeks later, an inmate at Kafr Sousa managed to get a call out to the family to tell them al-Farkh was near death from torture. The call from the hospital morgue came the next day, on September 9, the family said. One relative was arrested for demanding an autopsy. 

Sadly, Syria’s new rulers – who resemble ISIS or al Qaeda in their words, actions, appearance, and beliefs – were installed with the help of the US, Turkey, and Gulf allies.

Below: “Details of the real-life experiences of the Orthodox Christian families and others who suffered at the hands of radical terrorists supported by countries and groups from outside Syria.”

The Book SYRIA CRUCIFIED offers unique stories of individual Syrian Christians telling of their war-torn homeland. Order your copy with the link below. https://t.co/tn0pfyQFS9 pic.twitter.com/zazLajtIsh

— Brad Hoff (@BradRHoff) December 28, 2021

President Trump even recently boasted, “It’s been amazing what — what’s taken place in Syria. We got rid of Assad.” 

Amer Matar, a journalist and filmmaker briefly detained by ruling HTS forces this year has observed, “Those ruling today decided to turn the Assad prisons into new prisons… It’s the most absurd thing I have ever seen.”

Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The United States has recalled almost 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial roles.

All of the ambassadors were appointed under President Joe Biden and are senior members of the State Department’s Foreign Service, which produces career diplomats to serve in Washington and abroad.

These diplomats tend to stay in their roles for a few years and usually do not leave when there is a change in administration, as they are trained to carry out the president’s agenda, no matter which party occupies the White House.

The ambassadors were informed last week that their tenures will end in January. Those affected by the recalls will return to Washington and are able to take on other assignments.

A State Department official told The Epoch Times that ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president.

“This is a standard process in any administration,” the official said.

“An ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.”

Politico first reported the ambassadorial recalls.

“One of the reasons why President Trump was elected is sort of an understanding among the American people that our foreign policy was in need of a complete recalibration because the world has dramatically changed,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Dec. 19

“Many of the institutions, policies, assumptions that our foreign policy was operating under were built upon a world that no longer existed, and it required us to re-examine that.”

The 29 ambassadors recalled included 15 from Africa: Algeria (Elizabeth Aubin), Burundi (Lisa Peterson), Cameroon (Christopher Lamora), Cape Verde (Jennifer Adams), Egypt (Herro Mustafa Garg), Gabon (Vernelle Trim FitzPatrick), Ivory Coast (Jessica Davis Ba), Madagascar (Claire A. Pierangelo), Mauritius (Henry Jardine), Niger (Kathleen FitzGibbon), Nigeria (Richard Mills Jr.), Rwanda (Eric W. Kneedler), Senegal (Michael Raynor), Somalia (Richard Riley), and Uganda (William Popp).

There were eight recalled from the Asia-Pacific region: Fiji (Marie Damour), Laos (Heather Variava), Marshall Islands (Laura Stone), Nepal (Dean Thompson), Papua New Guinea (Ann Marie Yastishock), the Philippines (MaryKay Loss Carlson), Sri Lanka (Julie Chung), and Vietnam (Marc Knapper).

Four of the recalled ambassadors were from Europe: Armenia (Kristina Kvien), Macedonia (Angela Aggeler), Montenegro (Judy Reinke), and Slovakia (Gautam Rana).

Two were from the Americas: Guatemala (Tobin Bradley) and Suriname (Robert Faucher).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Japan is set to resume operations at the world’s largest nuclear power plant, marking a key development in the country’s return to nuclear energy almost 15 years after the Fukushima disaster.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located around 136 miles northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut down after the nuclear disaster that occurred after the crippling of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan in March 2011. The disaster occurred following the 9.0 magnitude Great East Japan Earthquake, which led to a large tsunami.

Japan has now resumed nuclear power generation at 14 of the 33 plants that remain operable, as part of its shift away from reliance on fossil fuels.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which also ran the Fukushima plant.

Operations can resume immediately following Niigata prefecture’s assembly passing a vote of confidence on Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi on Dec. 22.

Hanazumi, who backed the restart last month, said after the vote, “This is a milestone, but this is not the end.”

“There is no end in terms of ensuring the safety of Niigata residents,” he said.

Deep Divisions

The assembly session revealed the community’s deep divisions over the restart, in spite of lawmakers giving their backing to Hanazumi.

“This is nothing other than a political settlement that does not take into account the will of the Niigata residents,” an assembly member told fellow lawmakers during the session.

Around 300 protesters gathered outside the assembly holding billboards with signs expressing their opposition to the resumption in operations, such as  “No Nukes” and “Support Fukushima.”

“I am truly angry from the bottom of my heart,” Kenichiro Ishiyama, a 77-year-old protester from Niigata city, told reporters after the vote.

“If something was to happen at the plant, we would be the ones to suffer the consequences.”

Evacuation Effects

An almost 50-foot tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three of Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident rated level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, with a high level of radioactive release occurring.

The evacuation has been criticized for having done more harm than good, due to the effects of stress on those displaced, particularly on elderly people. Experts have concluded that the loss of life would have been far smaller if all residents had done nothing at all, or were sheltered in place, instead of being evacuated.

“We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident and ensuring Niigata residents never experience anything similar,” said TEPCO spokesperson Masakatsu Takata, who declined to comment on timing.

TEPCO pledged earlier this year to pour 100 billion yen ($641 million) into the district over the next 10 years as it fought to win the support of Niigata’s wary residents. The company’s shares rose by 2 percent in Monday’s afternoon trade in Tokyo, higher than the Nikkei index as a whole, which was up 1.8 percent.

A survey in October found 60 percent of residents did not think conditions for the restart had been met, with almost 70 percent worried about TEPCO operating the plant.

Farmer Ayako Oga, 52, was forced to flee the area around the Fukushima plant in 2011, along with around 160,000 other evacuees.

“We know firsthand the risk of a nuclear accident and cannot dismiss it,” said Oga, who still suffers from post-traumatic stress-like symptoms following the disaster.

Hanazumi has said he hopes Japan will eventually be able to reduce its reliance on nuclear power.

“I want to see an era where we don’t have to rely on energy sources that cause anxiety,” he said last month.

The Dec. 22 vote represented the final hurdle before TEPCO restarts the first reactor, which alone could boost electricity supply to the Tokyo area by 2 percent, according to an estimate by Japan’s trade ministry.

AI Driving Energy Demand

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed her support for nuclear restarts to counter the cost of imported fossil fuels, which account for 60–70 percent of the country’s total electricity generation.

Last year, Japan spent 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, representing a tenth of the country’s total import costs.

Despite its declining population, Japan expects energy demand to rise over the next decade, due to the power needs of artificial intelligence (AI) data processing centers.

The country has set a target of doubling the portion of nuclear power in its electricity mix to 20 percent by 2040.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 GW, which is enough to power a few million homes.

Japan’s top nuclear power operator, Kansai Electric Power, said in July it would begin conducting surveys for a reactor in western Japan, in what is planned to be the country’s first new plant since the Fukushima disaster.

Reuters contributed to this report.