No evidence US spent $50 million on condoms for Gaza - More Lies

 https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-us-spent-50-million-condoms-gaza-2025-01-30/

Statements from the Trump administration saying it discovered a plan to send $50 million to fund condoms in Gaza have been denied by the humanitarian group named as the recipient and by a former U.S. official.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the remarks at a Jan. 28 press briefing about President Donald Trump having temporarily suspended U.S. foreign aid pending reviews of existing development programs. Trump repeated the claim about $50 million on condoms for Gaza on Wednesday.

Leavitt had told reporters, opens new tab that the Elon Musk-led advisory group known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had “found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza” (18:32 timestamp).

Posts online, opens new tab sharing a clip of Leavitt’s remarks said: “WILD: Karoline Leavitt EXPOSED that $50 MILLION in U.S. taxpayer money almost went to fund CONDOMS in Gaza before DOGE cut it.”

State Department ends Gaza program that Hamas used for 'explosive condoms' - More Lies

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/01/28/state-department-ends-gaza-program-that-hamas-used-for-explosive-condoms/

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to freeze foreign aid over the weekend included pulling millions of dollars-worth of US funding for condoms in Gaza, Fox News Digital reported.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the funding pause during her first briefing Tuesday. "That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that's what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars," Leavitt said, according to Fox News Digital.

Over the past decade, Hamas has used condoms to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would fly into southern Israel, raising the alarm on schoolyards, farmlands, and highways. These improvised explosive devices burned thousands of hectares of land and caused extensive damage.

The State Department's review comes in response to President Donald Trump's executive order, "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid," issued last week directing a 90-day pause on most US foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.

Trump social media claim of using troops to force water flow is refuted by California

 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-27/la-me-trump-water-military

President Trump on Monday night heightened his battle with California over water policy by suggesting U.S. military troops had arrived in the state to turn on pumps and send more water flowing — something state officials quickly denied.

On Monday evening, Trump wrote that the military “just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump says military 'turned on the water' in California. State officials say that's false.

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/28/donald-trump-california-wildfires-water/77989788007/

California officials said late Monday that the U.S. military did not enter the state and release a large flow of water, as President Donald Trump had earlier claimed in the latest back-and-forth between Trump and the state over water resources.

Learning a Few Good Middos from President Trump

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This criticism of Mr. Trump’s leadership has appeared in editorials, letters to the editor, and even major articles in frum publications since the election and inauguration. Without delving into these accusations, I personally have responded privately by explaining that none of us were voting to place Donald Trump on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah or to submit kvittlach to him for brachos. He was by far the best candidate for president, and his actions thus far have supported that hope and prayer. However, I believe that there is at least one middah—and as we will see, many more—that are worth highlighting for several reasons. It is something we can all learn from and emulate. It is an admirable trait for a leader and one to be proud of. Most importantly, the Torah itself recommends that we follow this approach to life.

Schumer hits Trump over funding freeze memo reversal: ‘Americans made their voices heard’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5115038-schumer-trump-funding-freeze-memo/

The reversal followed massive blowback on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers were bombarded with calls from constituents who had questions about which programs would be affected and about access issues to web portals, including for Medicaid.

“When the Trump administration announced this awful directive on Monday night, we knew immediately it was shortsighted, disastrous, cruel, and dumb,” Schumer said at the press conference.

5 questions about Trump’s federal employee buyout offers

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5114659-trump-buyouts-government/

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) warned federal workers against taking the offer in a Senate floor speech Tuesday night.

“The president has no authority to make that offer. There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work,” he said. “If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you.”

Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, Gadi Moses, five Thai nationals to be released today

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/2025-01-30/live-updates-839868

According to information presented to mediators of the deal, five Thai citizens are also expected to be released by Hamas.

Elizabeth Warren Exposes RFK Jr.- another "victim"

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-jr-senate-hearing-health-and-human-services-drugmakers-lawsuits-elizabeth-warren-36691b47

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday to root out corruption between industry and government. Yet the man who wants to be the nation’s Secretary of Health and Human Services refused to rule out personally making money from lawsuits against drug makers. This ought to be disqualifying

Trump White House reverses course, rescinds freeze on federal grants

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/29/white-house-budget-office-spending-freeze/

The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.

The original White House order freezing federal grants, which became public on Monday, caused mass chaos and confusion across Washington, appearing to imperil government programs that fund schools, provide housing and ensure low-income Americans have access to health care. States reported issues accessing funds under Medicaid, and even as of Wednesday, public housing authorities reported being locked out of their funding portal. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that assistance for individuals would not be affected.

As a Rising Political Star, Gabbard Paid to Mask Her Sect’s Ties to Alleged Scheme

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/tulsi-gabbard-science-of-identity-qi-group-ed51c890?mod=hp_lead_pos7

Years before Tulsi Gabbard became Trump’s pick to coordinate U.S. spy agencies, she tried to evade unwanted scrutiny

Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family's views on RFK Jr. over the years

 https://www.newsweek.com/caroline-kennedy-rfk-jr-video-letter-family-2022650

Caroline Kennedy alleged Kennedy Jr. "put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks," adding that "it was often a perverse scene of despair and violence."

Kennedy Jr.'s use of drugs was also brought up by Caroline Kennedy, who accused him of leading his siblings and cousins "down the path of substance abuse, addiction, illness, and death," while he went on to "cheat his way through life."

Two of his siblings and his niece wrote an op-ed saying he has "helped to spread dangerous misinformation," and is "complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines."

Tulsi Gabbard Pictured at Altar Dedicated to Her Wacky Anti-Gay Guru

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/tulsi-gabbard-pictured-at-altar-dedicated-to-her-wacky-anti-gay-guru-chris-butler/

The photograph of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence shows how a teenage Gabbard took part in a ritual dedicated to Chris Butler, the leader of the Science of Identity Foundation, while she was a student at one of its boarding schools.

Gabbard was around 15 when the photograph of her at Butler’s altar, the first visual evidence of her participation in the group, was taken in the Philippines. Her parents, both deeply enmeshed in Butler’s movement, had sent her to one of the group’s boarding schools there.

Religious sect followers prayed and sang as an 8-year-old died. All 14 have been found guilty of manslaughter

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/29/australia/australia-sect-elizabeth-struhs-guilty-intl-hnk/index.html

Fourteen members of a small religious sect in Australia have been found guilty of the manslaughter of an 8-year-old girl, who died after they withheld insulin needed to treat her diabetes because of their unwavering belief that God would heal her.

Instead, as she lay dying, they turned to prayer and song, maintaining a vigil around her bed, and even after she’d stopped breathing, sought divine intervention to raise her from the dead.

A central tenet of their faith was the healing power of God, and they rejected conventional medicine, which some members described as “witchcraft,” the ruling said.