Known for many memorable aphorisms, Winston Churchill once expressed a determination to “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
Over the ensuing decades, some leaders have used such logic to justify taking advantage of people’s fears during perilous times — trampling their liberties in ways the people would never tolerate during more normal circumstances.
The better application of Churchill’s principle, however, is to actually learn the right lessons from crises we encounter — and to apply those lessons in ways that truly protect both lives and liberty.
So it is with the COVID-19 pandemic that remains relatively fresh in our collective memory.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the architect of much of the federal government’s initial COVID-19 response, admitted late last year that many directives — such as 6-foot social distancing — “sort of just appeared” without any serious science backing them up.
So seems to be the case with many mandates and orders imposed in the individual states.
Here in Indiana, we Hoosiers recently passed the four-year anniversary of stay-at-home orders imposed by our governor with the support of appointed bureaucrats and others.
On March 6, 2020, Governor Eric Holcomb declared a public health emergency. Over the course of more than two years, various government officials issued and enforced COVID-19 mandates, including stay-at-home orders, capacity limits, vaccine mandates, mask requirements, and business, school, and church closures.
Unfortunately, few of the leaders responsible for these harsh measures have undertaken any serious effort in the aftermath of their actions to assess whether they responded appropriately to the threats we faced. But we need such an evaluation in order to learn from mistakes — and to develop a plan and vision for how we will react to similar scenarios in the future.
Toward accomplishing these ends — and because no one else stepped forward to adequately address these issues — I tasked my office with conducting an analysis of how our state government responded to the dangerous coronavirus spawned in China.
In March, we <a href="https://events.in.gov/event/attorney-general-todd-rokita-reveals-faulty-covid-19-data-in-shocking-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a full report</a> on what we found. One key example — death counts across Indiana were vastly inflated:
<blockquote>COVID-19 was listed as a “cause of death” for numerous deaths caused by gunshot wounds, fires, car accidents, blunt force trauma, drowning and drug overdoses.</blockquote>
The obvious truth is that our state government produced and relied on severely flawed data, including inflated death counts and unsound positivity rates, to shape the state’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This faulty data led to months of mask mandates and, even worse, to lockdowns that devastated our economy and our children’s education.
The measures implemented to combat COVID-19 turned out to be even more destructive than the havoc wreaked by the public health crisis itself.
In Indiana, literacy rates plummeted as chronic absenteeism skyrocketed. Thousands of Hoosier 3rd graders have been allowed to move forward despite being unable to read. Students’ mental health also took a toll during the pandemic, with three out of every 10 Indiana students saying they considered suicide.
Shutting down society triggered an unprecedented level of federal spending. Total public debt as a percent of GDP skyrocketed to over 132% and remains historically high. Hoosiers and other Americans have suffered from the highest inflation rate in decades, and the consumer price index (CPI) remains elevated over pre-pandemic levels. Even after the pandemic, total federal government expenditures far exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Moving ahead, we must resolve never again to accept the false notion that we have to choose between our lives and our livelihoods. We must resolve, as well, to keep Indiana’s economy and educational institutions fully open for business during future public health challenges.
Some continue to insist that they have no regrets about the lockdowns and mandates that severely damaged our economy and our kids’ educations. In fact, after our report was released, the governor lambasted it as having “zero” credibility.
Why not <a href="https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/files/Covid-Report_efile.pdf">read the report</a> for yourself? Then, you can decide whether you believe it to be credible.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Let the people know the truth, and the country is safe.” Just as in his day, the need for transparency in government remains absolutely essential to maintaining a free society.
Let us all learn and remember the lessons from COVID-19 so that we can avoid past mistakes and better serve our fellow Hoosiers in the future. In particular, let us commit to always fighting the dangerous forces that are all too eager to lock down our liberties — for they pose as much danger to our republic as any virus ever could.
* * *
Todd Rokita is Indiana’s attorney general.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dr. Fauci Testifies To Senate Health Committee On Country’s COVID-19 Response

New Report Reveals Faulty Data, Fallout From COVID Lockdowns In The Hoosier State

COVID

Death

Indiana

Opinion

Readers Pass

School Lockdowns

Vaccine Mandate

Dr. Phil McGraw said on his syndicated television show this week that Americans need to have a conversation about limiting the government&#8217;s powers over the people in case another pandemic occurs.
McGraw made the remarks after repeatedly warning throughout the pandemic about the dangers that the lockdowns would have on people, especially children.
&#8220;When I stepped up in the beginning and said this lockdown, this quarantine, is going to create more problems with quality of life than that COVID is going to do in taking lives — people looked at me like I was insane,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I got criticized, called a &#8216;heretic,&#8217; ‘what is he talking about?’ I’ll tell you what I was talking about, I was talking about exactly what happened and is happening.&#8221;
&#8220;And what&#8217;s more, when you shut down the schools, the day you shut them down, you better have a plan for reopening them. I didn’t see a plan for them to be reopened,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And we have an entire generation that is suffering from developmental gaps, educational gaps, mental and emotional challenges and still there’s not a good plan to close those gaps. And my concern is when the next pandemic turns the corner, who’s got the plan then? What was learned from this? Because you don&#8217;t hear anybody talking about it, do you? You don&#8217;t hear anybody talking about it, but I&#8217;m talking about it because I want to make noise about this, I want to force people to say, &#8216;we need to get ready for when this happens again.&#8217; And I&#8217;m not some conspiracy theorist saying they&#8217;re coming to get us and lock us up.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712932862202000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0plT8RRdMy9XUpIhocnjQS">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
He concluded, &#8220;But I&#8217;m saying we need to think about whether we&#8217;re going to rely on science, and how we&#8217;re going to react when the government comes in and starts telling us what we can and can&#8217;t do. I think we need less government. I think if they would step back, we tend to have a way to work these things out.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
We can’t just move on and forget about the disaster of school closures. Otherwise it will happen again and innocent children will suffer even more. We need more people like Dr. Phil who push for accountability and put the needs of children first:
“When I stepped up in the… <a href="https://t.co/sKbsW2ojIu">pic.twitter.com/sKbsW2ojIu</a>
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickineily/status/1780624374824878439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – Season 11

Dr. Phil: People Need To Plan For Next Pandemic So Govt Can’t Tell Us ‘What We Can And Can’t Do’

Dr. Phil McGraw

U.S.

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief and Morning Wire co-host John Bickley and former ESPN SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele on her battle with the network over vaccine mandates and her plans for the future. Listen to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/sidelines-to-spotlight-sage-steele-s-new-chapter-sunday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full interview here</a>.
JOHN: Joining us now to discuss her journey from ESPN SportsCenter anchor to “canceled” to now host of her own show is Sage Steele. Sage, thank you so much for joining us.
SAGE: Thank you for having me.
JOHN: You’ve now launched “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-maher-launches-new-podcast-network-hires-conservative-as-his-first-host" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sage Steele Show</a>,” which we’d like to ask you about, but let&#8217;s start with you parting ways with Disney and ESPN. For those who haven&#8217;t tracked that sequence of events, can you tell us exactly what happened there?
SAGE: That&#8217;s a big, long answer. It was almost a two year process to be honest with you. I was on a podcast on a day off, giving my opinions and views on my own experiences and things that were happening at that time. That was in September or October of 2021. I was suspended for it, punished, silenced, and assignments were taken away from me and I was told that if I didn&#8217;t apologize publicly, I would lose my job.
Listen, there were years and years leading up to the point where I spoke differently from others. I didn&#8217;t follow the same narrative. I decided to stand up only because of the hypocrisy I saw on the other side where all of my peers were able to go on the network whenever they wanted and say what they wanted [because it was the accepted narrative], even if it had nothing to do with sports on ESPN platforms. And of course, I&#8217;d lived a lot of it behind the scenes.
Then, once you’re punished, at some point you have a decision to make. For me, I knew that it was enough. I also knew it was bigger than me, and that&#8217;s kind of what was happening throughout society in America — where if you don&#8217;t follow a certain narrative, then you&#8217;re silenced and punished and canceled. Also, once you get canceled so many times, it&#8217;s easier to say, “Wait a minute.” So I took a stand and did something I never thought I&#8217;d do, which is file a lawsuit against the company that I loved and ended up working for, for almost 17 years. It broke my heart, but I know it was the right thing because it&#8217;s truly about standing up for yourself and others and for freedom of speech.
JOHN: Now, vaccines played a central role in your <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/longtime-espn-anchor-who-criticized-covid-mandates-leaving-network-to-exercise-first-amendment-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">split with ESPN</a>, correct? Can you explain that for us?
SAGE: Yes. So at Disney, of course ESPN is owned by Disney, we were required to be fully vaccinated by September 30, 2021. I waited until literally the very last day. I was devastated about it and didn&#8217;t agree with being forced. There&#8217;s a difference between the vaccine and the vaccine mandate. I had an issue with the mandate because I wasn&#8217;t comfortable with the vaccine yet. I just wanted more time for more research to be done. I&#8217;d done my homework and I think the average is six to nine years for the FDA to approve a vaccine. And this was shoved out there pretty quickly as we know. It became super political on both sides and I just didn&#8217;t feel comfortable with doing it.
So, I actually went onto that podcast that day directly from getting the shot. I was pretty emotional, probably, and was running a little bit hot, but I was pretty measured with my comments. And I basically said, “Listen, I just don&#8217;t agree that anyone should be forced to do something to their body. I think it&#8217;s sick and scary for any company to do that, but I love my job. I need my job, and I complied in order to keep my job.” And that&#8217;s what I said.
Since then I&#8217;ve obviously thought so much about it. If I had said the opposite — if I had said, “Listen, all these anti-vaxxers are being quite selfish, they don&#8217;t care about their neighbors or their coworkers or their families, just get it” — I would have been celebrated. The other comments I made about race and being biracial and people telling me I should identify as black, even though I&#8217;m black and white, if I had said the other idea, I feel like I would have been celebrated. That&#8217;s where the hypocrisy was and that&#8217;s why I stood up.
JOHN: I should note for disclosure purposes — and also because it proved very consequential — that The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dhillonlaw.com/lawsuits/the-daily-wire-challenges-biden-administration-vaccine-mandate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued the federal government</a> over its vaccine mandate for big companies. We put ourselves at severe risk by doing so, but <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-said-do-not-comply-we-won" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we won that lawsuit</a>. And it&#8217;s something that we felt like we had to do. Your story certainly resonates with that move.
SAGE: Can I hug you for that? Because it&#8217;s been people like you and groups like yours who stand up — it just meant the world to me. And I have to say, doing it alone — and I&#8217;m a single mother of three kids, high school and college age kids — it&#8217;s not cheap to stand up. It&#8217;s scary when you&#8217;re on your own and you&#8217;re financially responsible for everybody. Along with throwing away the career that I loved, as I was told I was doing. But sometimes it&#8217;s bigger than us. And so people like you made me feel not quite as alone. It&#8217;s amazing what happens when you do take a stand and step out — how many thousands, millions of people — you realize you&#8217;re so not alone. There&#8217;s such fear and we just can&#8217;t lead with that fear anymore.
JOHN: About that, how have you seen people embrace you? And what&#8217;s this next phase in your career?
SAGE: I cannot tell you how excited I am about what&#8217;s next. Being able to have true, deep, genuine conversations, kind of a talk show format, but not an interview, it’s more of a conversation. There&#8217;s a huge difference. I&#8217;m all about freedom of speech and diversity of thought; that&#8217;s what I lead with. Anyone who knows me will back that up. That’s why, when Bill Maher offered me a job while I was on his Club Random podcast, I thought he was joking. And then he did it again. Of all people, Bill Maher is someone with whom I see things completely differently. I&#8217;m definitely more conservative; he is definitely far Left. He doesn&#8217;t believe in marriage and kids; he’s an atheist and thinks it&#8217;s all crazy. And I&#8217;m the opposite in every single category. I love that we can sit and talk. Most importantly, he saw where my heart is, which is to truly be accepting of everyone and welcome diverse thoughts. And to give me a show to do that? It&#8217;s so much bigger than me. This is about trying to show America that this can exist: We can lead with kindness and be strong in our beliefs. It&#8217;s a beautiful thing that Bill Maher saw this controversial conservative, former ESPN star and said, “No, no, no, I&#8217;m going to give her a shot, even though I completely feel differently about huge important issues in our country.” I think it&#8217;s a win for everybody and I&#8217;m so honored.
JOHN: During the COVID pandemic, we saw censorship on a level I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;ve ever seen before, at least not in recent decades. Do you feel like there&#8217;s progress being made, or are we still under this heavy-handed censorship complex?
SAGE: I think there is. Obviously you do this every single day and pay super close attention to it. I&#8217;m probably a step back from you, but watching it in a different way as a journalist now, my journalism career is changing and evolving. I feel like there&#8217;s progress and to me the biggest reason for it is Elon Musk. I&#8217;m so grateful for him taking that huge chance. I don&#8217;t care how many billions of dollars you have, that is a risk he has taken. It&#8217;s been fascinating to watch him, what he tweets and what he says. I think it gives the majority of America hope because I truly believe that most Americans think like we do — like we don&#8217;t all have to believe the same things, but you must be respectful of everyone&#8217;s opinion and their right to have it. So, because of Elon Musk, it is changing.
I have seen and read about so many other people taking stands. It&#8217;s fascinating to learn what&#8217;s going on with Google and all the suppression over the last 12 years with the election process. That stuff’s being exposed. I feel like on the old Twitter, now X, that we would never have been able to hear about that, not as quickly and efficiently and accurately. So, to me, there is progress and we have to continue. I believe there&#8217;s a groundswell for people like us who just want all things available for us to review and allow us to make our own decisions. That&#8217;s what had been taken away and people didn&#8217;t realize it. Now it&#8217;s being exposed and that&#8217;s the win.
That&#8217;s what I want to talk about on my show with a variety of guests. Yes, some will be athletes, but also people in Hollywood, some politicians, actors, all the above, because I think we probably have a lot more in common than we believe. It doesn&#8217;t all have to be political. I want to hear their “whys” and most importantly though, when it all hits the fan, how do they push through? How do they push through those adverse moments in their lives despite making it all look perfect on TV or on the internet? What I have found is most people believe like us, but they&#8217;re fearful — fearful in Hollywood in particular to speak their truth. So, I hope and pray that I can make people comfortable — comfortable enough to do that. And then, when people open up and speak openly, I think everybody wins and others realize, “Hey, I&#8217;m not alone and we&#8217;re right to stand up and speak our own truths. It doesn&#8217;t have to fit a certain narrative.”
JOHN: As you mentioned, Bill Maher is far-left on many issues. Is he putting any restrictions on your topics for your show?
SAGE: Zero. Nothing. It&#8217;s beautiful. I&#8217;m so not used to this world. I&#8217;m like, “Wait, what?” I&#8217;m waiting for someone from the Disney offices in Burbank to reach up and cut me off. It&#8217;s just a whole new world. Bill and I agree on some of the core issues. That&#8217;s what we found out in that podcast I did with him on Club Random — about immigration, he thinks it&#8217;s completely out of control; about transgender, the transgender sports, women&#8217;s sports issue, out of control and ridiculous and scary; and of course the vaccine, vaccine mandates, nuts. So those are three core issues that have obviously been so divisive. But again, when you look at my stance on things, how I feel about things based on myself and being a mother and not having a certain platform, and then you look at Bill Maher with his massive platform and his very Left-leaning liberal approach to pretty much everything in life. But it&#8217;s a great lesson, that when we are respectful, when we talk and lead with kindness, we realize we actually have a lot more in common. And he&#8217;s like, “Go girl. Say what you want, ask what you want, do what you want.” There&#8217;s a trust there already, and it&#8217;s something I&#8217;m so grateful for because I&#8217;m not used to that.
JOHN: Final question before you go: What have you been surprised by and what are you looking most forward to in this next phase?
SAGE: Well, thank you. I was just so shocked and honored that someone on “the other side of the aisle” saw the need for more conversation, and for Bill Maher to believe that I could be the one. I&#8217;ve never been given that kind of platform before. But it&#8217;s not about me or Bill; it&#8217;s about what has to happen. It does take courage though, right? For someone like Bill to say, “Oh, I&#8217;m going to go right into these waters and give a voice to someone with whom I feel so differently.” Kudos to him for seeing the big picture beyond what he believes. I am so excited to have these conversations and make them continue. Because if we don&#8217;t do this – I&#8217;m not trying to be dramatic – I believe we lose America and I do believe it&#8217;s now or never. So here we go with Club Random and Bill and me and a whole bunch of other guests. I hope you guys take a chance and listen.
JOHN: We certainly will. Sage, thank you so much for joining us. We&#8217;d love to talk to you again.
SAGE: I would love to. I listen to y&#8217;all every morning. So thank you.
JOHN: That’s certainly nice to hear. Thanks again for coming on.
SAGE: Thank you. God bless.
Listen to the full Morning Wire interview <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/sidelines-to-spotlight-sage-steele-s-new-chapter-sunday-extra">here</a>.

Shaq’s Fun House

INTERVIEW: Former ESPN Anchor Sage Steele Talks Getting Canceled After Vax Comments, Surge Of Support & Launch Of Her New Show 

Bill Maher

ESPN

Morning Wire

Sage Steele

Sports

An analysis piece from The New York Times this week admitted that Republicans by and large were correct — and Democrats were wrong — about policies that kept children out of school during the coronavirus pandemic.
The report <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/upshot/pandemic-school-closures-data.html">said</a> that today there is &#8220;broad acknowledgment among many public health and education experts that extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid, while the academic harms for children have been large and long-lasting.&#8221;
The report also stated that remote learning was highly damaging to children&#8217;s ability to learn during the pandemic and that the finding held true regardless of income level.
Both at the state and local levels there was a strong correlation between remote learning and a drop in test scores, the report said, according to analysis by the Times, Harvard, and Stanford. A separate study of 10,000 schools reached the same conclusion.
&#8220;Such losses can be hard to overcome, without significant interventions,&#8221; the analysis said. &#8220;The most recent test scores, from spring 2023, show that students, overall, are not caught up from their pandemic losses, with larger gaps remaining among students that lost the most ground to begin with. Students in districts that were remote or hybrid the longest — at least 90 percent of the 2020-21 school year — still had almost double the ground to make up compared with students in districts that allowed students back for most of the year.&#8221;
The report noted that Democrats have tried to claim that their approach to education during the pandemic was centered around &#8220;their commitment to safety&#8221; among other things.
However, experts told the Times that there was strong evidence that closing schools did little to stop the spread of the pandemic.
The report sought to let Democrats off the hook for how their policies hurt children, claiming &#8220;there were no easy decisions at the time.&#8221;
Among Republicans, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis led the country in pushing back against tyrannical measures that were disrupting people&#8217;s lives during the pandemic. In late Spring 2020, DeSantis <a href="https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/06/11/governor-hopes-florida-schools-will-reopen-for-summer-fall-semesters/">introduced</a> his plan to reopen schools in the state and get kids back in the classroom.

GOP Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis Campaigns In California

New York Times: Republicans Were Right About Pandemic School Policy, Democrats Were Wrong

Pandemic

Politics

school

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andrew-cuomo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Cuomo</a>, a Democrat who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-andrew-cuomo-to-resign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigned from office</a> in 2021 amid a sexual misconduct controversy, has been subpoenaed to testify about his handling of nursing homes during the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> pandemic, a GOP-led congressional panel revealed on Tuesday.
The House is compelling Cuomo to appear for a May 24 deposition focused on a mandate Cuomo issued in March of 2020 forcing New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit or re-admit potentially contagious and untested COVID-19 patients, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/wenstrup-announces-subpoena-for-former-new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%94%20Today%2C%20Select%20Subcommittee%20on,deposition%20on%20May%2024%2C%202024." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;This order recklessly exposed New York’s most vulnerable population to COVID-19 with deadly consequences,&#8221; the statement said, adding that reporting indicated that more than 15,000 individuals died in New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities during Cuomo&#8217;s administration. &#8220;Evidence also suggests that former Governor Cuomo engaged in a coverup to hide the true New York nursing home mortality rate from the public and shift political blame away from his administration,&#8221; the statement continued.
Cuomo &#8220;implemented nursing home policies that had deadly consequences for New York’s most vulnerable population. Not only did the former Governor put the elderly in harm’s way, but he also attempted to cover-up his failures by hiding the true nursing home death rate. It appears that politics, not medicine, was responsible for these decisions. And that while Mr. Cuomo is adept at seeking legal advice, he is not necessarily adept at seeking medical advice,&#8221; said Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH).
The chairman added that Cuomo &#8220;owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. His testimony is crucial to uncover the circumstances that led to his misguided policies and for ensuring that fatal mistakes never happen again. It is well past time for Cuomo to stop dodging accountability to Congress and start answering honestly to the American people.&#8221;
Cuomo&#8217;s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/andrew-cuomo-subpoenaed-congressional-subcommittee-investigating-covid-era/story?id=107805055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told ABC News</a> the subpoena, which was <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024.03.05-Subpoena-to-Cuomo.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> by Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), was &#8220;an obvious press charade&#8221; and insisted that multiple investigations have &#8220;found no there there.&#8221;
In early 2021, after New York Attorney General Letitia James reported that nursing home resident deaths were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nursing-home-deaths-in-new-york-were-massively-undercounted-new-york-ag-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“undercounted” by roughly 50%</a>, Cuomo insisted that all deaths in nursing homes and hospitals were &#8220;fully&#8221; reported, but conceded <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/15/968199651/new-york-governor-defends-temporarily-withholding-nursing-home-coronavirus-data" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a &#8220;delay&#8221;</a> while his office was busy responding to a multi-state <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-requesting-data-governors-states-issued-covid-19-orders-may-have-resulted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inquiry</a> by the Department of Justice. &#8220;Everyone did the best they could,&#8221; Cuomo also <a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2021/01/29/cuomo-on-nursing-home-deaths---everyone-did-the-best-they-could--" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Cuomo&#8217;s lawyer Rita Glavin wrote to Wenstrup, according to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000018e-1005-d469-afbe-d88f0b6a0000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> published by POLITICO that was dated March 4, urging the chairman to reconsider issuing a subpoena. She said they had provided the subcommittee in a February 21 email four August dates for a transcribed interview, given obligations in other legal matters that have packed their calendars over the next several months.
&#8220;Your staff represented that they would revert back to me the following week, but we never heard back—until today. Specifically, earlier today, staff members asked me to accept electronic service of a subpoena to compel Governor Cuomo’s attendance for testimony. Given Governor Cuomo’s stated willingness to appear voluntarily for a transcribed interview, we ask that you reconsider issuing a subpoena,&#8221; Glavin wrote.
&#8220;To be clear, Governor Cuomo has been and remains cooperative,&#8221; she added. &#8220;In communications with your staff, we offered to provide written answers to &#8216;Questions For the Record&#8217; to the extent the Select Subcommittee needs information from Governor Cuomo prior to his interview. That offer still stands. If the four dates we proposed in August for his interview do not work for the Select Subcommittee, we are willing to discuss alternative dates. I simply ask that we work together to accommodate his legal obligations and my other professional obligations.&#8221;
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said on Tuesday that it &#8220;worked in good faith to schedule a voluntary transcribed interview with former Governor Cuomo to discuss his COVID-19 nursing home policies.&#8221;
&#8220;Cuomo has repeatedly and unjustifiably delayed the Select Subcommittee’s investigation by not responding to requests for weeks, ignoring Select Subcommittee staff’s attempts to negotiate interview dates and times, and providing unreasonable availability — nine months after the interview was originally requested. Today’s subpoena has sadly become necessary to uncover the truth about New York’s pandemic-era nursing home policies and deliver the answers Americans demand and New Yorkers deserve,&#8221; the panel added.

Andrew Cuomo

House Panel Subpoenas Andrew Cuomo To Testify On COVID Nursing Home Policies

Congress

New York

Dr. Phil McGraw slammed the leftist co-hosts of ABC&#8217;s &#8220;The View&#8221; this week during an intense discussion about the impacts of COVID lockdowns on school children.
McGraw said that the mental health of children largely began declining in 2008 with the advent of smartphones and social media.
&#8220;In like &#8217;08, &#8217;09, smartphones came in and kids stopped living their lives and started watching people live their lives,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So we saw the biggest spike and the highest levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidality since records have ever been kept. And it&#8217;s just continued on and on and on.&#8221;
&#8220;And then COVID hits 10 years later and the same agencies that knew that are the agencies that shut down the schools for 2 years,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Who does that? Who takes away the support system for these children? Who takes it away and shuts it down? By the way, when they shut it up they stopped the mandated reporters from being able to see children that were being abused and sexually molested and, in fact, sent them home and abandoned them to their abusers with no way to watch.  And referrals dropped 50-60%.&#8221;
Co-host Sunny Hostin snapped back, “There was also a pandemic going on and they were trying to save their lives.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg agreed, claiming that the government was &#8220;trying to save kids&#8217; lives&#8221;. “We know a lot of folks who died during this,&#8221; she said. &#8220;People weren’t laying around eating bonbons —”
McGraw fired back, noting that school aged children were not dying from the pandemic.
&#8220;Well, you know what? We’re lucky,&#8221; Goldberg claimed. &#8220;Maybe we’re lucky they didn’t, because they kept them out of the places that they could be safe because no one wanted to believe we had an issue.&#8221;
Co-host Ana Navarro asked McGraw: “Are you saying no school children died of COVID?”
“I’m saying it was the safest group,” McGraw responded. “They were the less vulnerable group, and they suffered and will suffer more from the mismanagement of COVID than they will from the exposure to COVID, and that’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.”
WATCH:
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🚨This is INSANE:
Dr. Phil correctly pointed out how school closures severely hurt children’s mental health, and the ladies of The View are *still* defending the decision to close schools four years later, despite all of the public evidence showing how harmful and unnecessary… <a href="https://t.co/6YihTl5eH7">pic.twitter.com/6YihTl5eH7</a>
&mdash; Nicki Neily (@nickineily) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickineily/status/1762199120293335548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Today – Season 66

Dr. Phil Torches ‘The View’ Co-Hosts Over Impact Of COVID Lockdowns On Kids: ‘That’s A Fact’

Lockdowns

The View

A global study that looked at medical issues among nearly 100 million people who received the COVID vaccine found a higher-than-expected increase in neurological- and heart-related problems following the shot. 
The Global Vaccine Data Network’s (GVDN) COVID Vaccine Safety study, which was the largest safety research conducted on COVID vaccines to date, found a higher risk of myocarditis than was expected from mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-19/largest-covid-vaccine-study-yet-finds-links-to-health-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The study also found an increased risk of a type of blood clot in the brain in people who received viral-vector vaccines, such as the one developed by the University of Oxford and produced by AstraZeneca. 
“The size of the population in this study increased the possibility of identifying rare potential vaccine safety signals,” said Kristýna Faksová, the lead author of the study who works for the Department of Epidemiology Research at Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/20/us-news/covid-vaccines-linked-to-slight-increases-in-heart-brain-blood-disorders/">according</a> to The New York Post. &#8220;Single sites or regions are unlikely to have a large enough population to detect very rare signals.&#8221;
GVDN is a New Zealand-based group that <a href="https://www.globalvaccinedatanetwork.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> itself as “a multinational, investigator-led research network with primary interests in the area of vaccine safety and effectiveness.” Researchers with GVDN looked at 13 medical conditions that they considered “adverse events of special interest” in 99 million vaccinated people throughout eight different countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand, and Scotland. The study’s most consistent finding was inflammation of the heart muscle, also known as myocarditis, after each of the first three doses of mRNA vaccines, Bloomberg reported. 
Researchers also <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4477406-largest-multi-country-covid-study-links-vaccines-to-potential-adverse-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> a “significant increase” increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome within the first 42 days of an initial AstraZeneca vaccine. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune disorder where an immune system attacks its body’s nerves, according to the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/guillain-barre-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20362793" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mayo Clinic</a>. 
“In its most severe form Guillain-Barre syndrome is a medical emergency,” the Mayo Clinic says. “Most people with the condition must be hospitalized to receive treatment.” 
The study then identified possible safety signals for spinal cord inflammation following viral-vector vaccine injections. Potential safety signals were also identified in the study for inflammation and swelling in the brain and spinal cord after both viral-vector and mRNA vaccines. 
Jacob Glanville, the CEO of biotech company Centivaix, responded to the study’s findings, telling <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/largest-ever-covid-vaccine-study-links-shot-small-increase-heart-brain-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> that while the vaccines have potential adverse effects, getting immunized against COVID is still the “safer choice.” 
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&#8220;This study is confirming in a much larger cohort what has been previously identified in the original studies during the pandemic — myocarditis and pericarditis as a rare side effect of mRNA vaccines and clots as a rare side effect of the viral vectored vaccines,&#8221; said Glanville, who was not involved in the study.
“The odds of all of these adverse events is still much, much higher when infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), so getting vaccinated is still by far the safer choice,” Glanville added.
The GVDN study was published in the medical journal “Vaccine” last week. Nearly 14 billion doses of COVID vaccines have been administered globally since they were first rolled out in December 2020.
The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to tout COVID vaccines as “safe and effective.” The WHO <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that “In 2021 alone, COVID-19 vaccines saved an estimated 14.4 million lives worldwide,” and the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html#:~:text=Everyone%206%20months%20and%20older,vaccines%20are%20safe%20and%20effective." target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommends</a> that everyone six months and older receive the vaccine. 
GVDN’s Global COVID Vaccine Safety Project is part of a larger initiative that is supported by the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services, and several of the study’s authors receive financial support from federal government agencies, including the CDC, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4477406-largest-multi-country-covid-study-links-vaccines-to-potential-adverse-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The outlet added that some of the study’s authors also reported having previously been paid by pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences Inc., AbbVie Inc., Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline.

COVID Vaccine

Largest COVID Vax Study To Date Finds Higher-Than-Expected Increase In Heart And Brain Issues Following Jab

COVID-19 Vaccine

Department of Health and Human Services

Health

study

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-wahlberg">Mark Wahlberg</a> said that COVID caused a &#8220;disconnect&#8221; between Americans and called for people to come back together through the &#8220;power of prayer.&#8221;
The 52-year-old actor talked to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-fought-injury-first-093005149.html#:~:text=%22We're%20having%20fun%2C,to%20bring%20people%20back%20together.%22">Fox News</a> about leaving Los Angeles for Las Vegas recently with his family and how excited he was for the city to host Super Bowl LVIII, saying the event will be a great way for people to connect once again.
&#8220;We&#8217;re having fun, we&#8217;re connecting with people,&#8221; Wahlberg said ahead of the Super Bowl weekend. &#8220;We&#8217;re in Vegas, we&#8217;re bringing people together.”
&#8220;This is a time for people to reconnect with one another,&#8221; he added. &#8220;COVID has created such a disconnect; it&#8217;s time to bring people back together.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Mark Wahlberg on Lent:
“It’s about trying to do more. To be better, to grow as a person, as a servant to God, as a father, as a husband, to grow as an example. What better than to have Ash Wednesday fall on Valentine’s Day because where do you get more love than with the Lord?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/6c3omZL0dP">pic.twitter.com/6c3omZL0dP</a>
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1757786687424307464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
During an interview on &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/mark-wahlberg-shares-ash-wednesday-message-reveals-daily-routine-starts-prayer">Fox and Friends&#8221;</a> on Ash Wednesday, the &#8220;Uncharted&#8221; star and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mark-wahlberg-congratulates-son-and-other-young-people-who-have-chosen-to-commit-to-the-lord">devout Catholic</a> talked about how people can become closer to God through prayer with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stay-prayed-up-mark-wahlberg-urges-his-18-million-followers-to-say-the-rosary-with-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hallow app</a>.
&#8220;We just want to be able to do more, and I think, what better than to have Ash Wednesday fall on Valentine&#8217;s Day?&#8221; Wahlberg told the hosts about the start of the 40 days of Lent, commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent in the desert before he began his public ministry.
&#8220;Because where do you get more love than with the Lord and… in a time where there&#8217;s such a disconnect?&#8221; he added. &#8220;We need things to bring people together and the power of prayer is doing that.&#8221;
During his appearance last year on the &#8220;Today&#8221; <a href="https://www.today.com/life/inspiration/mark-wahlberg-explains-important-not-deny-faith-rcna71761">show</a>, the superstar actor opened up about his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/faith">faith</a> and being part of Hollywood.
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&#8220;It&#8217;s a balance,&#8221; Wahlberg told the host. &#8220;I don&#8217;t wanna jam it down anybody&#8217;s throat, but I do not deny my faith. That&#8217;s an even bigger sin. You know, it&#8217;s not popular in my industry, but, you know, I cannot deny my faith. It&#8217;s important for me to share that with people.&#8221;
&#8220;But I have friends from all walks of life and all different types of faiths and religions, so you know, it&#8217;s important to respect and honor them as well,&#8221; he added.
Later, the host asked the actor to explain what his faith meant to him.
&#8220;[I]t&#8217;s everything. It&#8217;s afforded me so many things,&#8221; the &#8220;Shooter&#8221; star shared. &#8220;… God didn&#8217;t come to save the saints, He came to save the sinners … We want to be better versions of ourselves, and through focusing on my faith, it&#8217;s allowed me to do that.&#8221;
Wahlberg and his wife, Rhea Durham, have been married since 2009 and share four children together. 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mark-wahlberg-says-once-he-started-putting-my-faith-and-focus-on-god-good-things-happened-to-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Wahlberg Says Once He &#8216;Started Putting My Faith And Focus On God, Good Things&#8217; Happened To Him</a>

Boston Special Screening Of Father Stu With Mark Wahlberg And Rosalind Ross

Mark Wahlberg Says It’s ‘Time To Bring People Back Together’ After COVID: ‘Prayer Is Doing That’

Mark Wahlberg Says It’s ‘Time To Bring People Back Together’ After COVID: 'Prayer Is Doing That'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hollywood

Mark Wahlberg

Super Bowl

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> will have to $2 billion in pandemic relief funds to combat learning loss, thanks to a lawsuit from parents, one of the largest education-related settlements in the country&#8217;s history.
A settlement was <a href="https://publiccounsel.org/press-releases/historic-settlement-promises-new-resources-for-children-left-behind-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached</a> last week in Alameda County Superior Court between the state and a group of families in Los Angeles and Oakland who said their children suffered severe learning loss thanks to remote learning.
&#8220;Between March and June of 2020, neither of my children learned anything in school,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-schools-forced-spend-2-billion-covid-relief-funds-address-learning-loss-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> one of the parents in the case, who is from the Los Angeles area.
The lawsuit argued that California had failed to make sure local school districts spent federal money meant for learning loss on the students who needed the most help catching up.
Under the <a href="https://publiccounsel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-12-18.Cayla-J-Settlement.FINAL_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settlement</a>, California schools must spend the $2 billion on things like tutoring to help students who have fallen far behind.
Another part of the settlement involves the state agreeing to propose a new law that would let funds be spent on &#8220;community organizations with a proven track record of improving student success.&#8221;
Both of the parent groups that sued have programs for struggling students.
“This $2 billion-plus settlement is a history-making win, but money can’t solve anything if we don’t put it to good use,” said Lakisha Young, founder of parent group The Oakland REACH said.
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“We all must advocate for these funds to be used for solutions that put parents and caregivers in the driver’s seat and are proven to get kids reading,&#8221; Young said.
The president of the other parent group, Community Coalition, <a href="https://publiccounsel.org/press-releases/historic-settlement-promises-new-resources-for-children-left-behind-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the settlement a &#8220;huge victory and much-deserved investment&#8221; in California&#8217;s minority students, whom he said are still feeling the impact of the pandemic.
&#8220;The urgent vision of this historic settlement is not just to recoup the academic losses suffered by California’s most disadvantaged students, but to erase the opportunity gaps altogether exacerbated by the pandemic,&#8221; <a href="https://publiccounsel.org/press-releases/historic-settlement-promises-new-resources-for-children-left-behind-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> attorney Mark Rosenbaum of the non-profit law firm Public Counsel, which represented the plaintiffs.
Remote learning, which persisted in California long after many other areas had returned to in-person classes, has caused significant learning loss among K-12 students.
Parents and teachers hoped kids would learn more quickly to catch up, but those hopes have not been realized. Last year, one study showed fourth through eighth graders making even slower academic progress in reading and math in 2022 than before the pandemic.
Students would need an average of four and a half months of extra math instruction and just over four months of additional reading instruction to catch up to the typical pre-COVID student, the study estimated.

TOPSHOT-education-FRANCE-SCHOOL

Lawsuit Forces California Schools To Spend $2 Billion In COVID Funds On Learning Loss

California

Education

Remote Learning

Comedian and HBO host Bill Maher got into a bit of a verbal sparring match with &#8220;Family Guy&#8221; creator Seth MacFarlane over the COVID-19 vaccines and mandates, arguing that the United States had failed to recognize the value of natural immunity.
The discussion came about during the latest episode of Maher&#8217;s podcast, &#8220;Club Random,&#8221; and Maher posited that pushing the vaccine on everyone — even those who had already contracted the virus — was &#8220;powerful stupid.&#8221;
WATCH:
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🔥 Bill Maher &amp; Seth MacFarlane Get Into a HEATED Debate Over the COVID Vaccine
“Djokovic didn’t need it. Aaron Rodgers didn’t need it…You completely want to shut your eyes to the fact that there are repercussions to all medical interventions including a vaccine!” <a href="https://t.co/bafg4BmvBF">pic.twitter.com/bafg4BmvBF</a>
&mdash; Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1740895343825264641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Why are doctors wrong about so much?&#8221; Maher asked.
MacFarlane protested that doctors were right about a lot of things as well, but Maher pushed back.
&#8220;Very often, people who aren&#8217;t doctors have been righter about things,&#8221; Maher continued, and when MacFarlane asked for an example, he went straight to the handling of COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States.
&#8220;I would think — this country did not allow for natural immunity to be considered. And I know this is a subject dear to your heart. Like, even if you had the disease, you still had to get a vaccine. That’s powerful stupid. They don’t do that in Europe,&#8221;Maher explained.
MacFarlane objected, pointing to the number of people who have contracted the virus multiple times and arguing that there was no real &#8220;natural immunity&#8221; to be had. &#8220;Don’t you know people have had COVID four or five times? I do. That’s not natural immunity. There’s no immunity there.&#8221;
&#8220;Probably because you&#8217;ve had too many vaccines,&#8221; Maher replied, and noted that because of the way vaccines work, mass vaccination could have resulted in large swaths of the population whose immune systems were under increased stress.
MacFarlane pushed back, saying that vaccination reduced the risk of hospitalization and death.
&#8220;But that&#8217;s assuming that all people are alike,&#8221; Maher said. &#8220;And that is one of the giant fallacies in your way of thinking, we are not all alike.&#8221;
He went on to argue that it was the wrong decision for the vaccine to be pushed on everyone — even those who were not considered high risk.
&#8220;[Novak] Djokovic didn’t need it. Aaron Rodgers didn’t need it,&#8221; Maher continued over MacFarlane&#8217;s objections. &#8220;You completely want to shut your eyes to the fact that there are repercussions to all medical interventions including a vaccine!&#8221;

Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Lakers

Bill Maher Spars With Seth MacFarlane Over COVID Vax Mandates: ‘Djokovic Didn’t Need It’

Bill Maher Spars With Seth MacFarlane Over COVID Vax Mandates: 'Djokovic Didn't Need It'

Covid vaccine

Seth MacFarlane

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> man may face up to 10 years for selling over $2.5 million in fake N95 masks to third-party companies that then sold them to health care providers during the pandemic.
Jiang Yu, 70, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/west-linn-man-pleads-guilty-federal-court-importing-and-selling-25-million-counterfeit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pled</a> guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, which <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-1999-title18-section2320&amp;num=0&amp;edition=1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carries</a> a maximum 10 year sentence, a $2 million fine, and three years of supervised release. The charge doesn’t carry a mandatory minimum sentence. The Oregon District Attorney’s Office charged Yu in October.
According to court filings, USA v. Yu, Yu imported and sold masks with counterfeit markings — such as “NIOSH” or “3M” — from May 2020 to about June 2021. Yu’s three co-conspirators were listed as “unknown.”
“Defendant and his co-conspirators sold at least $2,531,857.53 in counterfeit masks to various purchasers,” stated one court filing. “The majority of sales were to third-party companies, many of whom sold to healthcare providers.”
In order to conceal the counterfeiting, Yu and his unnamed co-conspirators reportedly created fake documents and certificates of authenticity. Yu’s plea agreement letter admitted to supplying the masks while his co-conspirators posted videos on social media advertising the masks for sale as authentic.
“[W]hen customers raised questions about the authenticity of the products, [Yu] worked with [the co-conspirators] to design and edit fake certificates of authenticity in an attempt to lull and trick purchasers about the nature of their counterfeit products,” stated the letter.
Yu is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, 2024, before Judge Michael Mosman in the Oregon District Court. As part of his plea agreement, Yu must forfeit over 380,000 counterfeit 3M N95 masks, over 164,000 EA counterfeit 3M masks, over 51,000 EA Makrite counterfeit masks, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo, a 2012 Mercedes ML350, and over $25,900.
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Medical Pros, a medical supply company established in April 2020, claimed it purchased numerous counterfeit masks from Yu. They sued Yu’s company, Airfiltech, in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Per their lawsuit, the company claimed they suffered over $3.6 million in damages. Closure for their case awaits the outcome of the federal criminal case.
According to the Oregon secretary of state’s business registration database, Airfiltech was headquartered in Milwaukie, Oregon, and first registered back in 2013. Yu served as a manager for Airfiltech according to their annual reports.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations led on the case against Yu.
Yu’s counterfeit mask business was one of several lucrative operations that capitalized on the severe demand for personal protective equipment early on in the pandemic.
In the first year of the pandemic, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-hsi-marks-anniversary-operation-stolen-promise-48m-covid-19-fraud-proceeds-212m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> seizing over 21.2 million counterfeit masks as part of Operation Stolen Promise, launched in April 2020. In late 2020 and early 2021, HSI agents <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/dhs-prevents-millions-counterfeit-n95-masks-reaching-hospital-workers-first" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized</a> over 11 million counterfeit 3M masks routed for delivery to hospital workers and first responders.
Earlier this year, a Chandler, Arizona, man — Mark Forrest Cohn, 68 — was <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/phoenix-man-sentenced-importing-counterfeit-n95-masks-asia-following-hsi-phoenix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to one year of probation and thousands in restitution for importing and selling counterfeit 3M N95 masks from China in 2020. Some of Cohn’s counterfeit masks were shipped to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 2021, HSI <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/millions-counterfeit-masks-seized-during-operation-maine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized</a> over two million counterfeit N95 masks purchased by the state of Maine from late 2020 to early 2021.

Oregon Man Charged For Selling Over $2.5 Million In Fake N95 Masks During Pandemic

Face Masks

Fraud

Oregon

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy cornered Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre during Monday&#8217;s briefing, asking whether she truly believed that the American people could feel the economy improving.
Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on the topic, beginning with a tongue-in-cheek question about whether families had commented — while sitting around their Thanksgiving tables — about how much less expensive things had gotten.
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Doocy: “But why do you think it is that when you say the economy is improving, and President Biden says the economy is improving that a majority of Americans outside of this building are not buying it?”
KJP: “So here’s the thing. When we walked into this administration, the… <a href="https://t.co/cF4y42vmZy">pic.twitter.com/cF4y42vmZy</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1729209327846568227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Responding to Jean-Pierre&#8217;s claims that prices of a number of key items had decreased, Doocy asked, &#8220;So, is it your sense that when people are home for Thanksgiving, catching up with their family members, they were saying to each other, ‘Can you believe how much more affordable things have gotten?'&#8221;
&#8220;So, honestly, I wouldn’t … I hear the question, but I want to make sure this is very clear. We take that very seriously. We take what families — the decisions that they make at their kitchen table, whether it’s at whether it’s during Thanksgiving or whether it is every month, as they’re trying to make hard decisions about how they move forward with taking care of their family — we take that very seriously,&#8221; Jean-Pierre replied. &#8220;It’s not a joke to us, it is important to us.&#8221;
She went on to repeat the Biden administration&#8217;s oft-repeated refrain, adding that in spite of what American families might be feeling, &#8220;The fact is the data shows that the economy is improving. The data shows that households remain in a strong financial position.&#8221;
&#8220;But why do you think it is that when you say the economy is improving and President Biden says the economy is improving, that a majority of Americans outside of this building are not buying it?&#8221; Doocy pressed again.
Jean-Pierre responded by blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and former President Donald Trump for any continued economic hardships — and pivoted to claim that Biden&#8217;s American Rescue Plan had made it possible for small businesses and schools to reopen.
&#8220;It’s going to take some time, but it does not take away how we have seen the economy getting back on its feet. We actually had to fix the problem that we saw, that the last administration left us,&#8221; she said.

White House Media Briefing Held By Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Doocy Corners Press Sec On ‘Bidenomics’: ‘Americans Outside Of This Building Are Not Buying It’

Doocy Corners Press Sec On 'Bidenomics': 'Americans Outside Of This Building Are Not Buying It'

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