Freedom 250
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GENERIC?
SEE XIAN NATL
fail GT FAIR JUL 4 26
GRIFT IF NOT CRIME?
renamed? split?
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AN THOM 20 26
...
Somebody seems to have misplaced fifty million dollars, and nobody in Trump’s orbit is in any hurry to find it. A decade ago, Congress set aside money for an America 250 celebration of our anniversary, but Trump ignored that (other than taking the money) and created his own, privatized “Freedom 250” celebration as a new grift to squeeze millions out of major donors like Chevron, United Airlines, and the defense giant RTX.
Now documents uncovered by the watchdog group PEER discovered that the events cost $128 million and at least $114 million of that came from our tax dollars, even though The Wall Street Journal says the “donors” kicked in at least $50 million and (my guess) probably much more. Trump passed out that money to his contractor friends with no competitive bidding whatsoever, and now refuses to say who gave him money, or how much, or even where the money went. Democrats suspect he just turned it into another slush fund for himself and his family; perhaps they should look for piles of cash in the bathrooms at Mar-a-Lago?
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2X? AN 2026
The Trump administration is illegally using the Social Security email list to spew political propaganda. That email list likely includes everyone with an online Social Security account—over 100 million people, both current and future Social Security beneficiaries. The purpose of the list is for the government to share important information about Social Security benefits.
On July 2, the Trump administration sent an email from Commissioner Frank Bisignano, ostensibly to mark America’s 250th birthday. The email, like a similar one sent a year ago, is a fully political document.
Bisignano begins by bragging about President Donald Trump’s tax bill without mentioning:
- Trump’s bill cuts over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which is causing hospitals around the country to close—a disaster for seniors, especially those living in rural areas.
- Trump’s bill gives massive tax cuts to the ultra wealthy, including trillionaire Elon Musk.
- Trump’s bill does not end taxes on Social Security benefits, but does weaken Social Security’s long-term finances.
Bisignano then goes on to tout allegedly improved customer service. Widespread media reports show that customer service has massively deteriorated since Musk’s DOGE pushed out more than 8,000 of Social Security’s most experienced, knowledgeable workers. These reports include first-person stories where even highly educated people with Social Security expertise have faced months-long nightmares to resolve simple errors that cut themselves or their family members off from benefits.
Shortly after Bisignano was confirmed last year, Social Security removed longstanding customer service metrics from its website. Since then, Bisignano has cherry-picked his own metrics and used them to mislead.
Bisignano moved many of the remaining Social Security office workers to answering phones, while other essential work piles up. Then, he brags about shorter waits on the phone. What he doesn’t mention is that if you hang up in frustration, or talk to someone who can’t help you because they aren’t adequately trained, it still counts toward a short wait on the phone. The only metric that really matters is if people are getting the help they need. On that count, Bisignano is failing miserably.
The situation is particularly dire for people who need help in person. The country is dotted with Social Security “ghost offices” that aren’t officially closed (because that’s bad publicity for Trump and Bisignano) but have only a skeleton crew of workers remaining. These offices can’t meaningfully serve the community, and people are losing their hard-earned benefits as a result.
The same week that Bisignano sent out his political propaganda email, the Social Security Administration announced that the Freedom 250 logo will appear on the Social Security Cards of all babies born for the rest of 2026.
Freedom 250 is a semi-private, partisan entity. Trump and his allies are using it to turn the celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary into profit for themselves. Freedom 250 has a history of harvesting data, and employs former DOGE operatives. Bisignano claims that the Social Security Administration isn’t paying Freedom 250 a licensing fee, or sharing data with it. But we already know that Bisignano lies as easily as he breathes.
Trump’s hijacking of Social Security is just the latest example of his corruption. Like the reflecting pool, the Kennedy Center, and the White House, Social Security is a sacred American institution that Trump is abusing for his own financial and political gain.
Social Security is a nonpartisan program, with overwhelming support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents. By using it for political purposes, Trump and Bisignano are betraying the American people.
Alex Lawson is the Executive Director of Social Security Works, the convening organization of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition -- a coalition made up of over 340 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans.
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REF 1 WAPO
Donors were misled by Trump-backed Freedom 250, House Democrats allege
The lawmakers’ report alleges that Trump allies worked to divert funds away from America250, a bipartisan effort to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial. Freedom 250 denies the allegations.
July 2, 2026
President Donald Trump wraps up his speech at the opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
By Ben Binday
and
Some donors who intended to give money to a bipartisan effort to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary were, instead, steered to a White House-backed initiative under false pretenses, House Democrats allege in a report released Thursday morning, citing whistleblower interviews and newly obtained documents.
The donors meant to give money to America250, a congressionally chartered initiative to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, according to Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee. They instead were given routing and account numbers that directed their funds to Freedom 250, which President Donald Trump established last year to organize anniversary events, the report says.
The report does not identify the donors. In interviews, Democrats said they needed to protect the identity of whistleblowers who worked with the panel. But they said their report — which includes other allegations of Freedom 250 officials and allies explicitly steering money away from America250 and toward projects shaped by Trump — shows how the president transformed a bipartisan celebration of the nation’s anniversary into an initiative that benefited him and his allies.
“I’m a lawyer, and I know better than to pronounce that a crime has been committed,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), who oversaw the report as the committee’s top Democrat. “But I do know the elements of fraud, and there is evidence of all those elements here.”
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) speaks May 14 at the site of Trump’s proposed triumphal arch to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary in Arlington, Virginia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The White House referred questions to Freedom 250, which denied that donors had been misled by its fundraising activities, said it was “unequivocally false” that Freedom 250’s routing and account numbers were given in lieu of America250’s, and criticized Democrats for the timing of their report.
“This so-called ‘report’ is nothing more than a partisan smear from politicians who would rather manufacture division than celebrate America’s 250th birthday alongside the rest of the country,” Freedom 250 spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Alvarez also criticized America250, saying that the bipartisan organization — which Congress established in 2016 — “had nothing to show” for its 10 years of planning and spending.
“Freedom 250 was created because the American people deserved better,” Alvarez said.
America250 declined to comment on the specific allegations in Democrats’ report.
“America250 will continue to focus on the values-based programming approved by our bipartisan Commission at the local, state, national and international levels, including once-in-a-lifetime celebratory moments during the 4th of July weekend,” Rosie Rios, who chairs America250, said in a statement. “We are supportive of the many other organizations planning events for the 250th at the federal, state and local level, so all Americans have ample opportunities to join in the celebration.”
Trump has extolled Freedom 250 in public remarks, saying that the initiative has organized multiple special events. The public-private partnership, which the White House launched in December, has overseen a flurry of high-profile announcements, including some from the Oval Office. Its branding has also been applied to events organized by IndyCar, the UFC and other groups in partnership with the Trump administration.
“We’ll have a Freedom 250 Grand Prix right here in Washington around the Capitol,” the president said last week in remarks kicking off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall — another Freedom 250-backed event.
People use American flag posters to shield themselves from the sun ahead of Trump’s speech at the opening of the Great American State Fair. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
The Trump-backed initiative has overtaken some efforts led by America250, which is directed by a bipartisan board created by Congress a decade ago.
America250 originally applied for and received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for so-called Freedom Trucks, mobile museums inspired by the American Freedom Train that crisscrossed the country from 1975-1976. The institute is a federal agency that provides financial support for museums and libraries.
Officials have said the grant was later voluntarily transferred to Freedom 250, which is now operating Freedom Trucks that provide a sanitized version of the nation’s founding, according to administration critics.
PRAGER?
America250 officials have said they reoriented their initiative to organize events outside Washington, while Freedom 250 focuses on events in the nation’s capital. But the dueling organizations and approaches have confused some corporate leaders and lawmakers, and tensions between the groups have grown, The Washington Post reported earlier this year.
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The Democratic lawmakers’ report offers further examples of how the two groups have come into conflict.
Some donors and sponsors interested in donating to America250 were told by the Trump administration that they lacked a “green light” to do so, according to the Democrats. The report also claims that administration officials pressured donors to redirect donations from the bipartisan effort to Freedom 250, with the Trump-backed group conducting outreach to America250 sponsors with donation requests.
Some corporate executives did not understand the difference between the two organizations and were confused by this process, the report says.
Freedom 250 officials also worked to deprive America250 of money, the Democrats charge, citing new examples of Trump allies pressuring donors to reallocate funds away from the bipartisan initiative. They also allege that Trump allies worked to shift public financial support away from America250, including $75 million of congressionally allocated funds that America250 leaders were expecting to receive. The remaining funds are likely to be kept by the White House, the report says.
The reduced funding posed challenges for America250 to execute planned programming, according to the report, including grants, educational initiatives, and volunteer programs. Redirected federal funding created “significant headwinds” for this programming, the Democrats said, though the group still sought to execute all planned events through additional private fundraising.
The Freedom 250 Ferris Wheel and the U.S. Capitol are seen June 26 during the fair. (Jen Golbeck/AP)
Though America250 is still organizing anniversary celebrations in large cities across the country, its programming has been overshadowed by that of Freedom 250. The Trump-backed group helped promote last month’s UFC fight on the White House lawn, helped organize this week’s opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota and is coordinating a Trump rally and fireworks show scheduled for the evening of Independence Day.
Huffman said that if Democrats retake the House this fall — and obtain the power to issue subpoenas — they will open broader investigations into Freedom 250.
“If and when we have more tools at our disposal to do investigation and oversight, perhaps in the next Congress you will see a lot more information on this, I’m sure,” he said.
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REF 2
Ranking Member Huffman Releases Report on How Trump Hijacked America's 250th Birthday to Enrich Himself, Sell Access, and Harvest Americans' Data
Whistleblower accounts and internal documents reveal how the White House captured a beloved national charity, deceived donors out of their money, and sold access to the President
July 02, 2026
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released a new 55-page report following months of investigative work by Committee Democrats exposing how Donald Trump hijacked what was supposed to be a unifying, non-political celebration of our country's 250th birthday and made it all about him – his vanity projects, his political and religious agenda, his business ventures, and his cronies who gorged on public funds under cover of a shadow corporation shielded from public scrutiny.
The report, "From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday," traces how the machinery Congress built for a national commemoration that would be above politics was commandeered, over a period of months, into an apparatus for raising and spending money in service of the President's ego, political agenda, and personal financial interests.
Watch Ranking Member Huffman discuss the report's findings.
“Donald Trump’s hijacking of America's 250th birthday will go down as one of the most corrupt, brazen abuses of public trust in presidential history, even by the dubious standards of this administration. As our country prepared to celebrate a milestone that belongs to every American, Trump and his operatives launched a hostile takeover of the bipartisan commission established by Congress to lead the celebration. When that failed, they sidelined the commission, siphoned its resources, and infiltrated a beloved national charity under cover of a shadow corporation that shielded them from public scrutiny. Then they proceeded to deceive donors, solicit foreign money, sell access to the President, award no-bid contracts to Trump loyalists, harvest Americans’ personal data, and push a white-washed, Christian nationalist version of history,” said Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif).
“But they didn’t account for us. Over the past year, our investigation has pursued the truth about the machinations, schemes and abuses of trust they’ve tried to hide. We’ve uncovered extensive evidence of corruption, self-enrichmentand potential crimes. The Republican majority in Congress, which has far more investigative tools and power than we do, could have joined us in conducting serious oversight and demanding answers. Instead, they’ve used their power to shield the individuals and entities involved.
“The American people deserve to know the truth about how the official national celebration of our country’s 250th anniversary was stolen, along with a large – and so far unaccounted for – sum of their taxpayer dollars. So, today – against the obstruction and resistance of our Republican colleagues – we are dragging this fiasco out of the shadows and shining a bright light on the corruption and fraud surrounding Freedom 250. We can’t stop from tarnishing the country’s July 4th celebration, but we can stop it from ever happening again – we can protect the next government program, the next fund, the next thing that's supposed to work for all of us, from being exploited and misused this way. That’s why we must confront this grift and corruption now. From our earliest days, America has stood for government by the people, not powerful tyrants. We will fight to keep it that way.”
When the nonpartisan, congressionally chartered America250 Commission refused to bend to the President's demands, the White House built a replacement - Freedom 250 LLC – and declared it the central platform for the national celebration. The White House lodged this shadow organization inside the National Park Foundation so it could exploit the credibility and donor relationships of a beloved public charity while operating outside the transparency rules Congress wrote into law for the commission.
Key Findings
- The President put himself at the center of the nation's birthday. Trump issued an executive order making himself and the Vice President Chair and Vice Chair of a White House task force, then staged his own birthday as a national event twice: the Army's 250th military parade on June 14, 2025, and a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn on June 14, 2026, run under the Freedom 250 banner.
- The White House built Freedom 250 on deceit. Musical performers, among others, were misled about programming and connections to Trump’s political machine. Fundraisers may have misled donors who intended to support America250 and handed them Freedom 250's banking information, routing contributions meant for the nonpartisan foundation to the President's substitute entity instead. The report finds that, if true, this could constitute wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud under federal and District of Columbia law.
- Freedom 250 sold access to the President and courted foreign money in America's name. The organization circulated sponsorship packages starting at $500,000 and climbing above $10 million, backed by a "historic photo opportunity" with President Trump. Its CEO solicited foreign governments, corporations, and individuals at the World Economic Forum in Davos to fund the President’s priorities. If foreign funds reach the President's vanity projects, the report finds the conduct would clearly violate the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause.
- Trump and his operatives cashed in. Event Strategies, Inc., the firm that helped plan the January 6th rally, has collected tens of millions in federal contracts connected to the anniversary, including a master contract worth up to $100 million. Trump traded in the stock of companies that donated to Freedom 250 and staged a White House UFC fight that shamelessly promoted his own investments and business ventures. Freedom 250's event registration process was run through Campaign Nucleus, the firm founded by Trump campaign operative Brad Parscale, which uses artificial intelligence to score visitors and target "persuadable" voters. Thousands of unwitting fans handed over their personal information at a free FIFA World Cup Fan Zone on the National Mall. Freedom 250’s official merchandise is sold by the Trump campaign’s official merchandise vendor, Ace Specialties, and agencies have purchased the merchandise and required employees to wear it.
- The White House imposed a false, Christian nationalist history. Federally funded "Freedom Trucks" carried revisionism and outright falsehoods to schoolchildren, including an AI rendering of George Washington claiming, "our rights are a gift from God," a statement Washington is not documented to have made. The Interior Department also urged employees to wear Freedom 250 pins and threatened discipline against those who refused the pin, which anonymous employees took to calling their "Vichy pin," a reference to World War II-era lapel pins that served as loyalty and propaganda badges.
- Freedom 250 created a blueprint for corruption. The report concludes Freedom 250 is "a blueprint, not a one-time abuse," already test-driven at the Department of Agriculture, where the administration steered companies with business before the government to donate through a conservation charity into a fund the Secretary controls.
The investigation drew on confidential disclosures from sources interviewed by Committee Democrats, internal Freedom 250 documents and talking points obtained by the Committee, sworn testimony from two Committee hearings, and written responses from the National Park Foundation and the National Forest Foundation.
Republicans on the Committee refused to conduct any oversight to hold the administration accountable, even when Democrats repeatedly raised evidence of wrongdoing at Republicans’ own hearing entitled, “All in for America250: Public-Private Partnerships Supporting America’s Semiquincentennial on our Public Lands.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum testified he was "not aware of the final decisionmaker" behind Freedom 250, and the Department has refused to provide that information since.
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REF 3 GUK
Trump hijacked US’s 250 anniversary to serve ‘political ideology and pet projects’, congressional report says
This article is more than 1 month old
House Democratic subcommittee report outlines web of alleged corruption, wire fraud and pay-to-play schemes
David Smith in Washington
Thu 2 Jul 2026
Donald Trump staged a hostile takeover of the US’s 250th anniversary celebration to enrich political allies, harvest voter data and promote Christian nationalist ideology, according to a congressional investigation released on Thursday.
The interim report, “From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday”, outlines a web of alleged corruption, wire fraud and pay-to-play schemes orchestrated through a shadow corporation embedded within the National Park Foundation (NPF).
The document was produced by Democratic staff of the House of Representatives’ natural resources committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee. It has not been officially adopted by the committee.
‘A sanitized view of America’: inside Trump’s campaign to erase US history from national parks
“Under President Donald Trump, this anniversary has been hijacked and perverted into a hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment,” it states, contending that the machinery built for a national commemoration was converted “into an apparatus for raising and spending money in service of the President’s ego, political ideology, and pet projects”.
3:00
How Trump is making the US’s 250th anniversary about himself – video
In 2016 Congress established the US semiquincentennial commission, operating as the non-profit America250 Foundation, to plan the nation’s 2026 celebrations on a non-partisan basis. However, under Trump, the White House launched a sustained pressure campaign to subsume the commission.
When America250 leadership resisted its demands to shift focus toward partisan, campaign-style spectacles, the Trump administration created Freedom 250 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the congressionally chartered NPF.
The interim report finds that, by taking control of the NPF board and installing key campaign operatives such as Meredith O’Rourke and Chris LaCivita, the White House secured an opaque vehicle that enjoyed the NPF’s non-partisan credibility and tax-exempt status while operating outside standard government transparency laws.
Jared Huffman, a California congressman who is the top Democrat on the natural resources committee, said: “I can’t, in my time here in Congress, remember anything even remotely like this: watching this trusted, venerable charity organisation, the National Parks Foundation, literally be hijacked for a craven political agenda that tries to steal the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and turn it into something that’s all about Trump, advancing this very divisive agenda and even enriching Trump and those around him.”
The interim report alleges that Freedom 250 surreptitiously diverted resources intended for America250 for its own benefit, leaving America250 scrambling for funds.
Sources interviewed by Democrats on the committee said fundraisers including O’Rourke misled prospective America250 donors by providing them with Freedom 250’s banking and routing numbers instead. The report finds this could constitute wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud under federal and District of Columbia law.
This deceit extended to the entertainment industry. Artists recruited for the kickoff of the Great American State Fair – including Martina McBride and Young MC – were assured the event was non-partisan, only to face social media backlash when the event was revealed to be a Trump-backed rally. In the words of Young MC, the booking was a “bait and switch”.
The investigation also outlines how Freedom 250 effectively put a price tag on presidential access, circulating sponsorship packages starting at $500,000 and climbing above $10m for tiered recognition, culminating in a “historic photo opportunity” with Trump.
The report also points to perhaps the most clear example on 14 June when the White House hosted a huge Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on the South Lawn to celebrate the president’s 80th birthday. The event was heavily sponsored by corporations facing impending federal regulation and used vast government resources for “Super Bowl-level security” marshalled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Fighters received bonuses in “USD1”, a cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial, a trust run by the president’s children, and Trump personally bought up to $50,000 in stock in the UFC’s parent company weeks before the event.
Freedom 250 has also functioned as a conduit for steering federal funds to Trump campaign loyalists. Event Strategies – the same firm that planned the January 6 rally that preceded the US Capitol attack – was awarded 18 federal contracts totalling roughly $40m, along with an indefinite delivery master contract worth up to $100m.
Beyond lucrative contracts, the administration is accused of building a partisan political database disguised as a government domain. Freedom 250’s website, initially managed by former “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge) employees known for past data leaks, extensively logs user data.
Event registration is powered by Campaign Nucleus, a firm founded by Brad Parscale, a veteran of Trump election campaigns. Campaign Nucleus openly boasts about using artificial intelligence to analyse personal data and target “persuadable” voters. Unsuspecting visitors, such as attenders of a free Fifa World Cup Fan Zone on the National Mall, unwittingly fed their personal information directly into this Republican campaign apparatus.
The report also focuses on the ideological overhaul of the semiquincentennial. Freedom 250 replaced America250’s civic engagement focus with overt Christian nationalist programming, operating in tandem with the Religious Liberty Commission, which recently recommended repealing the Johnson amendment to allow churches to engage in partisan politics.
A central feature of this effort was “Freedom Trucks” – a federally funded fleet of mobile museums dispatched to schoolchildren across the nation. Supplied with content from the conservative PragerU [the Prager University Foundation] and Hillsdale College, these exhibits recast the founding of the US as an exclusively Christian project, embracing demonstrable falsehoods.
Exhibits include an AI-generated George Washington claiming that “our rights are a gift from God”, a statement the first president is not documented as having made, alongside antisemitic tropes suggesting that Jewish merchants financed the revolutionary cause while omitting they also fought and died for it.
Concurrently, the administration aggressively moved to erase historical realities, removing national park signage detailing slavery, forced removal of Indigenous peoples and climate change. Huffman said it amounted to an attempt to reshape American identity to fit a narrow rightwing agenda.
“It’s a fantasy that airbrushes out the more complicated parts of our history – slavery, the Native American genocide, the actual secular ideals on which our government was founded. It wasn’t the opening of the clouds and some revealed covenant with God as they would have you believe.”
As Washington barrels towards Fourth of July, with another Trump speech and a big fireworks display planned for the national mall, Huffman acknowledges that Freedom 250 is unstoppable. But his goal now is exposure.
“The one thing we can do is make sure the American people know what they’re doing in our name and with our tax dollars,” the congressman said. “We should do that because what they have pulled off here is a potential template for other betrayals of public trust that they and maybe future generations will attempt if we don’t challenge them.”
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AN 7 26 GARCIA PROMISE TRUMP CORRUPT?
Large law firms are already preparing their corporate clients for the investigations they expect will come if Democrats take over Congress.
Bloomberg Law reportedon Tuesday that the major firms expect there to be hearings involving President Donald Trump's investments, government contracts with allegations of quid pro quo and sponsorships of the Trump ballroom, like Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. to name a few.
Brian Smith, a partner at Covington & Burling, said they're starting now.
It’s “getting ready for the potential of investigations in the same area, understanding what materials you have, what risks you have,” he said.
Susanne Grooms, who leads Cooley’s congressional investigations for the global law firm, told Bloomberg, “We map out the landscape of what the Congress will look like.”
Emily Loeb, who co-chairs the congressional investigations firm Jenner & Block, expects the hearings to come largely from House Oversight and Government Reform, House Judiciary, and House Energy and Commerce committees.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Ca.) has started too. The ranking member of the House Oversight Committee wrote a letter to Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners about the Trump son-in-law influencing foreign policy for personal financial gain.
He also sent a letter to The GEO Group Inc., a private prison company, that Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been investigating over self-dealing at the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi Noem.
For him, Garcia said he connects such investigations to the affordability agenda because these corporations are getting American tax dollars that could be going to help Americans afford healthcare and other items that were cut in the so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed by Republicans in 2025.
“Part of our agenda is going to be, if there are corporations or large organizations that are working with the administration to rip off the American taxpayer, then that’s going to be exposed,” Garcia said.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) is similarly concerned about companies that have given to one of Trump's projects, which also may have expected favorable treatment.
“Companies that continued to do things by the book, I think, are going to be glad that they did,” he said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is expected to take over the Judiciary Committee if Democrats win in November. When asked about his approach to oversight, he said, “We’re doing everything we can to try to protect the Constitution and the rule of law."
The House Energy and Commerce Committee oversees the funding for surveillance, "the practice of collecting personal information about consumers and then using the data to charge different prices for the same goods."
Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) told Bloomberg he'd already submitted letters to at least 25 companies.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of it,” Pallone said in an interview. “And then we’ll see if there’s necessity for legislation.” While he would hope to get information voluntarily, he said, “there’s the possibility” of using subpoenas.
The House Committee on Natural Resources may seem like a tame group, but Democrats there already released a report called "From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People out of their 250th Birthday." It alleges, among other things, that the president and his staff "hijacked" the "America 250" celebrations to funnel funding to their own shell company through no-bid contracts.
A Washington Post reportrevealed that among the findings was that donors were tricked into giving to "Freedom 250" by aides who gave them the account information for "Freedom" instead of "America" in wire transfers. If true, that would constitute wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud,
.
Donors who gave to "America" were pressured by the Trump administration to withdraw their donations and reroute them into the "Freedom 250" event instead. Trump staff was also accused of taking $75 million of congressionally allocated funds that leaders thought they were getting for America250. The reduction in funds meant that there was less available for planned events around the country.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Ca.) told the Post that he would do a broader investigation when the Democrats are in control.
“If and when we have more tools at our disposal to do investigation and oversight, perhaps in the next Congress you will see a lot more information on this, I’m sure,” he said.
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6 26 utube on prageru truck
alex avila
Investigating PragerU's Stupid Propaganda Truck - YouTube
CW WOMAn BAIL
MAGA lashes out as artists flee Trump’s Freedom 250 concert - Alternet.org
RECYCLED VID OF HIM BADLY READING THEN MISINTERP BIBLE ~ THE BISH BARBER?
RWW 5 26
[Christian Nationalism ## Much-Hyped ‘Rededication’ of U.S. to God Can’t Draw Trump Off the Golf Course
President Trump called for an event "rededicating" America to God, but he couldn't be bothered to show up for it.
https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/much-hyped-rededication-us-god-cant-draw-trump-golf-course
05/18/2026
by
*Commentary
Trump administration officials and Christian nationalist leaders hyped Sunday’s event to “rededicate America as one nation under God” as a historic moment and turning point for the nation, but President Donald Trump skipped it to go golfing.
The same was true for the Saturday evening worship gathering organized by musician and MAGA activist Sean Feucht on the grounds of the Washington Monument; while his followers gathered, Trump went golfing.
The snub was particularly noteworthy because Trump owes his election victories to the overwhelming support he got from conservative Christian voters, thanks in part to religious-right figures telling their audiences over and over again that Trump was anointed by God to lead and save America.
Religious-right figures who helped promote the event made a big deal out of the spiritual importance of Trump as president calling for the nation’s rededication to God. Dominionist anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ activist Lou Engle has organized many prayer events over the years that drew much bigger crowds, but he said that this one was special: “This solemn assembly is different than any other solemn assembly, for the president of the United States has called this day.”
But the president couldn’t even be bothered to make a video greeting for this “historic” moment like Vice President J.D. Vance did. Instead, organizers played a video of Trump reading a scripture passage from a religious-right organized Bible-reading marathon event a few weeks ago. Engle added that when Trump read that passage, “he opened a door for the greatest awakening America has ever seen.” He called it “a hinge of history moment.”
If Trump cared enough to think that a gathering of “prophetic” leaders might call him out the way Old Testament prophets called out unjust political leaders, he needn’t have worried. None of the speakers calling for personal and national repentance suggested that Trump should repent for his cruelty or corruption. As the Religion News Service noted, neither Sen. Tim Scott nor religious-right activist Alevda King, who spoke about the Black church’s central role in the Civil Rights Movement, mentioned the current MAGA assault on the Voting Rights Act.
Even White House Faith Office Director Paula White didn’t attend in person, sending a short video.
:{:{Ben Carson, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump administration and is now National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the Department of Agriculture, did show up in person. He was one of a few speakers who talked about the need for national unity. There are “forces” that want Americans to think they are one another’s enemies, Carson said. “We are not enemies.” He did not acknowledge Trump’s central role in creating bitter divisions or his ongoing demonization of his political opponents as traitors—or for that matter his religious-right backers’ portrayal of Trump opponents as demonic.}:
And if the organizers of the event were really interested in promoting national unity, or transcending politics as House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed, they would have created an interfaith event that celebrated America’s exceptional religious liberty and religious pluralism. Instead they created an event overwhelmingly dominated by MAGA Christians.}:
MAGA pastor Franklin Graham delivered a video diatribe about the moral state of the country, quoting scriptural warnings about people being lovers of money, arrogant, abusive, heartless, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and more. While Graham said this list could apply to America today, he ignored the obvious fact that all those traits apply to the president he unwaveringly promotes.
Samuel Rodriguez, a MAGA pastor, New Apostolic Reformation figure, and head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, gave an opening prayer. He spoke for about four minutes, calling for love and justice but failing to utter a single word about the immigrants and other people in their communities who have been terrorized by the Trump administration’s brutal mass deportation efforts. So much for prophets speaking truth to power.
MAGA pundit Eric Metaxas used his time on the platform at the Sunday rally and the Saturday worship service to promote his new book about the American revolution.
At Feucht’s worship on Saturday, Metaxas claimed that every single one of the founding fathers understood that the national narrative of the revolution was, “We are re-establishing the Sinai covenant.” That kind of claim doesn’t bode well for the credibility of his book, but then, there wasn’tmuch hope for that anyway.
On Sunday, Metaxas said God’s hand had guided American leaders beginning with George Washington. After talking about the British burning the White House during the War of 1812, he added jokingly, “It’s hard to believe it that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand. It’s extraordinary. We only had to wait 200 years.”
The actual “prayer of rededication” was delivered by Speaker Johnson, who invoked God’s support for the MAGA war on wokeness and truth-telling history:
In recent years we’ve seen sinister ideologies sow confusion and discord among our people. We’ve witnessed attacks on our history, on our heroes, and the cherished moral and spiritual identity of this nation. These forces insist to the young and impressionable that our story, the American story, is one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure, and that this story can only be understood through the lens of our sins. Father, we reject that. We rebuke it in your name. … We turn to you once again to save us from these afflictions, to deliver us from the forces of evil, oppression, injustice, and tyranny both within our borders and beyond our shores.
In asking for deliverance from oppression and injustice, Johnson was apparently not thinking of the authoritarian abuses of power that mark the Trump administration, because his only mention of Trump was to pray that God would “continue to bless our president with the wisdom, prudence, and strength to govern our nation in accordance with your will.”
Neither the smaller-than-expected attendance nor Trump’s apparent disinterest in the “rededication” ceremony mean that the rest of us should ignore that the increasingly aggressive Christian nationalism of the administration and the MAGA movement threatens Americans’ religious freedom and the rights of people seen as undeserving by right-wing Christian nationalists.
// RWW
05/18/2026
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- Sarah Posner @ Talking Points Memo: Trump’s Evangelical Allies Gather in DC for Prayer Marathon, Push to Further Erode Church-State Divide
Speakers cast America as ‘morally rotten’ and sinful while embracing the ‘Christian nationalist’ label.
- María Teresita Armstrong-Matta @ Raw Story: Reports attest Trump's 'Rededicate 250' event drew in small crowds
President Donald Trump's free eight-hour Rededicate 250 prayer event held at the National Mall in D.C. Sunday drew a notably sparse crowd, with Reuters photos capturing numerous empty seats.
- Steven Waldman @ Religion News Service: Christian nationalists need to look again at their religious DNA
The ancestors of today’s Christian nationalists weren’t the leaders of Christian America — they were the heretics.
- Warren Throckmorton: Donald Trump's Rededicate 250 is Religious Kayfabe
The Christian worship performance scheduled for the National Mall is a religious show.
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RWW 18TH?
Mike Johnson Says ‘Rededicate 250’ Event ‘Transcends Politics’; So Why Are All the Speakers MAGA Christians?
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson addressing the 2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance (Image from CBN News coverage)
05/15/2026
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A letter from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson promoting this weekend’s Christian nationalist ceremony to “rededicate” America to God was sent out by Freedom 250 Thursday evening.
In the email from Freedom 250, which President Donald Trump set up to wrest control of the national celebrations from the bipartisan and congressionally authorized America 250to promote himself and MAGA ideology, Johnson called Sunday’s day-long event “a unique moment for believers" and “a call for unity, repentance, and hope, and one that truly transcends politics.”
That is classic Trumpian gaslighting.
First of all, an event seeking to unify the actually country might in some way recognize the religious pluralism that is an essential part of what makes America exceptional, along with our Constitution’s protections of religious freedom and prohibitions on government-established religion or religious tests for public office.
Instead, every speaker listed in the schedule sent out by Freedom 250 is a Christian; most are evangelical and Pentecostal Trump boosters, along with a couple of right-wing Catholics and other denominations represented. Earlier speaker lists included a rabbi, perhaps as “Judeo-Christian” window-dressing, but he was not included in Thursday’s Freedom 250 email.
It’s a bad joke for Johnson to claim that Sunday’s event “transcends politics,” given that every speaker listed in the Freedom 250 email is a vocal supporter of President Trump, many of them on record declaring him to be anointed by God and some, like White House Faith Office Director Paula White, claiming that Trump’s opponents are enemies of God or demonic agents of Satan.
In reality, this is another opportunity for Trump to posture as a defender of the faith and bask in the adoration of his most loyal supporters at a time when his public support has hit record lows. And it is an opportunity for Christian nationalists to continue to send the false and exclusionary message that the only “real” Americans are the right kind of Christians, at a time when Christian-right and MAGA officials are trying to claim that Muslims and other non-Christians do not deserve the protection of the First Amendment.
The “moment of rededication” will be led by Johnson, along with former Archbishop of New York City Timothy Dolan, MAGA Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, and dominionist New Apostolic Reformation figure Lou Engle. Engle is a longtime anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ activist who led prayers that God would knock off Supreme Court justices to create vacancies for Trump to fill. In an Engle teaching guide called “The Keys to Dominion,” he preached:
“The church’s vocation is to rule history with God…The same authority that has been given to Christ Jesus for overwhelming conquering and dominion has been given to the saints of the most high….We’re God’s rulers upon the earth…We will govern over kings and judges will have to submit…We’re called to rule! To change history! To be co-regents with God!”
Christians, secularists, and other Americans who reject the MAGA movement’s increasingly aggressiveChristian nationalism are speaking up in opposition to the “rededication.” This week, the Interfaith Alliance projected messages supporting religious freedom for all on the walls of the National Gallery of Art.
Images shared by Interfaith Alliance on social media.
Right Wing Watch will be reporting next week on “Rededicate 250” and its Sean Feucht-sponsored warm-up event on Saturday.
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RWW 5 26
[Christian Nationalism ## Christian Nationalists, Grifters, Charlatans & More: A Guide to this Weekend’s White House-sponsored ‘Revival’ to ‘Rededicate’ America to God
:{Trump is bringing a lot of his Christian nationalist boosters to the Mall this weekend to "rededicate" America as one nation under God, part of his hijacking of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/christian-nationalists-grifters-charlatans-more-guide-weekends-white-house-sponsored)}:
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AN 4 26
Planning for events tied to the impending 250th anniversary of the U.S. has descended into a "complicated and expensive" mess, according to a new Wall Street Journal report, as a new MAGA-aligned group seeks to barge its way into the proceedings.
For the report published Tuesday, the Journal highlighted the story of a time capsule mandated by Congress to commemorate the American semiquincentennial, meant to be buried in Philadelphia and unearthed by the country's 500th anniversary in 2276. As the outlet observed, "Like many ideas born in Washington, it turned out to be both complicated and expensive."
"To ensure the capsule’s contents would last underground, the America250 group tapped preservation experts from the Library of Congress and federally employed scientists," the Journal explained. "They used precision-milled steel to construct the capsule and designed a special bell jar to surround it in a layer of dry air, protecting the inside from the moist soil of the American northeast. All that added up to a projected price tag of $3.7 million, internal budget documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show. A spokeswoman said the project required top scientific expertise given its 'incredibly complex and unprecedented' nature and is expected to come in under budget, at less than $1 million."
With the official date of the anniversary — July 4, 2026 — a little over two months away, planning for the festivities "remains embroiled in fights over spending and the direction of the celebrations." This situation is being exacerbated, the Journal explained, as two groups seek to control the process: the bipartisan America250 group, which has been at work for roughly a decade; and Freedom 250, a newer MAGA-aligned group.
"Planning for the birthday split into two camps late last year," the report explained. "One is a bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2016 that is supported by the America250 group and has been accused by former executives of wastefulness. The other is a new, Trump-aligned group called Freedom 250 that its critics say is designing a birthday for America more suited to MAGA fans. America250 has defended its spending, and Freedom 250 says it is creating a party for all Americans."
Both groups are competing for what is left of the $150 million set aside by the "One Big Beautiful Bill" last year for anniversary spending. Freedom 250 was not in operation when that money was set aside, but it has become the beneficiary for most of it, thanks to Trump's Interior Department. A representative for the agency told the Journal that it looked forward to "celebrating Freedom 250 and saluting 250 years of American greatness alongside President Donald J. Trump—the most iconic and accomplished president in the history of our great nation."
"The America250 group has had years to plan and started with focus groups and surveys to study what people would want," the report explained. "A bipartisan commission has to approve its projects. America250 set a goal that the celebrations should somehow touch the lives of all 350 million Americans. The budget documents show the group had already spent about $75 million through 2025 and had estimated it could spend roughly another $164 million this year."
Trump has reportedly been meddling with the group's activities since taking office the first time around in 2017, when he made it clear that he was heavily invested in the plans for the 250th anniversary.
"Tensions quickly emerged between the Trump representatives and the bipartisan board," the Journal explained. "Some of the members worried Trump would politicize the events, according to people familiar with the matter, in particular military parades like the $22 million procession the Army hosted last year. America250 in September fired its Trump-aligned executive director after the 25-year-old political appointee posted unapproved content to the group’s official Instagram account and clashed with commissioners."
Among the events that Freedom 250 is planning for the anniversary is an athletic competition dubbed, "Patriot Games," an athletic competition featuring two high school athletes from each state and territory, which critics have derisively compared to the dystopian science-fiction series, "The Hunger Games."
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02/11/2026
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Last year, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner teamed up with Christian nationalist worship leader and right-wing political activist Sean Feucht to host a Christian worship service on the National Mall.
Shortly thereafter, Feucht revealed that he was working with members of the Trump administration to organize a series of similar worship services around the country in 2026, tied to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
During a livestream broadcast on Monday, Feucht announced details of what he called the "Roots Of Revival" tour in which the federal government will partner with him as he hosts prayer events "from coast to coast [in] all the historic and epic places of revival and awakening that were birthed in America."
"As I was praying and fasting leading into the new year, I felt like the Lord said, 'Remind America on the 250 year anniversary of her heritage in revival and awakening.' In other words, call America back to God, this is the source of our strength," Feucht said.
"Here's the exciting thing," he continued. "The coolest part is we get to do it together with the Freedom 250 organization, which is the White House/Trump administration arm executing the mandate of celebrating America's 250 year birthday. We're so excited. We have come into an agreement with them to partner together, to collaborate together. They're going to be coming out to some of our events. We're going to be championing other things they're doing and so it's just very, very amazing. It is a dream come true and such a blessing."
"It's just an amazing season from God to be able to do this in partnership with our own government and to know that they have our back and to be able to be an extension of literally the Faith Office inside of the White House, all the people that are praying inside of there, so many members of the the Cabinet and the Trump administration love Jesus and they're going to be a part of this in various ways," Feucht gushed. "It's just so exciting to announce that we are officially partnering together."
Feucht also announced that his "Roots Of Revival" tour was going to be participating in the Trump administration's National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving to be held on the National Mall on May 17.
"We're going back with the White House, with our own government, to help them host a whole day of worship and prayer," he said. "We're so excited. May 17 is when that happens on the National Mall, but the whole year, Roots of Revival is going to be partnered with the White House and many other organizations."
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04/21/2026 RWW
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It was billed as the coup of coups: controversial evangelical pastor Mark Driscoll said he was invited to speak at a “Rededicate 250” event planned for May 17 on the National Mall. The 12-hour gathering, billed as “A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” is part of the Freedom 250 initiative organized by The White House. Driscoll told his supporters he was on the guest list for speakers.
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