Fukayama’s Misstep

The beginning of a new American history

by Dan Lieberman / January 8th, 2026

Political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s prediction that we, meaning those who glorify the western world, were at “The End of History and the Last Man,” and that “the rise of Western liberal democracy marked the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution,” meaning that Western style “democracy is the final form of government for all nations,” motivated the Western world to rest comfortably and applaud its accomplishment in determining the final course of history. The pundits of the Western world failed to recognize that they, as victors, wrote the history, and the history they were writing did not correspond with the history that was occurring.

As of Jan 1, 2026, the world has not demonstrated a trend toward democracy. Population Reviews’ Democracy Ranking by Country 2025depicts the trend.

Full Democracy: 25 countries
Flawed Democracy: 50 countries
Hybrid democracy: 33 countries
Totalitarian: 47 countries

The emergence of the most autocratic administration in the world’s most promoted democracy, the Donald Trump administration in the American government, has thrown the U.S. into despair and the world into confusion. Despite never being recognized as a bottoms-up democracy, where grassroots filters wants and desires to upper echelons of power, and having operated as a top-down democracy, where echelons of power convince the masses that constant wars and severe economic disparities are good for the nation, and, in times of danger, political repression is a necessary “dark deed” to assure survival (Ed: of the oligarchy), Americans felt protected by two words ─ checks and balances.

The “checks and balances” in the American democracy has the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial departments oversee and regulate one another, and guarantees no department gains absolute authority or violates the Constitution, its Bill of rights, and its 27 amendments. The guarantees, which provided U.S. citizens with a feeling that no person or agency could limit their democratic privileges, has weakened. The three government departments show indeterminate understanding of the other departments’ authority and operate, more and more, as if each is an unrelated agency in the federal government.

Without sufficient checks and balances, Americans see a void in Executive restraint, for which there is no rescue. Complaints that liberal governments pursued agendas that violated the rights of a majority led a coalition of white nationalists to seek and gain power, only to find their constitution shredded, their agendas corrupted by a small clique of “one” and a large clique of sycophants, and their moral compass pointed to scheming corruption. Their desire to have America isolated from the wars that raged across continents finds Trump’s America supporting Putin’s war, Israel’s genocide, and a revival of the Monroe Doctrine. Suppression of dissenting views, previously imposed on those who expressed “radical” views, have expanded to include those who contest Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and have reached the conflicting arguments of the white nationalists who supported Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency. MASA (Make America Sane Again) is terrified and MAGA (Make America Great Again) feels betrayed. Fear that the Statue of Liberty will be replaced by a Statue of Donald Trump and the words liberty, freedom, and democracy will be words reserved for speeches and no longer characterize the land of shining shores has gripped the American public.

It was always there — the fragility of American democracy and, despite 27 amendments, an incapacity to protect the fragile democracy from totalitarian predators. Several presidents ignored Federal laws, restricted civil liberties, pardoned the unpardonable, surrounded themselves with family and sycophants, or allowed corruption. President Trump has done it all in one year, and in spades. He has capitalized on democracy weakness and citizen complacency to end the distorted history of the United States of America as the world’s democratic beacon and begun a new history of the United States as the world’s savior of money interests, might dictates right, and Judeo-Christian dominance.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, serve as the models for Trump’s flirtation with autocracy. Toss in touches of the self-serving, gun toting, and devious practices of former Uganda leader Idi Amin and former Dominican Republic dictator, Rafael Trujillo, and we have a more complete picture of how the ego tripping, corrupt, revengeful, lying, cheating, and deceitful Donald Trump can be characterized.

Yasser Arafat complained that Netanyahu always answered his requests with a “no,” citing national security risks. Trump uses the same words when his edicts are challenged.

The Department of Interior announced Monday that it was pausing all large-scale offshore wind leases immediately in response to “national security risks” identified by the Department of War.

Israel’s press releases always used the word “terrorist” with antagonists Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Trump administration designated Cartel de los Soles, which it claims is headed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a foreign terrorist organization as the Trump administration indicates it could launch a military attack inside Venezuela’s borders.

The sycophancy, corruption, revenge attacks on opponents, and restrictions of civil liberties engineered by Trump resemble the same method of operation alleged to his “good friend,” Vladimir Putin.

Individual U.S. administrations exhibited either excessive Executive department cronyism, (Andrew Jackson spoils system), severe violations of the constitution (Abraham Lincoln is alleged to have violated the U.S. Constitution by suspending the writ of habeas corpus, and arresting individuals without charge, including political opponents and journalists), or suppressed dissent (Woodrow Wilson’s Attorney General Palmer raids against radicals). Trump’s administrations are accused of being guilty of all of these transgressions on American life. Previous presidents have witnessed associates using the executive office for their personal gain and committing corruption but no president, until Trump, has been cited as benefitting excessively from corruption. NBC reports, Crypto coin, cellphones, real estate: Trump uses power of his office to reap profits for family businesses.

If one theme has emerged in President Donald Trump’s second term, it’s this: He’s leveraged the power of his office for personal gain unlike anyone before in history.

From crypto coins to bibles, overseas development deals to an upcoming line of cellphones, Trump family businesses have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars since his election, an unprecedented flood of often shadowy money from billionaires, foreign governments and cryptocurrency tycoons with interests before the federal government.

The U.S. democratic political system has had its challenges, waded through them, and survived. A segment of society claims that the democracy designation is only an appearance, that the U.S. democracy is a disguised oligarchy whose democratic values appease the citizenry and never change the controlling mechanisms. They can now point to the Republican Party’s nominations of Donald Trump, where Party success was more important than adhering to democratic values and to his elections, where pluralistic America became adversarial America and show that democracy failed to politically educate and provide sufficient knowledge for citizens to make rational electoral choices. Regardless of the beliefs, the Trump administration, which still has three years to meddle with the constitution, has introduced and continues introducing, changes to the political system that should alarm every American.

• • • Reorganizing and dismantling of government agencies.
      The Executive department exercises jurisdiction of the cabinet agencies, which are often bloated and commanded by political hacks. They needed an overhaul but not a bludgeoning that Trump’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) performed. The U.S. Supreme Court overruled lower courts and “granted the president an unparalleled ability to reorganize—or even dismantle—federal agencies.” This seems to violate Congressional oversight by the United States Congress over the executive branch. “Congressional oversight includes the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. These [activities]include authorization, appropriations, investigative, and legislative hearings by standing committees; which is specialized investigations by select committees; and reviews and studies by congressional support agencies and staff.“
    • Regulating Colleges
      Trump has threatened to remove tax-exempt status and cut research funding unless several colleges follow his recommended changes to their hiring, admissions practices, and curriculum.
    • Dominating cultural institutions.

  Maybe the Kennedy Center needed a makeover; it did not need a takeover that disparaged Kennedy and exalted Trump. Sheldon Whitehouse, top Democrat on the Senate environment and public works (EPW) committee, launched a formal investigation into allegations of widespread cronyism, financial mismanagement, and corruption at Trump’s Kennedy Center.

  Democrats on the committee said they obtained documents that suggest the national cultural center is being operated as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies”, resulting in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation from its statutory mission. A central charge is that the Kennedy Center is providing preferential access and financial benefits to organizations connected to the Trump administration and its allies. In one contract, [interim president Richard ] Grenell granted world football’s governing body, Fifa, free and exclusive use of the entire Kennedy Center campus from 24 November to 12 December for the World Cup draw. Estimates provided by Whitehouse show this will cost the Center $5,038,444 in losses from direct rental fees, programming rescheduling, labor, food and beverage and other services. Multiple events were cancelled or rescheduled to accommodate Fifa.

  • • • Cancelling States rights
        The Tenth Amendment to the constitution says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Trump intends to change that and coerce states to follow his authority. From the New York Times, Dec. 31, 2025.

  Miffed at Colorado’s votes against him in three successive elections and furious at its refusal to free Tina Peters, a convicted election denier and ardent Trump supporter, Mr. Trump has opened an assault against the Democratic-run state. His administration has cut off transportation money, relocated the military’s Space Command, vowed to dismantle a leading climate and weather research center and rejected disaster relief for rural counties hammered by floods and wildfires.

  After House and Senate voice votes (quasi unanimous) passed Bill H.R. 131, which aimed to finish a water pipeline under construction to provide municipal and industrial water to communities in southeastern Colorado, Trump vetoed the Resolution, arguing that “the bill would extend the repayment period and reduce interest rates, which he viewed as continuing ‘failed policies’ that burden taxpayers.” Trump’s vengeance overrides care for the Coloradoan people.

  • • • Manipulating Social media
        During Joe Biden’s administration, Congress cited national security concerns, and passed a law to ban the TikTok app, unless its control was sold to an American consortium. Set to go into effect on 20 January 2025, Trump halted the ban while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership. The final arrangement has Oracle (database management services), Silver Lake (investment firm), and MGX (Abu Dhabi‐linked investment firm) with a majority stake (~45 percent) in TikTok’s U.S. operations. The arrangement resolves the dubious “national security concerns” and presents another concern ─ billionaire Oracle executive chairperson and ardent Israel supporter, Larry Ellison, might have TikTok prevent Israel critics and Palestine supporters from airing opinions.The usual suspects, ever fearful that the U.S. public learns the truth of Israel’s genocidal pursuits, have targeted TikTop as a “tool of dangerous influence inciting violence against Israelis Palestinians,” and a “platform pushing pro-Hamas and pro-Palestine content.” Nothing said that Israeli Defense Force actively recruits influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms.”

  In 2017, Ellison donated $16.6 million, to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the largest donation in the organization’s history. In 2019, Palestinians and Palestinian Americans filed a $1 billion lawsuit against several Israel supporters, including Ellison, which accused them of “conspiring to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Israeli-occupied territories, committing war crimes, and funding genocide.” The case was dismissed in February 2024.

  Although Oracle has only a 15 percent ownership of TikTok, Larry Ellison’s participation in its operations give Israel’s supporters hope that Palestinian expression will be censored.

  • • • Turning armed forces into personal militias
        On September 30, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth invited top military brass to a meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Some military observers criticized the meeting as “a waste of resources, arguing it did not address pressing issues like military strategy or acquisition reform.”Instead, Hegseth informed senior military officials that “The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies … but if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.” Trump, before the meeting is quoted as saying, “I’m going to be meeting with generals and with admirals and with leaders, and if I don’t like somebody, I’m gonna fire them right on the spot.” In a rambling 74 minute speech, “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”

  The military has been told not to question “rules of engagement,” and the effect is immediate ─ murder on the high seas. U.S. strikes on alleged “drug boats” in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific ocean have killed more than 115 people since September. Not answered is why the boats are not stopped, the cargo examined and seized, the occupants interrogated and allowed to live and receive trial. Could they be people fleeing Venezuela and carrying contraband to subsidize their lives on a Caribbean Island beach, and do not have the USA as a destination?

  Targeting “drug boats” escalated into seizing oil tankers, bombing a port in Venezuela, bombing Venezuela military facilities, seizing Venezuela’s president and first lady, and offering them to New York city courts. None of these actions are related to defense of the American mainland; the U.S. military is now a “hit squad” for Trump and his cronies on land and at sea, and that includes the U.S. mainland.

  American law allows the president to call National Guard troops from any state into service if the US is “invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation,” or “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion” against the US government. Trump has ordered National Guard troops into several cities and from his Quantico speech, hopes to use U.S. military troops for the same purpose. Is Trump testing the law and the military, learning if either can implement a future martial law that he might want after severe resistance to his complete domination of the American political system occurs?

  • • • Compromising Rule of Law
        All of the previous maneuvers by Donald Trump contain compromises with the “Rule of Law,“ a principle that all individuals and institutions are accountable to the law, which must be clear, public, and applied equally.” Trump’s pardons of convicted criminals and use of the nation’s highest office to enrich his family and friends evades the law and selects individuals who are allowed to evade the laws. He has brought compromises of the Rule of Law to its highest level

  Pardons have been granted to individuals with connections to Trump and bypassed the traditional review processes. In less than one year, he has granted clemency to almost 1,600 individuals. These include about 1500, convicted by courts for their participation in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Luminaries, convicted of white collar crime include:

  • • • Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor and Trump’s dirty tricks ally.
      • Scott Howard Jenkins, convicted of accepting cash bribes and bribes in the form of campaign contributions. Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice against political opponents by unfairly prosecuting and denying Jenkins, an ardent Trump supporter, a fair trial.
      • Glen Casada, involved in conspiracy and fraud. Trump claimed the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden had “significantly over-prosecuted individuals for a minor issue involving constituent mailers.”
      • Changpeng Zhao, former CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency platform, convicted of anti-money laundering violations. Zhao ‘s pardon allows Binance to apply for licenses and forge other commercial partnerships made difficult by states that revoked money-transmitter licenses from the company’s U.S. affiliate, Binance.US. Zhao’s company assisted in business dealings that benefitted World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture run by Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr. Trump claimed he knew “nothing about the guy.”
      • George Santos, former U.S. representative, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud and identity-theft charges, and admitted to using campaign funds to buy luxury products and pay off his credit card debt. Slated to be the next Attorney General.
      • Juan Orlando Hernandez, former president of Honduras, convicted on drug-trafficking and firearms charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison for helping cocaine traffickers move hundreds of tons of narcotics into the U.S. Rumored to be appointed head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
      • Todd and Julie Chrisley, reality TV stars from “Chrisley Knows Best,” convicted in a scheme to swindle banks out of tens of millions of dollars. Next Federal Reserve Commissioners.

  Put it all together and we have Trump replacing the penal system. He doesn’t determine who gets convicted or acquitted; he determines who serves the sentencing. Commit a crime. No problem. Snuggle up to Trump and the crime brings no time.

  Each day, Donald Trump behaves similar to Louis IV, who is quoted as saying, “Le loi, c’est moi,” or, “The law is me.” A previously mentioned NBC report, described how Trump uses power of his office to reap profits for family businesses. The Atlantic also summarizes the unlawful corruption of the former and present Trump administrations.

  Americans have never witnessed anything like the corruption that President Donald Trump and his inner circle have perpetrated in recent months. Its brazenness, volume, and variety defy historical comparison, even in a country with a centuries-long history of grift—including, notably, Trump’s first four years in office. Indeed, his second term makes the financial scandals of his first—foreign regimes staying at Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C.; the (aborted) plan to host the G7 at Trump’s hotel in Florida—seem quaint.

  Foreign regimes are beginning to see just how far their money can go in Trump’s America. The highest bidder has never had so much to gain.

  In less than one year, Trump has dimmed the Statue of Liberty torch and made the Lady weep. Feeling invincible after killing more than 40 people, including 33 Cubans, without loss of American life (who knows???), in the abduction of Nicholas Maduro, Trump will assuredly move ahead with his plan to incorporate Greenland in the U.S. defense perimeter and delight in turning a devastated Gaza into a Middle East Riviera playground. He will continue to demolish democratic institutions and attempt to perpetuate his criminal form of governance by a succession plan that favors his family and cronies.

  By denigrating democracy, Trump has served to alert the populace that American democracy is frail and weathered. Changing gun laws, which includes the second amendment, denying executive clemency, being able to indict sitting presidents, and refurbishing the holy trinity of government so they function more appropriately and achieve required checks and balances are only a small portion of the renovations needed for the decaying democracy. Regulation of a controlling media, Internet search engines, social media, and the crushing Artificial Intelligence so they assure information is accurate and not selective, and all voices are heard and dissent is not silenced, is a difficult challenge. Another constitutional convention will be appropriate, but a nation divided to the extent of contemporary USA will not be able to agree on the definition of “democracy.”

  Simplicius, an erudite and interesting scholar in the substack universe, predicts,

  It’s the law of the jungle now, might is right, and Trump has become a kind of ill-fated Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse figure, ushering in the new age of chaos just in time for the final arc of the Fourth Turning to transform the world into something unrecognizable.

  This is not altogether a bad thing. The old age is dying, and something new is being born; this is a natural process and should be welcomed, albeit with great caution and an emphasis on awareness.

  From my perspective, the United States is headed to becoming a more repressive state, engaging in civil strife, receiving international alienation, and suffering a resulting economic decline. And that is my optimistic view.

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Dan Lieberman publishes commentaries on foreign policy, economics, and politics at substack.com.  He is author of the non-fiction books A Third Party Can Succeed in America, Not until They Were Gone, Think Tanks of DC, The Artistry of a Dog, and a novel: The Victory (under a pen name, David L. McWellan). Read other articles by Dan.

Turkmenistan legalises crypto mining and exchanges in shift for economy

Legislation signed by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov establishes a licensing scheme overseen by country’s central bank.

Since succeeding his father as president in 2022, Serdar Berdymukhamedov has signalled some opening in the country, but social media remains highly regulated by the government [File: Adem Altan/AFP]

By News Agencies
Published On 2 Jan 2026

Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most isolated nations, has officially legalised mining and exchanging cryptocurrency in a major shift for the country’s tightly controlled, gas-dependent economy.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed the legislation on Thursday, regulating virtual assets under civil law and establishing a licensing scheme for cryptocurrency exchanges overseen by the country’s central bank.

However, digital currencies will still not be recognised as a means of payment, currency or security.

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet country in Central Asia, relies heavily on the export of its vast natural gas reserves to support its economy.

China is the country’s main importer of gas, and Turkmenistan is currently working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Turkmenistan has been taking steps to digitalise government functions as well as its economy.

In April, it adopted a law introducing electronic visas aimed at simplifying entry for foreigners.

After gaining independence in 1991, the tightly governed nation typically placed strict entry requirements on would-be visitors, with many visa applications turned down for unclear reasons.

A mostly desert country of seven million people with the world’s fourth-largest natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan declared itself officially neutral in 1995 under its first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who spurned both Western and Russian influence.

Until his death in 2006, Niyazov maintained tight control over politics, a policy of isolationism from the outside world, and an economy heavily based on natural gas exports.


Since succeeding his father as president in 2022, Berdymukhamedov has signalled some opening.

In December, he hinted at possible political reforms ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian.

“We are carrying out extensive work aimed at transforming our neutral country into a powerful, democratic, and rule-of-law state where citizens live happy lives,” Berdymukhamedov said in the article, without giving further details.

While Turkmenistan’s internet remains tightly regulated and controlled by the government, curbs on social media have been eased, and the government has pledged to open new air transport links and liberalise its visa system.

Still, the country is ranked by the Committee to Protect Journalists as one of the worst in the world for independent media.

Kyrgyzstan, another former Soviet Central Asian republic, has also positioned itself as a regional leader in the sector, launching a national stablecoin in partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

'Bread and butter corruption': Senator suspects sinister plot behind Trump's pardon spree

And it's kind of wild that Trump doesn't know anything about it, that it's happening behind his back.

Matthew Chapman
December 3, 2025

RAW STORY

Donald Trump (Reuters)


Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) tore into President Donald Trump's recent string of pardons for powerful and well-connected criminals and criminal defendants — and suggested there is something much more sinister going on below the surface.

Specifically, he argued to MS NOW's Chris Hayes on Wednesday, there is a whole lobbying network at play that has set up a cash-for-pardons pipeline to the White House.

"I mean, he has made a series of what would seem to be audaciously politically toxic pardons," said Hayes. "I mean, a man convicted and sentenced for 40 years for trafficking cocaine into the U.S., someone convicted of an enormous fraud enterprise and defrauding investors. I think today he's now pardoning someone who is indicted by his own Justice Department this July. And when he's asked about it, he says, I don't know who they are. What are we supposed to make of that?"

"Yeah, I mean, my sense is that somebody is getting rich ultimately, that there is a cabal of administration officials and MAGA-friendly lobbyists that are in league together," said Murphy. "They all huddle together at these elite restaurants and clubs in Washington, D.C. and they likely hatch deals in which if somebody pays a MAGA-affiliated lobbyist a couple hundred thousand dollars, then maybe you'll be able to get a pardon and somehow, you know, that deal will be consummated down the line."

"The Binance owner, the owner of one of these big crypto companies, was pardoned," said Murphy. "And this is a bad, bad guy. He pled guilty. I mean, it wasn't like he was contesting the charges. He had essentially set up a company that was being used to launder money for terrorists and for child sex predators, and he got a pardon pretty explicitly because his company had chosen to give Trump's crypto coin advantage in the marketplace."

"And remember, that's not just Trump making money," he added. "That's anybody that gets inside information from Trump on when he's going to boost the cryptocurrency. If they get just two minutes notice of that, they can make millions of dollars and so on. The cryptocurrency stuff, there's clearly a whole group of people around him that are making millions of dollars, and they're handing out favors to folks in the form of pardons in order to make sure that they get their pockets lined."

"I mean, that's like just bread and butter corruption," said Murphy. "And it's kind of wild that Trump doesn't know anything about it, that it's happening behind his back."

'Totally disgusted': Victim aghast after Trump frees fraudster

Robert Davis
December 3, 2025 
RAW STORY

CNN screenshot

A victim of a fraudster that President Donald Trump recently let out of jail spoke out on Wednesday, railing that the president's move "makes no sense."

Carolann Tutera, who was defrauded by David Gentile, the former CEO of GPB Holdings, discussed the impact of Gentile's fraud on her family during Wednesday's broadcast of "The Lead" with Jake Tapper. Gentile was convicted in May of leading a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme and sentenced to seven years in federal prison. He served just 12 days before Trump commuted his sentence.

"I'm totally disgusted because it wasn't only myself, it was my elder mother in her 90s and my sister as well. We all got defrauded," Tutera told Tapper.

Tutera said she lost about $500,000 in Gentile's scams and has since been able to recoup about $40,000. She told Tapper that she realized she was being scammed after her late husband died, and she asked for her money back.

"You're not really functioning for quite some time after you lose your spouse of many, many years," Tutera said. "And when I asked for money back, they said they're just waiting. What are they waiting for? Call me in about six months. Time went on, and there was no money. None."

Gentile is not the only white collar criminal Trump has granted clemency for during his second administration. He pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted of money laundering and forced to pay a more than $4 billion fine. Trump has also pardoned Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, who was also convicted of money laundering.

Trump pardons media exec indicted by his own DOJ

Matthew Chapman
December 3, 2025

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a breakfast with Republican Senators at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to Tim Leiweke, a media executive who co-founded the Oak View Group, according to CNN on Wednesday.

The move is notable as, unlike many other controversial Trump clemencies for rich and well-connected people, this pardon is for a charge brought by his own Justice Department earlier this year.

"A federal grand jury indicted Leiweke, then the CEO of the live entertainment group, in July for 'orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas,' according to a press release from the Justice Department announcing the charge," noted the report. Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater proclaimed at that time, “As outlined in the indictment, the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding.”

Ironically, according to the report, Leiweke has a history of criticizing Trump on social media, posting that he was the “single greatest Con man” and lauding former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up to Trump's scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Leiweke was represented in his quest for a pardon by former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a former ally of the president.

This comes just hours after Trump sent House Republicans into chaos by pardoning conservative Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, who was charged alongside his wife with a $600,000 bribery scheme on behalf of an oil and gas company tied to foreign entities. GOP lawmakers had hoped to leverage his criminal charges to unseat him in his South Texas district.

'Grotesque': Ex-DOJ pardon attorney slams Trump for freeing Ponzi schemer  

GRIFTER PARDONS GRIFTER

Robert Davis
December 1, 2025

RAW STORY


Donald Trump in the Oval Office (Photo via Reuters)

A former Department of Justice pardon attorney slammed President Donald Trump on Monday for freeing a billion-dollar Ponzi schemer from federal prison just before Thanksgiving.

The White House confirmed on Monday that Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile, the former CEO of GPB Capital, who was convicted in May of wire and bank fraud charges, according to a report by CNN. Gentile was just 12 days into his seven-year sentence when Trump commuted it.

CNBC reported that Gentile defrauded tens of thousands of investors while at GPB Capital, costing them billions. The investigation into Gentile began in 2018, during Trump's first term, and one of Trump's DOJ attorneys pushed the courts to give Gentile a 15-year sentence earlier this year.

Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney, commented on Trump's decision to commute Gentile's sentence in a new YouTube video.

"Once again, Trump has offered no explanation to the American people or to the victims of Gentile's fraud," Oyer said in the video, arguing that he tried to keep the clemency a "secret."

"We cannot let these corrupt abuses of the pardon power fly under the radar," she continued.

Gentile is not the first white-collar criminal the Trump administration has freed since taking office. Trump also pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency trading platform Binance. Zhao was convicted on money laundering charges, and his company paid more than $4 billion in fines.

"This is another grotesque abuse of the pardon power that should outrage all Americans," Oyer said in a post on X.

‘Shamelessly Corrupt’: Trump Frees Private Equity Executive Convicted of Defrauding 10,000+ Investors

One elderly victim said they “lost a significant portion” of their retirement savings to David Gentile’s $1.6 billion scheme.



US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 01, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

In yet another gift to corporate criminals, President Donald Trump has reportedly used his executive authority to commute the seven-year prison sentence of a former private equity executive convicted of defrauding more than 10,000 investors of around $1.6 billion.

David Gentile, the founder and former CEO of GPB Capital, was convicted of securities and wire fraud last year and sentenced to prison in May, but he ended up serving just days behind bars. The New York Times reported over the weekend that the White House “argued that prosecutors had falsely characterized the business as a Ponzi scheme.”

One victim said they lost their “whole life savings” to the scheme and are now living “check to check.” Another, who described themselves as “an elderly victim,” said they “lost a significant portion” of their retirement savings.

“This money was earmarked to help my two grandsons pay for college,” the person said. “They had tragically lost their father and needed some financial assistance. So this loss attached my entire family.”

In a statement following Gentile’s sentencing earlier this year, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia—who was appointed to the role by Trump’s loyalist FBI director, Kash Patel—said the private equity executive and his co-defendant, Jeffry Schneider, “wove a web of lies to steal more than one billion dollars from investors through empty promises of guaranteed profits and unlawfully rerouting funds to provide an illusion of success.”

“The defendants abused their high-ranking positions within their company to exploit the trust of their investors and directly manipulate payments to perpetuate this scheme,” said Raia. “May today’s sentencing deter anyone who seeks to greedily profit off their clients through deceitful practices.”

Critics said Trump’s commutation of Gentile’s sentence sends the opposite message: That the administration is soft on corporate crime and rich fraudsters despite posturing as fierce protectors of the rule of law and throwing the book at the vulnerable.

“Trump will deport an Afghan living in the US with Temporary Protected Status if he is accused of stealing $1,000,” said US Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). “But he’ll set a white dude free who was convicted of stealing $1.6 billion from American citizens to go commit more crime.”

After criticizing former President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of death-row prisoners, Trump has wielded his pardon power to spare political allies—including January 6 rioters—and rich executives while his administration works to “delegitimize the very concept of white-collar crime.”

Since the start of Trump’s second term, his administration has halted or dropped more than 160 federal enforcement actions against corporations, according to the watchdog group Public Citizen. White-collar criminals reportedly view Trump as their “get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“The most shamelessly corrupt administration in history,” journalist Wajahat Ali wrote in response to the Gentile commutation.

PAKISTAN'S  Crypto red flags

Editorial 

Published November 25, 2025

DAWN


A LOT of money could be moving around unchecked. According to Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Adoption Index, Pakistan ranks third globally in crypto adoption, with most activity driven by small investors. Likewise, a 2020-21 report by the FPCCI estimated that Pakistanis collectively held around $20bn in cryptocurrencies. Research indicates that outside of Binance, a popular crypto exchange platform, much of the trading in cryptocurrencies occurs on local peer-to-peer platforms. These platforms enable direct transactions without Know-Your-Customer checks, allowing significant sums to move across borders with no oversight. The situation should trigger concern. The chairman of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan recently warned that people are buying dollars from foreign exchange companies and using them to purchase crypto. This, he believes, has resulted in roughly $600m ‘disappearing’ from the formal system. If true, it could get Pakistan into trouble with the FATF yet again. Crypto can create openings for money laundering and terror financing, drawing unwanted attention from the FATF, whose requirements for regulating crypto include collecting and sharing originator and beneficiary information and ensuring that service providers are properly licensed and supervised. On the regulatory side, Pakistan is still in the early stages of building this framework. The Pakistan Crypto Council, formed earlier this year, has yet to issue comprehensive guidelines.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority has begun the process of licensing service providers but is still only inviting expressions of interest from global exchanges. Given the scale of grassroots crypto activity and the ease with which unlicensed platforms operate, the potential for illicit financial flows is substantial, underscoring the need for a robust regulatory framework. The Ecap chairman’s warning should prompt the authorities to complete their homework before global watchdogs start prying into the country’s financial system again.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2025

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

Trump-pardoned CEO's firm accused of 'knowingly' enabling Hamas attacks

Matthew Chapman
November 24, 2025 

RAW STORY


FILE PHOTO: Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, speaks at the Bitcoin Asia conference, in Hong Kong, China, August 29, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

A new lawsuit against a cryptocurrency company whose billionaire founder was recently pardoned of federal crimes by President Donald Trump argued that the firm "knowingly" helped finance the Oct. 7, 2021, attack on Israel by Hamas, Reuters reported on Monday.

The firm, Binance, serves as an exchange for cryptocurrency trading, and was the primary competitor to FTX before the latter firm was implicated in a fraud scheme by its CEO and declared bankruptcy in 2022.

"According to a complaint made public on Monday, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange laundered money for Hamas even after pleading guilty in November 2023 and paying a $4.32 billion criminal penalty for violating federal anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws," reported Reuters.

The plaintiffs, who include 306 American victims and relatives of victims, "accused Binance of knowingly enabling Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iran's Revolutionary Guard to move more than $1 billion through its platform, including more than $50 million after the October 7 attack," according to the report.

"Binance intentionally structured itself as a refuge for illicit activity," the complaint said. "To this day, there is no indication that Binance has meaningfully altered its core business model."

Binance's former CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2023. Earlier this year, Trump gave him a full pardon, claiming that he was politically targeted by the Biden administration.

However, that pardon came after Binance spent months promoting a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture owned by Trump family members that has netted them over $1 billion in profit.

 

Kyrgyzstan’s president addresses son’s involvement in creating digital bank with Binance founder ‘CZ’

Japarov (pictured) said the proposal to open the digital bank was made by co-founder and owner of cryptocurrency exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ”. / president.kg/S. Dosaliev

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By bne IntelliNews November 2, 2025

Nurdoolot Nurgozhoyev, youngest son of Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov, and Marat Sultanov, a former speaker of parliament, have become the founders of a newly established digital bank, Bereket Bank, Azattyk reported on October 31.

Subsequently, on November 2, in an interview with official state news agency Kabar, Japarov commented on the involvement of his son in the bank.

Japarov said the proposal to open the digital bank was made by co-founder and owner of cryptocurrency exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ”.

Japarov was further reported as saying: "I invited Marat Sultanov as a former banker and entrusted him with the organisational work [for the bank]. He asked to include Changpeng Zhao and Marat Abdrazakovich Nurdoolot. After thinking and thinking, I gave permission, saying that because the state has nothing to do with this, it is okay. I told them [Sultanov and Nurdoolot] that they need to get involved and gain experience. Isn't it better for them to be busy with their personal affairs rather than getting involved in state affairs?"

Japarov said Bereket would work primarily with virtual assets and digital currencies.

He was also reported as saying that his relatives and close friends do not get involved in politics and that he has been advising his children to work on attracting investors to Kyrgyzstan.

Japarov said his children, Rustam and Nurdoolot, are studying economics and finance.

Zhao was appointed as a public advisor to Japarov in the summer.

On October 25, Kyrgyzstan unveiled a national stablecoin and a central bank digital currency in partnership with Binance.

US President Donald Trump on October 24 pardoned Zhao over a conviction for money laundering-related offences.

Kyrgyzstan is under Western sanctions in relation to the A7A5 cryptocurrency token and Grinex exchange that appear to have been used to shift billions of dollars into Russia.

Senator releases blistering response to lawsuit threat from billionaire pardoned by Trump

David McAfee
November 2, 2025 

RAW STORY

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gestures as Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, testifies before a Senate Committee on Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz


A billionaire who was pardoned by Donald Trump sent a lawsuit threat to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who dropped a blistering reply through lawyers of her own.

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange Binance who recently received a pardon after months of boosting a crypto venture owned by President Donald Trump's family, reportedly asked Warren to retract a social media post about him. Specifically, the post claimed Zhao had pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge, which Warren says is objectively true.

Writer Brendan Pedersen flagged a letter sent by Warren's attorneys.

"We obtained a letter sent by lawyers for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today in response to a defamation threat from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. CZ wants Warren to retract a tweet saying he pleaded guilty to a 'criminal money laundering charge,'" he wrote before quoting the response statement.

"Your client asserts that Senator Warren has published a 'defamatory' statement about him in an October 23, 2025, post on X. Specifically, we understand your client to maintain that it is objectively false that he 'pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge.' In relevant part, Senator Warren’s post stated that 'CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison.' Senator Warren’s post is true in all respects and therefore cannot be defamatory," the letter says. "Senator Warren accurately represented publicly available and widely reported facts. The 'charge' referenced in Senator Warren’s X post refers to the 'charge' to which Mr. Zhao pled guilty and as to which President Trump had just pardoned him."

The letter adds, "The law Mr. Zhao pled guilty to violating is an anti-money laundering law. All of this is public record, and is plainly what Senator Warren’s X post concerned. Simply put, any threatened defamation claim would be without merit. We provide further context below, which we trust resolves any misunderstanding as to what Senator Warren’s statement means."

Read the letter here.

Trump makes 'emergency' Supreme Court power grab after AI plot by tech pals thwarted

David Edwards
October 27, 2025 

RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he returns to the White House from National Harbor following his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting, on the South Lawn in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Craig Hudson

President Donald Trump's administration filed an "emergency" Supreme Court plea to remove the register of copyrights at the Library of Congress, which had refused to support the plans of AI companies owned by his billionaire supporters.

In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Trump lacked the authority to remove Shira Perlmutter because she worked for Congress, not the executive branch. Trump first tried to fire Perlmutter in May after she released a pre-publication version of the third part of the Copyright Office's report "Copyright and Artificial Intelligence," which suggested that AI companies could be infringing on copyrighted works.

"Donald Trump's termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis," Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25) said at the time of her firing. "It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models."

The pre-release of the copyright report stated that "the copying involved in AI training threatens significant potential harm to the market for or value of copyrighted works."

"Where a model can produce substantially similar outputs that directly substitute for works in the training data, it can lead to lost sales. Even where a model's outputs are not substantially similar to any specific copyrighted work, they can dilute the market for works similar to those found in its training data, including by generating material stylistically similar to those works."

Musk has suggested that all intellectual property laws should be repealed.

In September, Trump held a dinner with 33 tech industry leaders, including the CEOs of the top AI companies.