Gabbard Asks DOJ To Prosecute 2 Alleged Leakers Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, Two alleged intelligence community leakers have been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution, according to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard said in an April 23 post on the social media platform X that besides the two already referred for prosecution, a third referral is on its way. Gabbard wrote that “politicization of our intelligence and leaking classified information puts our nation’s security at risk and must end” and that “those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” “These deep-state criminals leaked classified information for partisan political purposes to undermine POTUS’ agenda. I look forward to working with [the Justice Department and FBI] to investigate, terminate and prosecute these criminals,” she said. Gabbard’s office did not respond to a request for more information, and the DOJ did not return an inquiry. Gabbard said that the unidentified officials leaked information to The Washington Post, which had reported recently on a classified assessment of the Tren de Aragua gang that allegedly found Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is not directing the invasion of the United States. President Donald Trump in March invoked the Alien Enemies Act, finding that Tren de Aragua, at the direction of the Venezuelan government, was invading the United States. “The weaponization of intelligence to undermine the President’s agenda is an assault on democracy. Those behind this illegal leak of classified intelligence, twisted and manipulated to convey the exact opposite finding, will be held accountable under the full force of the law,” Gabbard said on April 21. She said that her office “fully supports the assessment that the foreign terrorist organization, Tren De Aragua, is acting with the support of the Maduro Regime, and thus subject to arrest, detention and removal as alien enemies of the United States.” Gabbard also said that “rooting out this politicization of intelligence is exactly what President Trump campaigned on and what Americans overwhelmingly voted for.” Federal law states that a person who communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available classified information to an unauthorized person can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The DOJ announced in March that it was probing the disclosure of other intelligence concerning Tren de Aragua. “The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation relating to the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information from the Intelligence Community relating to Tren de Aragua,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time. “We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking false information onto the pages of their allies at The New York Times.” Tyler Durden Thu, 04/24/2025 – 15:45

2nd Federal Judge Blocks Trump DEI Ban In K-12 Schools In Same Day Update (1538ET): And moments later, a second federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds from schools with DEI initiatives.  President Donald Trump holds an executive order relating to education in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Education Secretary Linda McMahon watch. Alex Brandon/AP Shortly after US District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee, issued a similar order – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of Maryland, a Trump appointee, issued a broader ruling that prohibits the Department of Education from using federal funding to end DEI initiatives in public schools. “This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue here are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair,” wrote Gallagher. “But this Court is constitutionally required to closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. The government did not.” Siding with the groups that brought the lawsuit, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Sociological Association and a public school in Oregon, Gallagher determined that they had successfully argued that they would be irreparably harmed, and that an Education Department letter at issue likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act. “This Court ends where it began—this case is about procedure,” the judge continued. “Plaintiffs have shown that the government likely did not follow the procedures it should have, and those procedural failures have tangibly and concretely harmed the Plaintiffs. This case, especially, underscores why following the proper procedures, even when it is burdensome, is so important.” *  *  * A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Department of Education’s push to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from K-12 schools. Raise your hand if you’re shocked. US District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee who last year blocked a law in New Hampshire that would have kept transgender biological men out of women’s sports in public schools, sided with the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in their lawsuit against the Trump administration to block the effort, arguing that the directive violated teachers’ due process and First Amendment rights. In her order, McCafferty said that the Trump administration’s argument is “unconstitutionally vague.” “The letter does not even define what a ‘DEI program’ is,” she wrote. 🚨 NEW: Obama-appointed Judge Landya McCafferty (2013) strikes again! Her ruling BLOCKS Trump’s defunding of K-12 schools with DEI programs, calling it “viewpoint discrimination.” She also allowed trans athletes in girls’ sports (2024) Another Left-Wing Activist Judge… pic.twitter.com/motwIkq9Lv — Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) April 24, 2025 The Trump administration has until Thursday to comply with her directive, including a prohibition on enforcing use of its “End DEI Portal” and a certification requirement it had imposed, Axios reports. In January, Trump ordered the end of DEI in public schools and federal contractors in an executive order. On April 3, the Department of Education sent letters to K-12 agencies ordering them to comply with the administration’s anti-DEI policies, a move which followed a February warning that they may lose federal funding for schools that refuse to get rid of DEI. Tyler Durden Thu, 04/24/2025 – 15:40

12 Signs That U.S. Consumers Are Experiencing Far More Financial Stress Than Most People Realize Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog, Consumer sentiment is plummeting, delinquency rates are rising, and nearly three-quarters of all U.S. consumers admit that they are “financially stressed”.  If U.S. consumers are experiencing this much pain now, what will things look like six months from today if there are empty shelves and widespread shortages?   We witnessed a brief period of severe financial stress during the early days of the last pandemic, but we would have to go all the way back to the Great Recession to find a time that is truly comparable to what we are enduring now.  U.S consumers have been getting hammered for years, and now it appears that our problems are about to go to an entirely new level.  The following are 12 signs that U.S. consumers are experiencing far more financial stress than most people realize… #1 According to the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment in the United States has fallen to the second-lowest reading ever recorded… Americans are rarely this pessimistic about the economy. Consumer sentiment plunged 11% this month to a preliminary reading of 50.8, the University of Michigan said in its latest survey released Friday, the second-lowest reading on records going back to 1952. #2 According to a new CNBC/SurveyMonkey poll, a whopping 73 percent of U.S. consumers admit that they are “financially stressed”… Americans are growing increasingly uneasy about the state of the U.S. economy and their own personal financial situation in the face of stubborn inflation and tariff wars. To that point, 73% of respondents said they are “financially stressed,” with 66% of that group pointing to the tariff wars as a main source, according to a new CNBC/SurveyMonkey online poll. The survey of 4,200 U.S. adults was conducted April 3 to 7. #3 Approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults feel like they are “behind on their savings goals”, and half of U.S. adults believe that they will never reach their savings goals at all… 67% of Americans feel behind on their savings goals, with nearly half (47%) believing they’ll never reach their targets #4 More than 60 percent of U.S. adults that currently have savings accounts have taken money out of them since the start of this year… 63% of people with savings accounts have withdrawn money since the beginning of 2025, primarily for unexpected expenses (48%) and everyday necessities (36%) #5 The percentage of U.S. credit card accounts that are at least 90 days past due has reached the highest level in 12 years… The percentage of credit card accounts that were at least 90 days past due hit a 12-year high in the fourth quarter of 2024. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 0.90% of accounts were delinquent, the most since the Fed bank began its report. #6 5 million student loan borrowers in the United States have not made a single payment in the last year, and 4 million other student loan borrowers will soon reach that status… Of the more than 42.7 million student loan borrowers in the U.S., who owe a collective $1.6 trillion, the department says that more than 5 million have not made a payment in the past year. That number is expected to grow as an additional 4 million borrowers are approaching default status. #7 For the first time in about 5 years, the Department of Eduction “will resume collections of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio”.  This is going to put additional financial stress on millions of U.S. households… The U.S. Department of Education today announced its Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will resume collections of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio on Monday, May 5th. The Department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020. Resuming collections protects taxpayers from shouldering the cost of federal student loans that borrowers willingly undertook to finance their postsecondary education. This initiative will be paired with a comprehensive communications and outreach campaign to ensure borrowers understand how to return to repayment or get out of default. #8 The average credit score in the United States just dropped at the fastest pace since the Great Recession… America’s credit score just took its biggest hit since the 2008 crash. The average FICO score in the US has dropped to 715 from 717 — the largest one-year drop since the Great Recession, according to new data from the credit-rating giant FICO. #9 U.S. consumers are eating out less, and as a result restaurant chains all over the country are in financial distress… Once rapidly growing commercial marvels, casual dining chains — sit-down restaurants where middle-class families can walk in without a reservation, order from another human and share a meal — have been in decline for most of the 21st century. Last year, TGI Fridays and Red Lobster both filed for bankruptcy. Outback and Applebee’s have closed dozens of locations. Pizza Hut locations with actual dining rooms are vanishingly rare, with hundreds closing since 2019. According to a February survey by the market research firm Datassential, 24 percent of Americans say they are having dinner at casual restaurants less often, and 29 percent are dining out less with groups of friends and family. #10 U.S. consumers are visiting shopping malls a lot less than they once did, and as a result many mall retailers are going belly up… Merry Go Round, Bon-Ton, Lord & Taylor, The Limited, Loehmann’s, Bonwit Teller, Chess King, and Anchor Blue are just a few once-successful clothing retailers that no longer exist. Now, a once-trendy fashion/clothing retailer finds itself having to make massive cuts and shut down 100s of stores in a fight to avoid bankruptcy. #11 U.S. consumers are not spending as much money at hair salons, and Bloomberg is telling us that this is an indicator that a recession is coming… Stylists from Manhattan to rural New Hampshire are seeing regular clients start to skip cuts and blowouts. In from the Maine town of Brewer, hairstylist Alyssa Dow said customers are choosing cheaper, “more low-maintenance” looks—and tipping less. In affluent Longmeadow, Massachusetts, where “people don’t like to walk around with roots” showing, clients who previously got color every two or three weeks are stretching it to four or five, citing the “political situation” and implying they’ve lost money in the stock market, said Michelle LaValley. “They’re cutting back in other areas as well, so it’s not just us,” said the salon owner, who has 28 years in the business. The wider pullback in spending seems to go beyond the general grumpiness that accompanied the so-called vibecession that started years ago when inflation rose, interest rates spiked and yet the US kept growing. #12 According to the Fed, U.S. consumers are becoming more concerned about inflation and unemployment… The central bank’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that respondents saw inflation a year from now at 3.6%, an increase of half a percentage point from February and the highest reading since October 2023. Along with concerns over a higher cost of living came a surge in worries over the labor market: The probability that the unemployment rate would be higher a year from now surged to 44%, a move up of 4.6 percentage points and the highest level going back to the early Covid pandemic days of April 2020. Right now, economists all over the country are arguing about whether a recession is ahead of us or not. But to millions of hard working Americans, it feels like a recession has already begun. If you are currently experiencing financial stress, I want you to know that you aren’t alone. Countless others are in the exact same boat, and the outlook for the months ahead is not promising at all. *  *  * Michael’s new  book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com. Tyler Durden Thu, 04/24/2025 – 14:45

North Korean Missile Used In Deadly Russian Attack On Kiev, Ukraine Claims A Ukrainian official speaking to Reuters Thursday has claimed that the missile that killed at least nine people in a major Russian aerial attack on Kiev overnight was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile. A residential building, factory, and cars were set on fire in the wake of the attack, which included a number of missiles and drones. Emergency crews were digging through rubble looking for victims throughout Thursday. At least one building was simply obliterated, suffering a direct hit by a powerful warhead.  Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, offered as ‘proof’ footage which shows a fast-moving, large missile falling on the city. However, it remains anything but clear from the video precisely what kind of missile it was, much less who produced it. Kyiv last night during a combined Russian attack. Reuters reports that a North Korean KN-23 ballistic missile hit the residential building in Kyiv, citing its own sources. https://t.co/28TlH03X3E pic.twitter.com/D3jxURielQ — Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 24, 2025 “The weapon that killed at least eight people in a major Russian aerial attack on Kyiv overnight was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters on Thursday,” Reuters cited. “The missile struck a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv’s center,” the unnamed source described. While it’s anything but clear from mere video or photographic evidence what kind of missiles were use on Kiev overnight, Russia and North Korea’s deepening defense relations have been on full display since last summer. Not only has Pyongyang sent some 10,000 of its troops to help liberate Kursk region, but huge amounts of artillery ammo has reportedly been shipped, based on a 2024 treaty. And last year the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) produced a report which said, “Analysis confirms that Russia used ballistic missiles produced in North Korea in its war against Ukraine. North Korean missile debris was found throughout Ukraine, according to an unclassified report released today by the Defense Intelligence Agency.” “Through careful analysis of open-source imagery, DIA analysts confirms the debris found in Kharkiv on Jan. 2, 2024 is missile debris from a DPRK short-range missile,” the DIA continued in May of 2024. “The report provides a comparative analysis of publicly available images of North Korean missile debris and known North Korean missiles. The report shows that the missile debris in Ukraine is almost certainly of a North Korean ballistic missile.” BBC has picked up on the allegations that a North Korean missile was used to attack a European capital: BBC News: “according to the Reuters news agency, the missile that killed at least 8 people in that aerial attack on Kyiv was a North Korean ballistic missile” Are you going to start reporting the origin of all the bombs & missiles that Israel uses to kill Palestinians in Gaza? pic.twitter.com/upciY6pAdd — Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) April 24, 2025 So US intelligence has strongly suggested that it is indeed possible Russia is using North Korean-made ballistic missiles on the Ukrainian capital. Zelensky has meanwhile used this information to say that there is an ‘axis’ of hostile forces and enemies of the West warring against Ukraine. Tyler Durden Thu, 04/24/2025 – 14:25

Institutions Break Up With Ethereum But Keep ETH On The Hook Authored by Yohan Yun via CoinTelegraph.com, Ethereum is entering one of its most precarious periods since its inception. Usage on the base layer is plummeting, core metrics are nearing multi-year lows, and even co-founder Vitalik Buterin is proposing a radical architectural overhaul.  Institutions aren’t waiting to see how it plays out. Blockchain data shows that long-time supporters such as Galaxy Digital and Paradigm have been slashing their Ether holdings in recent weeks.  So far in April, Ethereum’s base-layer activity has continued to collapse. Ethereum’s network fees are dropping, and inflation has been rising. Though layer-2 networks continue to develop, they’re cannibalizing the base layer’s value capture. But the story isn’t entirely about Ethereum’s collapse. Some whales are treating this downturn as a rare buying opportunity. Even those who are selling Ether can’t fully let it go. Ethereum gets dumped by institutions, but for how long? Institutions are dumping Ethereum, but it’s the ex they keep checking on. It’s not entirely out of the picture — just benched while they explore options like Solana. In recent weeks, blockchain analysts on the lookout for large crypto movements spotted several institutions moving ETH out of their tagged wallets, likely to sell. Lookonchain reported that Galaxy Digital deposited 65,600 ETH ($105.5 million) to Binance. The investment firm’s Ether exposure rose to as high as around 98,000 coins in February, but that has dropped to almost 68,000 ETH at the time of writing, Arkham data shows. Galaxy dumps Ether, but not all of it. Source: Arkham Galaxy’s holdings may have declined in recent weeks, but they’re still higher compared to the start of the year. Its Ether holdings reflect a broader trend seen in Ethereum-based investment products. According to CoinShares, ETH funds saw $26.7 million in outflows over the past week, bringing total outflows to $772 million over eight weeks. However, year-to-date flows remain positive, with $215 million in net inflows.  As Galaxy trimmed its Ether holdings, it also withdrew 752,240 SOL ($98.37 million), Lookonchain reported. Ethereum lost considerable momentum to Solana, which became the chain of choice during the memecoin casino frenzy that dominated much of 2024 and early 2025. While that eventually cooled amid rampant scams, bots and low-quality tokens, it also served as a technical showcase for Solana — proving its ability to process massive transaction volumes without major fee spikes or outages. Paradigm is another investor that has cut back on Ether. On April 21, it moved 5,500 ETH ($8.66 million) to Anchorage Digital. Paradigm transferred around 97,000 ETH (around $301.57 million) to Anchorage from January 2024, which was then moved to centralized exchanges, as onchain analyst EmberCN pointed out. Paradigm Capital held about 236,000 ETH in 2019 but holds 2,873 ETH on April 23. Source: Arkham “While institutional investors initially bought into the ‘ultra-sound money’ narrative, they’re now facing a reality where decreasing protocol revenue and weakening tokenomics create legitimate concerns,” Jayendra Jog, co-founder of Sei Labs, told Cointelegraph. Ethereum returns to net inflationary state Ether deflation has been an attractive selling point to Ethereum investors. It was integrated into the network through two major upgrades. First, the London hard fork of August 2021 introduced Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559, which partially burns transaction fees. Then in the Merge upgrade of September 2022, Ethereum became a proof-of-stake network and drastically cut new token issuance. Ether’s supply consistently decreased following the Merge until April 2024, when Ether’s inflation began to accelerate. By early February 2025, the total ETH supply had surpassed its Merge level. Ether’s total supply is approximately 186,705 ETH higher than it was at the time of the Merge. Source: Ultra Sound Money Part of Ether’s inflation has been due to dropping fees, which results in less Ether burned. According to data from IntoTheBlock, Ethereum collected 1,873.52 ETH in fees from April 14 to April 21. That’s slightly higher than the 1,697.61 ETH in fees from the week starting on March 17, which was the lowest amount of fees collected (measured in ETH) since July 31, 2017. Ethereum base layer’s fees drop to 2017 levels. Source: IntoTheBlock Buterin’s radical RISC-V proposal for Ethereum On April 20, Buterin proposed the RISC-V instruction set to substitute the current Ethereum Virtual Machine contract language, aiming to improve the speed and efficiency of the network’s execution layer. Some view the proposal as a white flag on the existing architecture. Source: Rooter “Vitalik’s RISC-V proposal is essentially an acknowledgment that the EVM’s fundamental architecture has reached its limits. When Ethereum’s founder proposes replacing the core VM that underpins the entire ecosystem, it signals not evolution but recognition of a design limitation that can’t be incrementally improved,” Jog said. Cointelegraph has reached out to the Ethereum Foundation and will update this article when it answers. The proposal follows a leadership shuffling in the Ethereum Foundation following rising complaints on the project’s direction.  Could Ethereum be the one that got away? Part of Ethereum’s struggles has been attributed to its rollup-centric approach to scaling its network. The idea was to build layer-2 scaling networks that would offload the transactions from the base chain but still utilize its security. That has alleviated congestion issues during times of high network demand but has also created new problems of its own, such as dropping Ether burns and fragmentation of the Ethereum ecosystem. But there is an increased focus on layer-1 scaling, according to Tomasz Stańczak, the new co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. Stańczak said on X that the Ethereum Foundation will shift its focus to near-term goals, such as layer-1 scaling and layer-2 scaling support. Source: Tomasz Stańczak Some whales have taken advantage of Ethereum’s cheaper price tag. On April 23, Lookonchain identified two wallets accumulating millions of dollars worth of ETH. The blockchain monitor identified another wallet on April 22 that has accumulated over $100 million in ETH since Feb. 15. Ether is currently down from the plus-$4,000 it reached in December but rose over 10% on April 23 to over $1,800.  In a recent client letter, Standard Chartered Bank slashed its 2025 price estimate for Ether from $10,000. However, for whales accumulating at current levels, upside potential remains, as the bank still predicts a year-end target of $4,000. Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital assets research, attributed the more cautious outlook to Ethereum’s structural decline, noting that the layer-2 networks designed to improve scalability are now extracting much of the fee revenue once captured by the base layer. Tyler Durden Thu, 04/24/2025 – 14:05