John Bickley

A report from City Journal reveals that while California collects some of the nation's highest taxes to fuel a $300 billion annual budget, systematic fraud is siphoned off at least $180 billion during Governor Gavin Newsom's tenure.

The most documented failure occurred within the Employment Development Department during the pandemic.

According to fraud specialist Heywood Talcove and subsequent state admissions, the Newsom administration, quote, suspended all of the rules for eligibility to expedite payments.

This included over $700,000 to Memphis rapper Nuke Bizzle.

Bizzle pleaded guilty to federal charges after recording a music video bragging about exploiting the EDD.

Stay tuned for in-depth coverage on the next full episode of Morning Wire.

Dozens of Christians are feared dead after gunmen in Nigeria opened fire on a Palm Sunday crowd.

The cousin of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was convicted in a federal court in Virginia last week after being caught in a sting by U.S.

authorities.

Antoine Cassis was arrested in Kenya and extradited to the U.S.

in May of 2025.

The Justice Department caught up with Cassis after he attempted to traffic military-grade weapons to a Colombian terror group in exchange for a shipping container full of cocaine.

The scheme was carried out all under the guise of buying fruit.

He now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 2nd.

For the first time ever, the U.S.

government will start tracking microplastics and pharmaceuticals in drinking water.

Here's HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

announcing the initiative at a press conference today.

Also present was EPA chief Lee Zeldin.

Here's a clip from his remarks.