Media Mentions – Page 2 – Functional Government Initiative

Conservative blacklist group leader hired to teach ‘economics of disinformation’ class

By Gabe Kaminsky (Washington Examiner)

August 21, 2023

The head of a State Department-backed think tank under congressional investigation for starving conservative media of advertising dollars is set to teach a one-day course on the “economics of disinformation,” according to records.

CEO Clare Melford of the Global Disinformation Index, a London group with two affiliated American nonprofit organizations Republicans have argued is engaged in “censorship” while pocketing U.S. government money, is listed as the trainer for an online class in September on the “economics of disinformation,” according to an application link posted in July. The module is being offered by a little-known project composed of “fact-checkers and academic researchers” that is focused on thwarting “online disinformation” and received the equivalent of $4.3 million in 2022 from an agency under the European Union, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

Biden Admin Concedes No Evidence Behind Recommendation for 6 COVID Booster Shots a Year

By Zachary Stieber (Epoch Times)

August 7, 2023

President Joe Biden’s administration concedes that there is no scientific evidence to support an apparent recommendation to receive as many as six COVID-19 booster shots in a year.

After Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Biden appointee, wrote in a social media post on Nov. 29, 2022, that people should get vaccinated “if it’s been over 2 months since your last dose,” the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents supporting the statements.

Senator demands answers from Biden admin over Sam Brinton’s luggage theft on taxpayer-funded trip

By Thomas Catenacci (Fox News)

July 27, 2023

A top Republican senator is probing the Department of Energy (DOE) after Fox News Digital reported non-binary former senior official Sam Brinton committed a crime while on an official trip last year.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter late Wednesday to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, asking her various questions about Brinton’s employment and her agency’s knowledge of Brinton’s alleged crimes. Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported Brinton was traveling on a taxpayer-funded business trip to Nevada at the time of a high-profile baggage theft in July 2022.

Emails Show Fauci Knew From A 2020 Federalist Article That Masking Was Ineffective But Demanded It Anyway

By Jordan Boyd (The Federalist)

July 25, 2023

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci knew as early as October 2020 that masking was ineffective at preventing the transmission of Covid-19 after he read a Federalist article about it, emails obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) and shared with The Federalist reveal.

Despite showing awareness of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study — which showed a majority of Covid patients in the study became ill despite always wearing face coverings — and The Federalist’s reporting on it, Fauci published a paper weeks after the story that made no mention of masks’ shortcomings. In fact, for two more years, Fauci demanded universal masking and encouraged mandates requiring face coverings despite their uselessness.

What’s Behind Jerome Powell’s Woke Turn? Bidenomics.

By Pete McGinnis (RealClearPolicy Op-ed)

July 20, 2023

In February 2021, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress, “We are not climate policymakers here who can decide the way climate change will be addressed by the United States. We’re a regulatory agency that regulates a part of the economy.” When Powell said that, less than a month into the Biden administration, inflation was 1.6%.

Just eight months later, in remarks on November 22, 2021, President Biden said Powell – then up for renomination and facing stiff opposition from congressional progressives – “made clear to me: A top priority will be to accelerate the Fed’s effort to address and mitigate the risks – the risk that climate change poses to our financial system and our economy.” At that time inflation was 6.8%, on its way up to a 40-year high of 9.1%.

Biden Admin Awards Massive No-Bid Contracts to Dem-Connected Firm with $600k Tax Lien

By Chuck Ross (Washington Free Beacon)

July 18, 2023

The Biden administration has awarded private companies hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to house illegal aliens amid an unprecedented surge at the southern border. One of the major recipients is a Democrat-linked logistics company that owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes.

Federal law prohibits agencies from awarding grants to companies with unpaid federal taxes. But Deployed Resources, a New York-based contractor that owes $585,075 in unpaid taxes, received $964 million in federal contracts this year to house illegal immigrants in North Carolina and Texas. That windfall comes as Deployed Resources cultivated ties to the Democratic Party.

Crime Does Pay: Here’s How Much Biden’s Nuclear Waste Chief Made While on Leave for Stealing Luggage

By Mia Cathell (Townhall)

July 19, 2023

Handed a Get Out of Jail Free card, Sam Brinton passed Go and collected thousands in Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.

The cross-dressing Biden official caught stealing women’s suitcases from multiple major airports across America remained on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s payroll taking home almost $20,500 over a few weeks at the time he was quietly placed on “administrative leave” for committing the first known theft of many in a cross-country crime spree, employee paystubs reveal.

‘Genderfluid’ Ex-Biden Official Sam Brinton Stole Luggage While on Taxpayer-Funded Trip

By Andrew Kerr (Washington Free Beacon)

July 17, 2023

Sam Brinton, the disgraced “genderfluid” baggage thief who once served as the Biden administration’s top nuclear waste disposal expert, was on taxpayer business when he stole a woman’s suitcase in Las Vegas, records show.

Department of Energy expense reports show that Brinton, who uses “they/them” pronouns, was on a taxpayer-funded business trip when he swiped luggage with contents worth $3,670 in plain view of security cameras at the Harry Reid International Airport on July 6, 2022, according to records obtained by the Functional Government Initiative watchdog group and shared with the Washington Free Beacon. The records show Brinton had traveled to Las Vegas to visit the Nevada National Security Site, a facility tasked with maintaining and modernizing America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

‘Gender-Fluid’ Sam Brinton Using Taxpayer Funds When Thefts Occured

By Amy Furr (Breitbart)

July 17, 2023

Sam Brinton, the “openly genderfluid” former senior Biden administration official, was traveling on a taxpayer-funded business trip when he was accused of baggage theft in 2022, Fox News reported Monday.

Brinton used to work for the Department of Energy (DOE), however he was reportedly fired after two accusations of luggage theft, according to a December report.

‘It’s Outrageous’: Nonbinary Ex-Biden Official Stole Luggage On A Taxpayer-Funded Trip

By Brandon Poulter (The Daily Caller)

July 17, 2023

The controversial nonbinary former senior Department of Energy (DOE) official Sam Brinton was on a taxpayer-funded trip when he was involved in a high-profile luggage theft case last year, according to Fox News.

Brinton is involved in multiple cases of luggage theft across the country, which brought him infamy and also eventually resulted in his high-profile departure from the Biden administration. New information has revealed that Brinton was on a taxpayer-funded trip to the DOE-operated Nevada National Security Site near Las Vegas in July 2022 when Brinton stole thousands of dollars’ worth of items in luggage, according to documents obtained by Fox News.