Russian media has confirmed that Tucker Carlson, a resident of Oxford County, was photographed over the weekend in Russia, has conducted an interview in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Carlson was spotted several times in the Russian capital, including in the famous Bolshoi Theatre. Russian media reportedly asked Carlson about an interview with Putin, and he responded by smiling and saying, “We’ll see.” Rumors of Carlson interviewing Putin are also fueled by the fact that last September, Carlson claimed the U.S. government blocked a proposed interview with Vladimir Putin. The then-Fox News commentator also alleged that the U.S. government had surveilled his electronic…
Author: Justin DelMonico
Justin DelMonico
Justin DelMonico is a reporter for the Maine Wire. Although he grew up in eastern Massachusetts, he has spent a significant amount of time in Maine throughout his life. He graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Political Science.
Former Maine State Rep. Sue Bernard (R-Caribou) will make another run for State Senate, according to a statement she released officially declaring her candidacy this week for Senate District One in Aroostook County. “If you had asked me just one month ago if I would run again, I would have said positively not. The last campaign by too long and too difficult—it was the most challenging Senate race in the State,” Bernard said in an email to supporters. “But it became clear to me that there’s no such thing as losing. As long as you get up, there’s only winning…
On Tuesday, reports emerged that Gov. Maura Healey turned a community center in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston into a makeshift residence for hundreds of migrants. According to the Massachusetts state website, Melnea Cass Recreational Complex “offers a large indoor arena for year-round fun.” Residents in the Roxbury community use the facility for sports and other events. Unfortunately for members of the Roxbury community, the priorities of migrants appear to have been placed ahead of them. According to Gov. Healey, the move is a last resort, as many migrants have slept in Logan International Airport over the last few weeks due to state-ran shelters being…
A report by The Washington Post details how China is happy to host American mayors despite the continued decline in American-Chinese relations. As relations between Beijing and Washington have become increasingly tense, China is looking to secure support amongst local politicians in America. The article highlighted a visit to China by mayors from six American cities last November. Visiting mayors in the bipartisan delegation were from cities such as Oxford, Mississippi, and Carmel, Indiana. The organizer of the visit, the U.S. Heartland China Association, focuses on “building bridges and promoting opportunities between the peoples of the Heartland Region (20 states located…
Former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor Charles Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for leaking the-President Trump’s tax information. Last October Littlejohn pled guilty to disclosing tax information without authorization. He has admitted to pursuing a job at the tax agency for the sole purpose of obtaining and leaking private tax information from the former president. Five years is the maximum sentence for this crime. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors sought the maximum sentence in Littlejohn’s case because of its high-profile nature and potential to seriously erode the public’s trust in governmental institutions. Judge Ana Reyes…
On Monday, California State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) introduced a bill she says will “protect children from the dangers associated with social media addiction.” As noted in an official press release from Sen. Skinner, this would be the country’s first law of its kind. The bill would ban social media from using “addictive algorithms” for users under 18 without parental consent. It would also block social media notifications from being sent to minors during school hours and overnight without parental consent. California Attorney General Rob Bonta endorsed the bill and discussed it with Sen. Skinner at a press conference on…
On January 17, the Judiciary Committee held a work session for LD1696. This bill proposes holding “firearm industry members” civilly liable for making, selling, or marketing firearms “in any manner that is unconscionable, unscrupulous, oppressive, or deceptive.” Many Republicans present took issue with the vague words that constitute cause for civil liability under this law. At the start of the work session, Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) grilled the legislative analyst on the language in the bill, asking for clarification regarding who the arbiter is of what constitutes a firearm transaction as “unconscionable, unscrupulous, oppressive, or deceptive.” The legislative analyst replied…
On Tuesday Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) testified in front of the Committee on State and Local Government regarding LD 2150, a bill he authored. LD 2150 would require the Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Attorney General to complete a yearly harassment training. The public hearing for the bill lasted only a moment. Rep. Andrews said that his testimony would be only four words. “Attorney General Aaron Frey”, said Rep. Andrews. All those in attendance for the hearing knew why Andrews said this. Last April Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey admitted to having a personal relationship with a subordinate employee. Frey…
Many Congressional Republicans are speaking out against a child tax credit bill that was recently passed by the House Ways and Means Committee. Some Republicans are concerned the bill will allow illegal immigrants with children in the country to collect child tax credit payouts, which are set to increase under this new bill. The bill, H.R.7024, increases child tax credits and modifies the benefits for a myriad of different eligible groups. On January 19, the bill was passed with resounding bipartisan support in the House Ways and Means Committee, with a vote of 40-3. The bill is championed by House…
Former Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas announced last week that she will run for U.S. Senate against Sen. Angus King (I-ME) this November. Sen. King is officially an independent but caucuses exclusively with the Democrats. Kouzounas talked about her decision to run for Senate on Friday with WLOB radio host Ray Richardson. Kouzounas said that she had a phone call with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Monday when Collins asked her if she would run for Senate. She said by that night she made her decision to run. [RELATED: Angus King, 79, Says He’s Running for Re-Election in…
On January 18, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) hosted a press conference discussing H.R. 5779, known as the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023. Earlier in the day, the Committee held a markup of the bill. The Fiscal Commission Act was passed out of Committee, leading to an eventual vote on the House floor. Many House members were present at the press conference, including Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and bill sponsors Re. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), and Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA). If passed, the bill would create a bipartisan fiscal commission made…
According to the U.S. Justice Department, former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor Charles Littlejohn took his job with the tax agency purpose of leaking then-President Donald Trump’s tax information. The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2017 Littlejohn reapplied for a job as a private contractor handling tasks with the IRS. The same report states that Littlejohn “worked intermittently” in a similar role from 2008 through 2013. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors said Littlejohn made a sophisticated plan to access Trump’s tax information because he viewed Trump as a “threat to democracy.” Littlejohn reportedly searched for and downloaded the tax…
The federal government engaged in systemic financial surveillance of U.S. citizens who supported former Republican President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) alleged in a bombshell report from the House Judiciary Committee. Documents obtained by the committee, which Rep. Jordan chairs, showed that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) flagged transaction involving the terms “MAGA” and “TRUMP” as indicative of a proclivity for domestic terrorism. “The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the “typologies” of various persons of interest and provide…
As temperatures plunged below freezing for much of the country this week, there have been numerous reports of electric vehicles (EVs) failing to charge and having heavily reduced ranges. The impact of cold weather on EV performance is especially relevant for Maine, where the Mills Administration is considering rules that would mandate that EVs comprise a set and increasing percentage of new vehicle sales in coming years. A state-mandated increase in EVS combined with Maine’s low winter temperatures could cause serious headaches for Mainers, especially those who rely on their vehicles to commute long distances for work. According to a…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered the Texas National Guard to cease its activities at the U.S.-Mexico border after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott opted to use state resources and personnel to stem the flow of illegal border crossers. Gov. Abbott’s decision followed record-high levels of illegal immigration across the southern border, including a recent surge in crossings in Eagle Pass, Texas. Just last month, Abbott signed several bills into law that gave state authorities the power to enforce border laws. “President Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbot said On Jan. 11, Texas media…
On January 9, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey signed a letter authored by New York Attorney General Letitia James which calls for the banning of 5.56 ammunition produced by Lake City Ammunition Plant. The letter is addressed to the Director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Stefanie Feldman. Attorney General James contends that ammunition produced at Lake City should not be used by civilians because the facility also produces ammunition for the U.S. Army. The group of Attorney Generals that signed onto the letter asked Feldman’s Office “to conduct an investigation into the contracting processes that led…
On Thursday, the Maine Senate voted 33-1 in favor of appointing retired Army Brigadier General Diane Dunn as the new leader of the Maine National Guard. Brig. Gen. Dunn will replace the current leader of the Maine National Guard, Major General Douglas Farnham who is set to retire. Due to Maj. Gen. Farnham’s retirement, Gov. Mills nominated Brig. Gen. Dunn to fill his post as Adjutant General of the Maine National Guard and Commissioner for the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management in December. After Dunn was confirmed, Maine Gov. Janet Mills released a statement praising Dunn. “I thank…
On Tuesday, an application that allows illegal immigrants residing in the state to access financial aid and in-state tuition rates was added to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education website. The application, called MASFA, was established by the passage of a bill called the Tuition Equity Act. The MASFA application will fill the same role as its federal equivalent, known as the FAFSA. However, MASFA was created by Massachusetts because one must be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for federal financial aid. To be eligible for MASFA, a student needs to have completed at least three years of high…
Healthcare costs in Maine, already higher than most other states, are continuing to increase, and a D.C.-based center-left think tanks says hospital consolidation is to blame for rising prices. “A leading cause of the high prices in Maine comes from consolidation, where one hospital system has acquired enough other providers to dominate the market,” said Third Way Health Policy Advisor Darbin Wofford. “MaineHealth, the state’s largest hospital system, owns a quarter of Maine hospitals and 145 clinics. This consolidation gives it leverage to demand higher prices from insurance plans and employers,” Wofford said. But the hospitals — and the companies…
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey will have to make cuts to her $56 billion budget for fiscal year 2024, according to media reports out of Boston. This comes amid lagging state revenues, which underperformed for the last six months of 2023. Massachusetts tax revenues were $769 million below projections for these six months in total. Healey will reportedly cut about $375 million from her budget as revenues can no longer cover all originally planned budget costs. Like the vast majority of states, Massachusetts’ Constitution requires that the state has a balanced budget. Section 9C of the State Constitution “requires that when…
On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and dozens of other House Republicans traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, a city that has garnered national attention in recent weeks due to it being on the front line of a recent surge in illegal border crossings. House Republicans have turned much of their focus in Congress toward border security recently, as a record number of migrants poured across the border in December. With more and more Republicans becoming skeptical of the war in Ukraine as it drags on, President Biden has attempted to bundle border spending together with a…
On Tuesday, Harvard President Claudine Gay announced her resignation. She will return to her position as a faculty member. The Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s school newspaper, first reported Gay’s resignation. Gay sent a statement announcing her resignation to Harvard students and faculty shortly after the Harvard Crimson broke the news. In her letter, Gay said, “After consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than an individual.” Gay…
The number of foreign nationals attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally continued to surge at both American land borders throughout the month of November, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Nationwide border encounters in fiscal year 2021 (October 2020- September 2021) totaled 1,956,519, in FY 2022 jumped to 2,766,582, and rose again in FY 2023 to a yearly total of 3,201,144. The vast majority of those “encounters” result in the migrant(s) being released into the interior of the country with a future immigration court date. Encounters at the southwest land border with Mexico increased drastically from 1,734,686…
The U.S. Air Force conducted several airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq over Christmas. After the airstrikes, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin commented publicly in a press release, stating that the strikes were in response to “a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias, including an attack by Iran-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Erbil Air Base earlier today”. Sec. Austin also commented that three American service members were injured in the attack, with one being in critical condition. In his press release, Austin also specified the Biden administration’s view of the…
On December 14 the U.S. Department of Agriculture published the findings of their yearly study to determine the amount of agricultural land held by foreign persons for the year 2022. The USDA creates this yearly report under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA). This Act requires any foreign investors who buy U.S. agricultural land to report this to the Secretary of Agriculture. According to the study, foreign persons held 43.4 million acres of American agricultural land by the end of 2022. This equates to 3.4 percent of total privately owned agricultural land in America and 2 percent…
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed three bills into law Monday which will allow Texas to enforce the U.S. border with Mexico. Gov. Abbott made the announcement regarding the signing of these bills next to the border wall in Brownsville, Texas, touting the legislation as an effort to stem the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration along the southern border in the face of federal inaction. In an official press release, Abbott criticized the Biden administration’s response to the current immigration crisis, implying that the administration’s lack of a response to the crisis forced him to act. “President Biden’s deliberate inaction has…
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Monday the beginning of a naval operation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden aimed at curbing disruptions to global maritime commerce caused by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The mission, called Operation Prosperity Guardian, also includes forces from the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain. In a press release, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that the operation will be carried out “with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity.” This new military action was…
Maine has the second fastest rising electricity costs of any state in the nation, only trailing behind California, according to an analysis published by Bloomberg News. The Bloomberg report highlighted inflation across all parts of a consumer spending, showing that Maine’s electricity costs have risen 42 percent from August 2019 to August 2023. California, the state with the steepest increase, saw costs increase 51 percent during the same timeframe. The analysis was based on data collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The skyrocketing cost of energy in Maine has coincided with a push by the Mills Administration to subsidize…
Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) has challenged Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) to participate in three debates in the GOP primary race that will determine who challenges incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in the Second Congressional District. According to an official statement from Rep. Theriault, his proposal “includes 3 debates to be organized by the Maine Republican Party over the coming months, with specific locations to be determined by the Maine GOP.” “I’m running to be an effective fighter for rural Maine, because it’s been forgotten too many times by too many elites in Washington DC,” said Theriault. Theriault is a…
On Thursday, Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) made a post on his X account which cautioned against accepting provisions in an updated version of a Maine bill that would adopt the Uniform Commercial Code — an event which, he said, could lead to the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). [RELATED: Maine Bill Would Redefine Money to Exclude Bitcoin, Enable CBDCs…] Brakey said that Maine should “follow the lead of Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, Alabama, and New Hampshire by adopting UCC property protections generally, but rejecting provisions related to CBDCs.” The Universal Commercial Code is a series of laws which…
The Maine Department of Education (MDOE) announced last month that it has launched a nationwide “Live and Teach in Maine” campaign aimed at attracting more public school teachers to the state. [RELATED: U.S. Student Testing Shows Another Drop for 13-Year-Olds in Math and Reading: NAEP…] This new campaign is a partnership with the non-profit organization Live and Work in Maine. The two entities previously announced a partnership last September, which gave all school administrative units free access to the organization’s online job board. In a press release, the MDOE said that the campaign “includes a highly targeted advertising effort, new…
Harvard University President Claudine Gay — already under scrutiny over her contentious Dec. 5 testimony to Congress concerning campus anti-semitism — is facing renewed scrutiny over allegations she plagiarized major portions of her PhD dissertation. Gay, along with the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn.) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were invited to testify in front of the House Education and Workforce Committee on what each institution was doing to combat anti-semitism. The invitation followed in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and widespread pro-Palestine activism on campus, which had frequently veered into displays of…
On Tuesday, the Washington Post Guild made a post on their X account where they declared that on December 7 they are “walking off the job for 24 hours.” In the same post, aggrieved Post employees allege that “the company is refusing to pay us what we’re worth or bargain in good faith.” The Guild said that they have been “in contract negotiations with our bosses for 18 months.” However, due to the impending strike, it appears as if not much progress has been made. In a video embedded with the post, several employees express their dissatisfaction with their current…
Barstool Sports founder and owner Dave Portnoy is fighting a public battle against YouTube over the Google-owned video platform’s decision to censor comedic content from its popular “Surviving Barstool” series. Portnoy posted a video Thursday night on his X account where he said Youtube called his employees and gave them three hours to edit episodes of the series. Otherwise, their Youtube liaison told them, Barstool would get “strikes on their account.” Emergency Press Conference – I Refuse to Edit Surviving Barstool Because YouTube is Stupid pic.twitter.com/0pW8F802Oz— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 30, 2023 Those strikes would disallow Barstool from monetizing any…
The Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations (PCRITP) on Wednesday appointed Bowdoin College Professor Theo Greene as a commissioner. In their November 29 meeting papers, the Commission specified that the seat Greene is appointed to is an LGBTQIA+ Commission seat. Greene earlier this year won the Sociology of Sexualities Early Career Award, issued by the American Sociological Association (ASA). “Receiving this award is a vindication of the work I am doing to illuminate the lives of LGBTQ+ people,” Greene said at the time, according to a Bowdoin publication. At the end of the meeting, the…
State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), a long-time libertarian crusader and a fixture at the State House, announced Wednesday that he not seek another term in the Legislature. Instead, Brakey will step into the role of Executive Director with the Free State Project in New Hampshire. “Serving in the Maine Senate for three terms on behalf of my constituents — defending the freedoms and paychecks of all Maine people — has been (and continues to be) the greatest honor of my life,” Brakey said in a press release. “Conversations with my wife increasingly focus on our shared desire to grow our…