RealClearInvestigations Articles

On the campaign trail, Vice President JD Vance repeatedly chastised the Biden administration for allegedly losing track of some 320,000 minors who had crossed the border unaccompanied. “Our government, under the policies of Kamala Harris, has lost thousands of innocent children to sex trafficking, to drug trafficking, to human trafficking,” Vance said. One year later, the fate of most of those children remains unknown. While the Trump administration has all but stopped the crush of migrants that occurred during Biden’s term, neither the government nor the nonprofits...

Topline: The best way to learn about astronomy is probably not through interpretive dance, but that is how in 2010 the National Science Foundation decided to educate the public about the big bang theory. The federal government sent $300,000 to the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange — $430,000 in today’s money — to fund the performance piece “The Matter of Origins,” which featured dancers playing scientists like Marie Curie. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a...

Topline: The key adjective in the phrase “affordable housing” is “affordable” — as in, cost efficiency should be the guiding design principle. Democratic Senators Martin Heinrich and Ray Luján from New Mexico have seemingly forgotten that principle with their $2.5 million request to build a “trauma-informed housing project” in Santa Fe County. The progressive housing concept adds expenses to make sure residents experience “safety and trust; choice and empowerment; community and collaboration; and beauty and joy,” according to the...

Joseph Cohen had worked for an organization in Britain devoted to encouraging Jewish-Muslim dialogue and combating antisemitism. But following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians and then the bombing and destruction of Gaza, the rising tide of sometimes violent antisemitism made him feel he no longer belonged in his native land. “I would rather be living in the nation where the police and the military are set up to do everything they can to prevent that,” he recently told the Jerusalem Post. The deadly October attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester...

Topline: When California Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in 2019, he promised to redesign the state’s antiquated emergency call centers. The result was the Next Generation 911 system, which the state paid four technology companies $450 million to build between 2019 and 2025.   But during a Nov. 19 meeting, the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) admitted the system doesn’t work and needs to be scrapped entirely, the Sacramento Bee reported. Now it’s back to the drawing board to start from scratch, with nothing to show except a gaping hole in...

Topline: An elephant never forgets, and neither does a senator who desperately wants to spend tax dollars on giant elephants. Earlier this year, Elon Musk’s Department of Government of Government Efficiency rescinded a grant Sen. Cory Booker secured for the massive “Lucy the Elephant,” a six-story landmarked building in Margate City, New Jersey. Now that Musk is gone, Booker has earmarked $350,000 in the 2026 Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to restore the grant and refurbish the statue.  Key facts: The bill containing...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week  November 23 to November 29    Featured Investigation:  He Paid When Undocumented Man Stole His Identity   New York Times  As RCI has previous reported, illegal immigration has led to widespread identity theft as undocumented workers seek social security numbers and other papers they often need to work. This article focuses on two men – a victim and his perpetrator. It reports that the real Dan Kluver, a 42-year-old factory worker from rural Minnesota, saw his life turn into a financial nightmare when a...

Topline: Taxpayers have spent $3.5 million since 2019 to lease cars for members of Congress and their staffers while also paying them up to $131,000 each for gas, according to The Center Square’s review of public House disbursement statements. Key facts: Members of the House can legally be reimbursed up to $1,000 per month to lease cars — including luxury vehicles — The Center Square found. One who spent the maximum was Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has a net worth of $284 million. House members’ cars came from Tesla, Lexus, Volvo, Ford, Honda and more. Officials can...

Topline: In the event of a terrorist attack, western Michigan is well prepared with 13 Sno-Cone machines funded by the federal government. For some reason, the Department of Homeland Security felt it necessary to spend $11,700 on the machines in 2011 to “assist with treating the onset of heat exhaustion and stroke during large scale events or activities including possible terrorist incidents or similar emergencies." The money would be worth $16,800 today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these...

Topline: The federal workforce costs the American taxpayer $673,000 per minute, $40.4 million per hour, and just under $1 billion per day. That’s according to federal payroll records analyzed by Open the Books for a new report, “Mapping the Swamp,” in which it identified 2.9 million federal employees who earned $270 billion in pay in FY 2024. With an estimated 30% additional cost for benefits, the total expense reaches $351 billion, or almost $1 billion per day. Key facts: Open The Books’ records include 1.5 million executive agency workers, 761,624 Department of...

Molecular biologist Mike Rossner, who has committed his life to following the science, now finds himself playing an unexpected if urgent role – exposing the fraud of his fellow scientists.  Rossner is part of a network of experts that sniff out researchers who intentionally or recklessly fabricate, falsify, or plagiarize evidence. Rossner, a consultant specializing in identifying manipulated and duplicated images in journal papers – a telltale sign of deceit – has been dismayed by his findings at U.S. research centers. Scientists often have deleted the data...

Topline: Chicago Public School employees spent an “exorbitant” $14.6 million on travel in 2023 and 2024, including to vacation spots like Disney World and Las Vegas, according to a Nov. 12 report from the Chicago Board of Education Inspector General. Key facts: The investigation began following a complaint that one elementary school planned to spend $20,000 on a staff trip to Egypt without approval. The trip was cancelled one day before departure, but it was not an isolated incident. Staff members had already spent $142,000 on 15 “professional development” trips to...

Topline: The Department of Homeland Security paid a company — filled with Secretary Kristi Noem’s friends and allies — to create at least one of several political ads in a potential violation of ethics laws, according to an investigation by ProPublica. Key facts: Open The Books already pointed out DHS’ recent concerning $180 million advertising spend. The agency claims the multiple commercials they’re creating about the “national emergency at the Southern border” are “public service announcements,” but critics see them as thinly-veiled...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week November 16 to November 22   Featured Investigation: EXCLUSIVE: How Trump’s Own Appointees Aided Russiagate Plot Against Him Drawing on recently declassified documents and exclusive interviews with informed sources, Paul Sperry reports for RealClearInvestigations that during Trump’s first term several of his own high-ranking officials and appointees helped shield – rather than expose – flawed intelligence manufactured in the final days of the Obama administration that falsely linked the president to Russian election...

Topline: In 2007, California invested $468.4 million of its pension funds into private companies through its Clean Energy and Technology Fund. Today, the money is worth just $138 million, and the state won’t explain why its investment performed so poorly. Several open records requests filed by The Center Square were denied by the California Public Employees Retirement System, citing legal exemptions.  Key facts: CalPERS’ clean energy investments declined by 71% and lost the state $330.4 million. It’s unclear where the money was spent, except that it was invested...

When Obama administration officials manufactured U.S. intelligence tying Donald Trump to Moscow following his stunning 2016 victory, they had no idea Trump’s own political appointees would help them undermine Trump’s presidency – and his chances of reelection in 2020.  RCI’s review of recently declassified documents and exclusive interviews with former Trump officials reveals for the first time how key members of Trump’s cabinet and other appointees during his first term shrouded the previous administration’s machinations and either...

Topline: Have you ever wondered how common water pipe tobacco smoking is among college students in Jordan? Probably not, but the National Institutes of Health still spent $170,000 to find out in a 2011 study. The money would be worth over $243,000 today.  That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.  Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname "Dr. No" by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects...

This is the third part of a series on academic publishing. Read part one here and part two here. For many years, the prestigious journal Philosophy & Public Affairs published about 14 peer-reviewed articles annually. So its small volunteer staff of renowned scholars was shocked to learn that its publisher, Wiley, was demanding a significant increase in production, at one point requiring 35 new articles within 60 days.  Instead of compromising its peer-review process and rushing low-quality papers into print, then-Editor-in-Chief Anna Stilz at the University of...

Topline: An English teacher at a public school in Maryland is still collecting a full-time salary from taxpayers while awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to stealing overtime pay from a previous employer. Dr. Lawrence E. Smith was charged with 15 felonies in 2023, but Harford County Schools ignored the allegations and hired him anyway in December 2024, according to FOX45’s Project Baltimore. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion on Oct. 17. Key facts: Smith worked as a police officer at Baltimore City Public Schools for 22 years. waste of the day...