RealClearInvestigations Articles

Looking to reorient U.S. energy policy toward fossil fuels and nuclear plants, President Trump has access to an enormous sum of money made available by an unlikely source: the Biden administration and congressional Democrats. Legislation passed on party-line votes, most notably the $1 trillion Inflation Reduction Act, allocated hundreds of billions to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to fund various green energy projects. While some of that money has since been zeroed out by Republicans, more than $280 billion remains – allocated but unspent. Greg...

Topline: In 2012, a study published by Agnes Scott College and Emory University concluded that chimpanzees that know how to throw their own feces have stronger communication skills than those that do not. The National Institutes of Health must have used similarly primitive communication skills when deciding to award the study three federal grants worth $592,000 in 2011. The money would be worth $849,000 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...

Topline: The State Department did not have consistent oversight requirements for $5.7 billion it contributed to the United Nations and other international organizations in 2024, according to an audit released by the agency’s inspector general on Jan. 15. Key facts: State Department policy recommends that all contributions to international organizations require the recipients to follow U.S. law and executive orders, avoid sending money to terrorist organizations and undergo regular audits. The inspector general reviewed 18 contributions the U.S. made and found the policy was applied...

Instead of the word of the Lord, worshippers at the Jan. 18 Sunday prayer service at Cities Church in St. Paul were met with chants such as “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” But that’s not all. Families in the pews were harangued as “pretend Christians” and “comfortable white people,” and even condemned as “Nazis,” who would “burn in hell” by at least one of the dozens of opponents of the Trump administration’s Twin Cities Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge who disrupted church...

Topline: The Grinch did not successfully steal Christmas this season, but he did use up $30,493 in taxpayer money. A viral Grinch-themed house in Dallas drew crowds so large that the city needed extra police personnel hours, vehicles and barricades to control the nightly crowd of visitors, WFAA-TV reported. Key facts: The 9,000-square-foot mansion in the Preston Hollow neighborhood in North Dallas became famous on TikTok in 2024, thanks in part to a Santa statue with President Donald Trump’s face. The house received coverage from the Today Show and an Instagram post from rapper Snoop...

Topline: In fiscal year 2025, Congress funded 1,326 federal programs that had expired legal authorizations to receive taxpayer funding — the most since at least 2019, when the Congressional Budget Office began totaling the annual number. Another 304 funded programs had authorizations that expired later in 2025. These “zombie programs” cost taxpayers at least $500 billion in 2025, although CBO analysts were unable to determine how much money 869 of the programs actually received; the actual dollar total was far higher.  Key facts: “Zombie programs” earn their...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week January 18 to January 24   Featured Investigation: Obama’s Fingerprints All Over Investigations of Trump And Clinton Paul Sperry reports for RealClearInvestigations recently declassified documents reveal former President Barack Obama's central role in protecting Hillary Clinton while advancing investigations against Donald Trump during and after the 2016 election, raising questions now being examined by federal prosecutors. FBI Director James Comey obtained eight thumb drives containing Clinton's compromised State Department emails...

Topline: The company administering taxpayer-funded health insurance for New York State employees overpaid hospitals by $19.3 million, according to a new audit from the State Comptroller. Key facts: New York’s Department of Civil Service provides health insurance for over 1 million active and retired teachers, police officers and other government employees. Using taxpayer funding, New York pays Anthem Blue Cross to cover claims for employees’ hospital visits. From January 2019 to May 2024, Anthem mistakenly believed that it could not ask hospitals to return money that had...

Topline: The U.S. Agency for International Development had noble intentions when it created the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program. It spent $52 million from 2007 to March 2011 to try and send food, clothing and more to the grieving families of civilians killed by the war in Afghanistan. Tragically, inspector general reports from 2009 and 2011 found that huge portions of the money were lost to waste, fraud and abuse. It would be worth over $76 million today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these...

In the run-up to the 2016 Democratic Party convention, FBI Director James Comey gained access to at least eight thumb drives containing large volumes of former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s sensitive State Department emails – as well as some from President Obama – that appeared to have been compromised by foreign hackers. Instead of investigating the explosive new batch of evidence revealed in recently declassified documents, Comey rushed ahead to close an investigation into whether Clinton improperly transmitted and received classified material from a private, unsecured...

Topline: “Three strikes and you’re out” is an excellent rule for baseball, but apparently not for Medicaid. The Maine health-care company Gateway Community Services LLC was found to have overbilled Medicaid by $1.7 million in three separate audits before the state finally cut off its funding. The business is now under investigation for potential fraud. Key facts: Gateway was founded in 2014 by Abdullahi Ali, a refugee from Somalia. The company specializes in “culturally aware services to refugees and immigrants to help them begin the process of healing and learning to...

Topline: Texas Southern University has no idea where most of its inventory is located, ignored safeguards meant to prevent overspending, and reported inaccurate information to the Texas Comptroller, according to a state audit released Dec. 31.  Key facts: University policy requires inventory to be physically counted every year, but a count has not happened since 2019, according to the audit. Auditors randomly selected 60 pieces of property owned by TSU, and university employees were unable to locate 50 of them.  Every piece of property must have a “custodian” responsible...

Topline: North Carolina’s state website claims that about 30% of the revenue from lottery tickets helps fund public schools. Yet despite record-breaking sales, that has not been true in years, according to a new state audit.  Just 16% of lottery revenue from fiscal year 2025 will go toward education, auditors claim. Key facts: North Carolina legalized lottery tickets in 2005 with a requirement that 35% of all revenue would be invested in public education. The money is used for school construction, college scholarships, teacher salaries and more. The requirement was changed to a...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week January 11 to January 17   Featured Investigation: To Combat Academic Fraud, Scholars Confront Hallowed Tradition In the fourth article of his series on academic fraud, Vince Bielski reports for RealClearInvestigations that a growing number of universities and researchers in Europe and the U.S. are challenging academia's hallowed "publish or perish" mandate, arguing it has corrupted scientific pursuit and eroded public trust in research.  Reformers at top institutions including Cambridge, Sorbonne, and UC Berkeley say the traditional...

Topline: A new federal audit revealed that “human errors” and “system issues” in Maryland’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program caused the state to improperly reimburse 212 recipients who claimed their benefits were stolen. Key facts: The 2023 federal budget authorized states to reimburse food stamp recipients for stolen benefits using funds from the Department of Agriculture. The system expired in December 2024 and has not been renewed. Maryland was the first state to have its reimbursement plan approved by the USDA, and is now the first state to have its...

Topline: What do most people look for in a potential partner? Maybe kindness, or a sense of humor? What about $1.9 million in federal funding? Taxpayers were forced to choose the third option when the National Institutes of Health sponsored a 2017 Columbia University study of “sexual hooking up” between partners who met online.  The funding — which would be worth $2.7 million today — arrived in installments from 2011 to 2013. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports...

This is the fourth part of a series on the crisis in academic research and publishing. Read the first three parts here, here and here. By Vince Bielski The driving ethos of academia, “publish or perish,” is fighting for its life.  The requirement that scholars constantly publish or face academic ruin has been considered the primary engine of scientific discovery for decades. But a growing movement of universities and researchers is trying to banish the practice to the archives, saying it has perverted the pursuit of knowledge and eroded the public’s trust in...

Topline: The federal government often does not have enough time to ensure that oil and gas companies are properly reporting the royalties they owe from drilling on federal land, according to a Dec. 15 report from the Government Accountability Office. Key facts: The Department of the Interior had 23.7 million acres of federal land leased to drilling companies as of 2023, which must pay royalties of 12.5% to 18.8% on all gas and oil they sell using the land. From 2014 to 2024, energy companies promised to pay roughly $96 billion in royalties to the government, according to the GAO. The same...

Topline: A Dec. 18 report from the California State Auditor claims that Mendocino County is “vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse” after spending thousands of dollars on steakhouse dinners, unapproved donations and more. The annual dinners are a trademark of local District Attorney C. David Eyster, who earned $211,484 from taxpayers in 2024, according to Open the Books’ payroll records. Key facts: Law enforcement agencies can earn revenue by seizing property from convicted criminals, such as stolen cash or cars used to transport illegal drugs. California law requires local...