Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening nationally and around the world.
Vice President JD Vance gives a critical speech aimed at our allies in Europe, the United States and Canada sign a crucial agreement to combat a violent Venezuelan gang, and President Donald Trump identifies a major federal agency as his administration’s next target for trimming government waste.
Also, a former U.S. attorney reveals why she refused to drop charges against the mayor of New York, and Trump makes a stunning announcement regarding vaccine mandates, education, and federal funds.
Vance Criticizes Europe in Munich Speech
During a discussion at the Munich Security Conference, Vance admonished a number of our closest allies over their attitudes toward free speech, democracy, and mass migration.He told them that the threat to Europe he worries most about is not Russia or China, but instead the retreat of Europe from some of the most fundamental values that it has shared in the past with the United States, including a true commitment to democracy.
He went on to cite specific examples, which include the cancellation of elections in Romania; European Union threats to shut down social media during times of unrest; and Swedish prosecution of Koran burning, among others.
He also said that in both Britain and Europe, free speech is “in retreat”; however, he pointed out that some of the loudest voices calling for censorship had originated here in the United States, and he criticized the Biden administration as an example.
The vice president then discussed what he calls the most urgent issue facing the entire continent—mass migration. He said that the number of people from abroad who are now living in both Germany and the United States is at “an all-time high,” that no one on the continent voted to “open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants,” and that the consequences of allowing them to enter are significant.
He went on to warn European leaders that dismissing the concerns of the electorate, banning certain forms of media, and closing off some people and parties from elections is the “most surefire way to destroy democracy.”
US, Canada Sign Agreement to Combat Violent Venezuelan Gang
Officials from both the United States and Canada have just signed a historic agreement to intensify their efforts against Tren de Aragua (TdA), a violent Venezuelan gang which in recent years has rapidly expanded its operations across North America.One Interpol official in Washington says the cooperation pact is a “great leap forward” in our nation’s efforts to eliminate that gang’s presence in the United States. He says that by bringing our combined law enforcement resources to bear on the problem, both our country and Canada are ensuring that TdA will find “no safe harbor” in either of our nations.
The agreement enables both countries to improve police coordination, share intelligence, and conduct joint investigations to dismantle TdA’s criminal networks.
For their part, one Canadian official points out that tackling transnational criminal organizations requires international cooperation. She also says that the agreement is an example of the ongoing strong collaboration between our two countries, and that by working together, “we can dismantle criminal networks, protect our communities, and reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law.”
By the way, the pact was signed in France during an Interpol conference, and it happened shortly before a number of high-profile arrests linked to the gang were made here in the States.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that yesterday, eight illegal aliens from Venezuela who are tied to TdA were arrested in Tennessee. They have since been charged with a number of serious crimes related to running a commercial sex and human trafficking ring in Nashville motels from July 2022 through March 2024.
Trump: IRS to Be Audited by DOGE
President Donald Trump says that just like every other agency in the federal government, the IRS will be audited by tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The president created DOGE to cut costs, waste, and fraud across the federal government.Trump also says that he does not expect the IRS, which is currently processing 2024 taxes, to be shut down as a result of that examination.
Meanwhile, one Democratic senator says that his office has heard that DOGE officials are already at the IRS headquarters in Washington. He also said that right now, DOGE’s “henchmen” are in a prime position to dig through information about every taxpayer in America.
In a related matter, according to an internal email, senior IRS executives have just been instructed by the Trump administration to identify for termination all contracts that are nonessential.
In their suit, they accused the president of granting “unchecked authority” to Musk “without proper legal authorization from Congress and without meaningful supervision of his activities.” They also alleged the president’s actions are enabling Musk to access sensitive data from a number of federal agencies, and that they’re “causing mass chaos” for both state and local governments.
They’re asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order that bars DOGE from making any changes to the disbursement of public funds, canceling government contracts, or accessing any sensitive data from federal agencies.
US Attorney Explains Why She Refused to Drop Charges Against NYC Mayor
Danielle Sassoon, who was acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, says that she stepped down from her position earlier this week because she feels that the motivation behind stopping the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams is improper.In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon says that the law “does not support a dismissal” of the charges against Adams. She also says that she’s “confident” that Adams committed the crimes with which he is charged.
To refresh your memory, last year, prosecutors charged Adams, a Democrat, with accepting illegal campaign contributions. However, earlier this week, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered Sassoon to drop those charges, saying that both the timing of the charges as well as statements made by the prosecutor who brought them could unfairly prejudice any potential jurors.
Bove also said that prosecuting Adams would distract the mayor from helping crack down on illegal immigration, which is a priority of the Trump administration.
In her letter, Sassoon says that it’s her duty as a prosecutor to enforce the law impartially, regardless of whether or not it’s “politically advantageous” to anyone involved.
She also says that it sets a “dangerous precedent” to reward the mayor’s “opportunistic and shifting commitments” regarding illegal immigration and other policy matters with the dismissal of the criminal indictment against him.
Trump Bars Funding to Schools With COVID Vaccine Mandates
The president has just signed an executive order that prohibits all federal funding to any schools or universities that have COVID-19 vaccine mandates.The order directs the secretaries of Education, along with Health and Human Services, to issue a set of compliance guidelines for the schools regarding the new rule. The secretaries will also create a process to block funds from going to any non-compliant institutions that continue to impose those mandates.
The organizations that are affected include any state or local educational agencies, elementary schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher education that require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines in order to attend in-person educational programs.
In announcing the move, the White House says that the president is committed to protecting the personal freedoms of all Americans, and ensuring that their education is not conditioned on what they call “unnecessary government mandates” which make them choose between their education and their medical freedom.
This latest move follows a previous executive order issued by Trump which reinstated service members who were dismissed for refusing to take the COVID vaccine. He also revoked an executive order issued by President Joe Biden dealing with vaccine mandates for certain federal workers, although Biden had previously rescinded those mandates.
You should know that critics of the vaccine say that not enough time was spent on research and testing before it was mass-distributed and mandated while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the vaccine is both safe and effective.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Saturday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
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Now, because Monday is Presidents’ Day, we’ll wrap up today’s program with a very notable quote from President John Quincy Adams, who said:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
Adams was our nation’s sixth president, serving from 1825 to 1829, and he later became a U.S. congressman, serving from 1831 to 1848.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
