RealClearInvestigations Picks of the Week

RealClearInvestigations'

Picks of the Week

August 24 to August 30

Featured Investigation:

A Katrina Odyssey: A Reporter Recounts

Devastation, Confusion and Moments of Grace

As a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 2005, James Varney was on the front lines of the newspaper’s coverage as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. Now a reporter for RealClearInvestigations, Varney recounts the chaotic and harrowing time he spent covering the epic storm that claimed close to 1,400 lives and displaced many thousands more, witnessing both physical devastation and human resilience.

• Initially, New Orleans appeared to have been spared the storm’s full force. But a natural disaster became far worse because of human error as the levees failed, unleashing catastrophic flooding, submerging large swaths of the city. Thousands were displaced, stranded in places like the Superdome and Convention Center.
• As power failed in the era before social media, communication breakdowns and rumors of violence fueled panic, though many reports later proved exaggerated. Varney observed widespread looting but also patience and solidarity among residents. Makeshift command centers, guarded grocery stores, and shared landlines became lifelines for survival and reporting.
• Delayed and disorganized responses at local, state, and federal levels deepened the crisis. President George W. Bush’s eventual visits drew sharp criticism. Meanwhile, some police officers themselves were implicated in looting and abuses.
• Nearly 1,400 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Survivors endured unbearable heat, scarcity of food and water, and the trauma of lost homes and communities. Varney recalls moments of surreal normalcy—neighbors grilling beside flooded canals, celebrity sightings amid wreckage, and even humor among colleagues—set against immense tragedy.
• In the months that followed, recovery proved slow and costly, with blue tarps covering rooftops and FEMA trailers filling neighborhoods. The Times-Picayune won two Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage, but Varney emphasizes he would trade the honors to erase the suffering Katrina wrought.

Featured Investigation:

Civics Revolution: Conservatives Are Reviving

Traditional Education With a Modern Twist

John Murawski reports for RealClearInvestigations that conservatives are reviving civics education by reimagining it for the 20th century. Spearheaded by groups such as the Jack Miller Center, the effort is transforming a discipline once synonymous with Cold War conformity into a field that explores a wide array of voices from the left and right to spark insight and debate about the many meanings of America.

• After decades of neglect following 1960s social upheavals and STEM emphasis, civics is making a comeback. Universities are opening multimillion-dollar civics schools, and more than half the states now have civics requirements. This summer alone, 45 states considered 198 bills related to K-12 civic education.

• The revival comes with controversy. Civics has become "the most bitterly contested subject in education today," reflecting national disagreements about America's identity: land of opportunity versus system of privilege and oppression.
• The Jack Miller Center leads efforts to deescalate tensions by focusing on primary source documents rather than interpretive textbooks. Their workshops include diverse voices from Abigail Adams to Nikole Hannah-Jones, emphasizing that American identity emerges from disagreement and debate.
• Progressive groups promote curricula recasting American history as resistance against colonialism, white supremacy, and other systems of oppression. Projects include the 1619 Project Curriculum and materials emphasizing Critical Race Theory and intersectionality.
• Conservative approaches are evolving beyond traditional "flag-waving patriotism" toward more nuanced understanding, though some question whether students adequately understand founding principles before critiquing them.
• A $1 billion federal funding opportunity collapsed when the Biden administration's Department of Education cited controversial figures like Ibram X. Kendi, derailing bipartisan consensus on civics expansion.
• The Jack Miller Center has trained nearly 4,000 K-12 educators through its network of 1,300-plus affiliated academics, with plans to expand graduate-level civics education to 22 universities by 2028.
• Despite aspirations for nonpartisanship, the center receives conservative funding and describes its mission as preserving America's founding principles, while acknowledging the founders' human limitations and historical exclusions.

Waste of the Day

by Jeremy Portnoy, Open the Books

33 Hours Worked Per Day in NY, RCI

IRS Computers Are “Inoperable”, RCI

Locals On The Hook For Unpaid Taxes, RCI

Throwback Thursday - Subsidies for Cotton, RCI

 $91 Million Cost-Cutting System, RCI

Trump 2.0 and the Beltway

Feds Void ‘Illegal’ $7.4B Payment to Biden Ally-Staffed Org

New York Post

James Varney has written a series of articles about the questionable ways the Biden administration tried to shovel billions of dollars to politically connected green groups in its final days. This article reports that it may have done the same thing regarding payouts from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which provided for $11 billion in semiconductor research and development funding to be given out by the Commerce Department’s National Semiconductor Technology Center.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick canceled a Biden administration agreement Monday to distribute billions of dollars for semiconductor research through a nonprofit set up and staffed by former political appointees, according to a letter obtained by The Post. … Four days before Biden left office on Jan. 20, Lutnick noted, the Commerce Department agreed to set aside $7.4 billion in “advance payments” to Natcast after spending nearly two years setting it up and tapping administration officials, advisers and allies to fill out positions.

This article reports that the arrangement both effectively removed the incoming Trump administration from being involved in the process and provided “virtually all” of Natcast’s funding up front. The funding had been slated to be in effect until 2034.

Other Trump 2.0 and the Beltway

Russiagate: How FBI Buried Flynn Leak Investigation, Substack

What Trump’s D.C. Takeover Looks Like on the Ground, Marshall Project

Clinton Event Honored Maxwell After Epstein Sex Charges, CNN

SCOTUS Scolds Lower Courts for Defiance in Trump Cases, CNN

Abbe Lowell Is the Go-To Lawyer for Trump's Targets, Politico

Five of Trump's Strangest, Most Expensive Vanity Projects, Reason

They're Out, They're Proud and Working for Trump, New York Times

DHS Moves to Bar Aid Groups from Serving the Undocumented, Washington Post

Inside the USAID Fire Sale, Atlantic

Dark Money Group Secretly Funding Democratic Influencers, Wired

Other Noteworthy Articles and Series

Fast Times at Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

Atlantic

This article reports that President Trump’s mass-deportation campaign “is entering a swaggering new phase” as agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, bolstered by $75 billion from the “one big, beautiful bill,” are being encouraged to “to do more showy operations in Democratic-run cities that can advance the president’s agenda – and supply clips for social media and the MAGA faithful.”

Rather than pursue time-consuming hunts for “the worst of the worst,” officers are conducting roundups and setting up checkpoints to grab people from their vehicles. Trump officials now want everyone to know ICE is here. The [new] publicity campaign, [featuring slick cars and the bouncy rap tracks] … and social-media videos, has been pushed by DHS political appointees in their 20s who have been given positions of power at ICE. … a “Join ICE” website and an ad blitz using 1940s-style Army posters, many with Uncle Sam, to depict Trump’s deportation campaign as a patriotic war effort, akin to fighting the Nazis. Many of the new hires will enter ICE with different motivations than the generations before them, seeing the position not as a federal-law-enforcement career but as a chance to serve as a foot soldier in Trump’s mission.

In a separate article, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Florida Highway Patrol has become the first state agency in the country to have virtually all its officers trained to participate in a an ICE program deputizes police to perform some of the duties of federal immigration officers. Florida’s rollout, in which 1,774 of the state’s 1,819 sworn troopers have been credentialed as “designated immigration officers,” vastly expands ICE’s footprint throughout the state.

In a separate article, the Intercept reports delivery drivers whose motorcycles, mopeds, and electric bicycles who have become whizzing fixtures on the streets of many cities, are the latest targets of Trump’s effort to remove illegal aliens.

Fake Active Shooter Calls Stir Campus Fear 

Associated Press

This article reports that a rash of hoax calls about active shooters on college campuses – some featuring gunshots sounding in the background – are spreading waves of fear among students around the nation.

On Monday alone, law enforcement responded to calls claiming active shooters at Arkansas, Northern Arizona University, Iowa State, Kansas State, the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of New Hampshire. More calls were made Tuesday at the University of Kentucky, West Virginia University and Central Georgia Technical College. … The calls prompted universities to issue texts to “run, hide, fight.” Students and teachers rushed for cover, often cowering in classrooms and under desks for safety. Officers swarmed over campuses, seeking out any threat.

This article reports that in an era of mass shootings, all such calls must be taken seriously. This push for safety helps creates a climate of fear. It also saps law enforcement resources and can lead to deadly mistakes. In 2017, for instance, a police officer in Wichita, Kansas, shot and killed a man while responding to a hoax emergency call.

In a separate article, Wired reports that “a self-proclaimed leader of an online group linked to the violent extremist network The Com” says he is responsible for the flurry of hoax active-shooter alerts at universities. “Known online as Gores, the person says he coleads a group called Purgatory, which is offering its followers a menu of services, including hoax threats against schools – known as swatting – for just $20, while faked threats against hospitals, businesses, and airports can cost up to $50. … In recent days, however, as the incidents were reported in the media, the prices have skyrocketed, with a school swatting now costing $95 … The group has been linked to 764, a nihilistic subgroup of The Com that conducts targeted campaigns against children using extortion, doxing, swatting, and harassment. Members of 764 have been accused of everything from robbery to sexual abuse of minors, kidnapping, and murder.”

How China Influences Elections in America’s Biggest City 

New York Times

In the past few years, “hometown associations” in New York City composed of people hailing from the same town or province in China have quietly foiled the careers of politicians who opposed China’s authoritarian government while backing others who supported policies of the country’s ruling Communist Party. According to dozens of group members, politicians and former prosecutors:

Some group leaders have family or business in China and fear the consequences of bucking its authority. Consulate officials have enlisted them to intimidate politicians who support Taiwan or cross Beijing’s other red lines. In one case, a Chinese intelligence agent and several hometown leaders targeted the same candidate. This meddling may seem modest, involving politicians who are unlikely to affect international policy. But China is determined to quash dissent in its diaspora before it spreads back home, said Audrye Wong, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who studies Chinese influence. Beijing is also making a longer bet, she said: “You never know which politician might eventually run for Congress at the national level, or become a presidential candidate.”

This article reports that China’s efforts to influence elections in New York is part of a global pattern. “China’s influence machine is one of the world’s most expansive and effective. Over decades, it has harassed exiles in France, bribed academics in Britain and targeted politicians in Canada. It has even built clandestine police stations in dozens of countries to threaten dissidents.

Millions in LA Fire Charity Went to Illegal Aliens and DEI 

Washington Free Beacon

FireAid, a celebrity-studded fundraising organization, has raised about $100 million for relief efforts connected to wildfires in and around Los Angeles. Millions of those dollars have ended up in the coffers of unrelated nonprofits pushing a variety of progressive causes, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

Some of the groups that have received funds explicitly exclude white people from their services, while others advertise programs for illegal aliens. … Greenline Housing Foundation, for instance, received funds from a $4.8 million pool dedicated to health and housing. It noted on its website that no whites need apply. "In order to qualify for a grant through Greenline Housing Foundation, applicants must be a Black or Hispanic person," the group stated. Greenline [later] told the Free Beacon that "anyone is welcome to apply for and receive" its fire-specific programs. But the wildfire section of its website clarifies that the organization "will focus [its] efforts on helping Black and Hispanic communities." The same is true for the Black Freedom Fund, a Black Lives Matter-era nonprofit dedicated to fighting "systemic racism" and promoting "Black power-building." The organization – which received money from a $7.6 million pool dedicated to "disaster relief" – stated in a 2023 grant proposal document that it would only assist groups "led and controlled by Black people" and "primarily serving Black people."

This article reports that other groups that have received money through FireAid offer assistance to illegal aliens within California. “Home Grown, a nonprofit that supports home-based child care providers, received cash from a $3.5 million allotment for ‘children & families.’ The organization’s website states that it is committed to steering funds to ‘undocumented providers’ as well. The Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California, which received FireAid money, also runs programs for illegal aliens.”