RealClearInvestigations Picks of the Week

RealClearInvestigations'

Picks of the Week

February 15 to February 21

Featured Investigation:

Deporting Censorship: US Targets UK Government Ally

Over Free Speech

The Trump administration is seeking to deport Imran Ahmed, British CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), alleging he collaborated with the Biden administration to censor Americans and pressure U.S. companies to restrict speech online. Paul D. Thacker reports for RealClearInvestigations that the case has significant implications for U.S.-U.K. relations given Ahmed's deep ties to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government.

• The State Department claims Ahmed was "a key collaborator with the Biden administration on weaponizing the national security bureaucracy to censor U.S. citizens," and Secretary Marco Rubio has determined his presence poses serious foreign policy consequences.
• Ahmed co-founded the CCDH around 2018 with Morgan McSweeney, the architect of Starmer's 2024 election victory, and the organization's influence now extends throughout the Labour government, with former CCDH associates serving in Parliament and senior cabinet positions.
• In the U.S., the CCDH released a "disinformation dozen" report targeting COVID vaccine critics – including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – that the Biden White House publicly cited, and hosted private conferences with Democratic operatives aimed at undermining Elon Musk's X platform through advertiser pressure campaigns.
• Ahmed lobbied aggressively to shape the U.K.'s Online Safety Act, meeting privately with senior ministers and pledging the CCDH would be a "critical partner" to the regulator implementing the law, while also briefing EU officials to trigger regulatory action against American platforms.
• Labour MP Chi Onwurah publicly defended Ahmed and denied the CCDH shaped the Online Safety Act, but internal documents show she personally participated in closed-door meetings with Ahmed and CCDH organizers.
• Vice President JD Vance has warned the Online Safety Act is taking Britain down a "very dark path" of online censorship, underscoring the growing friction between Washington and London over speech regulation.

Featured Investigation:

Surprising Revival: Gen Z Men & Highly Educated

Lead Return to Religion

While religious affiliation continues to decline across much of Europe – and thousands of churches face closure in the U.S. – new data suggest a fragile but significant religious revival may be underway, particularly in America and parts of Europe. Drawing from their new report for the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, Joel Kotkin and Bheki Mahlobo report for RealClearInvestigations on the forces leading some people, especially Gen Z men, the wealthy, and the educated, to embrace faith.

• According to Pew Research Center, Christianity’s long decline in America has leveled off. The ranks of the religiously unaffiliated (“nones”) remain large, but relatively few identify as atheist or agnostic.
• An April study by the Bible Society found monthly church attendance among 18–24-year-olds in the United Kingdom quadrupled from 4% in 2018 to 16% today – 21% among young men. France saw a 45% increase in baptisms last year.
• In a reversal of a 25-year trend, American men reported higher church attendance than women in 2025. Gen Z men in both the U.S. and UK are adopting or retaining Christian identity at equal or higher rates than women, narrowing the “God Gap.”
• While mainline Protestantism declines, more orthodox traditions are growing. Pentecostalism now claims over 600 million adherents globally and may reach one billion by 2050. Orthodox Judaism – especially the Chabad-Lubavitch movement – has expanded in influence and engagement.
• Data from the Cooperative Election Study show weekly attendance rises with education – 30% among postgraduates versus 23% among high school graduates – contradicting secularization theory.
• Research from Harvard economist Raj Chetty finds religious institutions uniquely foster cross-class relationships, a key predictor of upward mobility. Religious Americans also volunteer and give at far higher rates.

• Despite continued decline in parts of Europe, evidence points to a broader spiritual realignment – one tied to community, stability, and socioeconomic advancement rather than cultural marginality.

RCI Podcast

In the latest episode of RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane, and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Paul D. Thacker about his article on immigration, censorship and US/UK relations. In the news round-up, Zane & Varney discuss articles that report on a new history of the Obama administration’s troubled response to Donald Trump, the FBI’s latest effort to skirt the law and the collapse of Cuba. Watch it here.

Waste of the Day

by Jeremy Portnoy, Open the Books

Principal Bought Lobster with School Funds, RCI

States Spent Welfare in “Crazy Ways”, RCI

Can You Hear Me Now?, RCI

Throwback Thursday - The Story of Robosquirrel, RCI

Wire Fraud, Conflicts of Interest in Connecticut, RCI

Trump 2.0 and the Beltway

Biden’s ‘Quiet Amnesty’ for Nearly 1M Illegal Immigrants, New York Post

Regarding Trump Grand Juries Not So Quick to Indict Ham Sandwich, Hill

Controversial Biden Official Appointed FISA Court Adviser, Washington Free Beacon

Obama Didn’t See Trump Coming, New York Times

Flashback: Obama’s Fingerprints All Over Trump & Clinton Probes, RCI

Other Noteworthy Articles and Series

Dems Try to Stop Local Officers from Helping ICE 

AP

Over the past 18 years, officers at Maryland’s Frederick County jail have turned over 1,884 inmates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But that cooperation with ICE may be over after Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed a law that prohibits immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government. This article reports that the new Maryland law highlights the extent to which Democratic-led states are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Ten states – all led by Democrats – now have statewide policies prohibiting law enforcement officers from cooperating in one of the primary programs Trump is using to carry out his agenda of mass deportations. Laws banning cooperative agreements with ICE were signed earlier this month in New Mexico and took effect last month in Maine. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also is backing legislation that would ban local law officers from being deputized by ICE. And Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger recently terminated state ICE agreements signed under her Republican predecessor, though her order didn’t cancel existing arrangements with local sheriffs.

This article reports that not everyone supports these moves. The longtime Republican sheriff of Frederick County says Maryland’s new law will force him to free people who may later commit more crimes. “I’m extremely disappointed with the legislation,” Jenkins said, “because, really and truly, it’s going to put the public at risk in a lot of ways.”

In a separate article, Wired reports on the chatter at an online forum where current and former Homeland Security Investigations officers share their thoughts on the news of the day and complain about their colleagues in ICE. “In the forum, users discuss their discomfort with the US’s mass deportation efforts, debate the way federal agents have interacted with protesters and the public, and complain about the state of their working conditions. Members have also had heated discussions about the shooting of two protesters in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the ways immigration enforcement has taken place around the US.”

In a separate article, the Marshall Project reports that the Trump administration’s plans to repurpose old warehouses as immigration detention centers is facing local opposition. Over a hundred local residents in Surprise, Arizona – a suburb of Phoenix that Trump carried by 5.5% in 2024 – spoke out against an effort to repurpose one building in their community. “Some people worried about some detainees with a criminal history being held in the community. Some pointed to the possible strain on water, sewer, electrical infrastructure, traffic and emergency services. One speaker cited lost revenue – the federal government is exempt from local taxes. But most people offered broader condemnations of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, and simply didn’t want that project to be part of the town’s legacy.”

Cuba: No Water or Electricity, Children Begging in Streets 

Guardian

This article reports that Cuba “has gone from being run-down and picturesque to a horror show.”

The economy contracted by 11% between 2019 and 2024, with a further 5% fall through September 2025. Rubbish fills the streets, picked over by burgeoning bands of beggars. Rolling power cuts rack the island, spoiling the little food people have in their fridges, and making it hard to sleep. Anyone who protests is met with authoritarian force. It’s not the first time Cubans have gone hungry. The “special period in a time of peace” following the collapse of the Soviet Union saw people begin to starve. But those who lived through those times say these are different. The government, out of money and ideas, has allowed a small super-class of Cubans to emerge, licensed to import products including food. But inflation means very few can afford their goods. “In the special period things were very bad, because there was no food, but we had hope,” said Carlos Bustamante, a film producer. “Now there is food, if you can afford it, but no hope.”

This article, reported by a Scottish native who lives in Havana, reports that the electricity grid regularly collapses, which also means the water supply has failed. “About 20% of the population – among them the best and brightest – have emigrated since the pandemic, often with children. The shock on the faces of their elderly and increasingly lonely relatives matches the state of their clothes.”

FBI Bent Rules to Spy on 1,100 'Sensitive' Targets 

Reason

Through a bit of linguistic magic the feds can still spy on people even when they can’t meet the legal requirements to open an investigation. The trick, this article reports, is to call their surveillance efforts "assessments," which they can later use to justify full investigations. That's enabled the feds to snoop on roughly 1,100 religious figures, journalists, activists, and public officials in recent years, according to a GAO report.

According to the GAO, "the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can open assessments with an authorized purpose and clearly defined objective and without a particular factual predication." That's a pretty low bar for delving into people's lives. By contrast, "initiating an investigation requires predication, such as allegations, reports, facts, or circumstances indicative of possible criminal or national security threatening activity."

The article reports that the FBI often failed to comply with even those relaxed standards. “It's not surprising to learn that a government agency that found the rules for initiating formal investigations too restrictive sometimes has difficulty coloring within the lines when it comes to the looser standards for assessments. … Worse, observes the GAO report, ‘The FBI relies on staff to self-report noncompliance with assessment policy requirements. The FBI noted that self-reporting likely undercounts actual noncompliance, but has not assessed if other tools could identify it.’ "

Sexual Assaults on Airplanes Are Rising 

CBS News

The friendly skies are becoming increasingly hostile territory as the number of in-air sexual assaults rises.

A CBS News investigation found the FBI investigated more than 170 similar cases of passengers assaulting other passengers on flights in 2024. That's up from about 130 the year before. It's a small fraction of the millions of air travelers each year, but CBS News found that number is up sharply. There's fear the cases are widely underreported, and the airline industry and authorities aren't aggressively tracking in-air assaults. … CBS News' examination found many of the incidents happen on long distance or international flights, often at night and often when the attacker has consumed alcohol. 

The article reports that fuller planes, which squeeze passengers together and make it harder for flight crews to see what’s going on, are contributing to the increase. An attorney who handles such cases told CBS that the number of incidents is almost certainly higher. “There is no system currently that requires the airlines to actually report the numbers,” she said. “So, the numbers that the FBI has, those numbers are exclusively from victims who are deciding to come forward and they're making a report. But we know that there's more victims out there because the airlines receive those complaints. The airlines are speaking to the passengers directly, and the airlines are not reporting those numbers to the FBI. So there are a lot of gaps in information.”

The Doctors Who Helped Epstein Keep His “Girls” Sexually Fit 

The Cut

The list of Jeffrey Epstein’s enablers just keeps growing. This article reports that the late convicted sex criminal was careful that the young women in his orbit were sexually healthy – ready to be used for his purposes. This article reports that the latest cache of emails, texts, and other documents released by the DOJ reveals that Epstein had an established system for making sure the women were tested for STDs, prescribed birth-control pills, and inoculated against HPV. As a part of this system, he regularly made payments to at least three New York City gynecologists, as well as a dermatologist and his own personal physician.

In one 2015 email, when an unidentified person asks which gynecologists Epstein regularly uses for “the girls,” Epstein’s former staff member Bella Klein replies, “S. Yale and Romoff.” “S. Yale” appears to be Suzanne Yale, an OB/GYN who practiced in Manhattan for more than 45 years. She previously shared an office with fellow OB/GYN Adam Romoff, who is cited in the emails as the physician for a number of the women associated with Epstein, including Karyna Shuliak, his longtime girlfriend and reported beneficiary of his $100 million fortune. For years, Romoff and Yale practiced out of an expansive townhouse on 82nd Street, off of Fifth Avenue, and were affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital (now Northwell Health). Though Yale retired years ago, according to a colleague of both doctors who asked not to be identified, Romoff is still practicing and regularly presents at academic conferences. His name shows up in the Epstein files 38 times, though he is never shown to be in direct communication with Epstein himself.

This article quotes a colleague who said he did not believe that Yale or Romoff knew they were treating women associated with illegal activities. “They’re both very well respected, had very busy practices,” the colleague said of Yale and Romoff. “There were no shades of improprieties or anything like that.”

In a separate article, NPR reports that, years before they were convicted sex offenders, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell used a prestigious boarding school for young artists in Michigan that he had attended a teenage as a base from which to recruit some of their earliest victims.

A woman who testified at Maxwell's 2021 criminal trial said in a lawsuit that she was 13 years old when she met Epstein and Maxwell at the school's annual summer Interlochen Arts Camp in 1994. She says they began a relationship that started with grooming and led to sexual abuse. NPR does not name victims of sexual abuse. … A few summers later, Epstein and Maxwell met a 14-year-old student who said her first contact with them at the school was the start of a manipulative and controlling relationship that lasted years.

This article reports that the two women who said he preyed on them related similar stories about their initial on-campus contact with Epstein and Maxwell. Both said the pair walked a small dog that they used to help break the ice. After getting to know the young artists, Epstein would then dangle the prospect of financial support for their education, according to the women's stories.