Evening Wire: Peltola Under Investigation For "Decoy Dan" Plot & DOJ Cracks Down on Fake Student Fraud | 10.29.26

federal prosecutors crack down on a nationwide fraud scheme involving fake students alaska's governor orders a probe into a democrat campaign's role in the decoy dan plot and pete hegseth fires a top pentagon official over alleged leaks i'm daily wire executive editor john bickley with georgia howe it's thursday october 29th this is evening wire prosecutors say they've cracked a nationwide fraud scheme aimed at ripping off taxpayers through federal student loans to fake students the justice department's chief prosecutor in charge of fraud assistant attorney general colin mcdonald described the scheme today the methods used in these schemes are increasingly sophisticated some use super intelligence to fill out college applications and complete coursework so it looks like the ghost student is actually completing the class some even create the appearance of a fake student in a way that's not true and some even create the appearance of a fake student in an online classroom to trick schools into believing a real person is present the goal is to keep the ghost student in school for as long as possible semester after semester after semester stealing money from the taxpayer according to the doj the fraudsters faked student loan applications using stolen u.s identities the money then received through federal loan aid was then routed to bank accounts controlled by foreign actors the doj said so-called money mules in the u.s including kenyan nationals helped facilitate the fraud a new explosive report may have democrat mary peltola's campaign in deep legal trouble daily wire contributor tim pierce has the latest according to a times report on wednesday staffers on peltola's campaign concocted a scheme to illegally siphon votes away from alaska gop senator dan sullivan alaska governor mike dunleavy announced just hours after the report that he would order a criminal investigation into alaska gov. mike dunleavy announced that he would order a criminal investigation into the alleged scheme he called it an organized effort to manipulate alaska's elections by recruiting candidates including one with the same name as an incumbent u.s senator to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes according to the times top aides to peltola directed an effort to recruit other dan sullivans in alaska to run for senate stacking their names on the ballot to confuse voters and as the time said help catapult the democrat to victory peltola's campaign has repeatedly denied involvement in the campaign and is now in the hands of the president of the united states and the president of the united states is now in the hands of the president of the united states and the president of the united states elmi then received a green card and applied for u.s citizenship but dropped out of the process when officials began to ask about the marriage the couple legally divorced in 2017 the trump administration is loosening restrictions on popular peptides while some peptides like collagen have been around for a while injectable peptides have recently skyrocketed in use promising everything from increased metabolic health to cures for insomnia ulcerative colitis and migraines the catch though is that till now it's been illegal for pharmacies to compound many of them for consumers leading many to acquire peptides through gray market sources but trump's hhs under rfk jr is changing that the department announced yesterday that they'll be exercising enforcement discretion on small compound pharmacies for six different peptides in other words they're essentially promising to look the other way some consumer advocacy groups have panned the decision but rfk has been a longtime supporter of legalization a colorado pro-life advocate is taking her fight over free speech restrictions outside abortion clinics to a federal appeals court andrew spannenberg from alliance defending freedom has the story a colorado woman is asking the 10th circuit court to overturn a state law that forbids her from approaching women outside abortion facilities and advocating for pro-life alternate options for their unborn children known as the bubble law colorado restricts anyone within 100 feet of a health care facility from being within eight feet of another person to distribute material without their consent first liberty institute is representing wendy foster and challenging this law is a free speech violation but they may face an uphill battle in 2000 the u.s supreme court upheld colorado's bubble law in the case hill versus colorado and has shown no real interest in revisiting the issue i'm andrew spangenberg with alliance defending freedom family vacations are supposed to be relaxing that is unless you're sharing a hotel room with somebody who snores i remember almost not wanting to marry into my wife's family because i had to share an airbnb with one of her brothers who unbeknownst to me snores like a grizzly bear and that is why i'm so excited about excite osa from 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and mild obstructive sleep apnea it's not for everyone individual results vary risks and benefits at spring sleep.com for secretary pete hegseth has fired one of the pentagon's top strategic planners amid a leak investigation lieutenant general brett sylvia who headed the joint staff's directorate of strategy plans and policy is accused of leaking information about the iran and ukraine wars to reporters a department of war official told the media that sylvia failed three polygraph exams and that the case has been referred to the justice department pentagon spokesman sean parnell did not report not name sylvia but he warned suspected leakers quote we vowed to find you and we meant it the firing comes as the pentagon reportedly weighs renewed strikes on iran after next tuesday's midterm elections a russian drone attack this morning killed 14 at a ukrainian train station reporter zach jewel has the story the attack struck the main train terminal in the ukrainian city of nepro the ukrainian state-run rail company stated that a jet-powered drone struck the platform just as the train was preparing to depart the station the attack struck the main train terminal and the attack was possibly a response to a ukrainian offensive which saw more than 600 drones sent toward moscow a vast majority of those drones were reportedly intercepted before reaching their target with the ukrainian delegation en route to the russian-controlled city of oleshki localized ceasefires have thus far held war continues to rage outside of the ceasefire zone however with hostilities appearing to increase over the last month u.s allies say north korea fired a group of ballistic missiles off its east coast on thursday associate producer morgado has more south korea's joint chiefs of staff said it counted about 10 missiles fired into the sea in the latest attempt at intimidation from pyongyang the missile test came as tensions between the north and south escalate over landmines that wounded several south korean soldiers last month seoul accused pyongyang of mining the demilitarized zone between the two countries pyongyang denied that then threatened to move new weapons to the border and resume its propaganda broadcast to south korea over loudspeakers the missile launch took place just days after north korean dictator kim jong-un returned from a trip to china pyongyang's closest ally and its economic lifeline israel's election has left both major political blocks short of a governing majority raising the prospect of another election with 97 percent of votes counted prime minister benjamin netanyahu's block is projected to win 53 seats while the opposition holds 48 in the 120 seat knesset arab parties secured a record high combined 19 seats making them potential kingmakers but several opposition leaders have ruled out forming a coalition with them final results could still shift as officials count double envelope ballots and netanyahu's party has separately alleged widespread election fraud and called for an investigation and a bit of spooky science just before halloween as scientists find that spiders may sleep in ways surprisingly similar to humans including a stage resembling rim sleep when people often experience vivid dreams and nightmares research at the university of bond monitored australian jumping spiders and observed eye movements and muscle twitches during this stage along with evidence of regulated sleep cycles and sleep rebound after deprivation the spiders are known for their sophisticated hunting strategies including tricking other spiders with deceptive vibrations researchers caution that the behavior does not prove spiders actually dream those are your drive home updates this evening to learn more about these stories go to dailywire.com and in case you missed earlier today we covered some major including a bombshell report revealing the origins the so-called Decoy Dan candidate in Alaska, Brazil's right-wing presidential candidate fleeing to the U.S., and a second horrific high-speed train collision in Spain. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.