Federal prosecutors are investigating Colombia’s Marxist President Gustavo Petro over his alleged ties to drug traffickers.

According to multiple media reports, the probes are being led by U.S. attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with support from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations.

Prosecutors are examining whether Petro met with traffickers and whether his presidential campaign received funding connected to illicit networks.

The investigations are ongoing and remain in early stages. It is unclear at what stages the investigations are at and whether charges will follow.

Breaking News: The U.S. Justice Department is said to be pursuing criminal investigations of President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, a onetime President Trump foe. https://t.co/eOWoDCWUBm

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 20, 2026

The development comes amid a strained relationship between Petro and President Trump.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Petro over his failure to cooperate with his crackdown on drug trafficking and suggested he needs to “watch his ass.”

Petro, meanwhile, has described the Trump administration as a “clan of pedophiles.”

“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy,” he said back in December.

“To keep Epstein’s list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen and threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil.”

The post DOJ Opens Investigation into Colombia’s Marxist President Over His Ties to Drug Trafficking appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Brazilian state deputy Fabiana Bolsonaro delivered a shocking, and now viral, speech in the São Paulo Legislative Assembly this week, applying dark makeup to her face and arms in protest against the appointment of trans lawmaker Erika Hilton to head a women’s rights committee.

In the clip, the politician explains that she is using the blackface demonstration to make a simple point about biological reality and lived experience.

“I am a white woman. I’ve had the privileges of a white person my whole life,” Bolsonaro said. “Now, at 32, I decide to paint myself, to disguise myself as a black person… and I ask you: did I become black? Do I feel the pain that black people have suffered? No.”

Bolsonaro continued, “It doesn’t matter if I paint myself — I don’t know what you went through. That’s why I cannot lead that agenda… because I am not black.”

The firebrand politician then drew a direct parallel to gender ideology.

“I am painted black on the outside. I identify as black. So why can’t I preside over the anti-racism commission? Why can’t I take care of this agenda? Because I am not black,” she stated, criticizing instances where biological men identifying as women are awarded spots or titles meant for actual women.

WATCH:

NEW: Brazilian politician Fabiana Bolsonaro performs blackface to show trans people that putting dark foundation on her face doesn’t make her black, just like changing your body doesn’t make you a different gender.

The incident was reportedly a protest against the appointment of… pic.twitter.com/ia631G3lH3

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 20, 2026

The protest targeted Erika Hilton, a biological male who identifies as a woman and serves as a federal deputy for the far-left PSOL party.

Left-wing politicians and activists have predictably erupted in outrage, filing ethics complaints and demanding Bolsonaro’s expulsion from the assembly for “racism and transphobia.”

Despite the outrage, Bolsonaro’s unapologetic stand has ignited a fresh round of debate in Brazil and around the world about how painting your skin doesn’t change your race, so why shouldn’t the same logic apply to gender?

The post Brazilian Politician Fabiana Bolsonaro Wears Blackface in Explosive Viral Speech Protesting Transgender Ideology: ‘Painting My Face Black Doesn’t Make Me Black’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

By Joel Gilbert

On February 16, 2026, I filed two well-documented federal complaints against Congressman Eric Swalwell, one with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS/ICE), and another with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Together, these filings raise serious questions about whether Swalwell engaged in illegal patterns of conduct that reflect his disregard for federal law and a potential abuse of campaign funds for personal benefit.

At issue are two distinct but closely related allegations: first, that Swalwell continued employing a foreign national nanny illegally for two years after her legal work authorization expired; and second, that he illegally used campaign funds to cover what appear to be ongoing personal childcare expenses totaling more than $300,000.

Taken together, these allegations suggest a sustained pattern in which legal requirements were well understood by Swalwell, and then ignored for personal gain. I published both complaints on SwalwellisDisqualified.com.

The DHS/ICE Complaint: Alleged Employment of an Unauthorized Worker

In 2022, Eric Swalwell and his wife employed a Brazilian national, Amanda Barbosa, as a live-in Au Pair under the J-1 visa program. Barbosa resided in the Swalwell household and provided full-time childcare for their three young children. In 2022, Barbosa was paid approximately $46,929.70 for her services by Swalwell’s campaign under “Childcare for Campaign Events”.

Critically, Barbosa’s J-1 visa, and thus her legal authorization to work, expired at the end of December 2022. The Swalwells were fully aware of this deadline. In fact, earlier in 2022, they attempted to secure permanent work authorization for Barbosa by filing a federal labor certification (ETA-9089), which required a formal job posting in The Washington Post. Their advertisement outlined a demanding, full-time nanny position which included:

• taking care of 3 kids & help satisfy kids’ physical, emotional, intellectual, & social needs
• assist w/care of dog, organize kids’ play activities, drive kids to appts & activities
• household cleaning &laundry, prep kids’ meals, Mon to Fri, 7A to 4P, Wknd work time

The Swalwell’s permanent work authorization application was denied by the Department of Labor.

As I document in my DHS complaint, rather than replacing Barbosa with a legally authorized worker when her J-1 Visa expired, the Swalwells appear to have continued employing her as a live-in nanny for two additional years in 2023 and 2024, despite the absence of any publicly available evidence of renewed work authorization. They curiously kept her “off the books” of the Swalwell campaign during this time.

In my DHS complaint, I present multiple categories of evidence that indicate Barbosa remained actively employed by the Swalwells in 2023 and 2024 after her J-1 visa expired, including:

• Social media activity – showing Barbosa regularly engaged in childcare, travel, and family events with the Swalwell household throughout 2023 and 2024
• Professional records – including Barbosa’s LinkedIn profile where she lists herself as a full-time childcare provider in the United States from 2021 to present
• Financial records – including campaign-related childcare payments to Barbosa in 2022 and then again in 2025 in Swalwell’s FEC filings

In the complaint, I ask federal authorities to investigate whether this conduct violated immigration laws, visa regulations, tax obligations, and labor laws, and for them to determine if it involved an illegal conspiracy between Swalwell and his wife Brittany.

The FEC Complaint: Campaign Funds for Personal Childcare

The second complaint, filed with the Federal Election Commission, addresses a separate but equally serious issue: whether Eric Swalwell illegally used campaign funds from donors to pay for his regular personal childcare expenses.

Federal election law is clear under 52 U.S.C. § 30114(b): campaign funds may not be converted to personal use. Campaign funds may only be used for expenses that arise directly from campaign activity and would not exist otherwise. Personal expenses, those that would exist regardless of candidacy, are strictly prohibited.

In 2022, Swalwell sought formal guidance from the FEC on whether he could use campaign funds to pay for childcare. The Commission’s response to Swalwell was explicit: such expenses are permissible only if they are tied to specific campaign events and are properly documented. As allege in my complaint, Swalwell disregarded that guidance and instead subsidized his candidate’s personal household expenses.

In my FEC complaint, I detail a five-year pattern of Swalwell childcare-related expenditures from 2021 through 2025 that appears to reflect regular ongoing household childcare rather than campaign-specific needs, with total childcare-related disbursements exceeding $300,000 over five years. These payments were recurring weekly, consistent in amounts, and structured like a payroll. Several red flags include:

• Lack of documentation by Swalwell to the FEC tying payments to specific campaign events
• Year-round, continuous childcare coverage
• Reimbursement structures suggesting personal expenses being funneled through the campaign
• Payroll tax reimbursements consistent with a full-time employment relationship

Abuse of Office for Personal Gain by Eric Swalwell

Taken together, my DHS and FEC complaints outline a consistent pattern:

1. Swalwell at first sought to comply with the law (labor authorization application, request for FEC advisory opinion)
2. Then the law said “no”, imposing clear limitations (denial of work authorization, denial of regular childcare expenses)
3. But Swalwell’s conduct continued anyway, in violation of the legal decisions and in blatant disregard of the law

Employing a foreign national without valid work authorization, if proven, would reflect a willingness by Swalwell to ignore immigration and labor laws that public officials are sworn to uphold. Despite being a former deputy district attorney, Eric Swalwell appears to have a problem with immigration law. In his campaign for governor of California, he vows to expel ICE, while working to defund DHS in congress.

Campaign contributions meanwhile are donated for political purposes, not to finance a candidate’s private household expenses. If Swalwell used campaign funds to maintain a full-time nanny or subsidize routine childcare, it would represent a fundamental breach of trust.

These allegations come at a pivotal moment. Eric Swalwell is a candidate for governor of California, a role that demands not only policy leadership but also credibility, integrity, and respect for the law. In a statewide campaign, issues of honesty and transparency, respect for the law, misuse of donor funds, and personal accountability are central.

At its core, my complaints amount to a test of whether the rule of law applies equally to those who seek to govern. The allegations I detail, if substantiated, would demonstrate a sustained pattern of conduct by Swalwell in which his legal obligations were acknowledged, clarified, and then ignored. These are not technical violations. They relate to judgment and integrity. It appears Eric Swalwell has neither. He should withdraw from the governor’s race while these investigations are ongoing.

Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of: Dreams from My Real Father, The Trayvon Hoax, Trump: The Art of the Insult, and many other films on American politics and music icons. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.

The post Eric Swalwell “Nannygate” Explodes: DHS and FEC Complaints Allege Illegal Alien Employment and Misuse of Campaign Funds for Childcare appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Iranian people in Toronto, Canada thanked the Americans who gave their live so Iran could be free from one of the most brutal regimes in world history.

Iranians dropped off roses outside the US Embassy in Canada on Saturday in a gesture of gratitude to America and US soldiers stationed in the Middle East.

Ahmed Batebi wrote: “The gratitude of the Iranian people to the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the fight against the criminal ayatollahs and for the freedom of the Iranian nation.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ahmad Batebi (@ahmadbatebi)

Here is more on Iranian activist Ahmed Batebi – many of you may have noticed his photo is posted at the top of the TGP home page.

Iranian student activist and dissident Ahmad Betebi was sentenced to death and severely tortured for years in the notorious Evin Prison in Iran. He escaped safely to the United States in late June.

During a break from prison, Batebi fled Iran traveling through a free Iraq to Austria and finally arriving in Washington DC.

Ahmad Batebi arrived in the United States after years of torture and imprisonment. Broke, weak and afraid, Batebi described his flight from Iran through a free Iraq to The New York Times today. He tells of the Iranian agents who followed his escape from Iran and he talks about the day in 1999 that made him famous. It is an unimaginable story of heartache and courage.
Here, Batebi talks about the brutality of the regime:

Mr. Batebi described 17 months in solitary confinement, including repeated torture by interrogators trying to force him to say on television that the famous T-shirt was stained with paint or animal blood.

His jailers thrashed him with a metal cable, beat his testicles and kicked in his teeth, he said. They held his face down in a pool of excrement. They tied his arms behind his back and hung him from the ceiling. At other times, strapping him to a chair, they kept him awake night after night, cutting him and rubbing salt into the wounds.

To stave off madness, he said, he fought back. “If the interrogator cursed me, I would curse him back,” he said. “If the interrogator hit me, I’d try to hit him back.”

What an incredible story.

The post Iranians in Canada Set Up Memorial at US Embassy – Thank Americans who Sacrificed Their Lives in Fight Against Criminal Regime appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The city of Chicago is facing a serious financial crisis, and while their budget problems are not a secret, at least one financial expert is trying to sound the alarm.

The city is looking at a budget gap of more than a billion dollars. That is as serious as it gets.

Chicago already spends a massive amount of its budget un debt and unfunded liabilities like pensions, but it’s only going to get worse and Mayor Brandon Johnson doesn’t seem to know how to even approach fixing this.

FOX News reports:

Chicago’s teetering debt is stark warning left-wing mayor is fueling ‘pay later’ doom cycle: expert

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration are presiding over a city in serious financial straits.

Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, is facing a corporate fund budget gap of more than $1 billion, while its 2025 fiscal year is projected to close with a roughly $150 million deficit with about two-fifths of the budget going toward debt service and pension costs.

Johnson said in April the city was “at a crossroads” and had to “essentially do more with less,” while simultaneously slamming the Trump administration for reportedly threatening federal funding, calling it a “different scenario we weren’t under before.”

Austin Berg, executive director of pro-taxpayer research group Illinois Policy Institute, said markets are looking at the true numbers and are “really concerned” about Chicago…

“The solution set is always the same: Stop making bad decisions, and you have to put a structure in place to make better decisions,” Berg said.

“So, the bad decisions are things like taking one-time revenues from federal COVID spending and putting it into operations. The bad decisions are borrowing for operations, which this latest bond issue just did. That’s a huge no-no and a red flag for investors.”

This is what decades of one party rule gets you.

Instead of fixing the city’s very real problems, Mayor Johnson and his allies are more interested in going after ICE, protesting Trump, and increasing the power of the very people who are bleeding the city dry.

It won’t end well. Does Mayor Johnson think the federal government is going to bail them out? Not likely.

The post Financial Expert Sounds Alarm on the City of Chicago – Facing Budget Gap of More Than a Billion Dollars appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.