A group of 51 bipartisan lawmakers is urging House negotiators to keep up the flow of dollars to a visa program for Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover of their country.

Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, wrote to the House of Representatives’ top appropriators as they continue to negotiate federal funding for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025.

‘We write to urge you to maintain critical provisions for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program1 in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations package. Authorizing new Afghan SIVs is critical to vetting and relocating qualified Afghan principal applicants currently in the processing pipeline,’ they wrote to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., and others.

It comes as President-elect Trump promised to work toward steep spending cuts in the coming federal funding fights. He wrote on Truth Social last week, ‘The United States will cut Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in spending next year through Reconciliation!’

People in Trump’s orbit, including some House Republicans, are pushing for him to have greater control over how congressionally appropriated funds are spent.

Meanwhile, Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy last month to lead an advisory panel on cost-cutting dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

The duo have already positioned themselves as influential players in Congress’ spending discussions as well, having led the revolt against a 1,547-page government funding bill that was a product of bipartisan negotiations. They have not, however, said where they want to see Congress pull back on spending.

The 51 lawmakers pushing for the Afghan SIV program to be preserved argue it is ‘a life-saving path to safety for Afghan nationals who face serious danger as a result of their work alongside U.S. troops, diplomats, and contractors.’

‘Congress must continue this work so that the State Department is able to issue visas to eligible Afghans who face imminent threats from the Taliban, Islamic State, and other hostile groups because of their service to the U.S. and our allies,’ they wrote.

The Afghan SIV program was first enacted in 2009, but saw new importance after the Taliban’s lightening-fast takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 – which precipitated the U.S.’s withdrawal after decades in the Middle Eastern country.

Congress authorized additional visas under the program every year since FY 2019, according to the letter.

Congressional negotiators have so far failed to come to an agreement on FY 2025 spending, forcing lawmakers to pass two extensions of last year’s funding levels to prevent a partial government shutdown.

The most recent extension, called a continuing resolution (CR), gives lawmakers until March 14 to make a deal.

The FBI is issuing a stark warning to timeshare owners about a widespread telemarketing scam linked to a violent Mexican drug cartel. This scheme targets unsuspecting property owners, leading to significant financial losses. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself.

The Dimitruks’ devastating timeshare scam experience

In late 2022, Mr. and Mrs. Dimitruk, a retired Canadian couple, received a call about selling their Florida timeshare. The scammers, aware of their specific timeshare details, promised a Mexican buyer willing to pay above market value. The fraudsters employed an intricate process involving a fake New York escrow company, ecurrencyescrow[.]llc. The Dimitruks were asked to complete forms and wire more than $3,000 for ‘administrative’ and ‘processing’ fees.

For almost a year, the scammers made additional financial demands, citing various taxes and fees. The couple even sent $5,000 to pay off their remaining timeshare balance, believing it was part of the sale process. Mr. Dimitruk, a 73-year-old retired long-haul truck driver, revealed in an interview with KrebsOnSecurity that they lost more than $50,000 to this scam. Even after this substantial loss, the scammers continued to contact them, claiming their money was waiting and urging further payments.

Cartel connections to fraud schemes

The FBI has linked these timeshare fraud schemes to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel in Mexico. According to a July 2024 warning from the FBI and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, these scams are part of the cartel’s efforts to diversify their revenue streams and finance other criminal activities, including drug trafficking.

Since at least 2012, the cartel and other Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations have increasingly targeted U.S. owners of timeshare properties in Mexico, particularly older adults who are often more vulnerable to such scams. The proceeds from these fraudulent activities not only support the cartel’s operations but also contribute to the manufacturing and trafficking of dangerous substances like fentanyl into the United States.

How these scams work

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has expanded its criminal activities beyond traditional drug trafficking into sophisticated scams, including timeshare fraud targeting unsuspecting individuals, particularly Americans. Here are some of the methods employed by the cartel in executing these scams:

Scammers often pose as legitimate real estate agents, escrow companies or even officials from U.S. government agencies like the Treasury Department. This tactic is designed to instill a sense of trust and urgency in potential victims, making them more susceptible to fraud.

The cartel primarily targets elderly Americans who own timeshares in Mexico. These individuals are often contacted with offers to buy their timeshares at inflated values, but they are required to pay various fees upfront, such as taxes or closing costs, before any transaction can be completed. Once these payments are made, the scammers disappear, leaving victims with significant financial losses.

The CJNG operates illegal call centers where employees, often unaware of the cartel’s true nature, engage in telemarketing schemes. These centers are strategically located in regions with high unemployment rates, providing a pool of workers who may be desperate for jobs. The call centers not only facilitate scams but also serve as a means for the cartel to exert control over local populations through intimidation and violence.

The scams can involve multiple layers of deception. For instance, victims may be contacted multiple times by different scammers posing as various professionals (e.g., lawyers or real estate agents) who claim they can assist with selling their timeshares or recovering lost funds. This re-victimization often leads to further financial exploitation.

The cartel employs extreme measures to maintain control over its operations and silence potential whistleblowers. Reports indicate that workers attempting to quit these call centers have faced dire consequences, including murder, which serves as a chilling message to others considering leaving the cartel’s employment. This brutal enforcement mechanism not only protects their operations but also instills fear within communities.

The CJNG utilizes a network of fraudulent websites and domains that appear legitimate at first glance. These websites often mimic real escrow and real estate firms, making it difficult for victims to discern the authenticity of their interactions. Many of these domains have been linked back to a central hub that manages multiple scam operations simultaneously.

By understanding these operational tactics, you can better appreciate the complexities and dangers associated with scams perpetrated by organized crime groups like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. This knowledge is crucial for potentially preventing future victimization.

Protecting yourself from timeshare scams

To avoid falling victim to similar scams, it is crucial to take proactive steps to safeguard your financial interests:

Always confirm the identity of any potential buyer and the authenticity of their offer. Contact the timeshare company directly to validate any claims made by the buyer.

Conduct thorough research on any business reaching out to you. Look for reviews, complaints and verify their credentials through reliable sources.

Legitimate transactions typically do not require upfront fees for administrative or processing purposes. If a company requests such payments, exercise caution.

Avoid sharing personal or financial information over unsecured methods such as phone calls or emails. Opt for secure communication channels whenever possible.

: Avoid clicking on any links or downloading attachments from unsolicited emails. Scammers often use these tactics to steal your personal information. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

Seek advice from a real estate attorney or a trusted financial advisor before engaging in any transactions. Their expertise can help you navigate potential pitfalls.

If you suspect you’ve been targeted by a timeshare scam, don’t hesitate to promptly report it to local authorities, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov or the Federal Trade Commission. Reporting can help protect others from falling victim to similar schemes.

While the advice provided is valuable, the most crucial step in protecting yourself from such scams is to minimize your online presence. By reducing the amount of personal information available on the web, you make it significantly harder for scammers to target you. No service promises to remove all your data from the internet. However, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Here’s the deal. These timeshare scammers are clever, they’re persistent, and they’re backed by some seriously bad dudes. But don’t let that scare you into inaction. Remember, knowledge is power. By staying informed and skeptical, you’re already one step ahead of these fraudsters. Trust your gut. If something feels off, it probably is. And don’t be afraid to ask for help or report suspicious activity. Let’s make life a whole lot harder for these scammers and keep your hard-earned money where it belongs: in your pocket.

What additional steps do you think authorities should take to combat telemarketing scams targeting vulnerable populations? Let us know by writing us at

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A top ally of President Biden is ‘disappointed’ after he vetoed a bill that would have increased the number of federal judges currently serving.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who served as a campaign co-chair for both of Biden’s recent presidential campaigns, stressed that he and his Republican colleague Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., kept bipartisanship top of mind when crafting the bill.

‘I am disappointed by this outcome, for my own state and for the federal judges throughout the country struggling under the burden of ever-higher caseloads. I’ve worked on this bill for years, and thanks to tireless bipartisan effort with Senator Young, it made it to the president’s desk. It’s highly unfortunate that it will not become law,’ Coons said in a statement on Tuesday.

He then put the blame on House Republicans for the bill’s ultimate failure, however, for voting on it after the 2024 election.

‘Senator Young and I took pains to make this a nonpartisan process, structuring the JUDGES Act so that Congress could pass the bill before any of us – Republican or Democrat – knew who would occupy the White House in 2025 and therefore nominate the new federal judges,’ Coons said.

‘The Senate did its part by passing the bill unanimously in August; the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however, waited for election results before moving the bill forward. As a result, the White House is now vetoing this bill.’

Republicans in turn have accused Biden of making threats to veto the bill – which he issued two days before the House voted on it – to avoid giving President-elect Trump new roles to fill.

‘This important legislation garnered broad, bipartisan support when it unanimously passed the Senate in August because it directly addresses the pressing need to reduce case backlogs in our federal courts and strengthen the efficiency of our judicial system,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out in a statement after the bill passed earlier this month.

 ‘At that time, Democrats supported the bill – they thought Kamala Harris would win the presidency. Now, however, the Biden-Harris administration has chosen to issue a veto threat and Democrats have whipped against this bill, standing in the way of progress, simply because of partisan politics.’

The bill would have added 66 federal district judicial roles, spreading their creation out over more than 10 years to prevent a boon on new appointments for any one administration. 

At the time of its Senate passage, Democrats’ morale was high after Biden ducked out of the 2024 race and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.

It passed the Senate with unanimous consent, however, meaning no Republicans objected to the legislation’s advancement.

We are in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven industrial revolution. From self-driving cars to medical diagnostics to next-generation defense and homeland security capabilities, AI is reshaping nearly every industry. 
 
As the U.S. races to maintain its global leadership in AI, much of the conversation revolves around natural language processing, the reshoring of the semiconductor supply chain and powering data centers. One critical component, however, remains largely overlooked: data storage — and the hard drives they contain that make scalable AI advancements possible. 

In the AI era, data is everything. Massive datasets fuel the systems that predict disease outbreaks, manage supply chains, detect fraud and empower our armed forces. According to Goldman Sachs, AI is poised to drive a 160% increase in data center demand by 2030. Without a scalable, resilient data storage sector, even the most advanced AI models will prove useless. The U.S. cannot afford to treat data storage as an afterthought. 

It is clear that data storage needed for scaling AI applications requires storage solutions equal to the vast explosion of data they generate. This is where hard drives excel. Hard drives, which store more than 90% of data in cloud data centers, are not only essential for managing data at scale but also play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the data informing AI models, a cornerstone of Trustworthy AI. 

This reliance on robust data storage becomes especially clear in sectors where AI tools are being rapidly deployed. 

The defense and homeland security sectors rely on data-intensive AI systems to make real-time decisions in life and death situations. Satellite data and surveillance feeds require massive storage capacity, and our military’s integration of AI depends on reliable and secure high-capacity hard drives. An inadequate storage infrastructure doesn’t just slow things down — it can impact mission readiness and execution, particularly as we deploy new technologies like drones that are data-dependent used to both protect the homeland and advance security interests overseas. 

The private sector’s demand for data storage is also skyrocketing as AI transforms operations. Financial firms leverage AI to analyze markets and manage risk, media companies personalize streaming services, the agriculture industry optimizes crop yields through AI-driven insights, and companies manufacturing hard drives deploy AI at scale in factories to optimize and increase production by diagnosing and correcting defects in real-time. Across industries, the need for reliable storage has never been more urgent. 

The U.S. must act now to secure its leadership in data storage technology. The goal should be to avoid a repeat of the semiconductor crisis — where a lack of domestic production led to urgent, costly reshoring efforts in the form of the $52 billion Chips and Science Act.  

Just as chips power AI processing, hard drives provide the backbone for data storage, making them equally indispensable. By investing in and supporting the hard drive industry now, the U.S. can secure a stable foundation for AI growth and mitigate future supply chain vulnerabilities.   

The U.S. government has recently initiated steps to secure this foundation but more needs to be done. A recent White House memorandum acknowledges the importance of a robust AI ecosystem and the need to bolster the private sector’s competitive advantages, from access to chips to availability of capital and computational resources.   

A key area of advantage that must be maintained is the data storage industry, with the largest companies in the field driving innovation and advancing technology leadership in the U.S. and like-minded countries. As China continues to invest huge sums into data processing and storage technologies, it is imperative that the U.S. understands and supports this unique capability that is the backbone of the cloud and emerging technologies, including AI.    

The defense and homeland security sectors rely on data-intensive AI systems to make real-time decisions in life and death situations. Satellite data and surveillance feeds require massive storage capacity, and our military’s integration of AI depends on reliable and secure high-capacity hard drives. 

To maintain our edge, the U.S. government must consider hard drives and data storage technology as essential components in the broader critical technology ecosystem. Government incentives, future or existing, should be available for hard drive manufacturers to expand domestic capacity, strengthen supply chain resilience and encourage long-term storage and retention policies that contribute to AI trustworthiness.   

Government agencies should also establish regular dialogue with industry leaders to ensure clear, aligned strategies for fostering a robust data storage sector. Much like the public support provided for the semiconductor industry, hard drive manufacturing deserves recognition and prioritization as a strategic industry essential for driving cutting-edge innovation. 
 
As America charts its path in the AI-era, it must prioritize the infrastructure that underpins it. By recognizing and investing in this critical sector, the U.S. can build a resilient, scalable data storage backbone that advances national security, economic growth, and technological supremacy. 

A Russian-born U.S. citizen who was already behind bars in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second sentence for espionage.

Eugene Spector was sentenced to a new 15-year term for his espionage conviction, according to Russian news agencies. Spector was born and raised in Leningrad, Russia, but later moved to the U.S. and became a citizen.

A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year, although details surrounding the case were not made publicly available.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen in Russia being sentenced and that it was monitoring the situation.

Spector, a former executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced in September 2022 to three and a half years in prison for enabling bribes to an aide of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for accepting bribes of two expensive overseas vacation trips.

Dvorkovich was a deputy prime minister under former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 to 2018. Dvorkovich is currently head of the international chess federation FIDE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.