The Department of Justice has reportedly launched an investigation into the National Football League over anticompetitive tactics that could harm the public.

NBC News reported Thursday that the federal government is investigating whether the NFL is charging consumers too much, now that games are broadcast across multiple streaming platforms that require paid subscriptions.

The story cited two unnamed sources who are “familiar with the investigation.”

The Justice Department’s investigation into the NFL is “about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers,” one government official told the outlet.

Regulators, lawmakers, and media outlets have voiced concerns over the past several years about how difficult it has become for consumers to watch their preferred sports games as a result of these new rights deals.

In early March, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah sent a letter to Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson about “a new trend in televised sports that may harm American sports fans.”

“To watch every NFL game during this past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Lee wrote.

He added, “In practice, this requires subscribing to multiple streaming services and maintaining high-speed internet in addition to a traditional cable or satellite bundle.

The resulting fragmentation has produced consumer confusion and increasing costs for viewers attempting to watch their teams.”

Exclusive: The NFL is under investigation by the Justice Department over its broadcasting deals https://t.co/SQxG6moOrJ

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 9, 2026

The Utah Republican cited the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which granted limited antitrust immunity to allow professional football teams to “collectively license the ‘sponsored telecasts’ of their games to national broadcast networks.”

However, he said the “modern distribution environment differs substantially from the conditions that precipitated this exemption” and argued that paywalls and streaming services amount to a setup that “may no longer align with the statutory concept of sponsored telecasting or the consumer-access rationale underlying the antitrust exemption.”

“Accordingly, I request that your antitrust enforcement agencies examine the Sports Broadcasting Act and its applicability to the current media landscape,” Lee concluded.

He also commented after news of the investigation broke.

“Much has changed in sports broadcasting since 1961, raising new questions about the NFL’s antitrust exemption,” the GOP lawmaker said.

“I’m glad the DOJ is tackling this important issue, as I urged them to do last month.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Department of Justice Launches Investigation Into the NFL: Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Disgraced attorney and former anti-Trump pundit Michael Avenatti has moved to Hollywood, California, to finish out his prison sentence in a halfway house following his conviction for various financial crimes.

Avenatti has been ordered to serve over two years in the halfway house in addition to participating in mental health treatment, and he must also stay away from unlawful controlled substances, TMZ reported.

He is projected to be fully released in September 2028 and must pay restitution of almost $6 million.

Avenatti was a frequent guest on CNN and represented Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump.

He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison back in July 2021 for attempting to extort Nike and for defrauding multiple clients, according to the Justice Department.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said at the time that “Michael Avenatti used illegal and extortionate threats and betrayed one of his clients for the purpose of seeking to obtain millions of dollars for himself.”

“Not only did Avenatti attempt to weaponize his law license and celebrity to seek to extort payments for himself, he also defrauded his own client. Avenatti will now serve substantial time in prison for his criminal conduct,” Strauss added.

In June 2022, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison for identity theft and for defrauding Daniels by stealing part of her book advance, as well as spending almost $150,000 on personal and business expenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said.

“Lawyers have a duty to be loyal and advocates for their clients,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams remarked. “Far from being a loyal advocate for his client, Michael Avenatti stole his client’s identity and her money in order to line his own pockets. Now, Avenatti will serve a substantial prison sentence for his brazen crimes and betrayal of his client.”

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said that Avenatti was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison back in December 2022 for stealing millions of dollars from clients and for tax fraud.

The sentence came after he defrauded clients, one of whom “was a paraplegic with mental health issues,” and for obstructing IRS efforts to collect a tax debt from a business he owned.

United States District Judge James V. Selna, who sentenced Avenatti, said the disgraced lawyer “has done great evil for which he must answer” and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of nearly $11 million to four different clients and the IRS.

“Michael Avenatti was a corrupt lawyer who claimed he was fighting for the little guy. In fact, he only cared about his own selfish interests,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said.

Estrada added, “He stole millions of dollars from his clients — all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars. As a result of his illegal acts, he has lost his right to practice law in California, and now he will serve a richly deserved prison sentence.”

CNN, and other anti-Trump networks, constantly showered praise and adulation on Avenatti and gave him coveted spots of air time.

Back in 2018, former CNN host Brian Stelter even suggested he’d make a strong candidate for president.

“And looking ahead to 2020, one reason I’m taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news,” he told Avenatti.

In June 2025, Avenatti managed to get his prison term reduced following a resentencing hearing after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated his 14-year sentence back in October 2024, Fox News reported. He was disbarred in California in February 2025.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post He’s Out! Disgraced Lawyer Michael Avenatti Moves to Hollywood Halfway House to Finish Prison Sentence appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Vice President J.D. Vance has reportedly uncovered over $6 billion in potential fraud after President Donald Trump tapped him to lead a nationwide task force meant to root out criminal activity.

The task force has identified $6.3 billion in government contracts linked to potentially fraudulent businesses, The Daily Caller reported Wednesday.

“The task force, alongside the General Services Administration (GSA), are beginning to send out letters to nearly 400 businesses with government contracts that they believe could be fraudulent,” according to the report. The investigation found 895 contracts awarded to 392 businesses, totaling $6.3 billion, “with $3 billion still left to be rewarded.”

These businesses will have 30 days to prove their legitimacy and must provide evidence of a real, physical location where their operations take place.

The task force was created shortly after reports circulated of mass fraud that was uncovered in Minnesota earlier this year, when multiple day care centers — many run by Somali immigrants — were found to have no children enrolled, yet were still receiving massive quantities of taxpayer funds.

The Department of Justice estimated that several billion dollars have been stolen by phony organizations in Minnesota alone. The DOJ cited examples of waste and mismanagement of social services programs meant to provide food and health care for the needy.

In his executive order establishing the task force, Trump wrote, “The staggering fraud and waste in Minnesota alone is a case in point. Federal prosecutors in the State estimate that Medicaid fraud in recent years could total in the billions. Nearly 9 percent of the roughly $866 million spent on food stamps in Minnesota each year is estimated to be spent in error.”

The commander in chief also addressed fraud numbers during a speech in February, adding that, “There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. We have all the information and, in actuality, the number is much higher than that.”

The majority of the contracts that are currently under scrutiny were awarded under the Biden administration, a senior administration official told The Daily Caller.

“The fact that these taxpayer dollars went out without verifying if the contractors and vendors were even real or lawful businesses is a disgrace and yet another example of how the previous administration flouted basic anti-fraud guardrails,” a senior White House official told the news outlet.

Vance met with his new anti-fraud team for the first time March 27.

A spokesperson for the vice president added, “[The] task force will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for fraud. If fraudsters are robbing hardworking Americans of their tax dollars and services, we will find them.”

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota will be a main target of the new group for alleged immigration fraud, joining fellow Minnesota Democrats Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Walz and Ellison were grilled before Congress in March over what they knew, and when they knew it, concerning the recent fraud scandals.

One lawmaker, Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who also hails from Minnesota, said during the hearing that if allegations against Ellison are proven to be true, he belongs in jail.

“Mr. Ellison, my concern is that you actively obstructed this investigation in exchange for campaign donations — a quid pro quo. If these concerns are proven to be true, you should be disbarred, and you should go to jail,” Emmer declared.

Walz’s actions were also put under a microscope during that same hearing, when GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio pressed the former vice-presidential nominee about the Feeding our Future fraud case.

Jordan accused Walz of lying about restarting payments to the organization after they were initially suspended, saying, “Why didn’t you just tell the truth about the Feeding Our Future program? This program, in my understanding, received $3 million the first year, [and] within a couple years was getting $200 million of taxpayer money. Whistleblowers raised concerns, as the chairman said. Auditors raised concerns. Everybody raised concerns.”

“March 30, 2021, the payments are stopped, and a little over a month later, the payments are restarted,” he continued. “Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?”

Walz claimed the payments were resumed due to a court order, but a statement on the Minnesota judicial branch web site explained that no such order was ever issued.

“Well, somebody’s lying!” Jordan proclaimed. “Somebody’s lying. Because you can’t say the court ordered you to restart the payments, and then the court says, ‘We didn’t order you to restart the payments.’ So either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. And I’m just asking you, which one is it?”

Walz claimed it “simply” came down to a “misinterpretation,” but Jordan disagreed, saying Walz likely feared “political backlash” from the Somali community.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post JD Vance’s Task Force Uncovers $6 Billion in Potential Fraud, Begins Taking Action: Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.