FBI Elections Warrant, "Ghost Students", & False Memories

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Adam Rogers
January 29, 2026

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The FBI executed a search warrant on Wednesday at Fulton County's elections hub, seeking records related to the 2020 election. The FBI confirmed it was conducting "court-authorized law enforcement activity" but said the investigation is ongoing and provided no further details.
President Trump said last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that "people will soon be prosecuted" for the 2020 election, which he repeated was "rigged." Trump has focused on Fulton County since his 2020 loss in Georgia, pressuring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a January 2, 2021, phone call to "find 11,780 votes" - roughly Joe Biden's margin of victory.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought a criminal case against Trump over his 2020 election efforts, but the case was dismissed after a judge disqualified her over her relationship with a prosecutor she hired. Trump had pleaded not guilty.

Sophisticated scammers known as 'ghost students' have stolen more than $350 million in federal student aid over the past five years, according to the US Department of Education. The agency is investigating additional schemes suspected of stealing over $1 billion. The fraudsters use stolen or fake identities to enroll in online community college classes, collect Pell grants and loans, then disappear.
The problem exploded when colleges moved to remote learning during the pandemic, allowing scammers to use artificial intelligence to bypass identity verification. In California, nearly a third of all community college applicants in 2024 were identified as fraudulent. One 50-person online class had only six real students.
Victims whose identities are stolen often don't discover the fraud until the IRS contacts them about unpaid student debt. The Education Department has more than 200 investigations open nationwide. Community colleges are turning to identity verification software, and the Trump administration implemented enhanced fraud controls last year.

People who identify as "night owls" face a 16% higher risk of heart attack and stroke compared with people whose sleep timing falls in the middle, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The study, which evaluated 320,000 adults, used the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 score, which measures factors such as diet, physical activity, sleep, smoking, blood pressure, and blood sugar. Late-night types were 79% more likely to score poorly overall, with most of their added risk explained by lifestyle factors like smoking, shorter sleep, and poor diet.
Researchers say night owls being forced to live on morning schedules drives these poor health behaviors. Women were particularly affected due to caregiving responsibilities further limiting sleep, with 96% higher likelihood of poor cardiovascular health scores compared to 67% in men, though not higher rates of heart attack or stroke.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators on Wednesday that Trump's military raid capturing Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro removed a major threat and made the US safe. (More)

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