• Michael Reagan, RIP: On Sunday, January 4, Michael Reagan — the adopted son of former President Ronald Reagan — died at the age of 80. Reagan was a Christian, a conservative, an author, a nationally syndicated radio host, and a stalwart defender of his father’s legacy who was closely involved with the Reagan Library and Foundation. “Michael Reagan lived a life shaped by conviction, purpose, and an abiding devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” the Foundation stated upon news of his death, which then quoted his father: “When I read his book, I had even more of a fatherly pride in Mike than I had had before. … He was happy and at peace with himself.” The Patriot Post had the honor of sharing Michael Reagan’s weekly column with our readers. He will be greatly missed.

• Venezuelan oil: Since the capture of illegitimate president Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, the Trump administration has claimed control over Venezuela and its oil. That will be put to the test following President Donald Trump’s announcement that interim Venezuelan authorities will hand over 30-50 million barrels of oil, to be delivered immediately to U.S. ports by ship. The oil will be sold at market price, with the proceeds controlled by the U.S. president and dispensed to enrich both the Venezuelan and American peoples. U.S. and British oil companies built the oil industry in Venezuela and brought production to its peak of 3.7 million barrels a day before Venezuelan nationalization caused production to sink below one million barrels a day by 2025. Venezuela’s oil reserves are believed to be the largest in the world, totaling over 300 billion barrels.

• U.S. continues to seize tankers carrying Venezuelan oil: After departing Venezuela, the tanker known as the Bella-1 slipped past the U.S. maritime blockade, leading to a two-week pursuit as it attempted to reach Russia carrying sanctioned oil. During its voyage across the Atlantic, the ship was registered under the Russian flag and was renamed the “Marinera.” At some point, Russia deployed a submarine to shadow the tanker and escort it safely to Russian territory. Undeterred, the U.S. Coast Guard and other military forces intercepted and seized the tanker off the coast of Iceland this morning. Also today, another tanker, the M Sophia, which departed as part of a “shadow fleet” carrying Venezuelan oil to China, was seized in the Caribbean.

• Venezuelan operation and AI tomfoolery: Soon after news broke of the successful U.S. operation to capture, arrest, and extract Nicolás Maduro from his residence in Caracas, videos and images rapidly spread across social media featuring the destruction of the tomb of former President Hugo Chavez. It was claimed that the U.S. had intentionally targeted the tomb. However, it turns out that these images and videos were fake, having been generated by AI. The tomb of Chavez had not been targeted, nor had it been destroyed. What this incident demonstrates is the reality of AI’s impact on people’s perception of significant events in real time. It raises the specter of narrative-controlled propaganda that can easily manipulate people into believing false reports, using videos and images that are not easily recognized as fake.

• GOP congressman dies: One of California’s increasingly rare Republican congressmen has died following a medical emergency on Monday night. Doug LaMalfa, 65, a seven-term congressman, was hailed by colleagues as a stalwart conservative and “a genuinely kind, decent man.” President Trump remembered LaMalfa in a speech at the House GOP retreat as a friend who was “with me 100% of the time.” Details on LaMalfa’s death have not been released, but he is survived by his wife, Jill, and their children. For the Republican-controlled House, his death means the margin of control has been reduced to just 218-213.

• Georgia sets special election to replace MTG: On Tuesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced that the special election for the state’s 14th Congressional District to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been set for March 10. The northwestern Georgia district heavily favors Republicans and is considered safe for the GOP. MTG announced her resignation in November, and her last day in office was January 5. Formerly a leading MAGA firebrand supporter of Donald Trump, she has increasingly become a loud critic of the president, most recently blasting him over his decision to arrest and extradite Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. She opposed the action, deriding the hours-long police action as another instance of the U.S. instigating and involving itself in another “forever war.” Hopefully, MTG’s seat will be filled by someone principled and committed to conservatism, not to their own brand.

• Military recruitment soars while Pentagon considers role of women: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted in his speech at an Armed Forces swearing-in ceremony on Monday that military recruitment is already exceeding last year’s recruiting surge. “We’re setting new records at the War Department of historic recruitment of men and women wanting to join the ranks, and you’re a part of that. So, congratulations,” Hegseth declared. He also highlighted the importance of “mission readiness” in his remarks, and part of that “readiness” includes whether or not women should serve in combat roles. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson announced in a statement on Tuesday that the Department has made steps in that effort: “The Institute for Defense Analyses is reviewing the effectiveness of having women in ground combat roles to ensure standards are met, and the United States maintains the most lethal military.”

• Minneapolis gets federal visitors: It was too much for Minnesota Democrats to hope that Tim Walz’s bowing out of the governor’s race would grant them any breathing room, and the Department of Homeland Security isn’t giving an inch. Hundreds of DHS agents are being deployed to Minneapolis following scandalous fraud stories that never seemed to end. The crackdown, which will include fraud investigations and immigration roundups, may culminate in as many as 2,000 agents in the Twin Cities area during a 30-day surge. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino, who oversaw roundups in Chicago, Charlotte, and New Orleans, will help lead the action, which will also include as many as 600 Homeland Security Investigations agents, rivaling the total HSI workforce in the state of Arizona.

• Experts warn criminals exploiting aid programs in every state: A fraud-prevention firm, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which advises upwards of 9,000 federal, state, and local agencies, has warned of extortion of state aid programs since the start of COVID. CEO Haywood Talcove said, “The level of fraudulent activity is varied by program, as well as some states.” Haywood elaborated that every state has some form of “leakage” due to fraud, but that some states, like California, New York, and Massachusetts, are worse because they are “forward” on their benefit programs and state officials ignore the issue. It generally involves federal dollars, not state dollars, so there’s hardly any impact on the state. Talcove said that criminals trade “state hit lists,” which rank states according to weakest ID checks, fastest payouts, and lowest audit risk. It’s no surprise that Minnesota has been on that list for some time.

• People still fleeing the formerly Golden State: The nation’s most populated state is seeing the continuation of a trend that began roughly a decade ago. California is losing people, as more and more residents are moving out of the Democrat-dominated state. California isn’t the only blue state witnessing this migration pattern, but it’s leading the pack. A growing number of residents in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are packing up the U-Haul and moving to the greener, freer, more tax-friendly red states. Three of the top states attracting new residents are Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. All three also happen to have no state income tax. Meanwhile, California has the nation’s highest personal income tax rate of 13.3%.

Headlines

• Aldrich Ames, CIA officer who spied for Russia, dead at 84 (Fox News)

• Hilton drops Minneapolis hotel that lied about immigration agent ban (NY Post)

• Appeals court revives California’s ban on disclosing students’ gender identity to parents (Washington Times)

• Purdue becomes first U.S. university to impose AI graduation requirements (Washington Times)

• Paris court finds 10 people guilty of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron over trans conspiracy (CN)

• Humor: Awkward: Biden forced to pay Trump the $25 million bounty for capturing Maduro (Babylon Bee)

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(The Executive Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova.)