Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, received $15 million in taxpayer money to cover the cost of his private security detail after stepping away from his government position and returning to private citizenship, according to documents obtained by independent journalist Jordan Schachtel and Open the Books.The funds covered the cost of his 24/7 chauffeur, U.S. Marshals security detail, and their law enforcement equipment from January 2023 to September 2024, as stated in a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, Open the Books reported. 'I get so many threats.'The document revealed that the contract was eligible for extension; it is unclear whether it has already been extended. The protection costs were distributed through HHS' fund, according to the nonprofit organization.The reported millions do not include costs associated with his personal security detail from April 2020 to December 2022, while he was still a government employee. Fauci retired in December 2022.Fauci's critics have slammed him for pushing draconian government restrictions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. He was the highest-paid federal employee from 2019 to 2022, retiring with a record-breaking $480,654 annual salary. According to Open the Books, his pension is estimated at approximately $355,000 per year. Over his five and a half decades of government service, Fauci amassed a personal fortune of $11 million.Last year, Fauci claimed that the costs to cover his security detail were necessary, citing alleged threats from the "extreme, radical right.""I get so many threats. Some of them are credible threats of violence against me and my family that I have to be walking around with federal marshals protecting me, which is completely crazy," he told Newshub.He concluded the interview by issuing a warning about the dangers of what he referred to as "disinformation.""I don't want to make it seem so melodramatic, but it seems to erode the foundations of democracy because if you can't believe the truth," Fauci said. "If you look back historically on how governments have failed, and tyrannies ever have risen, it's when people essentially take control over information, a lot of which is untrue. That's a very scary situation."Open the Books reported that after his retirement, Fauci remained on the NIAID's staff list, apparently in a no-show job to ensure he continued to receive his taxpayer-funded security detail.Schachtel called the arrangement "unprecedented" and "clandestine." He noted that he "could find no other cases of a former federal employee receiving this level of protection."The U.S. Marshals Service, a subagency of the Department of Justice, confirmed to the Daily Caller it "provided a protective detail for Dr. Anthony S. Fauci from January 2023 to August 2024," one month short of Schachtel's reporting.HHS did not respond to the Daily Caller's request for comment.The reports about Fauci's extensive security detail come after news that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was repeatedly denied Secret Service protection, and at least nine of President-elect Donald Trump's requests for increased Secret Service protection were reportedly turned down.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

City-building games live or die on their economy. From Cities Skylines 2 to Manor Lords, to Banished, building is only half the game - the rest is managing what’s coming in and what’s going out. In colossal city builder The Wandering Village, the economy’s just as important as in its rivals, and it’s received a huge update in the latest patch for the game. Now there’s considerably more depth in how you’ll approach managing your meandering settlement, with new resources to harvest and different ways to spend them. Continue reading Unique city building game The Wandering Village just got even better MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best city building games, Best indie games, Best roguelike games

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Signal is making a bunch of improvements to calls so they are more competitive with Zoom and Google Meet, including the ability to share a link to a call. Previously, you could only initiate a call from a Signal group chat, so this new feature should make it much easier to hop on the phone with a friend or co-worker by sending them a link inside or outside of Signal. You can also re-use call links, which could be handy for recurring work meetings or a weekly chat you have with your family. Image: Signal Within calls, Signal is getting some upgrades, too, including a “raise hand” button to let people know that you have something to say and emoji reactions so you can spam your emoji feelings. And the app now has a tab... Continue reading…

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