[9692905a-9e63-5728-b186-36be40da8190]
Chinese hackers attempted to breach Trump and Harris campaigns' cellphone data
Phones used by the Trump and Harris campaigns have reportedly been targeted by Chinese hackers. The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are investigating.
Published:10/25/2024 6:12:35 PM
|
[Markets]
Texas AG Ken Paxton Files Criminal Referral Outlining Act Blue Illegal Campaign Finance Activity
Texas AG Ken Paxton Files Criminal Referral Outlining Act Blue Illegal Campaign Finance Activity
Authored by Sundance via The Conservative Treehouse,
Many people might think that Attorney General Ken Paxton filing a letter of notice for criminal referral to the U.S Dept of Justice is an act of futility, because the DOJ is not going to investigate or indict criminal conduct by leftist political operatives. However, there is a strategic process to follow, particularly if the Texas AG is likely to become the next U.S. Attorney General.
In a way this step-by-step proactive approach is exactly why my efforts to intercept fraudulent ballot printing operations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were targeted to the Postmasters General in specific locales. It is unlawful to use the U.S.P.S. to conduct fraud through the postal system. Additionally, it is specifically illegal for a postmaster to be provided with direct evidence of mail fraud, and to knowingly – with intent, allow further unlawful activity therein.
Texas AG Ken Paxton is following a procedural process that builds a legal pathway.
[SOURCE pdf]
TEXAS – Attorney General Ken Paxton made a criminal referral to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) detailing the results of an investigation that revealed how suspicious actors seemingly use ActBlue’s political fundraising platform to make illegal straw donations.
The investigation into ActBlue began in December 2023 following allegations that the company could be facilitating illegal campaign contributions. As a result, in August 2024 ActBlue began requiring donors using credit cards to provide “CVV” codes, a common security measure. That does not prevent all the abuses that Attorney General Paxton’s team has identified on ActBlue, including that straw donations apparently are being made on a large scale using false identities, through untraceable payment methods.
On Monday, Attorney General Paxton sent a petition for rulemaking to the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) urging changes that would close loopholes that can be exploited to illegally funnel money into American elections. When the FEC previously considered adopting rules that could prevent straw donation schemes like those uncovered by the investigation, ActBlue opposed such changes.
“I have made a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice based on the findings from our investigation into ActBlue. My investigation uncovered evidence showing that bad actors are likely using ActBlue’s platform to make illegal campaign contributions,” said Attorney General Paxton. “It is illegal to engage in election fraud and it is illegal to obscure one’s identity to flout election rules. The Department of Justice must take immediate action to prevent illegal conduct in our elections.” (link)
Reminder….. With the Legislative Branch compromised by their own creation, and with the Judicial Branch stuck inside an old paradigm of “national security” you can see how confronting the DOJ operation can only come from one place, THE OVAL OFFICE.
The President of the United States, hopefully Donald J Trump, is going to have to do what the other branches have failed to do, take apart the DOJ and change all the functions of Main Justice to their pre-Patriot Act status. This is not going to be easy and will take a very specific type of person as U.S. Attorney General who both understands the issue and can, more importantly, articulate the problem to the larger American public.
- The President Trump Attorney General needs to be ultra clean with a spine of steel and a laser focus. The AG needs to totally understand the goals and objectives, without being told what the goals and objectives are. The AG needs to be independent, stable, strategic, brutally honest and keenly confident in his/her communication style with the attack media.
President Trump cannot spend exhaustive time instructing the AG on critical priorities. The AG needs to operate with skill, focus and self-motivated energy. The AG will be the focus of the Lawfare crew for removal/recusal. (Weissmann, McCord, Eisen, etc.)
- The Deputy AG needs to be intensely capable to stay on task with minimal supervision. The DAG is the git-r’-done person, no excuses, no apologies, no explanations. Raw, brutal, cold, quiet and determined. The DAG needs eyes of a mouse and ears of an elephant. The DAG needs to be a sponge, with total loyalty to the mission. The DAG also needs to be the bridge to the FBI.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 10/25/2024 - 15:40
Published:10/25/2024 2:50:30 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
Report: Chinese Hackers Targeted Phones Belonging to Trump, Vance
The FBI and other officials already confirmed Iran hacked Trump's campaign.
The post Report: Chinese Hackers Targeted Phones Belonging to Trump, Vance first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:10/25/2024 2:42:21 PM
|
[Markets]
The Enemy Within Is Throwing A Hissy Fit
The Enemy Within Is Throwing A Hissy Fit
Authored by Jenna McCarthy via Jennaside Rocks substack,
Trump is in trouble again - shocker! - and as one might imagine, it’s breaking the internet. This time, McDonald’s most famous fry guy had the nerve to refer to liberals allied against him as “the enemy within.” (In other news, water is wet, the entire cancer industry is a scam, and those aren’t clouds.) At the sound of this verbal napalm dropping, delicate democratic snowflakes began melting in petulant public puddles.
“Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries,” a Harris campaign spokesperson sniveled in a statement. “Until recently, this kind of language was not a normal part of American presidential politics,” The Atlantic sulked in a piece comparing Trump to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot. “CNN Anchor Left Lost for Words By Trump’s Chilling Enemy Within Comments,” a Daily Beast headline roared before popping a Xanax and wrapping itself in a weighted blanket.
Chilling? Sinister? Dangerous? Can so-called reporters even get a grip? “Trump unplugs his grandmother’s CPAP machine to charge his phone,” is chilling. “McDONALD found guilty of handing out fentanyl laced fries,” is sinister. “Federer calls Nadal a butthead,” is not a headline or a news story.
I tried to get ChatGPT to weigh in on whether or not the Donald was way off base in his accusations, but the poor bot simply couldn’t cough up any intel. On moral grounds, apparently.
So I tried a different, hypothetical question.
Did you hear the GULP, too?
ChatGPT hates having to expose democrats.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, host Joe Scarborough nearly lost his mind over Trump’s vitriolic verbiage. “I really don’t know where this puts us as a country,” a dramatically somber Scarborough moaned. “I’ve never heard a politician call his opponent ‘the enemy within’ and say he’s going after them.”
Really? Hahahahahahaha. Could somebody help Scarborough out from under that rock?
Note that Bill Clinton was never indicted for hush money payments made to Paula Jones.
Nancy Pelosi literally called Trump a “domestic enemy” (which is obviously not the same thing as the enemy within, how dare you), not to mention immoral, unethical, corrupt, unpatriotic hahahahahaha and “stupid.” Hillary Clinton funded an investigation into Trump’s possible ties to Russia during the 2016 election. (That backfired spectacularly on her, BTW.)
Joe Biden, who has described Trump as a dangerous liar, said just yesterday “we gotta lock him up.” Kamala Harris has deemed him a racist threat to democracy and suggested he belongs in prison.
Elizabeth Warren insisted that if elected, she would investigate Trump for corruption. Jerry Nadler accused Trump of abuse of power and actively pursued his removal from office. Teflon Don has been impeached twice; notably, both trials resulted in acquittals.
I guess the qualifications for political talk show host don’t include a shred of knowledge of political history. Makes sense.
(Oh, and I didn’t mention the infamous basket of deplorables—a description Killary later doubled down on and added was “too kind” for some of us—because technically she was referring to Trump supporters, not the man himself, and I like to be fair.)
Things got even more sullen for Scarborough when the Wall Street Journal called his party a bunch of socialist scum [my words] and refused to engage in liberals’ favorite game, Whack-a-MAGA.
“I woke up expecting, because there are times that the Wall Street Journal editorial page checks Mr. Trump at his worst instincts,” the host said glumly, foreshadowing the fact that this is not in fact what had happened. “Instead, they’re talking about the democrats’ ‘fascism meme’ and say that basically democrats are the real national socialists and that what they’ve done is far worse than anything Donald Trump has done. Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness—stop me if you’ve heard this before—was more law-breaking than anything that Donald Trump has ever done.”
Spoiler: Scarborough may never recover.
“Again, very rarely am I left without adequate words to explain what’s going on here,” the host lamented, “but… I was shocked enough that yesterday that Donald Trump continued calling democrats “the enemy within,” which of course is a precursor to him getting elected. Calling them enemy combatants and being able to lock them up and have military tribunals. And they will dismiss this perhaps, but they’ve never heard language like this before. Tell me if you’ve heard this before by a major party candidate.”
Well, Joe, since military tribunals are generally reserved for treasonous traitors who betray their country or government, I’d imagine lots of progressive players are shaking in their rainbow boots at the thought of a Trump redux. No wonder the melancholy monologue.
Is America’s most dangerous enemy within or without?
Tyler Durden
Thu, 10/24/2024 - 16:20
Published:10/24/2024 3:47:07 PM
|
[Markets]
Escape Biden-flation Storm With A Walmart Tiny Home
Escape Biden-flation Storm With A Walmart Tiny Home
Housing affordability in the United States under the Biden-Harris administration has hit a generational low. After all, WEF's slogan of 'owning nothing and being happy' has become an alarming reality for millions of Americans in the last 3.5 years.
To counter this hellscape that Democrats have created through the worst inflation storm since the 1970s, folks stuck in the doom loop of renting in dangerous big cities should find a plot of land in rural America. Next, find a tiny home.
We've discussed this for years: as the standard of living implodes in the US, the size of homes will shrink. Television shows have popularized tiny homes in recent years, and big-box retailers have been selling them (Home Depot).
Walmart is the latest retailer selling tiny homes. It now offers a 19-by-20-foot "expandable prefab house" delivered by flatbed truck for $15,900.
It looks almost like a double-wide mobile home from the Canadian mockumentary television sitcom 'Trailer Park Boys.'
For $21,888, Walmart is offering a towable tiny home.
Next, browse Zillow for land lots in rural America. A simple search in Terra Alta, West Virginia, shows numerous lots with multiple acres for dirt cheap.
Why go this route? Well, it's cheaper than trying to afford the most basic home. Also, grow your own food and source locally, breaking away from the processed food industrial complex.
According to data compiled by the National Association of Realtors, the average household income to buy a home now requires over $100k.
Housing affordability has collapsed to record lows under Biden-Harris...
Power hookups and wells are extra costs. Plus, for remote workers, connecting to the internet is as easy as using a Starlink terminal.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/22/2024 - 22:10
Published:10/22/2024 9:33:29 PM
|
[Markets]
Chinese Drone Maker DJI Sues Pentagon Over Military Designation
Chinese Drone Maker DJI Sues Pentagon Over Military Designation
Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,
Chinese drone giant DJI sued the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on Oct. 18 for including the company in the department’s list of Chinese military companies.
DJI, which makes up more than half of the U.S. commercial drone market, said it’s “neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military.”
The company also said it’s not a contributor to China’s military-civil fusion strategy or its military modernization.
The China-based company argued that the DOD’s designation is “arbitrary and capricious” and asked a district court in Washington to order its deletion from the list.
In 2021, Congress passed legislation requiring the Pentagon to compile a list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States.
DJI was added to the list in October 2022. According to the DJI complaint, the Pentagon renewed the designation in January this year despite the company’s 16-month effort seeking removal from the list.
The drone maker said the designation has “caused significant and ongoing harm,” reflected in canceled contracts and “pervasive stigmatization” of the company and its employees.
The DOD did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.
DJI’s affordable and powerful products are popular in the United States among hobbyists and in sectors including agriculture and search and rescue.
The company has also been flagged by some U.S. government agencies—including Homeland Security, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the Treasury— as a national security risk and an alleged contributor to the Chinese communist regime’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
DJI has denied all allegations, saying users can control how their data are handled and that the company doesn’t control how its off-the-shelf commercial products are used by customers.
DJI’s legal challenge against the DOD’s listing follows some similar cases, including those brought by Chinese lidar maker Hesai in May and Chinese chipmaking tool manufacturer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) in August.
Hesai, whose customers include robotaxi companies such as General Motors’ Cruise and Amazon’s Zoox, occupies more than a third of the global lidar market and almost three-quarters of the robotic cars market.
AMEC has played a key role in Beijing’s push for supply chain independence in China’s semiconductor industry. Its clients include major chip foundries, such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
Last week, the DOD told a district court in Washington that the department delisted Hesai as a Chinese military company but relisted the firm “on a new record based on the latest information available.”
In 2021, Chinese phone maker Xiaomi and big data company Luokung Technology Corp successfully challenged their inclusion on the DOD’s Communist Chinese Military Companies (CCMC) list.
The CCMC list has since been superseded by a wider-ranging Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list, and the Treasury has replaced the DOD as the primary authority to manage the list.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the Chinese communist regime’s military-civil fusion strategy eliminates “barriers between China’s civilian research, and commercial sectors and its military and defense industrial sectors.”
Besides tapping into China’s pool of talent, the department said the CCP is also acquiring foreign technologies via a range of legal and illicit means, including investment, research collaboration, espionage, and theft.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/22/2024 - 09:45
Published:10/22/2024 8:59:58 AM
|
[Markets]
The Left Falsely Portrays Disinformation As The Right's Monopoly
The Left Falsely Portrays Disinformation As The Right's Monopoly
Authored by Peter Berkowitz via RealClearPolitics,
On an Oct. 13 MSNBC broadcast with anchor Jen Psaki, Democratic strategist – and former political advisor to President Bill Clinton – James Carville denounced Donald Trump for putting “the entire Constitution in jeopardy.” Carville offered a concrete example of the right’s subversion of American freedom and democracy: “The Supreme Court and Clarence Thomas have totally greenlighted the idea that you could round up, use the military to round up your political enemies.” A former political advisor to Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Psaki replied with a smile, “We love the truth telling.”
Carville and Psaki are typical. The left often portrays itself as the rigorous defender of truth against relentless right-wing disinformation while resolutely promoting progressive disinformation, including the falsehood that disinformation is a distinctively right-wing phenomenon.
Small wonder that Carville did not elaborate on his extraordinary accusation, and that Psaki did not ask why he singled out Justice Thomas or how the Supreme Court authorized the rounding up of political enemies. Perhaps Carville had in mind the court’s holding last July in Trump v. United States “that the President is absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority.” But the Constitution does not give the president authority to round up political enemies.
Did Carville glibly attack Trump and did Psaki politely play along? Did partisan rage distort Carville’s judgment as well as Psaki’s? Did Carville resolve to assert – and Psaki to endorse – whatever it takes, including nightmare scenarios, to protect democracy from Trump?
It is hard to read hearts and minds. But one can confidently affirm that deceiving about politics is as old as politics.
Circumstances change. Regimes come and go. Empires rise and fall. Parties win and lose. Yet even as modernization and technology revolutionize human affairs by generating material abundance, destabilizing settled expectations, and eroding inherited understandings, human beings remain social and political animals. Individuals need one another’s company and cooperation while – given diverse backgrounds, disposition, abilities, and interests – differing over what is useful, just, and good. Some strive to exercise power over others while most try to minimize the power that others exercise over them. Through it all, passion and prejudice constantly buffet everyone’s reasoning, and auspicious opportunities and dire predicaments tempt even the virtuous to portray the facts as other than they are.
No doubt novel opportunities abound today for promulgating lies and disseminating the family of departures from the truth that human beings routinely produce, distribute, consume, and rail against. In particular, the Internet, digital communications, and social media have facilitated the acquisition and transmission of immense amounts of information. This has greatly increased the quantity and accelerated the velocity of casual errors, self-deceptions, well-meaning half-truths, fraudulently marketed opinions and ideas, and outright lies that swirl through political culture.
Both right and left in America partake of the free-for-all of duplicity – often crude, occasionally artful – that plagues American politics. There is, however, an asymmetry.
Both sides insist that the other is exclusively at fault for the decay of public discourse. But the left controls the commanding heights of education, mainstream and social media, and government bureaucracy.
The left’s false contention that the right exercises a monopoly on manipulation, deceit, and falsehood is particularly damaging because the left amplifies its accusation through domination of the nation’s communication, elite opinion formation, and rule-making and law-enforcement institutions. This substantial advantage in the struggle to shape public opinion encourages the left’s sense of superiority while blinding progressives to their own intellectual subterfuges and ideological swindles. It also foments outrage on the right. Conservatives justify their extreme statements and outrageous claims as playing by progressives’ rules.
Atlantic staff writer Charlie Warzel recently illustrated the left’s propensity to wrongly present disinformation as a specifically right-wing pathology. Author of “Galaxy Brain,” The Atlantic’s newsletter “about technology, media, and big ideas,” Warzel argues in “I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is” that an unprecedented assault on truth has “been building for more than a decade.” The crisis stems, he maintains, from a calamitous combination of right-wing extremism and digital technology that breaks reality into two – a world of truth inhabited by the left and a world of “dark” falsehoods that the right creates, outfits, and calls home.
“This reality-fracturing is the result of an information ecosystem that is dominated by platforms that offer financial and attentional incentives to lie and enrage, and to turn every tragedy and large event into a shameless content-creation opportunity,” writes Warzel. “This collides with a swath of people who would rather live in an alternate reality built on distrust and grievance than change their fundamental beliefs about the world.”
Warzel would have placed his analysis of just how badly political discourse in America has deteriorated on much sounder footing if he had recognized that the left also employs digital technology to fabricate and maintain a separate world. In the left’s alternative reality, the remorseless siege of systemic racism, sexism, and other sinister forms of oppression obliges progressives to abandon basic requirements of evidence and argument to rally the faithful and save the nation and the world.
Responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, maintains Warzel, have set a new low. “Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories,” he writes, “the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism.” He gives chilling examples careening around the Internet of harebrained conspiracy theories about government malfeasance and implausible stories of official neglect, or deliberate disregard, of storm victims that have delayed the delivery of essential government services. These remind that people can easily dupe others and be duped, especially when hurricane season coincides with election season, and individuals are armed with smart phones and social media accounts, and distrust elite institutions.
Warzel is rightly alarmed that “Americans are divided not just by political beliefs but by whether they believe in a shared reality – or desire one at all.” But his one-sided analysis inadvertently underscores that fault for the splintering of America does not lie solely with Trump and his backers.
Or even primarily.
Yes, Jan. 6, 2021, was a disgrace. Yes, right-wing rhetoric can be ridiculous, ominous, and vile. And yes, right-wing activists also exploit the Internet to stoke grievance and stir up resentment and rage.
Still, progressives tend to neglect that Trump and his voters have reasons, accumulating for decades, for distrusting institutions fundamental to the nation’s security, prosperity, and freedom and dominated by progressives: universities, the mainstream media and social media, and the federal bureaucracy.
Contrary to the common view on the left that Trump inaugurated a war on truth, our universities have for at least two generations sought to emancipate students from the traditional understanding that higher education’s purpose is to pursue knowledge and cultivate independent minds. Instead, through a succession of intellectual fashions and fads – including positivism, relativism, postmodernism, deconstruction, multiculturalism, identity politics, and intersectionality – universities have fostered the incoherent and partisan belief that since moral values are socially constructed, progressive policies must prevail.
Meanwhile, our progressive media – mainstream and social – and our progressive federal bureaucracy have collaborated to promote progressive national narratives by censoring opinions that challenge the progressive perspective and weaponizing the law against those who oppose progressivism’s hegemony.
The most egregious such collaboration revolved around the charge – widely presented as established fact by the press, defeated candidate Hillary Clinton, and elected Democratic officials and progressive intellectuals – that Donald Trump conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 election. This weighed down President Trump and hampered his administration. Yet after a two-year investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose team contained several experienced and high-powered Democratic lawyers, issued a lengthy report stating that the investigation “did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Another disreputable collaboration to advance progressive ends sought to push Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden over the finish line in November 2020. A few weeks before the election, the New York Post accurately reported that a laptop containing incriminating evidence belonged to Joe Biden’s son Hunter. The mainstream media, social media, and the FBI censored the Post’s reporting while disseminating the falsehood that the computer was a product of Russian disinformation.
A third major collaboration occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York Times and the Washington Post derided the notion that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab, which it likely did, and government officials, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins, suppressed the lab-leak hypothesis. In addition, the mainstream media, social media, and federal government teamed up to discredit and silence those who raised questions about the efficacy of masks, lockdowns, and vaccines.
To do their share to arrest the splintering of America, progressives must do more than profess their love of the truth. They must act like they mean it.
Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department. His writings are posted at PeterBerkowitz.com and he can be followed on X @BerkowitzPeter.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/21/2024 - 23:25
Published:10/21/2024 11:36:40 PM
|
[Markets]
A Media Beyond Caricature
A Media Beyond Caricature
Authored by Victor Davis Hanson,
CBS’s iconic 60 Minutes has had plenty of scandals and embarrassments in its long 57-year history, most notably the fake-but-accurate Dan Rather mess. Yet never has it found itself in greater disrepute than in 2024.
Donald Trump, for good reason, recently declined to join 60 Minutes for its traditional election-year in-depth interviews of the two presidential candidates. Why?
Last time he consented in 2020, anchor and interviewer Leslie Stahl attacked Trump’s accurate assertion that the Hunter Biden laptop (then in the possession of the FBI) was authentic—and authentically damning to Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy.
Stahl falsely claimed the laptop “can’t be verified.” She further incorrectly asserted, “So this story about Hunter and his laptop, some repair shop found it; the source is Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani.” The New York Post, in fact, reported the story. The FBI did not deny it.
Yet old Twitter and Facebook, under collaborating FBI tutelage and pressure, suppressed dissemination of the truth. Joe Biden’s then-advisor and now Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in conjunction with former interim CIA Director Michael Morrel, helped round up “51 former intelligence authorities” (among them Leon Panetta and both John Brennan and James Clapper, who had admitted previously of lying under oath to Congress) to claim falsely that the laptop had all the hallmarks of a Russian information gambit to warp the election.
Joe Biden used the “expert” consensus to further lie in the last Biden-Trump debate that the laptop was cooked up by the Russians. And neither CBS, the “intelligence authorities,” nor any of the Bidens have ever since apologized.
More recently, CBS got caught selectively editing the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, cutting and pasting an incoherent Harris response to lessen her embarrassing word salad. And in a subsequent interview with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the network once again edited and pruned his answers, but in contrast, on this occasion, to make him seem far less persuasive.
In yet another current CBS interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates, network host Tony Dokoupil honestly questioned Coates about his new, one-sided, anti-Israeli book The Message. The result was that the left-wing icon Coates was almost immediately revealed to be abjectly ignorant of the Middle East, unapologetically biased, and completely uninterested in any viewpoint other than his own partisan prejudices.
Yet what followed proved yet another network embarrassment. An internal CBS division with the eerie Orwellian title of “CBS News Race and Culture Unit” attacked Dokoupil for not providing “context” for Coates’s self-condemnatory and embarrassing interview. The subtext was that CBS, under pressure from woke zealots, simply disowned Dokoupil and sought to subject him to correct thought training. His apparent crime was not insisting on different—softball—journalistic standards for woke black authors like Coates. In other words, CBS blamed Dokoupil for revealing Coates to be a fool on the air.
The network further diminished its eroding reputation yet again through the unprofessional conduct of recent moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan during the J.D. Vance/Tim Walz vice presidential debate.
After the earlier ABC-sponsored debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, in which the moderators became partisan fact-checkers (and often wrongly so) of Trump alone and drilled him on follow-up questions in a way not accorded Harris, CBS promised not to repeat such a network embarrassment. So, it pledged not to fact-check the two vice presidential candidates and instead to present a “fair” moderation of the event.
Instead, the CBS moderators were even more patently one-sided than the prior disastrous ABC performance. The two broke their own pre-debate rules by indeed fact-checking. But, even worse, they fact-checked Vance alone. And, once again, did so erroneously in a way that only exposed their unprofessional partiality.
Given the prior ABC debate sham, CBS was supposedly determined not to turn off the public with more moderator partisan distortions. Instead, the network proved that if it was a question of further eroding its professional brand or helping elect the Harris/Walz progressive ticket, then CBS would predictably choose to jettison its reputation to further the progressive cause.
Just as CBS is no longer the network television standard, so too has the current generation of partisans done their best to sully the New York Times. Within just a few days, the Times embarrassed itself in ways similar to the partisanship so toxic at CBS.
The Times just published an op-ed, “65 Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza.” What followed were testimonials from medical officials and doctors in Gaza with truly harrowing stories of Israel’s collateral damage and the shooting of civilians, accompanied by X-ray photos of small children with IDF bullets allegedly lodged in their bodies and heads.
But even if one was not aware of the fables promulgated by Hamas and the history of propagandistic attacks on Israel, and even if there was no corroboration of how the victims died and under what conditions, a novice might have sensed that something was not quite right with the evidentiary X-rays.
Experts pointed out that the embedded bullets in the scans appeared pristine, without any fragmentation after entering skulls or midriff sections. There were no apparent entry and exit wounds on the images—suggesting either that it was unlikely the bullets came from IDF-issued high-velocity weapons or that the X-rays might simply have been rephotographed with IDF bullets placed beneath them. In any case, the New York Times did not cite any expert outside reviewer to authenticate the scans.
Recently, the New York Times again rushed to partisan judgment to persuade the public that current charges of abject plagiarism by presidential candidate Vice President Harris were baseless. Accusations arose that Harris and her coauthor in a past book on crime had plagiarized a number of sources multiple times.
Yet the Times claimed the copying was minor and did not rise to the level of actionable plagiarism. It “proved” this by quoting a plagiarism “expert,” Jonathan Bailey, who, it implied, had consulted all the alleged plagiarism passages.
But once the public saw just a few of the passages in question, almost immediately it concluded otherwise: that Harris and her co-author were indeed plagiarists. That forced Bailey, the original Times expert, to reconsider his initial opinion: “At the time, I was unaware of a full dossier with additional allegations, which led some to accuse the New York Times of withholding that information from me. However, the article clearly stated that it was my ‘initial reaction’ to those allegations, not a complete analysis.”
Bailey then concluded that Harris had indeed committed plagiarism but not “maliciously” so. Once again, the Times had not verified its assertions before publication, and once again it had erred on the side of its known partisanship.
The Times and CBS are just a small example of current once-prestige outlets—such as ABC (cf. its moderators during the Harris-Trump presidential debate) and NPR (that just retracted its scurrilous charges against journalist Rich Lowry)—who have consistently abused the public’s trust for the partisan benefit of progressives or their causes.
In sum, the trust and prestige that took prior generations of journalists decades to earn have been thrown away in just a few years by incompetents and partisans—on the ancient, flawed principle that the supposedly superior moral ends justify any means necessary to achieve them.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/21/2024 - 17:00
Published:10/21/2024 4:24:34 PM
|
[Markets]
In Search Of Accountability For Anti-Trump Hoaxes
In Search Of Accountability For Anti-Trump Hoaxes
Authored by Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke via Truth Over News,
It may be premature to start contemplating the implications of a potential Trump victory on November 5. Unfortunately, for certain issues, it may already be too late. This is because time is of the essence when it comes to holding individuals accountable for the numerous frauds and acts of treachery that characterized much of President Trump’s first four years in office.
More specifically, federal law has a five-year statute of limitations, preventing prosecution for actions committed more than five years ago. However, urgent accountability is needed to ensure that those who defrauded the American public in their pursuit of Trump do not escape punishment.
Democrats and their allies are acutely aware of the five-year time limit. This is evident in their swift action to prosecute Twitter user Douglas Mackey for creating a meme in 2016 that jokingly encouraged Hillary Clinton voters to text in their votes. As the statute of limitations on Mackey's “crimes” was set to lapse in 2021, Democrats, aided by “Republican” appointee Seth DuCharme, were locked and loaded to file charges as soon as Biden assumed the presidency.
Republicans would do well do follow this example, albeit for actual crimes. Accountability is needed in order to prevent renewed and repeated treachery.
We have examined aspects of three separate scams that may still fall within the five-year statute of limitations period by the time Trump assumes office on January 20, 2025, should he win the election.
Russiagate
The first area we examined is Russiagate, which, given that it is now almost nine years old, presents unique challenges in terms of holding anyone accountable. Russiagate originated as a Clinton campaign operation in early 2016. Of course, a dirty tricks campaign is not a crime in itself. Even lying to the media, as the Clinton campaign did repeatedly in its attempts to smear Trump as a Russian agent, is not a crime.
Instead, our focus is on government actors. The first documented instance of government actors co-opting the Russiagate narrative occurred when the FBI received the fraudulent Steele dossier on July 5, 2016. This was soon followed by various other actions, such as opening the sham Crossfire Hurricane investigation and spying on several members of the Trump campaign team. However, all these actions are now over eight years old and fall outside the statute of limitations. Unfortunately, even the most egregious aspect of the Russiagate hoax—the fraudulent Intelligence Community Assessment that President Obama used to undermine the incoming Trump administration—also falls outside the statute of limitations. Subsequent actions involving corrupt FBI officials, such as Peter Strzok, James Comey, and Andrew McCabe, likewise fall outside the statute of limitations. In fact, all these individuals were fired more than five years ago.
However, there is one aspect of Russiagate that does not fall outside the five-year period: Igor Danchenko, the alleged primary source of the Steele dossier, who was identified by a group of Twitter users in July 2020. This means that the FBI’s actions concerning Danchenko—such as concealing his existence from congressional and other investigations, as well as hiding the fact that he had disavowed the fraudulent Steele dossier—may still fall within the statute of limitations.
Now, some may argue that Danchenko has already been prosecuted by Special Counsel John Durham in a case that suffered from numerous defects. While this is true, unlike Durham, we are not focusing on private individuals but rather on those within the government who undermined Trump. Incidentally, this was originally supposed to be Durham’s task, however, he inexplicably abandoned it.
There remains a possibility of pursuing corrupt FBI officials regarding any actions they may have taken with respect to concealing facts in connection with Danchenko. Put another way, Danchenko must be the focal point, as he was still being concealed by the FBI during the first half of 2020, a period for which the five-year statute of limitations has not yet expired.
Holding officials accountable for their actions regarding Danchenko is, of course, small potatoes in the broader context of Russiagate. This failure is largely attributable to Trump's hopeless first Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, as well as the scheming of his second Attorney General, Bill Barr. However, lamenting over past mistakes serves no purpose. If the goal is to salvage as much as possible, and if FBI officials can be held accountable, even at this late stage, it would at least offer a small consolation on which to conclude the entire Russiagate affair.
If this were to happen, it would need to happen very swiftly. On his first day in office, Trump would need to assign a team to sift through all records related to Danchenko in search of instances in 2020 where officials covered up matters pertaining to Danchenko and his Russiagate confessions.
Ukraine Impeachment Hoax
It is not coincidental that Trump's first impeachment, on charges of allegedly failing to send weapons to Ukraine, began one day after Robert Mueller testified before Congress that there was no Russian collusion. One hoax simply replaced another.
On July 25, 2019, Trump had his infamous conversation with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky. The overarching premise of the impeachment scheme was to accuse Trump of withholding military aid to Ukraine, despite the fact that he had not done so. This allegation stemmed from a distorted interpretation of Trump’s phone call with Zelensky. It was claimed that Trump had offered a quid pro quo, suggesting that Zelensky investigate alleged corruption involving the Biden family in exchange for military assistance. However, when the actual transcript of the phone call was released in September 2019, it became clear that this characterization was false. Nevertheless, by that time, the impeachment narrative against Trump was already in full swing, and neither the Democrats nor the media were deterred by the truth.
The Ukraine impeachment saga involved numerous individuals who testified before Congress, many of whom misrepresented the truth about Trump and about Biden corruption. At this point, it may be worth noting that lying in an official capacity within the jurisdiction of the government can include telling half-truths or concealing the truth. Some individuals who testified during the 2019 impeachment hearings, including Obama’s energy czar, Amos Hochstein, were well aware of the problem of Biden corruption in Ukraine. Did they report this to the impeachment inquiry? Geoffrey Pyatt, the Ambassador in Kyiv, assisted in drafting talking points to divert attention from Biden's corruption in Ukraine. Was this information concealed from the inquiry? The chargé d'affaires at the Embassy in Kyiv, George “Bow Tie” Kent, was aware that Hunter Biden’s firm, Burisma, had bribed the Ukrainian prosecutor's office. Why was this information withheld from the inquiry?
We could delve deeper into this, but all of this transpired in 2019, and by the time we reach January 2025, the lies told—and truths concealed—during the impeachment investigation will fall outside the statute of limitations. Therefore, there is only a very narrow window that remains open, specifically regarding Trump’s Senate trial which took place from January 16 to February 5, 2020. (As a side note, it is more than ironic that while all this was occurring, another faction of the anti-Trump coalition, specifically bureaucrats led by Anthony Fauci, were concealing the fact that a deadly virus had been released from a laboratory.)
Thus, if there were to be any accountability for the Ukraine impeachment, it would likely need to focus on the events surrounding the impeachment trial. However, there are two major problems. First, the timeline is very tight. The first part of the Senate trial would already fall outside the five-year limitation period by the time Trump potentially assumes office. Second, and more importantly, the Senate ultimately decided not to call any witnesses. Lindsey Graham, apparently unironically, insisted that calling witnesses, such as Hunter Biden, would interfere with the 2020 election. Had witnesses been called, we would have gotten to the truth much sooner, and there would also now be a much greater opportunity to hold individuals accountable.
This leaves us with only a slim opportunity to pursue individuals for any actions they took after the impeachment trial. We would no longer be examining the lies themselves, but rather the efforts to conceal those lies afterward. In other words, actions taken to cover up the truth, even after Trump’s Senate trial concluded, would reset the statute of limitations, allowing for the prosecution of those involved. For instance, did anyone within the government work to conceal the truth about what Pyatt and Kent knew regarding Burisma? Were Freedom of Information (FOIA) efforts obstructed? We do not know the answers, but this is where our focus would be directed.
In sum, among all the hoaxes perpetrated against Trump, given the numerous limitations and obstacles, this is likely the one with the least prospect of holding anyone accountable at this stage.
Covid Origin Cover Up
Third, there is the Covid cover-up. No one has been held accountable for the Covid response, or for concealing the origin of the virus, despite 20 million deaths and at least $30 trillion in damages. In fact, there hasn’t even been any investigation or commission examining what went wrong, which seems very surprising given the immense human and financial toll incurred. A commission of inquiry can, of course, be established at any time. For all we know, this could occur 100 years from now. However, regarding actual legal liability, the five-year rule applies. Given that most of the events unfolded in 2020, there is only a very small window of opportunity to hold individuals accountable. However, unlike in the other two hoaxes, there is still time.
What would accountability look like? Who would be held accountable, and for what? It could be argued that decisions made by the government—such as unlawful mandates, lockdowns, and people being fired for refusing the “vaccine”—should not be subject to criminal penalties, given the novelty of the virus and the likely justification that officials were doing their best under the circumstances. While we do not agree with such excuses, they are likely to carry some weight in any legal proceeding and the prospect of holding officials accountable for the Covid response is extremely slim.
Another factor contributing to this conclusion is that politicians and public health officials were significantly misled by a small group of corrupt individuals led by Anthony Fauci. While this does not excuse violations of civil liberties, those who implemented mitigation measures—such as isolation, social distancing, contact tracing, shutting of businesses, and similar strategies—might argue that these approaches had been effective against previous viruses. This is the crux of the matter. Although mitigation measures may have arguably had some effect in the past, they were never going to be effective against Covid, a virus that had been engineered in a laboratory to infect human cells and facilitate human-to-human transmission. This fundamentally altered the entire landscape of the response. While the original SARS virus was poorly adapted for human transmission—resulting in only 774 deaths worldwide, with no fatalities in the United States—Covid was doing the exact opposite. (The majority of deaths during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic were caused by secondary bacterial infections, for which there was no effective treatment at the time, rather than directly from the influenza virus.)
Thus, Covid mitigation measures were entirely ineffective from the outset, a fact of which Fauci was well aware. The damage and human suffering caused by these ineffective countermeasures are incalculable, and it all transpired because Fauci and a small group of U.S. government officials concealed the true nature of Covid. Had this not occurred, the country could have been spared lockdowns and numerous other injustices. At worst, the Swedish model would have been adopted, allowing schools and businesses to remain open. Furthermore, Trump could not have been blamed for a poor response to the virus if the public had understood that it was destined to spread through the population. He would most likely have been easily re-elected.
Fauci’s lies altered the course of history. Therefore, we argue that the most appropriate and effective means of ensuring accountability for Covid is to pursue Fauci and his group of collaborators. To clarify, we are not addressing Fauci’s involvement in the creation of the virus at the Wuhan lab; that is a separate and legally distinct matter. Currently, our focus is solely on Fauci's efforts to conceal the origin of the virus, actions that have caused immense harm.
Specifically, Fauci ought to be held accountable for concealing the truth from President Trump and from the Coronavirus Taskforce, to which he was appointed on January 29, 2020.
Two days earlier, on January 27, Fauci’s office received an email from Peter Daszak, the man through whom Fauci was funding the Wuhan lab. The email’s subject line was “Wuhan novel coronavirus – NIAIDs role in bat-origin CoVs.”
The body of Daszak’s email provided Fauci with talking points to deflect attention from Fauci’s collaboration with the Wuhan lab. At the time of Daszak’s warning, there had not been any public reporting of the link between Fauci and the Wuhan lab.
On January 31, Fauci was informed by a group of virologists that the Covid virus looked like it had been engineered in a lab. However, instead of reporting this information to President Trump and the Covid Task Force, Fauci initiated a cover-up. One of his actions to maintain this cover-up involved persuading the scientists who had discovered evidence of engineering—and who relied on funding from Fauci’s NIAID—to write a paper dismissing any theories regarding a laboratory origin. They complied, with Fauci overseeing the process.
Fauci had a responsibility to inform the Task Force of his knowledge regarding the virus. Instead, he misled the Task Force and concealed critical information, fostering a deceptive narrative about the virus's natural origin and falsely assuring President Trump that the virus posed no threat to the United States.
On February 3, when Kelvin Droegemeier, the White House Director of Science and Technology Policy, requested information regarding the origins of the pandemic, Fauci and his hand-picked team of scientists responded by pushing the fraudulent natural origin narrative. This, too, constitutes concealment of material facts.
On April 17, while standing at the White House podium alongside Trump, Fauci presented the fraudulent paper which he had commissioned as irrefutable evidence that the virus originated in nature. Fauci did not disclose his involvement in the creation of the paper. Astonishingly, he even asserted that he was unaware of the authors, despite the fact that he both knew and funded them.
Fauci's statements on April 17 provide clear evidence of guilt and of a cover-up. Furthermore, since his actions will not lapse until April 16, 2025, there is time to hold him and his collaborators accountable for them.
Unlike the Russiagate scam and the Ukraine impeachment hoax, the cover-up surrounding the origins of Covid presents the most viable avenue for holding government officials accountable for their treachery, and for ruining Trump's first term. However, the window of opportunity for accountability is quite narrow and will necessitate prompt action if and when Trump assumes office.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 10/20/2024 - 10:30
Published:10/20/2024 10:13:43 AM
|
[Markets]
NexFundAI: The FBI's 'Trap Token' Explained
NexFundAI: The FBI's 'Trap Token' Explained
Authored by Bradley Peak via CoinTelegraph.com,
What is NexFundAI, the FBI’s crypto trap?
NexFundAI, introduced by the US FBI in May 2024, is an Ethereum-based crypto token created as part of a covert sting operation, Operation Token Mirrors.
The NexFundAI token was designed to act as bait, targeting individuals and organizations engaged in fraudulent cryptocurrency activities, particularly pump-and-dump schemes. In these scams, manipulators artificially inflate a token’s value, attracting unsuspecting investors, only to dump their holdings once the price peaks, leaving investors with losses.
NexFundAI mimicked the look and behavior of a legitimate cryptocurrency, allowing the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation to attract market manipulators. Fraudsters were lured into engaging with the token, performing illegal actions like wash trading, where multiple trades are conducted by the same party to create a false impression of trading volume. This tactic inflates the token’s value and deceives investors into thinking there’s a growing demand.
In the end, NexFundAI helped the FBI collect hard evidence against 18 individuals and implicated companies like Gotbit and ZM Quant, who were involved in orchestrating sham trades across more than 60 crypto tokens. By July 2024, the FBI had built a case strong enough to file charges, leading to the arrests of key figures in these schemes.
Did you know? Over $25 million in assets were seized as a result of the NexFundAI sting, and the investigation helped reveal new methods scammers were using to manipulate crypto markets.
The evolution of crypto sting operations
Crypto sting operations evolved from traditional physical setups to sophisticated digital stings, with the FBI leveraging blockchain monitoring and targeting scams like Silk Road, Ponzi schemes and initial coin offering (ICO) fraud since the rise of Bitcoin in the early 2010s.
In the early days of financial crime enforcement, agents would pose as buyers, investors or intermediaries to catch criminals in the act, often involving wire transfers or cash. As technology advanced, cybercrime emerged, shifting the focus of sting operations from physical cash to digital assets.
This shift began in earnest with the rise of Bitcoin in the early 2010s, which introduced a new form of untraceable, decentralized digital currency. Criminals quickly adopted crypto for money laundering, scams and hacks.
The FBI responded with its first major crypto sting operations targeting online black markets like Silk Road in 2013, which relied on Bitcoin BTC$68,139 for illegal transactions. These early efforts revealed the potential for digital stings, where law enforcement could monitor blockchain transactions in real-time.
As crypto crime grew, so did the scope of sting operations. One of the notable examples was Operation Phish Phry in the late 2000s, targeting online hackers.
But it wasn’t until the 2010s that law enforcement focused more heavily on crypto scams, such as Ponzi schemes and hacking rings. Operation Cryptosweep in 2018 marked a major effort, targeting over 200 ICO scams that defrauded investors worldwide. Law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada coordinated to crack down on fraudulent ICOs, recovering millions of dollars in stolen funds.
Similarly, the FBI’s involvement in catching Ponzi schemes like the Bitconnect fraud in 2018 showcased how digital stings could expose major crypto crimes.
Did you know? In the cryptocurrency world, one of the largest digital stings was Operation Silk Road, which targeted the illegal online marketplace Silk Road in 2013. The operation resulted in the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the site’s founder, and the seizure of millions of dollars in Bitcoin.
How the FBI used NexFundAI to expose crypto fraud
Appearing legitimate, complete with a website, branding and tokenomics, the NexFundAI token attracted market manipulators, including firms specializing in wash trading and pump-and-dump schemes.
NexFundAI was set up as a typical Ethereum-based token, complete with a website, branding and tokenomics that looked no different from any legitimate crypto project. The FBI made sure that NexFundAI had all the elements necessary to attract the attention of manipulators — an active online presence, attractive prospects and, most importantly, a sense of legitimacy. By creating a facade of authenticity, the FBI was able to trick market makers into thinking this token had the potential for huge profits.
To further strengthen the bait, the FBI engaged with market-making firms that specialized in manipulating prices. These firms often perform wash trading and pump-and-dump schemes to inflate token prices artificially. NexFundAI provided an ideal playground for these manipulators to demonstrate their fraudulent tactics, all under the close watch of law enforcement.
By mimicking how real crypto projects operate, the FBI effectively created a “honey pot,” luring these firms into fraudulent activities without realizing they were being watched.
Once the market manipulators started interacting with NexFundAI, the FBI was able to gather evidence in real-time. As noted, companies like Gotbit and ZM Quant, who had a history of inflating trading volumes through sham trades, were caught in the act, much like flies in a honeypot.
Also, onchain data reveals that a wallet, which once manipulated SAITAMA to rake in over $11 million, funded the NexFundAI deployer with just 0.01 Ether ETH$2,642.12. The wallet spent $7,300 to buy 875.8 trillion SAITAMA, sold 687.66 trillion for $8.85 million, and deposited 737 trillion ($2.75 million) into OKX and Gate.io. And after buying back with $253,000, this single wallet profited over $11 million from SAITAMA.
Wash trading, which involves making trades between accounts controlled by the same party to create the illusion of liquidity, was one of the key fraudulent activities observed. These trades mislead investors into thinking the token is in high demand, driving up its price before the manipulators dump their holdings for profit.
The FBI closely tracked the token’s trading activity and recorded the fraudulent trades, ensuring they had solid evidence of manipulation. This wasn’t just limited to market activity; the FBI also gathered digital communications, contracts and payment records from the firms involved.
The operation revealed just how coordinated these frauds were. In addition to wash trading, the FBI identified price manipulation techniques, including deliberately timing large purchases and sales to influence market sentiment. Through NexFundAI, the FBI not only observed fraud but also directly participated in the market-making process, recording every move the fraudsters made.
Did you know? One of the largest wash trading indecents in history involved BitForex, which in 2019 was found to have 95% of its trading volume attributed to wash trading, as reported by blockchain transparency projects. This type of artificial volume manipulation affected billions of dollars in trading, misleading investors about the actual market demand.
NexFundAI: Fighting fire with fire
NexFundAI has proven itself in the fight against crypto fraud as a successful tactic in exposing bad actors.
By creating its own token, the FBI was able to gain a unique insider’s perspective by observing fraudulent activities from within the very system criminals sought to exploit. Instead of merely tracking transactions from the outside, as in previous operations, the FBI became a player in the crypto world.
The success of Operation Token Mirrors could have long-lasting implications for how law enforcement operates in the crypto space. The operation demonstrated that creating undercover tokens and projects could become a powerful tool to unmask crypto criminals. As fraudsters grow increasingly sophisticated, operations like these offer a way to infiltrate their schemes directly, rather than just monitoring them from the sidelines.
This strategy could make scammers and market manipulators more cautious in the future, as they will no longer know if the token they’re manipulating is part of an FBI sting. It adds a new layer of unpredictability to the already volatile crypto market. Fraudsters may hesitate to engage in blatant market manipulation, knowing that law enforcement could be watching — and even participating — in their activities.
Additionally, this operation sets a precedent for future digital stings. Law enforcement agencies worldwide could adopt similar strategies, creating their own tokens to track criminal behavior. This kind of proactive approach signals a new era in crypto enforcement, where fraud detection becomes more about participation and less about passive observation.
How to spot a trap token
If anything seems off — whether it’s unrealistic promises, hidden team members or unexplained market activity — it’s worth reconsidering your involvement. NexFundAI proves that even the most legitimate-looking tokens can be traps designed to exploit unsuspecting investors.
Being able to spot trap tokens is crucial because they’re often designed to attract investments through pump-and-dump schemes. These tokens might look like they represent legitimate projects, sometimes backed by large investments or sudden price jumps, making you want to invest quickly.
Of course, law enforcement uses trap tokens like NexFundAI to catch bad actors, not genuine investors. But whether it’s a trap token created by law enforcement or a scam set up by bad actors, falling for these schemes can lead to huge losses. You risk losing your entire investment if you don’t spot the warning signs in time.
Here are some general red flags for you to be aware of:
-
Sudden price spikes without clear fundamentals: One of the clearest signs of a potential scam or trap token is rapid price increases without any real-world news or project development to support the rise. Pump-and-dump schemes often follow this pattern, where manipulators drive up the price to lure investors before selling off their holdings and crashing the market. If a token’s value skyrockets overnight with no clear reason, it’s a red flag.
-
Low liquidity paired with high volumes: Another telltale sign is when a token shows unusually high trading volumes, but the liquidity — the ease with which assets can be bought or sold — remains low. This can indicate wash trading, where the same entity is buying and selling the token repeatedly to create the illusion of activity. If the token seems difficult to trade or withdraw, that’s another warning sign.
-
Presence of wash trading: Look out for patterns that suggest wash trading, like a high number of trades happening in quick succession or very small price movements between trades. Wash trades artificially boost the appearance of demand, misleading investors into thinking there’s more interest in the token than there really is. Tools like blockchain explorers or specialized sites that track suspicious trading activity can help you spot these patterns.
-
Lack of transparency: Be wary of projects that aren’t upfront about their team, technology or development goals. Fraudulent tokens often hide behind anonymity or vague promises. Legitimate projects typically have clear, transparent roadmaps, active developer communities and accessible teams.
Lastly, before investing in any token, check for regulatory warnings and verify the legitimacy of the project. Entities like the US Securities and Exchange Commission or equivalent bodies in other countries often issue warnings about known scams and fraudulent projects. These advisories are designed to protect investors from getting involved in shady operations. You can also use public tools and databases, such as the SEC’s EDGAR database, to verify whether the token has been flagged as fraudulent or involved in a legal dispute.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 10/20/2024 - 09:20
Published:10/20/2024 8:30:10 AM
|
[2024 Election]
ABC Debate Moderator David Muir's Fact Check Aimed at Donald Trump Breaks Down After FBI Revises Crime Statistics
A fact check aimed at Donald Trump regarding violent crime rates in the United States during the ABC News debate has not held up well.
The post ABC Debate Moderator David Muir’s Fact Check Aimed at Donald Trump Breaks Down After FBI Revises Crime Statistics appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:10/19/2024 1:09:40 PM
|
[b6f244d1-fe2f-5035-833c-6a09e1190b92]
GREG GUTFELD: Democrats have always lived in a fantasy world when it comes to crime
'Gutfeld!' panelists react to claims of 'fudged' FBI crime statistics.
Published:10/17/2024 10:35:00 PM
|
[Markets]
FBI arrests Alabama man in hack of SEC’s X account that caused bitcoin price spike
FBI arrests Alabama man for SEC hack on X that caused bitcoin price spike.
Published:10/17/2024 4:26:22 PM
|
[]
As Trump Moves To Take the Lead, the Corrupt FBI Crime Stats Stealthily Changes a Fake "Reduction in Violent Crime" Stat That They Gave Biden to Campaign on Two Years Ago
They claimed that violent crime had fallen 2.1% as a favor to El Jefe Biden. Now that it looks like Trump might win the White House and hold government-weaponizers to account, the FBI quietly changes the stat from a reduction...
Published:10/16/2024 12:22:16 PM
|
[Markets]
Stealth Edit: FBI Quietly Revises Violent Crime Stats
Stealth Edit: FBI Quietly Revises Violent Crime Stats
Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearInvestigations,
When the FBI originally released the “final” crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime.
But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.
The Bureau – which has been at the center of partisan storms – made no mention of these revisions in its September 2024 press release.
RCI discovered the change through a cryptic reference on the FBI website that states: “The 2022 violent crime rate has been updated for inclusion in CIUS, 2023.” But there is no mention that the numbers increased. One only sees the change by downloading the FBI’s new crime data and comparing it to the file released last year.
After the FBI released its new crime data in September, a USA Today headline read: “Violent crime dropped for third straight year in 2023, including murder and rape.”
It’s been over three weeks since the FBI released the revised data. The Bureau’s lack of acknowledgment or explanation about the significant change concerns researchers.
“I have checked the data on total violent crime from 2004 to 2022,” Carl Moody, a professor at the College of William & Mary who specializes in studying crime, told RealClearInvestigations. “There were no revisions from 2004 to 2015, and from 2016 to 2020, there were small changes of less than one percentage point. The huge changes in 2021 and 2022, especially without an explanation, make it difficult to trust the FBI data.”
“It is up to the FBI to explain what they have done, and they haven’t explained these large changes,” Dr. Thomas Marvell, the president of Justec Research, a criminal justice statistical research organization, told RCI.
The FBI did not respond to RCI’s repeated requests for comment.
Extensive Revisions in Violent Crime Stats
The actual changes in crimes are extensive. The updated data for 2022 report that there were 80,029 more violent crimes than in 2021. There were an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies, and 37,091 aggravated assaults. The question naturally arises: should the FBI’s 2023 numbers be believed?
Without the increase, the drop in violent crime in 2023 would have been less than half as large – only 1.6% instead of the reported drop of 3.5%.
The FBI isn’t the only government agency that has been revising its data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics massively overestimated the number of jobs created during the year that ended in March by 818,000 people.
The FBI’s crime stats revisions reveal how much guesswork is involved in even the “final” numbers often seized on by politicians. The FBI doesn’t simply count reported crimes. Instead, it offers estimates by extrapolating data from police departments that report only partial-year data. The Bureau also makes estimates for cities that report no data. The FBI’s method of generating these estimates changes over time, and it affects the figures they report.
“The [FBI’s] processes, such as how it tries to ‘estimate’ unreported figures, has long been a black box, even to the Bureau of Justice Statistics – the Department of Justice’s actual statistical agency,” says Jeffrey Anderson, who headed the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2017 to 2021.
Anderson said when he headed the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “We definitely would have highlighted in a press release or a report the 6.6% change recorded for 2022, which moved the numbers from a drop to a rise in violent crime.”
Many Crimes Are Unreported
Another problem with FBI crime data is its reliance on reported crimes. Most crimes go unreported, with only about 45% of violent crimes and 30% of property crimes brought to the police’s attention, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Since the FBI only tracks reported incidents and this gap is so large, researchers argue that when the media discusses crime rates based on FBI data, they should clarify that it reflects “reported” crime, not give the impression that total crime is changing.
Nonreporting of crime doesn’t affect all crimes equally. Nonreporting of murder and motor vehicle theft is relatively rare. In murder cases, victims can’t be overlooked, and for auto theft, insurance claims require police reports. However, it’s difficult to fully trust even these numbers because the FBI underreported 1,699 murders and 54,216 motor vehicle thefts in 2022, casting doubt on the reliability of the data.
Although recent attention has focused on the decline in murder rates, even with the revised numbers, the 16.2% drop from 2020 to 2023 still leaves murder rates 9.6% higher than pre-COVID levels.
A half-century ago, the DOJ provided a total crime measure, including both reported and unreported crime. The results of the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics 2023 National Crime Victimization Survey, released in mid-September, tell a very different story from the FBI data.
The NCVS interviews 240,000 people each year about their personal experiences.
Instead of the FBI’s 3.5% drop in the reported violent crime rate in 2023, the NCVS found a 4.1% increase in the reported violent crime rate. Even with the revised FBI numbers, in 2022, the FBI’s 4.5% increase pales in comparison to the NCVS’s 29.1% increase.
Over the past few years, the number of police officers has declined because of cuts in budgets and many retirements. One result is that police departments nationwide – from Charlottesville and Henrico County, Va., to Chicago, Ill. and Olympia, Wash. – are no longer responding to calls unless the perpetrator is still there actively committing the crime. Instead of police coming out to investigate and take a report, residents in those jurisdictions can still go to the police station and wait in line to get a police report filled out. In addition, despite the widespread belief that calling 911 is enough to report a crime, the FBI officially doesn’t tally 911 calls. It only counts crimes when police make out an official report.
Other Data Show Sharper Rises in Crime
While the FBI claims that serious violent crime has fallen by 5.8% since Biden took office, the NCVS numbers show that total violent crime has risen by 55.4%. Rapes are up by 42%, robbery by 63%, and aggravated assault by 55% during Biden’s term. Since the NCVS started, the largest previous increase over three years was 27% in 2006, so the increase under Biden was slightly more than twice as large.
The increases shown by the NCVS during the Biden-Harris administration are by far the largest percentage increases over any three years, slightly more than doubling the previous record.
Comparing 2023 rates with 2019 pre-COVID violent crime rates, the FBI’s new 2023 data show virtually no improvement – just a 0.2% drop – while the NCVS shows a 19% increase over that period. But the news media didn’t cover the crime survey when it was released last month.
“With the media using the 2022 FBI data to tell us for a year that crime was falling, it is disappointing that there are no news articles correcting that misimpression,” Moody told RCI. “We will have to see whether the FBI later also revises the 2023 numbers.”
At the beginning of this year, the media was running headlines like National Public Radio’s: “Violent crime is dropping fast in the U.S. – even if Americans don’t believe it.” “At some point in 2022 … there was just a tipping point where violence started to fall and it just continued to fall,” NPR claimed. But now the FBI has itself admitted its violent crime numbers were way off.
Even as polls show that Americans are concerned about crime, the FBI and the media are making it difficult to see how crime rates have changed over the last few years. A Gallup survey late last year found that 92% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats thought crime was increasing. A February Rasmussen Reports survey found that, by a 4.7-to-1 margin, likely voters say violent crime in the U.S. is getting worse (61%), not better (13%). A Gallup poll found in March that “crime and violence” was Americans’ second biggest concern, after inflation. But the media and politicians used the inaccurate FBI data to try to convince people that they were wrong.
“This FBI report is stunning because it now doesn’t state that violent crime in 2022 was much higher than it had previously reported, nor does it explain why the new rate is so much higher, and it issued no press release about this large revision,” said David Mustard, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia who researches extensively on crime. “This lack of transparency harms the FBI’s credibility.”
John R. Lott Jr. is president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and he lives in Missoula. He served as senior adviser for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Legal Policy at the Justice Department.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 10/16/2024 - 09:45
Published:10/16/2024 9:01:56 AM
|
[Campus]
‘Do Your Job’: Ernst and Stefanik Demand FBI Investigate Pro-Terror Columbia Student Group
Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) sent a letter to the FBI on Monday demanding the bureau investigate a Columbia University student group for making terroristic threats such as "Zionists don’t deserve to live."
The post ‘Do Your Job’: Ernst and Stefanik Demand FBI Investigate Pro-Terror Columbia Student Group appeared first on .
Published:10/14/2024 2:10:10 PM
|
[Markets]
Violence Has Been Normalized
Violence Has Been Normalized
Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via DailyReckoning.com,
During the misnamed and mostly preposterous debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, a moderator fact-checked Trump’s claim that crime is up.
In contrast to Trump’s claim, moderator David Muir said that the FBI reports that crime is down, a claim that likely struck every viewer as obviously wrong.
Shoplifting was not a way of life before lockdowns. Most cities were not demographic minefields of danger around every corner. There was no such thing as a drugstore with nearly all products behind locked Plexiglas.
We weren’t warned of spots in cities, even medium-sized ones, where carjacking was a real risk.
It is wildly obvious that high crime in the U.S. is endemic, with ever less respect for person and property. As for the FBI’s statistics, they’re worth about as much as most data coming from federal agencies these days.
They’re there for purposes of propaganda, manipulated to present the most favorable picture possible to help the regime.
Lies, Damn Lies and Government Statistics
This is certainly true of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Commerce Department, which have been shoveling out obvious nonsense for years.
Professionals in the field know it but go along for reasons of professional survival. In truth, we’ve never had a real economic recovery since lockdowns.
Crime is up. Literacy is down. Trust has collapsed. Societies were shattered and remain so.
Only a few weeks following the officious fact-check at the debate, we now have new data from the National Crime Victimization Survey.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
“The urban violent-crime rate increased 40% from 2019–2023. Excluding simple assault, the urban violent-crime rate rose 54% over that span. From 2022–2023, the urban violent-crime rate didn’t change to a statistically significant degree, so these higher crime rates appear to be the new norm in America’s cities.”
But the FBI tries to tell you that crime is down. Sure, whatever they say.
The report isolates the “post-George Floyd protests” because no media source wants to mention the lockdowns. It is still a taboo subject.
We somehow cannot say, even now, that the worst abuses of rights in U.S. history in terms of scale and depth were a disaster, simply because saying so implicates the whole of the media, both parties, all government agencies, academia and all the upper reaches of the social and political order.
Politics Has Become Life and Death
The problem of political division is getting alarmingly serious. It’s no longer just about competing yard signs and loud rallies. We now have regular assassination attempts, plus even an extremely strange appearance of a bounty put on a candidate’s head by an official agency.
Surveys have shown that 26 million people in the U.S. believe that violence is fine to keep Trump from regaining the presidency. Where might people have gotten that idea?
Probably from many Hollywood movies that fantasize about having killed Hitler before he accomplished his evil plus the nonstop likening of Trump to Hitler, and hence one follows from another.
Liken Trump to Hitler and that is the result you produce.
There’s private violence, public violence and many forms in between including vigilante violence. Rights violations against person and property are now normalized.
This springs from the culture of our times which has been heavily informed and even defined by the deployment of state violence in service of policy goals, at a scale, scope and depth never before seen.
The Role of Censorship
Censorship is a major part of it. Censorship is the deployment of force in service of state power, and other institutions connected to state power, for purposes of culture planning.
It’s exercised by the shallow state, in response to the middle state, and on behalf of the deep state. It’s a form of violence that interrupts the free flow of information: the ability to speak, and the ability to learn.
Censorship trains the population to be quiet, afraid and constantly stressed, and it sorts people by the compliant versus the dissidents. Censorship is designed to shape the public mind toward the end of shoring up regime stability. Once it starts, there’s no limit to it.
I’ve mentioned to people that Substack, Rumble and X could be banned by the spring of next year, and people respond with incredulity. Why? Four years ago, we were locked in our homes and locked out of churches, and the schools for which people pay all year were shut down by government force.
If they can do that, they can do anything.
Remember Free Speech?
Censorship has been so effective that it’s changed the way we engage with each other even in private. Brownstone Institute, which I founded, recently held a private retreat for scholars, fellows and special guests.
One very special guest wrote me that she was completely shocked at the freedom of thought and speech that was present in the room. As a mover in the highest circles, she had forgotten what that was like.
This censorship coincides with a strange valorization of violence that we are presented with from all over the world: Ukraine, the Middle East, London, Paris and many American cities. Never have so many held video cameras in their pockets and never have there been so many platforms on which to post the results.
One does wonder how all these relentless presentations of destruction and killing affect public culture.
Why They’re Doing It
What purpose are all these soft, hard, public and private exercises of violence serving? The standard of living is suffering, lives are shortening, despair and ill health are main features of the population and illiteracy has swept through an entire generation.
The decision to deploy violence to master the microbial kingdom did not turn out well. Worse, it unleashed violence as a way of life.
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society,” wrote Frederic Bastiat, “over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”
That is precisely where we are. It’s time we talk about it and name the culprit. Liberty, privacy and property were already unsafe before 2020 but it was the lockdowns that unleashed Pandora’s box of evils.
We cannot live this way. The only arguments worth having are those that name the reason for the suffering and offer a viable path back to civilized living.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 10/13/2024 - 23:20
Published:10/13/2024 11:34:54 PM
|
[Markets]
UMich Chinese Grads Criminally Charged For Military-Base Photos
UMich Chinese Grads Criminally Charged For Military-Base Photos
Via The College Fix,
Federal law enforcement has charged five recent University of Michigan graduates who were found taking photos near a military base hundreds of miles from campus.
The recent grads are accused of “lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were confronted in the dark near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of people had gathered for summer drills,” according to the Associated Press.
“The five, who were University of Michigan students at the time, were not charged for what happened at Camp Grayling in August 2023,” the AP reported. “Rather they are accused of misleading investigators about the trip and conspiring to clear their phones of photos, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.”
“The defendants are not in custody,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “Should they come into contact with U.S. authorities, they will be arrested and face these charges.”
“We are media,” the students said when “confronted” by a National Guard member, the AP reported.
The students graduated in spring as part of a “joint program between the university and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China,” the AP reported.
“They have been identified as Zhekai Xu, Renxiang Guan, Haoming Zhu, Jingzhe Tao, and Yi Liang,” Just the News reported.
A Michigan congressman said the charges highlight the need to be “vigilant” about spying from the Chinese Communist Party.
Michigan Republicans have been critical of plans for a Chinese Communist Party-linked battery company to build a plant just 88 miles from the military base.
Congressman John Moolenar stated in his news release:
This case shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant. The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state. State funding for Gotion’s plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for further spying on Camp Grayling.
“For national security reasons, Governor Whitmer and the legislature must revoke state funding for Gotion immediately,” the Republican Congressman stated, linking the charges against the students to the battery plant.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 10/13/2024 - 22:10
Published:10/13/2024 10:12:51 PM
|
[Markets]
Waste Of The Day: Convicted Cop Will Keep $60,000 Pension
Waste Of The Day: Convicted Cop Will Keep $60,000 Pension
Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,
Topline: Detective Robert Kennedy left his job after pleading guilty to wire fraud, but the retirement board in Stoneham, Mass. ruled last month that he will receive his $5,000 monthly pension anyway.
His pension — worth $60,000 per year — will be the 40th-highest out of 286 Stoneham retirees, based on the latest available data at OpenTheBooks.com.
Key facts: Kennedy was convicted in federal court last year after an NBC10 Boston investigation found he had dodged $50,000 in rent payments, being continuously evicted from apartments in the Boston area.
Kennedy earned over $730,000 in salary between 2017 and 2022, according to OpenTheBooks. Instead of spending it on rent, he used it at expensive restaurants and what his own defense attorney called “excessive gambling.”
One couple who rented to the cop, testified that Kennedy used a fake Social Security number to forge his credit score and move into their apartment, though he was never convicted of forgery. Kennedy refused to pay rent to the couple even after the FBI indicted him, and prosecutors later ordered him to pay $14,000. The couple told NBC10 Boston they still haven’t seen any money.
Kennedy was sentenced to two years of probation and 90 days of home confinement.
However, the five-member Stoneham Retirement Board ruled unanimously that his crime occurred in his personal life and was unrelated to his police duties. By law, he must now keep his pension.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Critical quote: The board’s decision seemingly contradicts a written report from federal prosecutors submitted during Kennedy’s trial and reviewed by NBC10 Boston.
"The defendant's crime was not simply a matter of financial irresponsibility, it was a premeditated gambit — one that he pulled off by using his position as a Stoneham police detective," prosecutors argued.
Supporting quote: “While this decision should in no way be construed as excusing his reprehensible conduct, the standard is not the conduct itself, but whether there is a legal or factual link between his crimes and his position,” attorney Michael Sacco ruled at Kennedy’s pension hearing.
Summary: It's a no-brainer that taxpayers should not be funding $60,000 pensions for convicted criminals.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
Tyler Durden
Sun, 10/13/2024 - 13:25
Published:10/13/2024 12:50:38 PM
|
[]
Let's Talk About Donald Trump's 'Racist' Rally in Aurora, Colorado
Published:10/12/2024 6:39:10 PM
|
[Markets]
Trump's Toughest Foe Could Be Harris Lawyer Marc Elias
Trump's Toughest Foe Could Be Harris Lawyer Marc Elias
Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClearInvestigations,
If Donald Trump gets past Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, he’ll likely face a fiercer opponent in court – her campaign attorney, Marc Elias, who has vowed to fight the election outcome in every close state she loses.
The longtime Democratic Party lawyer has already filed more than 60 preelection lawsuits to stop Trump from becoming president again by combatting what he calls Republican “voter suppression” efforts such as requiring voters to provide identification at the polls. Echoing a standard Democratic talking point, Elias maintains that such requirements are “racist” strategies designed to make it harder for minorities to vote.
At the same time, Elias has been sending letters to election officials in Georgia and other key swing states threatening legal action if they uphold challenges to voter rolls to remove noncitizens and other ineligible registrants. Some Georgia officials complain that his intimidation tactics are interfering with county registrars’ ability to check the qualifications of voters.
If Trump is declared the winner, the hard-charging attorney threatens to overturn his election by deploying an army of more than 75 lawyers to sue for ballot recounts in several swing states. Trump, in turn, has threatened to lock Elias up for election interference, as ABC News moderator David Muir pointed out in last month’s presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris.
Elias symbolizes the growing impact of lawfare on U.S. elections as both parties are turning increasingly to the courts to gain an edge. According to a newly disclosed Republican National Committee memo, the Trump campaign has filed or joined 123 election lawsuits in 26 states, 82 of which are in battleground states, to combat what it describes as voter fraud. It has also hired thousands of lawyers to fend off what a Trump lawyer expects will be “an onslaught of litigation” from the Harris campaign contesting the results of the election. Of course, that army of lawyers will also be used to push recounts should Trump lose.
Election experts say that these GOP efforts – fueled, in part, by Trump’s claim that Democrats stole the 2020 election – are playing catch-up. Democrats have long been at the forefront of strategies to use the court to impact elections, and no one has been more important to that cause than Elias, who keeps a sign behind his desk that warns: “BEWARE OF ATTACK DEMOCRAT.”
To many Democrats, he is a hero. The headline of a 2022 profile of Elias in the New Yorker called Elias, “The First Defense Against Trump’s Assault on Democracy.”
Conservatives tend to see Elias in a much different light. “Mr. Elias is part of a massive and well-funded partisan leftist operation notorious for using lawfare to undermine election integrity,” says Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. “Making it easier to steal elections is the antithesis of ‘democracy.’”
Nevertheless, in the expanding world of lawfare, Elias, a 55-year-old graduate of Duke University’s law school, continues to stand apart. While scoring many victories in the courthouse, he has also worked closely with campaigns on partisan efforts that have little to do with jurisprudence.
More Than a Courtroom Partisan
As general counsel to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, he helped lead the effort to manufacture and leak spurious “opposition research” claiming to reveal illicit ties between Trump and Russia.
Elias later testified that he was worried – then as now – that Trump was a threat to democracy: “I received information that was troubling as someone who cares about democracy.” That “information” turned out to be a fictitious “dossier” linking Trump to the Kremlin crafted by former British spook and FBI informant Christopher Steele, who huddled with Elias in his Washington office.
“Some of the information that was in it I think has actually proved true. It was accurate and important,” Elias testified in a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill in December 2017, according to a declassified transcript. Actually, Steele’s allegations proved to be a collection of improbable rumors and fabricated allegations invented by Steele’s top researcher and a Clinton campaign adviser.
Nonetheless, the disinformation was fed to the FBI and media, igniting criminal investigations (including illegal electronic surveillance), congressional probes, and a media frenzy that crippled Trump’s presidency with bad press for years.
In a parallel operation against Trump, Elias worked with his then-law partner Michael Sussmann and Clinton campaign officials – including Jake Sullivan, who is now President Biden’s national security adviser – to develop misleading evidence of a “secret hotline” between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that allegedly used a “back channel” connection between email servers at Trump Tower and Russian-owned Alfa Bank. These false allegations were posted on social media and brought to the attention of the FBI, triggering a separate criminal investigation targeting Trump and his campaign. Like other Russiagate probes, it was eventually discredited.
But the damage was done. By spreading fake Russian dirt on Trump, Elias was able to create scandals that dogged Trump for years, tarnishing his electability. The Democratic lawyer’s machinations, however, drew scrutiny from other investigators and hurt his own reputation – albeit temporarily.
During his probe of Russiagate, Special Counsel John Durham found Elias intentionally sought to conceal Clinton’s role in the dossier. According to court records, Elias acted as a cutout for more than $1 million in campaign payments for the dossier. By laundering its payments through a law firm, the Clinton campaign and Elias were able to claim attorney-client confidentiality when Durham sought their internal emails (the assertion of that privilege also blocked investigators from accessing communications between Elias and Steele’s immediate employer, the Washington-based opposition research firm, FusionGPS). But their shell game got the Clinton campaign in trouble with the Federal Election Commission, which later fined it and the Democratic National Committee $113,000 for misreporting the purpose of the payments as “legal expenses,” rather than opposition research, in violation of FEC laws.
The Durham probe, which Elias insists was “politically motivated,” nonetheless raised ethical issues with the D.C. Bar and Elias’ former law firm, Perkins Coie, reportedly leading to their breakup in August 2021, when Elias suddenly left the powerhouse after almost 30 years. The firm, which Elias had joined fresh out of law school in 1993, grew “increasingly uncomfortable” with the unwanted scrutiny the Durham probe invited on it, according to published reports. The veteran prosecutor exposed questionable billing practices by the firm. Durham also revealed the Democratic firm had set up an FBI workspace within its Washington offices, further calling into question the FBI’s impartiality in investigating Trump.
In late 2021, Elias opened his own firm, the Elias Law Group, but soon lost major clients who reportedly grew weary of his aggressive tactics and go-it-alone style. Last year, the DNC severed its 15-year relationship with Elias; then more recently, the Biden campaign parted company with him. In 2020, Elias had quarterbacked Biden’s legal team that fought Trump’s claims in court that the election had been stolen. He also beat back GOP measures to ensure election integrity after Democrats took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to dramatically loosen rules for voting – including allowing ballot harvesting, drop boxes, and ballots arriving up to four days after Election Day to still be counted.
Top Democratic Party officials were said to sour on Elias after he filed election-related lawsuits without consulting with them, some of which backfired with unfavorable – and lasting – rulings. Biden’s team reportedly also became frustrated with his fees. Elias billed the DNC and Biden campaign more than $20 million during the 2020 election cycle.
But Elias has since taken on other clients – including Kamala Harris – who have more than made up for the loss in revenue. So far in this election cycle, the latest FEC filings show the Elias Law Group has received a total of more than $22 million in disbursements from a host of major Democratic and anti-Trump clients. In addition to the Harris For President campaign, where he’s in charge of recounts and post-election litigation (it’s not known if he also has a hand in opposition research, as he did in 2016), Elias has signed retainer agreements with the:
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
- [Democratic] Senate Majority PAC
- Stop Trump PAC
- The Lincoln Project
Elias has also been retained by Mind The Gap, a political action committee set up to help Democrats take back the House. Mind The Gap was founded by Barbara Fried, the mother of convicted crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried. In a lawsuit filed last year, Fried, a Stanford law professor, is accused of orchestrating a potentially illegal scheme to funnel political contributions from her son to her PAC.
Among Elias’ other clients are Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, a leader of House efforts to impeach Trump who, records show, is shelling out a six-figure retainer for Elias as he runs for an open U.S. Senate seat in California, and Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who previously served as Schiff’s chief counsel during the first Trump impeachment.
Elias also represents Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who polls show is narrowly leading GOP challenger Bernie Moreno in his race for reelection, according to the RealClearPolitics Average. That race could determine control of the Senate.
The business of political lawfare – or “protecting democracy,” as Elias calls his job – has made the super lawyer super-rich. The most recent property records show Elias lives in a $2.6 million mansion in Great Falls, Va., and FEC records show he has the wherewithal to donate generous sums to his party, including a combined total of at least $65,000 in gifts to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“Aggressive Bully”
Elias first earned his reputation as a fierce and effective advocate in 2009, when he won an eight-month recount battle to get his client, Al Franken, elected to the Senate. He also scored a series of victories against the Trump campaign in 2020.
“My team and I beat [Trump] in court 60-plus times,” Elias boasted on X last month, in his trademark brashness. “Here is my message to the GOP: If you try to subvert the election in 2024, you will be sued and you will lose.”
Representing Biden electors in Arizona, for example, Elias in late 2020 defeated a post-election Trump lawsuit alleging voter fraud in Maricopa County by arguing at trial the plaintiff showed the court only “garden variety errors” but provided “no evidence about misconduct, no evidence about fraud, no evidence about illegal votes.”
But Elias’ aggressive posture has also backfired.
In 2016, he sued Arizona to strike down two laws that, he argued, made it harder for blacks and Hispanics to vote. One banned the practice of partisans going door-to-door and collecting mail-in ballots and bringing them to a polling place, and the other canceled ballots that were cast at the wrong precinct. Elias argued the measures violated a key part of the Voting Rights Act – Section 2 – prohibiting states from passing voting laws that discriminate based on race. After a lower court in Arizona refused to block the measures prior to the election, Elias appealed and won a favorable ruling from the liberal U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. But in the case, Brnovich v. DNC, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Arizona, ruling that the state’s ballot-integrity measures lacked discriminatory intent.
UCLA law professor Rick Hasen speculates that the conservative Supreme Court used the Brnovich case as “an opportunity to weaken” Section 2, which Democratic voting-rights lawyers have relied on as a tool for civil rights enforcement. Regardless of the justices’ motives, the Brnovich decision does establish a precedent whereby voting rules resulting in only small disparities for voters of color can no longer be challenged. Some Democrats complain that Elias’ loss in Arizona opened the door for all red states to impose “restrictions” on voting.
“Marc didn’t listen to such criticism and he brought an extremely weak Voting Rights Act case in Arizona to disastrous results,” Hasen wrote in a recent blog. “It is fine to be zealous in one’s advocacy,” he added, “but one need not be an aggressive bully.”
Elias has also aggravated judges. He’s been disciplined for filing frivolous lawsuits and motions. In 2021, for instance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sanctioned Elias for refiling a motion that was previously rejected by a lower court “without disclosing the previous denial.” The appellate court ordered him to pay attorneys’ fees and court costs incurred by opponents in the Texas election case over his “duplicative” motion.
“Using lawfare as Elias does is legal – unless the litigation is frivolous,” said Paul Kamenar, general counsel for the National Legal and Policy Center in Washington.
Elias and an attorney representing him did not reply to requests for comment. But in a previous interview, he dismissed the criticism that he is unnecessarily belligerent, arguing that the “existential threat Trump poses to democracy” demands tough action. He acknowledged that he can be brusque but explained he discarded lawyerly circumspection and restraint after Trump’s 2016 election “radicalized” him.
“And so I became a much more polarized person and a more polarizing lawyer,” Elias told The New Yorker.
In a recent column for his Democracy Docket website, Elias attacked Trump as another “Hitler” who is “plotting to overthrow American democracy.” He even warned that a reelected Trump “is almost certain to convert the military into his personal domestic police force” and “seize voting machines [and] control ballot counting,” even though state laws govern elections.
Still, he denies filing groundless grievances over voting rules. He insists many of the tighter rules imposed by Republicans serve no legitimate purpose. And he doesn’t buy their argument that they’re needed to stop fraudulent voting because, as he claims, voter fraud is rare (or, more precisely, rarely prosecuted).
Anti-Trump War Room
“Republicans are working every day to make it harder to vote,” Elias recently posted on X. “They are also planning to subvert the elections when they lose.”
Noting the GOP’s flurry of preelection lawsuits, including in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina, Elias recently told MSNBC that Republicans will do anything to push Trump over the top because he cannot win on his own. “He is set to lose to Kamala Harris,” Elias claimed, “and Republicans know that their only way of winning this election is by intimidating voters, making it hard for voters to participate in the process, and by setting up a structure after the election for them to be able to engage in the kind of frivolous and harassing litigation and ultimately the kind of tactics we saw in 2020 – but on a much wider scale.”
To combat this, “My law firm is litigating 66 voting and election lawsuits in 23 states,” he said on X, with most of them concentrated in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin. “And we are winning!” By comparison, Elias filed 20 voting-related lawsuits in 14 states at this point in the 2020 election cycle, making him more than three times as litigious this time.
His anti-Trump legal war room includes a for-profit operation he founded in 2020 called Democracy Docket LLC, which employs 16 and is housed in the same office as his law firm, records show. The digital platform tracks several hundred voting-related cases and publishes a weekly organ distributed to more than 225,000 paid subscribers (at $120 a year), who include lawyers, politicians, and journalists.
A sister operation, Democracy Docket Legal Fund, supports election litigation to protect the voting rights of primarily minority voters. Another spinoff, the Democracy Docket Action Fund, raises money for voting rights lawsuits. According to the Capital Research Center, the two organizations are bankrolled by millions of dollars in so-called dark money, including from leftwing billionaire George Soros – whom Elias has called “a hero.” Through these vehicles, Elias has virtually “unlimited funding” to challenge any voting law in any state if he thinks it will help his party and his Democratic clients win elections, according to Americans for Public Trust, a government watchdog group based in Alexandria, Va.
While Elias publicly claims he’s “defending free and fair elections,” it’s clear from his actions behind the scenes that his motives are purely partisan, critics say. Last month, he sent a letter to Virginia state election officials threatening to sue them if they don’t remove Cornel West, the presidential nominee of the leftwing Justice for All Party, from the state ballot. Elias is also trying to keep West, a progressive black college professor, off the ballot in 15 other states, including key battlegrounds. These efforts clearly have nothing to do with voting rights. Elias is simply worried West will bleed off enough votes from his Democratic client Kamala Harris to cost her victories in states where she is leading by razor-thin margins against Trump.
In a column he wrote last year for Democracy Docket, Elias admitted: “A vote for No Labels, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West or any other third-party candidate is effectively a vote for Trump.”
In addition, Elias is quietly working with immigrant advocacy groups that want to make it possible for noncitizens to vote. In August, for example, Elias stepped in to represent El Pueblo in its quest to stop North Carolina’s State Board of Elections from removing noncitizens from voter registration rolls as required by a 2023 law. An estimated 325,000 “unauthorized” immigrants reside in the state.
RealClearInvestigations has learned that Elias supports another group that provides “compassionate” pro-bono legal services to immigrants who have entered the United States, many illegally.
Elias and his wife Brenley, also a lawyer, are listed as “donors” on a mailing list kept by Just Neighbors, which partners with Justice for Our Neighbors, operating in the D.C.-Maryland area. The group’s website says it provides free lawyers to help illegal immigrants get out of detention, obtain asylum status, and avoid deportation. “Populations served: Individuals who are not in legal immigration status,” the website states, and “individuals with criminal histories.”
It’s not known if the Eliases have actually provided pro-bono legal services to illegal aliens. Elias and an attorney representing him did not respond to requests for comment.
Nevertheless, as more than a dozen jurisdictions run by Democrats now allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections, the push to redefine who is eligible for the franchise promises to become an ever more potent and divisive issue in American politics. Much of this debate will almost certainly be hashed out in the courtroom battles and behind-the-scenes political maneuvering that are Marc Elias’ special practice.
Paul Sperry is an investigative reporter for RealClearInvestigations. He is also a longtime media fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Sperry was previously the Washington bureau chief for Investor’s Business Daily, and his work has appeared in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Houston Chronicle, among other major publications.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 10/11/2024 - 19:15
Published:10/11/2024 6:31:40 PM
|
[Markets]
P. Diddy And US Attorney Damian Williams: Let The Games Begin
P. Diddy And US Attorney Damian Williams: Let The Games Begin
Authored by Nick Braynt via nickbryantnyc.com,
Andre Damian Williams Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, once again has the distinction of covering up child sex trafficking. He received that distinction for overseeing a federal grand jury that didn’t indict Sean “Diddy” Combs on a single count of child sex trafficking and/or molestation.
Before I address Williams’ new offenses against children, I should offer a reminder about his prior offenses. Williams was appointed the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in December of 2018, and he became the point-man for the Epstein cover-up. He was slated to oversee the trial of Jeffrey Epstein, but Epstein became preoccupied with his death. Williams, however, oversaw the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, which was a travesty of justice even before it commenced: Federal prosecutors only indicted Maxwell on one-count of child trafficking, even though her and Epstein had trafficked children for approximately 25 years. Moreover, the federal prosecutors were aware of over 30 child Epstein trafficking victims, but they only called four victims as witnesses, and those victims had been exclusively molested by Epstein and Maxwell. The federal prosecutors were aware of various Epstein procurers (pimps) and numerous perpetrators. But the prosecutors’ flagrant objective was a cover up of the procurers (pimps) and perpetrators in the Epstein network. One-count of child trafficking carries a 15-year to life sentence, and Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years.
In the wake of Maxwell’s trial, Williams said the following with a straight face: “Today’s sentence holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children. This sentence sends a strong message that no one is above the law and it is never too late for justice. We again express our gratitude to Epstein and Maxwell’s victims for their courage in coming forward, in testifying at trial, and in sharing their stories as part of today’s sentencing.” His statements were rather ironic, because he just facilitated the cover-up of the largest child trafficking network ever acknowledged by US law enforcement. The cover-up of a crime is aiding and abetting that crime, so Williams is guilty of aiding and abetting child trafficking.
Williams’ offenses against children were again on display as he oversaw the Combs’ grand jury that returned the following indictments against Combs.
- One count of racketeering conspiracy
- One count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion
- One count of transportation for purposes of prostitution
Two of the sexual assault lawsuits that are pending against Combs were filed by minors. One of those lawsuits was filed by Liza Gardner who alleges that Combs raped her when she was 16 years old. A second lawsuit, filed by “Jane Doe,” alleges that minions of Combs flew her from Detroit to New York City when she was 17 years old, where Combs plied her with alcohol and took turns raping her with two other men. The latter is a blatant case of the interstate sex trafficking of a minor, but it seems to have been overlooked by Williams and his cadre in the Southern District. Either Williams thought she was lying or he’s covering up Combs’ child trafficking.
Combs is charged with one count of “racketeering conspiracy” but, thus far, his co-conspirators haven’t been indicted. Ghislaine Maxwell, too, was indicted on multiple conspiracies:
- One count conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- One count of conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts
- One count of sex trafficking conspiracy
Though Maxwell was indicted on multiple conspiracies, Williams’ office didn’t indict one of her co-conspirators. Combs has also been indicted on conspiracy, but his co-conspirators have not been indicted. Is the Combs’ case history repeating itself?
According to a BBC article, “Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces more than 100 new assault allegations,” a Texas-based attorney, Tony Buzbee, is representing “more than 100” alleged victims of Combs. And he maintains that 25 of the alleged victims he is representing were minors when they were molested by Combs et al, including an alleged victim who was nine years old at the time. Like Epstein, Buzbee believes that Combs had connections to Mount Olympus. "The names will shock you," he said at a press conference. Combs engaged in the trafficking of adults and minors for years. Also like Epstein, how could Combs pull off such heinous crimes for years without a little help from his friends in state and/or federal law enforcement?
Combs is now on suicide watch. The federal corrections officers at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center excelled at ensuring Epstein's death either by gross negligence or outright malfeasance. Combs is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. So perhaps Combs jailers in Brooklyn will prove to be more competent than Epstein’s jailers in Manhattan?
Epstein and Maxwell had a penchant for hidden cameras and blackmail, and they molested children for 25 years. Combs also had a penchant for hidden cameras and a penchant for blackmail. Lil Rod’s sexual assault lawsuit filed against Combs was our first inkling of P. Diddy’s hidden cameras and blackmail.
But, since then, numerous sources have stated that Combs homes had clandestine cameras. The New York Post reported the following: “One of the Department of Homeland Security agents who helped raid Diddy’s Florida abode claimed that the music mogul had rooms that were clearly 'dedicated to sex' with cameras all around. 'So if you were in those sex parties, you were being recorded from every possible angle, including angles you wouldn’t have known about,' the source said, referring to the sometimes days-long orgies he called “freak offs” where drugged-up victims were allegedly forced to have sex with male prostitutes.”
A former bodyguard for Combs, Gene Deal, divulged that he had an affinity for blackmailing the high and mighty. He said: “I don’t think it’s only celebrities gonna be shook. He had politicians in there; he had princes in there. He also had a couple of preachers in there.”
Suge Knight, the incarcerated, former CEO Death Row Records, has stated that Combs is an FBI informant, and that's the reason he's been given a Get Out of Jail Free card for his heinous crimes over the years. Granted, Knight and Combs are antagonistic towards each other, and Knight certainly isn't a cherub, but sometimes the truth has a way of percolating on the streets. Knight also believes that Combs might be an endangered species, because of the secrets he harbors.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams isn’t a cherub either, nor is he your average U.S. Attorney. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is a position whose occupants have included future judges, senators, cabinet members, and a New York City mayor. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is considered to be the most powerful federal law enforcement official in Manhattan.
According to 28 U.S. Code § 544, a U.S. attorney takes an “oath to execute faithfully his duties.” But Williams disregarded his oath when he facilitated the cover-up of the Epstein/Maxwell trafficking network. So, what would motivate the most powerful federal law enforcement official in Manhattan to disregard his or her oath, especially for such egregious crimes? Williams cherishes his power and doesn’t want to lose it and/or Williams himself is compromised and/or Williams and his family has/have been threatened.
Williams has spent a lot of time among political shakers and movers. He worked for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Williams was then a "body man" for the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe. In politics, a body man is a ubiquitous personal aide or assistant.
Former Virginia Governor Terry McAullife has certainly been tainted by allegations of corruption. Quoting the New York Times: “Mr. McAuliffe is a walking symbol of the wretched excess of the Clinton years. He raised millions in special-interest money for President Clinton's campaign.” McAuliffe founded a company, GreenTech Automotive, which the Virginia Economic Development Partnership concluded was a visa-for-sale scheme. McAulliffe resigned from the company. The FBI scrutinized $120,000 donation made to McAulliffe’s Virginia gubernatorial campaign by Chinese national Wang Wenliang. McAulliffe initially denied knowing Wang until a preponderance of evidence linked him to Wenliang, who also donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation.
In addition to aiding purportedly corrupt, political heavyweights, Williams received substantial funding from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Williams parents immigrated from Jamaica to the United States, which made him eligible for the fellowship. Thirty Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships are awarded every year with a selection rate of 1.2%. Each fellow receives up to $90,000 in funding toward their graduate education. Williams attended Yale Law School on a Soros fellowship. (Prior to attending law school, Williams graduated with a BA in economics from Harvard.)
Peter Soros is the son of Paul & Daisy, and nephew of George Soros. Peter is on the Board of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, and he also has the distinction of being circled twice in Epstein’s “Black Book.” Epstein’s house manager Alfredo Rodriquez purloined the Black Book, and he circled those who he perceived as being in cahoots with Epstein with regards to pedophilic pandering. Peter Soros reportedly being in cahoots with Epstein and also on the Board of an organization that gave William’s a substantial fellowship could be a very bizarre coincidence or it could be something more ominous.
If, or until, Williams indicts Combs on multiple counts of child trafficking, he will play the same role that he played for Epstein regarding the coverup of child trafficking and abuse.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 10/11/2024 - 17:40
Published:10/11/2024 5:29:48 PM
|
[Markets]
DOJ Blames FBI Informant For Deleting Jan. 6 Evidence
DOJ Blames FBI Informant For Deleting Jan. 6 Evidence
Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,
The Justice Department has blamed an FBI informant for deleting video he took during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising—footage that was sought by a Jan. 6 protestor as part of his criminal defense.
The DOJ’s disclosure about the FBI informant’s missing video came in a Thursday court filing in its case against Jan. 6 protestor William Pope, who’s representing himself. Pope sought footage taken by FBI informant and ex-Proud Boys member James Ehren Knowles of him entering the Capitol.
Pope initially requested the footage from the DOJ in February, and prosecutors eventually said on Sept. 17 that no such footage exists. Three days later, Pope filed his own response, explaining that the footage from must exist—because Knowles was seen on CCTV footage recording as he entered the Capitol, and because Knowles testified during last year’s Proud Boys trial that he indeed recorded.
“The question … is not then whether Knowles was filming (Knowles admitted under oath that he was) but whether the government has met their obligation to obtain the recordings made by their FBI informant, James Ehren Knowles,” Pope said.
“Since Knowles swore under oath that the FBI flashed a copy of his phone, the government has media Knowles recorded on January 6, and also has the ability to determine whether any media was copied or deleted from Knowles’ phone before the FBI flashed it.”
Pope further noted that Knowles testified last year that he doesn’t recall whether he gave the video he took to the FBI.
“It’s possible that Knowles gave the FBI the video, but does not recall. It’s also possible that Knowles retained his own copy, but did not provide it to the FBI. A third possibility is that FBI informant James Knowles deleted evidence that is material to my case,” Pope argued.
Pope’s blistering response prompted District Judge Rudolph Contreras to order the DOJ last week to tell the court whether “it believes Knowles deleted such alleged video and, if so, whether Plaintiff has the capacity to retrieve such data from the purported mirror-image copy of his phone taken by the FBI.”
Responding to the judge’s order on Wednesday, the DOJ claimed that Knowles deleted the footage.
According to the DOJ, the FBI has reviewed Knowles’ phone again, and hasn’t found any footage of him entering the Capitol.
“Based on the Individual’s testimony, his statements to the FBI, and a review of the full image of his cellphone, the government believes that [Knowles] did delete images and/or videos that he recorded on January 6,” prosecutors said, adding that it’s “unclear” whether the footage Pope sought would have been useful to him.
Pope’s trial is set for Dec. 2.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 10/10/2024 - 14:20
Published:10/10/2024 1:36:52 PM
|
[]
FEMA Looking for Source of 'Conspiracy Theories' Hampering Hurricane Relief Efforts (Give 'Em a Mirror!)
Published:10/9/2024 3:16:37 PM
|
[3a2c006c-b585-53d7-9915-99151b47656f]
The hidden truth: America's crime crisis isn't over
While any decrease in crime is certainly welcome, the FBI's data falls woefully short of providing a complete picture of crime and public safety in America. Let me explain.
Published:10/9/2024 4:11:09 AM
|
[]
Report: FBI Probe of Brett Kavanaugh Sexual Assault Allegations Hampered by Trump Administration
Published:10/8/2024 9:50:24 PM
|
[World]
FBI probe of Kavanaugh constrained by Trump White House, report finds
A congressional report finds new evidence of how the White House’s tightly controlled an FBI investigation into sexual assault claims against the Supreme Court nominee.
Published:10/8/2024 5:06:47 AM
|
[Markets]
CCP Targets US Shipping Infrastructure
CCP Targets US Shipping Infrastructure
Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A congressional investigation uncovered concerns about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in cranes at U.S. ports, pointing to the discovery of surveillance equipment and ties to China’s military, which poses a national security threat to U.S. shipping infrastructure.
The House Homeland Security Committee and the Select Committee on the CCP recently released a report highlighting the growing threat to U.S. security from China’s dominance in the global maritime industry.
The report focuses on Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a Chinese state-owned company that manufactures about 80 percent of the ship-to-shore (STS) cranes used at U.S. ports. The investigation found that these cranes pose cybersecurity and national security risks due to embedded technology that could allow the CCP to access or disrupt U.S. port operations. Additionally, ZPMC has pressured some U.S. port operators to grant remote access for maintenance and diagnostics, raising concerns about potential espionage and sabotage.
China’s control over maritime infrastructure and data collection poses serious vulnerabilities for the United States and its allies. Lawmakers are pushing for U.S. ports to switch to alternative crane manufacturers, but ZPMC’s market dominance complicates this effort. The CCP’s national security and intelligence laws require companies like ZPMC to support intelligence activities, further heightening the threat to U.S. infrastructure.
A recent report revealed that ZPMC cranes contain cellular modems that are unnecessary for their operation, which could be used for intelligence gathering, and were not part of the purchase agreements with U.S. port authorities. ZPMC’s close ties to China’s security apparatus are also a concern, with its base located near a warship-building shipyard. Moreover, ZPMC’s chairman, Liu Chengyun, leads the company’s internal Communist Party committee, making the company vulnerable to CCP influence.
The congressional committee sent a letter to ZPMC demanding explanations about its ties to the CCP, whether it received subsidies from Beijing, and whether the cranes contained surveillance equipment.
ZPMC responded that, under China’s data security law, CCP approval was needed to answer the committee’s questions. The company also requested that the committee sign a nondisclosure agreement, which was refused. While ZPMC claimed there was no evidence that Chinese intelligence or security services had required them to modify equipment for U.S. ports with surveillance devices, they cited the law on “guarding state secrets” as a reason for not disclosing the nature of their relationships with the Ministry of State Security.
The company’s ties to the CCP are undeniable. You Ruikai, ZPMC’s chairman and president, also serves as the party secretary for the internal Party committee, whose members are elected by the Party members of ZPMC.
To date, ZPMC has not clarified to the U.S. committees who the internal Party committee reports to in Beijing or what information is shared. ZPMC issued a statement on its website expressing offense at the allegations made by U.S. authorities and insisting that its cranes pose no cybersecurity threat.
Meanwhile, Xinhua, the CCP’s media outlet, has accused the United States of fabricating a China threat, despite Chinese laws that compel companies to gather intelligence and prohibit them from revealing their links to Beijing.
ZPMC is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Communications Construction Ltd. (CCCC), which has faced significant U.S. sanctions.
In August 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce added several CCCC subsidiaries to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List due to their role in militarizing artificial islands in the South China Sea. That same month, the U.S. Department of Defense identified CCCC as one of the “Chinese military companies“ operating in the United States.
In November 2020, then-President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13959, prohibiting American companies and individuals from owning shares in firms like CCCC linked to the People’s Liberation Army.
In December 2020, the Department of Commerce added CCCC to the Entity List, banning it from purchasing American products.
In 2021, President Joe Biden not only upheld Executive Order 13959 but expanded it, stressing the need to prevent the CCP from using U.S. investors and customers to finance China’s military-industrial complex. This included China’s involvement in military, intelligence, and security research, as well as weapons production through its Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which potentially makes all Chinese companies tools of the CCP by merging civilian and military sectors. Biden also warned that the CCP’s use of surveillance technology posed a serious threat to U.S. national security, foreign policy, and the economy.
The CCP uses economic statecraft to increase U.S. reliance on Chinese equipment and technology, particularly in the maritime sector. U.S. federal law enforcement agencies have confirmed that Chinese state-owned enterprises aggressively seek to establish a strategic presence at key ports, leveraging subsidies to gain influence. China’s subsidies make ZPMC cranes half the price of competitors, leaving U.S. ports with few alternatives. The Association of American Port Authorities has recommended rebuilding domestic crane manufacturing to reduce dependency on Chinese products.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/07/2024 - 06:55
Published:10/7/2024 6:25:58 AM
|
[Quick Takes]
FBI Warns Anniversary of October 7 Attacks May Motivate Individuals to Violence in the U.S.
"Such actors may view the anniversary as an opportunity to conduct an attack or other high-profile, illegal activity."
The post FBI Warns Anniversary of October 7 Attacks May Motivate Individuals to Violence in the U.S. first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:10/6/2024 12:10:53 PM
|
[China]
Let’s Not Stop at Charging 5 Students From China With Conspiracy
The Chinese Communist Party has taken an interest in Michigan—particularly Camp Grayling, a military training facility about 200 miles north of Detroit. The FBI has... Read More
The post Let’s Not Stop at Charging 5 Students From China With Conspiracy appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:10/4/2024 2:10:33 PM
|
[Biden-Harris Administration]
'We Need You': Former Militant Leader Whose Group Was Surveilled by FBI Co-Chairs Biden-Harris Environmental Justice Council
A former militant group leader whose organization was affiliated with the Weathermen terrorists and monitored by the FBI now leads a small but influential group of White House policymakers championed by Vice President Kamala Harris. The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council was created in the first week of the Biden-Harris administration as part of the White House’s effort to, according to an executive order, "increase the federal government’s efforts to address current and historic environmental injustice." The group is composed of individuals appointed by the president who, the White House states, "have knowledge about or experience in environmental justice, climate change, disaster preparedness, or racial inequity, among other areas of expertise."
The post 'We Need You': Former Militant Leader Whose Group Was Surveilled by FBI Co-Chairs Biden-Harris Environmental Justice Council appeared first on .
Published:10/4/2024 4:20:40 AM
|
[Markets]
Industrial-Size Staffing Firms Reportedly Support Biden-Harris' Mysterious Nationwide Migrant Network
Industrial-Size Staffing Firms Reportedly Support Biden-Harris' Mysterious Nationwide Migrant Network
Large staffing companies that thrived during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars under the Bush-Obama years retooled their business models as the US involvement and war funding in the Middle East wound down. Now, these staffing firms seem to be profiting off the Biden-Harris administration's open-border migrant invasion by providing essential services, such as private security, transportation, and many other services, to ensure the fed's migrant network nationwide operates smoothly.
These companies are likely awarded handsome federal contracts, paid for by the US taxpayer.
Bussing and housing millions of illegal and legal aliens is big business for staffing companies and non-profits. Americans have to realize their tax dollars are paying for all of this while the migrants displace and replace blue-collar workers in small-town factories nationwide. The folks in Springfield, Ohio, and Charleroi, Pennsylvania, know firsthand just how devastating globalist open border policies can be for them.
Real America's Voice host Ben Bergquam posted on X, "More breaking footage of the Democrats harboring illegals in Chicago. Now using unmarked brand new hotels like this Holiday Inn at [XXXXXXX] to disguise Kamala and Biden's illegal invasion operations."
Bergquam's video of the Holiday Inn filled-migrant hotel in the Chicago metro area is very intriguing. First, the security guards appear to be sourced from staffing firm GardaWorld.
Second, a person who seems to be another worker said the Holiday Inn is "federal property."
The focus should be on industrial-sized staffing companies that provide security and other services to keep the fed's migrant network operational.
But let's take a step back and realize that some of these staffing companies could be part of the DC swamp that profited off the endless wars in the Middle East.
In 2012, the head of GardaWorld told Reuters that Middle East conflicts had kept the staffing firm "busier than ever and has never been greater," adding, "I don't want to say it's a gold rush, but business is very good."
Sticking with the staffing companies, just recently, Muckraker's Anthony Rubin dropped a bombshell in a report titled "Finding The Feds' Missing Children | CHILD TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA."
He provided intel that MVM, a private security contractor with ties to the CIA, NSA, FBI, and Homeland Security, was caught moving unaccompanied migrant children around the country.
There's a theme here because MVM is another big staffing firm that crushed it during the Middle East wars, providing personnel to the region to protect assets in the 2000s.
Read this story here...
However, when the war funding dried up in the Middle East, like GardaWorld, MVM pivoted to catering to the federal government's next big globalist idea: profiting off the migrant invasion by providing migrant solutions.
Their website reveals their 'Mission Solutions,' which include "Transportation and care for vulnerable populations [migrants]."
MVM has operated a migrant bus network nationwide.
Read this story here...
Even though we cited only two large staffing companies that profited off Middle East wars and pivoted to providing domestic migrant solutions to the Biden-Harris administration, smaller staffing companies are operating nationwide, providing transportation for migrants, and even some firms are providing housing solutions. Taxpayers must realize the feds are funneling their monies to support open borders and operate a complex network of transportation and housing for millions of migrants. Blue-collar workers across the country are waking up to the fact that the feds are perfectly okay with displacing and replacing them with low-cost migrants at factories across small town America.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 10/03/2024 - 06:55
Published:10/3/2024 7:28:39 AM
|
[]
Daily Tech News 3 October 2024
Top Story Eric Adams' phone pleads the Fifth. (The Verge) The FBI obtained two of the New York mayor's phones under a warrant served almost a year ago, but they still haven't managed to access any data. Adams changed the...
Published:10/3/2024 4:12:22 AM
|
[Markets]
Prosecutors Seek Indefinite Delay In Trial Of Alleged Trump Assassin Over "Complex" Evidence
Prosecutors Seek Indefinite Delay In Trial Of Alleged Trump Assassin Over "Complex" Evidence
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday requested an indefinite delay in the upcoming trial of Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, claiming that a massive trove of evidence has emerged in recent weeks rendering the case "complex," ABC News reports.
According to a Wednesday filing with Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon, prosecutors have gathered too much evidence to proceed to trial - including hundreds of witness interviews, 13 search warrants, and the seizure of "multiple electronic devices" from locations in Florida, Hawaii, and North Carolina. The overwhelming amount of digital data to review - around 4,000 terabytes - allegedly led to the request.
The FBI also continues to conduct forensic tests on other evidence, including "ballistics testing, and fingerprint and DNA comparisons," which will likely require them to prepare several expert witnesses to testify about in advance of Routh's eventual trial.
The filing states Routh's defense attorneys did not oppose the government's request to indefinitely delay his trial date.
Routh, 58, appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday for his arraignment on attempted assassination charges. Routh's lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. -ABC News
The delay request came just one day after Judge Cannon had set a tentative trial date of November 18. But with prosecutors still awaiting over 100 subpoena responses and conducting forensic analysis, including ballistics and DNA testing, the government says their case is far from ready to proceed.
Routh allegedly staked out the Trump International Golf Course in Florida for 12 hours on September 15, waiting for the former president to arrive. According to prosecutors, his attempt was thwarted when Secret Service agents spotted a rifle poking through the golf course fence. Routh was later apprehended on I-95.
The incident echoes a previous attempt on Trump's life just two months prior, when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Crooks' attack injured Trump and left one attendee dead.
h/t Post Millennial
Tyler Durden
Wed, 10/02/2024 - 23:00
Published:10/2/2024 10:23:17 PM
|
[Markets]
"The Chinese Are Watching", Says Incoming EU Defense Commissioner
"The Chinese Are Watching", Says Incoming EU Defense Commissioner
Authored by Anders Corr via The Epoch Times,
The incoming defense commissioner of the European Union says that China sees the U.S. and EU responses to Russian aggression in Ukraine as weak. He’s right. Our show of weakness only invites further aggression by other rogue members of the “axis of evil,” including China, Iran, and North Korea.
As the world devolves into wars that strain U.S. and partner defense budgets—along with the borders that divide the democracies from authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, and North Korea—“the Chinese are watching,” according to the European Union’s first incoming defense commissioner, Andrius Kubilius.
In the case of Europe’s response to Russia, according to a Sept. 22 report, “The Chinese will make one simple conclusion,” noted Kubilius. “The West is quite weak.” He said that despite economies that are 25 times that of Russia, we are not winning. “What is the reason?” he asked. “It’s a question of political will.”
It’s also a question of risk avoidance, of course. Democracies are more risk averse than autocracies when it comes to war. This makes sense from one perspective, as democracies care more about people—both in their own societies and those of other states—than do dictators and terrorists. It could also make sense from a strategic perspective if modern war is a “wood chipper” for attacking armies, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rightly noted in 2022 regarding Ukraine.
The axis dictators are power-hungry to the point of a willingness to kill tens of millions in pursuit of their territorial and ideological ambitions. The number of Russian and Ukrainian dead from the current war has now reached approximately 1 million, according to a Sept. 17 report. Even more have been wounded. And Vladimir Putin is raising the stakes by frequently threatening nuclear strikes that could escalate to a direct war with the United States.
Iran is following the same strategy of feeding its proxies into the wood chipper, with its pursuit of nuclear weapons and support for terrorist proxies like Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah against Israel, giving just cause for a robust defense. On Sept. 22, the United States warned Israel against starting a full-scale war against the latter terrorist organization after Hezbollah refused to end its cross-border rocket attacks and let tens of thousands of internally displaced Israeli refugees return to their homes in northern Israel.
U.S. and allied ammunition reserves are running so low due to these wars—for which the United States has served as the “arsenal of democracy” since World War I—that Taiwan is now searching for new sources of ammunition necessary to defend itself in a war against the People’s Liberation Army, according to a Sept. 21 report.
Perhaps that is why Beijing tacitly approved of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies with Iran in its negotiations with the United States, thus encouraging its violence against Israel and Saudi Arabia. The CCP bankrolls all of the “axis of evil” companies through energy purchases from Russia and Iran and being the biggest trade partner of North Korea. The CCP has a motive for encouraging these far-flung wars and North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling. It distracts the democracies, depletes our arsenals, and thus will make it harder to defend Taiwan if that day comes.
Xi Jinping has told the People’s Liberation Army to be ready for a Taiwan war in 2027, and the chief of Naval Operations of the U.S. Navy, in turn, told her forces to be ready for a war with China by the same date. Meanwhile, the FBI continues to discover Beijing’s preparations for massive cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure that could disable us during a Taiwan war. Such preparations are destabilizing as the first to strike the other’s electricity grid and satellites, for example, will have a major advantage on the battlefield.
So the question of U.S. and European weakness that Kubilius and Beijing perceive matters. What we do to defend Ukraine matters to whether the CCP decides to launch a war against Taiwan in 2027. Defeating Russia in Ukraine by 2026 could avoid a war with China that year that blacks out the entire United States and destroys us as a global superpower, even if we win. In that case, we would not be very helpful in defending Europe.
Kubilius of Lithuania is one unlikely successor to former president Ronald Reagan and his doctrine of “peace through strength.” But this is his approach. He wants the European Union to borrow money to massively increase defense spending. He wants to require each country in the EU to stockpile enough ammunition for a war with Russia that could come within a few years, he said. Germany, according to a report in 2022, only had enough ammunition for two days of war. That explains its general willingness to give in to Russia, China, and Iran.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen likewise believes the European Union must spend far more on defense to deter war with Russia. She estimates that the EU must spend approximately $560 billion to account for low defense spending that stretches back to the wishful thinking of the 1990s when some in the United States thought we had achieved global “primacy.” In fact, the enemies of democracy were just regrouping for a future fight.
The CCP regime is indeed watching as Ukraine and Israel struggle to put down dictatorial and terrorist aggressions against them. Calls in the United States for them to moderate their responses, however popular among our voters, look weak to the CCP. Similar calls over the decades for Taiwan to moderate its response to the CCP also look weak. To keep the peace that is left in the world, we need to meet these aggressions not with fear and weakness but with strength and courage. That is the surest way to not only a lasting peace but to one with justice.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/01/2024 - 23:25
Published:10/1/2024 11:40:55 PM
|
[Markets]
The Creation Of Our "Permanent Record"
The Creation Of Our "Permanent Record"
Authored by David Barnhizer via The Brownstone Institute,
There is no longer an American democracy, and the American Republic is disintegrating as those in control of what is generally referred to as “The Left” aggressively pursue the elimination of the Constitutionally-created Electoral College, a process created specifically to diffuse power and prevent a single group from gaining total and permanent control of America’s federal government. America was a vast, sprawling, diverse, and complex nation at the time of its creation. That scale, diversity, and complexity have been multiplied exponentially since that point.
As Aristotle warned, one of the flaws of democracy was that even though such systems began with a sense of shared community, eventually a majority would emerge that understood its voting power essentially provided full power to dictate rules. The flaw that undermined the system was that the members of the controlling majority would come to realize they could help themselves by extracting from the minority a growing share of social goods and benefits. This would allow the controlling majority to impose higher costs on the minority that often disproportionately created greater returns. I guess we could think of this as imposing a “Wealth Tax” or even more a tax on “Unrealized Income” under the rubric of “Fair Share.”
America is changing by the moment into a new political form, the “Post-Democracy Electronic State.” It has “morphed” into competing fragments seeking power operating within the physical territory defined as the United States while tenuously holding on to a watered-down minimal list of the basic creeds that represent what we long considered an exceptional political experiment. The Rule of Law is significantly weakened and the institutions of law are being used politically by those in power. Freedom of speech and the press are increasingly corrupted to the point that you can’t be certain of the truth or intent of what we are seeing and reading.
Our “leaders” have morphed into cartoon characters who unfortunately have no real understanding of the challenges we face and potential solutions that could preserve the integrity of America. We are beset by various crises—economic, the effects of Artificial Intelligence, immigration, and much more—that are weakening and distorting the nation and appear incapable of understanding or coping. Our educational systems in too many instances have become instruments of propaganda over critical matters over which our “educators” are taking one side of issues with complex elements rather than methods for educating an advanced population in ways that provide them the knowledge and focus needed to deal with the challenges we face.
The post-democracy political order now in power paradoxically consists of a combination of fragmented special interests eager to punish anyone who challenges their desires and a central government that is consolidating its power to monitor, control, and intimidate its citizens. This set of anti-democratic actors also includes an insatiable coterie of Big Data/Big Tech information gathering businesses that are functioning as “enablers” by amassing an inconceivable amount of data on Americans and everyone else for that matter. In some ways they have become a sort of “quasi-government” that subtly and surreptitiously operates almost invisibly but wields incredible influence.
A flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.
– Alexis de Tocqueville
None of us can claim the quality of original insight achieved by Alexis de Tocqueville in his early 19th century classic Democracy in America when he observed that the “soft” repression of democracy was unlike that in any other political form. De Tocqueville explained:
[T]he supreme power [of government]…covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided…Such a power does not destroy…but it enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.
The US, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe are far along in experiencing a “gentle” drift of the kind Tocqueville describes and are rapidly losing their integrity to the point they are becoming “pretend” democracies. The technological power of the Internet, and here I am using that term as shorthand for the host of information and communication capabilities that have developed over the past 15 to 25 years, has come into national and global society with such overwhelming speed that a “social tsunami” has swept through our society in ways that have devastated existing institutions and corrupted the traditional order.
Linked with the psychological effects of what is certain to be a multi-generational (if mislabeled) “War on Terror,” the changes generated by this incredible “event” involve phenomena we are still struggling to understand. The result is that we have changed seemingly overnight from a world in which government and communications media moved at relatively slow speeds with highly controlled access to political decision-makers, data sharing, and investigation, to one in which everyone is endowed with the unprecedented ability to present their views, establish relationships, and organize networks and action groups for both good and bad purposes.
On the Internet, we have billions of voices resounding in an uncontrolled cacophony where 95 percent represent ignorance and malice and perhaps five percent useful insights. This “new normal” includes the strange effects of X.com (formerly Twitter) as an “instant public opinion poll” for political hacks who will do anything to remain in office. It can be used to stir up rage and indignation, make absurd accusations, and create false impressions of a non-existent groundswell of support for the agendas of interest groups that have organized to use the Internet’s capabilities to push for what they want and punish those who deny or otherwise threaten their overtures.
The impact of this still-evolving system on governments and other traditional institutions is profound. One element of what is taking place is a change in the basic nature of society into the “surveillance state.” That newly created system is one in which powerful governmental and private actors increasingly keep track of everything we do in the name of national security, social cohesion, and consumer preference.
Nor is it solely the fading democracies of the West that are experiencing the angst of uncontrollable communication and all-penetrating surveillance. China, Russia, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern nations are all trying to cope with the fact that they are no longer in control of information and the levers of propaganda. The solution of course is to censor, deny access to specific sites, monitor the communications of citizens and others, and take “legal” steps to punish those defined by the governmental monitors as violators of communications defined as harmful or offensive such as “misinformation” or “disinformation” as defined by the state. China has recently arrested its most prominent blogger and enacted harsh criminal laws that impose multi-year prison sentences for spreading rumors through the Internet.
The upshot in the West is that there has been a shift in the nature of government from a reasonably representative hybrid form of complex democracy to a strange mixture of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm along with William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Perhaps one of the most ironic features is that as Internet-based communications systems and applications have come into use over the past two decades they have greatly enhanced the ability for widespread communication among a nation’s citizens. For the first time in our history, we have overcome physical distance and separation to the degree that it is possible to achieve face-to-face interchanges of the kind we always assumed were central to true democracy.
Unfortunately, the ability to communicate has been overwhelmed by numerous competing factors. This includes the discovery that we are a somewhat less than admirable species when provided a “voice”. The Internet has revealed an embarrassing level of ignorance, an increase in cynicism and distrust that has further weakened our views of others, and the loss of any sense of “civic virtue” or community. We no longer seek or achieve compromise in the interests of the larger common community because there is none.
The anonymous nature of many of our Internet communications is both cause and effect of the disintegration of the American community. Too many people hide behind masks while spewing venom and unfounded claims in a sort of “Urban Legend” syndrome circulated as fact. The cowardice and/or cynicism of anonymity is made even worse by the malice underlying much of the commentary as well as the over-hyped sensationalism of our mainstream media, and the disturbing desire for “fifteen minutes of fame” that characterizes many of our individual messages.
Along with these go abuses of power, illicit and criminal uses of Internet technology to harm and intimidate, and the inability of governments to know how to draw limits on their desire for information. At this point, we do not have the slightest clue about how to deal with the interacting forces of the new and still evolving forms of government and accompanying social order.
One thing that seems clear, however, is that much of it is not a positive evolution. The paradox is that the emerging system is in the process of becoming increasingly repressive at the same time it has expanded into a profoundly fragmented society. Each piece, whether representing an economic interest or one of political activism, is committed to relentlessly pursuing its particular agenda. This paradox disappears when we realize that fragmentation works well for the most powerful central political and economic organizations because it implements a “divide and conquer” strategy in which fragmented groups can always be set against each other while the core “power brokers” continue to consolidate power and reap the rewards of their “game.”
The threat from massive government surveillance of its citizens is psychological. The apprehension about what they “could” be doing and who might be looking at our profiles intimidate and “dumb us down.” We “think” without knowing that the National Security Agency (NSA), Department of Homeland Security, or FBI are building up something like our High School Permanent Record or our “social credit” record. Former Director of US National Intelligence James Clapper eventually was forced to admit he misstated (or lied) to Congress during testimony concerning the extent of his Agency’s illegal monitoring of US citizens’ telephonic communications.
Our “virtual” NSA Records could contain potentially bad things about us that we are not allowed to see or rebut, including the opinions of people who may have reasons to criticize us fairly or unfairly. Whether NSA or other actors we experience the fear of exposure of things we would prefer to remain hidden.
The fear exists even though we can never be certain of what “They” actually “know.” It is as if J. Edgar Hoover and his secret files have suddenly been brought back to life. Hoover was long thought to retain his enormous power over politicians in Washington due to possession of secret files detailing the “sins” of our leaders. Now the ability to control all of us by our “sins” if we “get out of line” has been moved to the corridors of the National Security Agency, Homeland Security, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook.
Republished from the author’s Substack
Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/01/2024 - 22:25
Published:10/1/2024 9:51:13 PM
|
[Markets]
Essential Liberty Vs. Temporary Safety
Essential Liberty Vs. Temporary Safety
Authored by Carl M. Cannon via RealClearPolitics,
This article was originally published on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 - with the election in 40 days, which in the Judeo-Christian tradition is a number of profound significance. It signals, among other things, the difficulty of maintaining one’s spiritual faith in the face of adversity.
The Bible tells us that the rains of the “great flood” lasted 40 days and 40 nights. Moses fasted for 40 days – and spent 40 days and nights atop Mount Sinai waiting to receive the Lord’s law. The New Testament tells us that Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights in preparation for his ministry – and ascended to heaven 40 days after his crucifixion.
Is it merely a metaphor? Perhaps. But a comforting one, as the number 40 also suggests that God has patience with us. This year, in America, He will need it.
Friday is also the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be uplifting or educational. Today’s words of wisdom concern the secular issue of criminal justice policy, as rendered not in the Old Testament, but in the Old West – by none other than Wild Bill Hickok.
But first, some context: Eight years ago this week Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump held their first debate. More than midway through the session – by then they were openly contemptuous of one another – the pair sparred over criminal justice policy. The context was rising homicide rates, particularly in Chicago and several other large cities.
The two candidates talked past one another. Trump tried to pin the violent crime increase on progressive Democratic Party reforms such as getting rid of “stop and frisk” in New York City. Clinton denied crime was really increasing and, with an assist from NBC anchorman Lester Holt, tried to pivot the discussion into a conversation about race.
Suffice it to say that nothing enlightening was uttered that night. But, in fairness, criminal justice policy is complicated. It’s difficult to even know the basic facts. In 2024, for example, despite assurances from Kamala Harris and her fellow Democrats (repeated word-for-word by the press) that violent crime is declining in this country, the picture isn’t that simple.
The source for the Democrats’ claim is the annual FBI Uniform Crime Report, which does show declining homicide rates. But the FBI numbers aren’t as solid as they once were. The reasons vary. For one thing, not every major police department even reports their numbers to the FBI anymore. Also, there is some evidence that more crimes, even serious felonies, are going unreported.
Another government metric, which comes from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, is the National Crime Victimization Survey. It's not perfect, either, but it shows an increase in crime. I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle, as it often is, but I will say this: When someone smugly assures you that crime is going down, check and see if you still have your wallet in your pocket or purse.
Which brings me (at long last) to Wild Bill Hickok.
Crime, a perennial political hot potato in this country, was the main issue in a local election held in central Kansas more than a century and a half ago. Tired of being brutalized by itinerant cowboys and local roughnecks who liquored up in the saloons in the county seat of Hays City, the citizens of Ellis County turned to an outsider in a special election on August 23, 1869.
The results were disputed, but ultimately Wild Bill Hickok was installed as sheriff. It didn’t take long for people to notice a difference.
Just a few days later, a bad hombre from Missouri named Bill Mulvey showed up in town. Mulvey’s reputation as a mean drunk preceded him, and the journey to Hays hadn’t mellowed him out. When informed that Wild Bill was the new law in town, Mulvey shot out the mirrors in the saloon where he was drinking whilst using bad language and issuing menacing warnings.
They were not veiled threats. Mulvey went so far as to boast that he’d come to Kansas to kill Bill Hickok. This may have just been whiskey talk, but as events unfolded it happened the other way around.
According to one eyewitness account, Mulvey rode up the street on his gray horse, rifle at the ready. Wild Bill strode out to meet him. Hickok broke the ominous silence by suddenly calling out to an imaginary gunman behind Mulvey.
“Don’t shoot him in the back!” Hickok shouted. “He is drunk.”
When Mulvey turned around, Hickok drew his pistol and shot him in the head.
A few weeks later, at 1 a.m. on September 27 – 155 years ago today – Hickok and his deputy came upon a gang of drunken cowboys tearing the hell out of John Bitter’s Beer Saloon. When Hickok ordered them to desist, one of the men, Samuel Strawhun, turned as if to rush the sheriff. Hickok quickly shot and killed him, quelling the melee.
The city fathers of Hays were left to contemplate that after only five weeks in office, Wild Bill Hickok had killed two men in the name of restoring order. Voters mulled it over, too, and in the regular November election that year, Hickok was voted out of office in favor of his deputy.
This tension between freedom and law and order is not a new one.
Benjamin Franklin referenced it in the context of frontier strife between settlers and Native Americans in 1755. Twenty years later at a conference in Boston intended to forestall war between the colonists and the British, Ben Franklin reprised a slightly different version of his aphorism. The Massachusetts Conference, as it was called, was in vain. War was coming. And Franklin’s comment explains why: “They who can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary Safety,” he wrote, “deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
And that is our quote of the week.
Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics and executive editor of RealClearMedia Group. Reach him on X @CarlCannon.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/30/2024 - 23:25
Published:9/30/2024 11:29:53 PM
|
[970ea4e1-0cb2-5105-a639-3c9dccc026e8]
Angelina Jolie drops FBI lawsuit after 2-year battle against agency over infamous 2016 Brad Pitt plane fight
Angelina Jolie ended her two-year lawsuit against the FBI after requesting more information about the 2016 Brad Pitt plane fight.
Published:9/29/2024 6:27:52 PM
|
[Markets]
House Intelligence Committee Sounds Alarm On Chinese Shopping App Temu
House Intelligence Committee Sounds Alarm On Chinese Shopping App Temu
Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
House Republicans on Sept. 25 requested a briefing by the FBI and U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over shopping app Temu, whose owners reportedly have ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee said they are concerned about the “growing national security and personal data concerns surrounding” Temu and its parent company, Pinduoduo, according to a statement. A letter noting their concerns, signed by every GOP lawmaker on the panel, was directed to FBI Director Christopher Wray and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
Those Republicans, led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), said that they are flagging Temu and Pinduoduo for “possible trade, slave labor, and national security concerns.”
The letter highlighted their concerns about Temu and cited a New York Post report from June showing that senior executives at the company and Pinduoduo have an affiliation with the CCP. That report said that the firm’s top leaders include a former senior official in the CCP’s State Administration for Market Regulation and a former official with the regulation department of the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, among others.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also told Fox Business in July that Temu is operated by Pinduoduo Inc., which is based in Shanghai and includes “former Chinese communist officials” in its ranks.
Other concerns include that the Pinduoduo app was suspended by Google last year because of malware concerns.
“Off-Play versions of this app that have been found to contain malware have been enforced on via Google Play Protect,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement last year.
When it was removed from the Google Play store, Pinduoduo said it was told by the tech giant that its “current version is not compliant with Google’s Policy,” adding that Google “has not shared more details.”
An Epoch Times review of the Google Play store shows that the Pinduoduo app currently isn’t listed, although Temu remains available and is one of the most widely downloaded apps on the Android platform.
“Due to the above cited incidents and many others, we are concerned about the protection of [Americans’] data,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Analogous to Congress’ action on TikTok, the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese national security laws, and [Americans’] data must be understood.”
The two federal agencies were asked whether the FBI has provided any intelligence to the SEC and whether the SEC has requested information regarding Temu or Pinduoduo relating to the companies’ reported ties with the CCP, malware concerns.
A report from research company Grizzly Research months ago said that it believes Temu has already illegally sold or intends to illegally sell “stolen data from Western country customers to sustain a business model that is otherwise doomed for failure.”
“Temu is estimated to be losing $30 per order. Its ad spending and shipping costs (1–2 weeks from China, expedited to U.S. delivery) are astronomical,” the report said.
The Epoch Times contacted Temu for comment on Sept. 25 about the House Republicans’ letter but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.
In July, the company told The Epoch Times that it rejected allegations made by Griffin in his lawsuit.
“The allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online, primarily from a short-seller, and are totally unfounded. We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves,” Temu said. “We understand that as a new company with an innovative supply chain model, some may misunderstand us at first glance and not welcome us.”
Tyler Durden
Fri, 09/27/2024 - 17:40
Published:9/27/2024 5:06:30 PM
|
[Markets]
FBI Claims It Doesn't Have DNC's Jan. 6 Pipe Bomb Footage
FBI Claims It Doesn't Have DNC's Jan. 6 Pipe Bomb Footage
Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA.com,
The FBI has claimed that it doesn’t have the Democratic National Committee headquarters’ security footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising—footage that would presumably show the discovery of a pipe bomb that was allegedly planted outside the DNC the night before.
The FBI’s admission was revealed in a Friday letter from Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. In that letter, Cuffari said he asked the FBI to review the DNC security videos from Jan. 6—but was told that the bureau doesn’t have that footage.
“On March 18, 2022, the FBI informed DHS OIG that it did not have any video footage from January 6, 2021,” Cuffari told Massie.
The letter to Massie was revealed Tuesday, the same day Revolver News published a report suggesting that the DNC pipe bomb footage was tampered with. Revolver reported that an unnamed DHS-OIG official viewed the DNC footage, and said that the footage clearly shows the pipe bomber planting a device on the evening of Jan. 5—something that the footage released by the FBI to the public doesn’t show.
Revolver also reported that the DHS-OIG official had to go to the DNC to view the footage—raising questions about why the FBI doesn’t have video of one of the most significant crimes from the whole Jan. 6 fiasco.
“We can only conclude that either the FBI is lying and did have footage, or they’re telling the truth and for some reason deleted the footage,” Revolver wrote on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris continues to be tight-lipped on the subject, despite the fact that her motorcade drove past the DNC pipe bomb on Jan. 6. Harris left the Capitol at 11:21 a.m. arrived to the DNC at 11:25 a.m., but the nearby pipe bomb wasn’t discovered until 1:07 p.m. by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
Some J6 researchers argue that Harris’s silence on the issue suggests that the U.S. government is engaging in a coverup with the pipe bomb case—perhaps because a government asset planted the bombs, or for some other unknown reason. On Tuesday, Massie raised that possibility again.
“It’s almost as if they don’t want to know. Can you rule out that there were any confidential human sources involved in the whole pipe bomb thing?” Massie asked DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Horowitz said he didn’t “recall” whether any government assets were involved, but he’d have to go back and refresh his memory. Massie then called for answers on the matter before Election Day.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/26/2024 - 10:15
Published:9/26/2024 9:28:46 AM
|
[Markets]
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Hit With Historic Federal Indictment
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Hit With Historic Federal Indictment
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges, marking a historic first for the city as he becomes the first sitting mayor to face such charges. The specifics of the charges remain shrouded in secrecy due to a sealed indictment, the NY Times reports.
Adams, a retired NYC police captain, became the city's 110th mayor nearly three years ago after campaigning on a promise to reduce crime and revitalize the city.
Last November, the feds seized Adams' electronic devices just days after he searched the Brooklyn home of his chief fundraiser. His aides claim he's been cooperating with authorities, while Adams himself maintains that he did nothing wrong.
But the mayor staffed top positions with friends and loyalists, and his inner circle has been engulfed by numerous federal investigations that have increasingly targeted the highest ranks of city government. Earlier this month, federal agents seized phones from numerous top city officials, including a top aide to Mr. Adams, the schools chancellor and the police commissioner. The commissioner, Edward A. Caban, and the schools chancellor, David C. Banks, later resigned. -NYT
Meanwhile, several people in Adams' orbit have been the subjects of federal corruption investigations.
Hours before the indictment, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called on Adams to resign over the "flood of resignations and vacancies" that "are threatening gov function."
Wonder if she was tipped off?
Developing...
Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/25/2024 - 21:16
Published:9/25/2024 8:35:34 PM
|
[Markets]
America Tried Third-World Immigration In The 1980s And The Results Were Horrifying
America Tried Third-World Immigration In The 1980s And The Results Were Horrifying
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,
The American Founding Fathers built our nation on a core premise that has been long forgotten and this memory lapse is causing endless grief for current generations. What premise? That the rest of the world is not the responsibility of the US. We don’t owe the world anything, we don’t need to be involved in foreign wars, we are not beholden to foreign interests and we are not obligated to foreign peoples.
America is not a “melting pot.” It never has been a melting pot. This phrase is used by leftists and open borders activists to suggest that there is no American culture; that we are nothing more than an economic buffet for far flung tribes to feast upon.
America is its own very separate and very distinct culture with comprehensive tradition, principles and ideals. If foreigners want to come here they have to play by our rules, learn our language, assimilate into our culture and respect our heritage or they can go back to whatever cesspool country they are running away from. It’s that simple.
America started out with this vision because much of the world at the time of the Revolution was mired in empire, oligarchy and in some cases barbarism. Americans separated themselves from that world because it was hostile to the common man’s freedom and prosperity. The revolution was not just a war to secede from the British Empire, it was a means to stay isolated from the entanglements of foreign deviants.
Whether or not that plan was ever successful is up for debate, but the intent was real and consistently stated by the founders. As George Washington noted in his farewell address in 1796:
“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government…”
This sentiment can and does extend to mass immigration. George Washington, in a letter to John Adams, stated that immigrants should be integrated into American life so that:
“…By an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, laws: in a word soon become one people.”
Though they supported the idea of immigrants making a new life in the US, they asserted that restriction and requirements be met. Also, at that time the majority of immigrants were from Europe, were familiar with western customs and the vast majority were Christian. Open borders was NEVER a promise of American society. Thomas Jefferson warned against the effects of uncontrolled immigration and predicted quite clearly the crisis we are facing today. He stated:
“Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours…is a composition of the freest principles of the English constitution, with others derived from natural rights and natural reason. To these nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies. Yet, from such, we are to expect the greatest number of emigrants.
They will bring with them the principles of government they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty.
These principles, with their language, they will transmit to their children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its direction, and tender it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass.”
In other words, Jefferson knew that migrants indoctrinated into mindless peasantry and conflicting ideologies would have no concept of individual liberty. They would one day overwhelm American culture and destroy it from within if we allowed them to.
Somewhere along the way the idea of mass immigration became romanticized. The migrations from Europe in the last decades of the 1800s and early 1900s are constantly depicted as a golden era, but again, these were predominantly European immigrants with Christian backgrounds, not third world migrants from completely alien societies.
The period was still rife with problems and was only ultimately accepted because the Civil War had wiped out the military and the working population. It was glorified later by Hollywood as some kind of core symbol of the American identity – The “melting pot” lie was born.
Even if you believe immigration was advantageous over a century ago, that doesn’t mean it is advantageous now. Times change and so must government policies reflect those changes. Clinging to the fantasy of America as a golden isle with enough riches for all is pure stupidity. If the American dream is offered to everyone, it will be achieved by no one.
Americans should have learned this lesson well during the immigration disaster of the early 1980s under the Jimmy Carter Administration. The federal government opened the floodgates to mostly unvetted migrants from Cuba and Haiti. The event, called the Mariel Boatlift, sparked one of the worst escalations of criminal violence in our nation’s history and it led to the deaths of thousands of innocents. Famously depicted in the 1983 film ‘Scarface’ and the 1984 drama television series ‘Miami Vice’, the crime wave that erupted in the face of the migrant surge was not fictional, it was very real and it made a long lasting impression on American society.
Though some Cubans became staunch anti-communists and integrated well into American society, many were violent convicts kicked out of Cuba by Castro and dumped on American shores along with Haitian gang members and even foreign spies. In Florida where most of the migrants first congregated, murder rates exploded for over a decade.
Racial tensions skyrocketed as black Americans in Miami argued they were being pushed out of the economy and that they were being targeted by Cubans and Haitians.
Keep in mind, the event was composed of only 150,000 migrants. Compare this to the over 500,000 Haitians imported into US communities (along with 800,000 other refugee applicants), not to mention the tens of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from South America, that have entered the country under the Biden Administration.
What is the obvious conclusion? That the third world and the western world are completely incompatible. They cannot be reconciled and very few people from the third world should ever be allowed to settle in the US. There should be a list of countries that we rarely take migrant applications from, and illegal immigration in general should be punished severely as it is in many nations.
Due to open border policies, Americans are suffering under an unprecedented housing crisis as foreign demand drives up rental prices. We have rising crime in sanctuary cities and Democrats refuse to fully track and report that data to the FBI until 2025. We have Venezuelan cartels invading metro areas across the US. And, we have local reports of Haitian migrants eating park animals and people’s pets. The situation isn’t pretty.
These people are NOT our responsibility. If history is any indication, things are going to get a lot worse in the near term unless illegal migrants and Biden’s third world visa recipients are removed from the country.
The immigration policies under Jimmy Carter were an unmitigated disaster and the Biden Administration seems to be following the exact same trajectory. Leftists and globalists argue that it is a part of our national identity to accept and cope with mass immigration. They also argue that American “imperialism” is the direct cause of instability in the world, and thus we must “pay the price” by welcoming the third world into our backyard.
The supposed effects of “American imperialism” are irrelevant. They do not matter and such foreign policy is often initiated by the very same people that now claim the American public must pay the price for foreign entanglements. The elites create the problems and we are required to suffer for them.
Foreigners should be tasked with fixing their own countries just as we Americans are tasked with fixing ours. We owe them nothing. No reparations, no redistribution of wealth, no inclusivity, no American dream. They need to go out and fight for those things on their own.
The solution is clear: All illegal immigrants need to be extricated from US borders and a moratorium on immigration must be put in place (for at least five years) until we sort out the mess that has been created.
The American communities that are being invaded by migrants right now should also have a say. Those native born Americans have built and maintained the towns and cities under siege right now, and no one is asking them how they feel about the cultural replacement agenda on their doorstep.
Make no mistake, illegal migrants will be leaving the US one way or another. There is a peaceful way to do this, and there’s other ways. I have little doubt that conflict will be the most likely outcome. If the current federal policies remain in place the concerns of native born citizens will be ignored and people will snap, at which point they will do what the establishment fears most of all – They will organize. And when Americans organize things will turn interesting very quickly.
* * *
If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch. Learn more about it HERE.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/24/2024 - 18:25
Published:9/24/2024 5:55:15 PM
|
[Markets]
Failed Trump Assassin Had A List Of Everywhere Trump Would Be August To October
Failed Trump Assassin Had A List Of Everywhere Trump Would Be August To October
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
The deranged leftist who attempted to kill president Trump was in possession of a list of venues and events where the GOP nominee was going to appear, according to a detention filing.
Ryan Routh appeared in court Monday charged with two federal gun crimes: Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession, and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
DOJ prosecutors noted that Routh also conducted several reconnaissance trips to Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence months before he was caught.
Routh’s apparent knowledge of intimate details of Trump’s schedule has led many to question where he got it from, with Rep. Eli Crane even suggesting there could be a mole within the Secret Service who is intent on seeing Trump killed.
It also emerged that Routh weirdly wrote a letter addressed “Dear world” outlining how he had tried to assassinate Trump, but had failed. Within the letter he offers $150,000 to anyone who can finish the job.
The DOJ filed the letter along with other materials contained within a box that Routh left with someone he knew.
The filing states, “On September 18, 2024, law enforcement was contacted by a civilian witness who stated that ROUTH had dropped off a box at his residence several months prior. After learning of the September 15, 2024, incident at Trump International, the witness opened the box. The witness stated the box contained ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters. One handwritten letter, addressed to ‘The World,’ stated, among other things, ‘This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.’“
Images of the letter are now all over the internet.
The immediate question arising from this is why has the DOJ made public, in open court with no redactions, a direct call from a violent lunatic to target Trump for yet another assassination attempt?
Donald Trump Jr. is asking the same question.
Meanwhile, Trump himself sent out an email to supporters Monday describing the federal charges brought against Routh as a “slap on the wrist”
Trump wrote, “The Kamala Harris/Joe Biden Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July.”
He added, “The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist. It’s no wonder, since the DOJ and FBI have been coming after me nonstop with Weaponized Lawfare since I announced my first Historic Campaign for the Presidency.”
Trump continued, “The DOJ and FBI have a Conflict of Interest since they have been obsessed with ‘Getting Trump’ for so long,” adding “It’s very difficult to trust the Biden/Harris DOJ/FBI to investigate the assassination attempts, due to Election Interference and the FAKE CASES brought against me, including their control over local D.A.s and A.G.s.”
“Shockingly, after the bullet went through my ear on that fateful day in Butler, Pennsylvania, the FBI Director went before Congress and falsely said that it may not have been a bullet, ‘It was just glass or shrapnel’ – a lie condemned by even my worst enemies. What he said was disgraceful, especially since it was witnessed LIVE by millions of people, and he was forced to immediately retract,” Trump further urged.
“If the DOJ and FBI cannot do their job honestly and without bias,” Trump continued, “and hold the aspiring assassin responsible to the full extent of the Law, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead on the investigation and prosecution.”
He concluded, “Florida charges would be much more serious than the ones the FBI has announced. The TRUTH would be followed, wherever it leads. OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT AND DISCREDITED, especially as it pertains to the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. LET FLORIDA HANDLE THE CASE!”
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/24/2024 - 13:05
Published:9/24/2024 12:34:25 PM
|
[Markets]
"Wake-Up Call": Amid Growing Violence, More Churches Turn To Faith-Based Security Groups
"Wake-Up Call": Amid Growing Violence, More Churches Turn To Faith-Based Security Groups
Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Carl Chinn, 65, is a man of deep faith who thought church was a place to go to find peace—until he locked eyes with an angry gunman 28 years ago.
On May 2, 1996, a man carrying a rifle, a handgun, and claiming to have explosives walked into the Focus on the Family ministry in Colorado Springs and took four hostages.
Chinn was one of those hostages, and his experience changed his outlook on the vulnerability of churches from that day forward.
Before then, “security wasn’t even in the back of my mind,” he said.
The suspect, a construction worker, carried out the attack four years after he injured himself while building the ministry’s new 256,000-square-foot facility.
He filed for disability at the time, but his insurance ruled the injury was due to “horseplay” and substantially cut his benefits.
It took four years for the man’s anger to reach critical mass—four years to come back to “exact his form of justice,” Chinn told The Epoch Times.
“He wanted to go out suicide by cop.”
During the hostage situation, the man shot into a wall before police were able to arrest him.
“That was my wake-up call,” Chinn said. “That incident changed the trajectory of my life.”
It also wasn’t the only time he encountered an armed intruder in church.
In 2007, Matthew John Murray, 24, killed two people and wounded two others as he opened fire at a church youth training center in Arvada, Colorado.
Murray evaded law enforcement and later that afternoon he shot and killed two more people and wounded three others at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs before he was fatally shot by a security team member.
Chinn was there on the day of the shooting. He knew one thing about the gunman: “He hated Christians.”
The former building engineer said after the first incident in which he was held hostage, he started reading up on the degree to which attacks were happening in churches across the United States.
Chinn looked at law enforcement databases and found violent attacks were a leading cause of death in churches: Around 1,050 people died out of 2,361 total incidents between 1999 and 2020.
He compiled a list of “deadly force incidents” for the 22-year period and found the No. 1 reason was robbery, with 464 incidents (24.4 percent).
The second-leading cause of fatal force encounters was domestic violence, accounting for nearly 15 percent of all cases.
Five percent of the deadly force incidents were motivated by hatred against houses of worship, Chinn said. Recent incidents show that anti-religious bias is not going away.
On May 5, a man walked up to the pulpit and pointed a gun at Glenn Germany, pastor of the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in Braddock, Pennsylvania, while he was preaching.
The man tried to pull the trigger but the gun jammed, according to news reports. Another church member quickly wrestled the gun from him.
In another incident, a man was wounded in the leg after a woman with a history of mental illness began shooting an AK-47 inside the Lakewood Church in Texas on Feb. 11.
Genese Moreno, 36, was killed by police after she opened fire. In a hail of bullets, her 7-year-old son also died.
Chinn, president of the Faith Based Security Network (FBSN) founded in 2017, said that deadly attacks at houses of worship are becoming more commonplace.
He said it’s a sign of the times and an ominous indicator of a society in rapid moral decline.
“We absolutely are seeing more animosity towards faith-based organizations by those who espouse what I would call anti-moral opinions,” Chinn said.
“I believe we are going to continue seeing attacks.”
The FBSN now boasts 800 members from Christian congregations, as well as Jewish synagogues and other religious groups across the nation.
Chinn, who has witnessed a dramatic hardening of public buildings against acts of violence, said attacks against houses of prayer is a growing issue.
“You can hardly walk into a school without being stopped,” Chinn said. “It’s getting harder to do an attack at a school. It’s getting hard to perform an attack on any municipality or government building.”
He said that historically, churches have been the last to shore up their facilities against deadly violence and other potential disruptions
Assessing Threats
Chinn’s mission as an FBSN instructor of “intentional security readiness” is to make membership organizations “ready, willing, and able to protect the people they love.”
Raising awareness of potential threats, creating security teams and protocols, building security, and using deadly force and non-lethal means are some of the things the FBSN teaches.
“I believe it is an absolute requirement for the coming age,” Chinn said. “I think we’re in for tough times in this country. The divisions are very sharp.”
Chinn found that 118 people had died in 2017 and 88 people died in 2018, according to law enforcement databases. Each year, there were 261 reported incidents.
In 2019, there were 216 total violent incidents and 74 deaths. During the pandemic, there were 178 incidents and 71 deaths.
“I absolutely believe there is a slip in moral character in our country which has lessened the degree of respect for sanctuary-type places,” Chinn said.
“In fact, there’s hatred toward faith-based organizations. There is a cry for something to be more stable. I don’t know what the political solution is.”
Death By Numbers
Each year, the FBI collects data on 49 different types of crime through the National Incident-Based Reporting System with reports from law enforcement agencies in 32 states.
The Dolan Consulting Group, which provides training for law enforcement, examined 17 years of FBI data between 2000 and 2017 and counted 1,652 violent incidents against houses of worship, including robbery, aggravated assault, shootings, stabbings, and bombings.
The 1,652 violent incidents resulted in 155 deaths and 742 injuries over the time period. On average there were 97 incidents per year causing nine deaths and 44 injuries.
“Extrapolating to the whole U.S. population, we estimated that there are actually about 480 incidents of serious violence at places of worship in the U.S. each year,” according to the Dolan Consulting Group.
“These incidents produce about 46 deaths and 218 serious injuries annually. This is a serious problem. As the vast majority of places of worship in the U.S. are Christian churches, it is not surprising that 94 percent of the incidents occurred at Christian churches.”
In 2019, the FBI said that hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,650 incidents reported by law enforcement.
Around 60 percent of these incidents were against Jews, 13.3 percent were against Muslims, 4 percent were against Catholics, and 3.6 percent were against other Christians.
Chinn said his organization does not monitor hate crimes, focusing instead on lethal encounters.
“We only track deadly force incidents. When you’re tracking the worst of the worst, the data set changes,” he said.
The Arizona Church Security Network is a group that helps around 300 churches in Arizona with resources and training.
Read the rest here...
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/23/2024 - 19:15
Published:9/23/2024 6:39:20 PM
|
[Politics]
The place crime obviously spiked since 2020? Trump’s imagination.
New data from the FBI reinforces that violent crime fell under Biden, despite Trump’s insistence that crime is surging.
Published:9/23/2024 3:27:59 PM
|
[Free Speech]
[Eugene Volokh] Court Upholds Conviction for Threatening Attack on the FBI
From Friday's U.S. v. Miah, decided by Judge Felipe Restrepo, joined by Chief Judge Michael Chagares and Judge Arianna Freeman: In September 2020, FBI Special Agent Nick Edquist and an officer from the Joint Terrorism Task force went to Miah's apartment to interview him about his comments on several social media platforms. Miah's comments drew…
Published:9/23/2024 11:12:28 AM
|
[Markets]
Why Did The Biden DoJ Release Trump Assassin's $150,000 Reward To "Complete The Job" Letter To The Public?
Why Did The Biden DoJ Release Trump Assassin's $150,000 Reward To "Complete The Job" Letter To The Public?
Former President Trump's would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh wrote a chilling letter admitting he failed in trying to take the life of the former president, and offering a reward for anyone who can finish the job...
The note was addressed to the “World” and reads:
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” according to court papers.
Routh dropped off a box at a person’s home that included the letter, the court documents state.
As Jack Phillips reports at The Epoch Times, law enforcement officials were contacted on Sept. 18, or three days after he was arrested, by a person who said that Routh dropped off the box at his location in the months prior to the incident. The witness opened the box after learning of Routh’s arrest, finding ammunition, phones, and various letters.
Prosecutors said the note and other evidence found at the scene show a need for Routh to be detained while the government builds its case against him. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday morning at a federal court in Florida.
“Because the facts are offered for the limited purpose of supporting the United States’s request for pretrial detention, the facts in this written proffer do not set forth all of the information and evidence known to the United States in this ongoing investigation,” the court documents state.
Prosecutors found “a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine.”
“He [the former President] ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled,” Routh wrote in one of the documents, according to the court papers.
"Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest knows that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less U.S. president. U.S. presidents must at the bare miminum embody the moral fabric that is America and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity."
Cellphone records from two of the recovered phones show that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, 2024, prosecutors wrote.
Further, on “multiple days and times from Aug. 18, 2024, to Sept. 15, 2024, Routh’s cellphone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago,” the filing said.
A cellphone that was recovered by authorities showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County, Florida, to Mexico. Federal officials also found a list with dates in August, September, and October as well as venues where the former president had appeared and was scheduled to appear, prosecutors say.
During his first court appearance last week, Routh declared that he had no assets and only owned two trucks worth $1,000. In a 2023 book that apparently written by him, Routh also wrote that he had no bank account and no retirement savings.
Posts made by Routh on X and other social media sites show that he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, even posting images and videos of himself in Kyiv and other areas in Ukraine since the war started. He also made critical comments about the former president, including several in July that referenced the first assassination attempt.
Routh faces federal firearms charges in connection to the Sept. 15 incident. Prosecutors say that Routh, 58, camped out near Trump’s Florida golf course for 12 hours before his gun barrel was spotted by a Secret Service agent, who then fired at the suspect before he fled the scene.
Authorities also discovered an SKS-style rifle with 11 rounds, including one round in the chamber, according to the court papers. Officials previously said that the suspect did not fire any shots and had no direct line of sight to Trump, who was golfing at the time of the incident. The former president also was not harmed.
In July, Trump survived his first assassination attempt and was shot in the ear by a gunman who fired at a rally while he was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, prompting questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect him.
The FBI said that when its agents attempted to interview Routh after he was detained on Sept. 15, he invoked his right to an attorney. Routh has not entered a plea.
Finally, Matt Walsh brings up a crucial point about the release of this letter:
"They didn't release the Covenant shooter manifesto because they were allegedly afraid it would inspire more shootings. And yet within a week they release a letter from Trump's would-be assassin where he openly encourages more shootings and offers to pay for them."
Routh is set to appear in federal court on Monday for a detention hearing after the attempted assassination on September 15 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Better keep an eye out for 'Jack Ruby'-esque followers...
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/23/2024 - 10:30
Published:9/23/2024 10:03:47 AM
|
[Markets]
Just Weeks Before Election, AG Garland Says (Un-Sarcastically): He 'Won't Allow DoJ To Be Used As Political Weapon'
Just Weeks Before Election, AG Garland Says (Un-Sarcastically): He 'Won't Allow DoJ To Be Used As Political Weapon'
Authored by Julie Kelly via RealClearinvestigations,
To Many, the Justice Dept. Is Honoring Political Neutrality in the Breach Again
Attorney General Merrick Garland broke precedent just weeks before the November election, delivering politically charged remarks at the U.S. Attorneys’ National Conference in Washington – pointedly speaking publicly rather than privately in a departure from his usual practice.
“Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon,” he said before a packed house, gathered in the Great Hall of DOJ headquarters on Sept. 12. “Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”
Garland’s words came in response to former President Trump’s assertion during his debate with Kamala Harris that the FBI and Justice Department had been weaponized against him. But in issuing a fiery rebuttal, the attorney general put himself squarely where he said he didn’t want to be: namely, in the crossfire of a partisan political campaign.
Moreover, in the view of many, his assertions clearly belie the Justice Department’s deeds. These critics say it’s obvious that the FBI and DOJ have repeatedly put a thumb on the scale of justice to defeat Trump. In 2016, it was the Russia-gate collusion hoax. In 2020 it was the FBI’s refusal to say not only that it was in possession of Hunter Biden’s incendiary laptop, but that it had verified its contents, even as Joe Biden claimed erroneously that it was a Russian plant.
Most recently, after being rebuffed by the Supreme Court, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment against Donald Trump regarding the 2020 election, just 74 days before Election Day. DOJ guidelines advise against filing politically relevant charges 60 days before an election.
In recent weeks, DOJ, led by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, has accelerated the arrest of those who protested at and breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Several new defendants live in swing states, which reintroduces Jan. 6 in local and national headlines while bolstering key talking points of Democrat standard-bearer Kamala Harris and others in this year’s campaign.
Such Trump antagonists regularly describe the former president as a “threat to democracy” – rhetoric echoed by the second and latest alleged would-be Trump assassin to emerge in the campaign, before his arrest Sunday.
On the same day Garland addressed the conference, the FBI arrested Justina Guardino, a 34-year-old member of a North Carolina chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nationwide group of moms defending their children from “woke” ideology and government overreach; Trump spoke to the group in Washington last month.
According to DOJ charging documents, Guardino nonviolently entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 and stayed inside for approximately 10 minutes.
Despite being interviewed by law enforcement in the summer of 2022, the FBI waited more than two years to make and announce her arrest, raising questions as to whether the DOJ is delaying arrests to coincide with the election. Early voting begins in North Carolina in mid-October.
Since Aug. 1, Graves’ office has announced the arrest of several more J6ers, including individuals from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Michigan, considered must-win states for Harris.
Appointed by Joe Biden in 2021, Graves appears to be fulfilling his pledge to bring the overall J6 caseload to 2,000 defendants before the statute of limitations runs out; the total number of defendants just exceeded 1,500 last week. Meanwhile, his office has brought one federal charge against a single pro-Hamas demonstrator despite hundreds being involved in unlawful activities such as attacking federal police officers, vandalizing property, and illegally occupying government buildings on numerous occasions in 2023 and 2024.
Graves also handled the prosecution of Trump allies Peter Navarro and Steven Bannon on contempt of Congress charges for defying subpoenas issued by the Democrat-controlled House January 6 Select Committee. Although both prosecutions resulted in prison time for Navarro and Bannon, critics note that the cases were brought at the discretion of the department. Bannon is currently serving a four-month sentence in a Connecticut federal prison, successfully shutting down his popular “War Room” program during the height of the campaign season.
In what might also be considered election interference by the DOJ, Graves, who rarely conducts interviews, appeared in a J6 segment on “60 Minutes” on the evening of September 15 – just hours after the alleged assassination attempt against Trump on his West Palm Beach golf course.
Graves defended his ongoing J6 investigation and prosecution as fair and free of White House influence. (Graves said he has never met Joe Biden, but as RCI reported last year, Graves’ wife, Fatima Goss Graves, is a regular visitor at the White House.) “No one is being prosecuted for their views,” Graves told reporter Scott Pelley. “They’re being prosecuted for their acts.”
The “crime was severe,” Graves continued. “It was an attack on our democracy.”
But the DOJ recently hit a major roadblock in the J6 prosecution, calling into question Garland’s claims of a careful adherence to the rule of law devoid of bias.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer v. United States reversed how the DOJ applied a statute, 1512(c)(2), obstruction of an official proceeding, in the Capitol Breach probe. Since early 2021, at least 340 Jan. 6 protesters and Donald Trump have been charged with the post-Enron statute, once understood to apply to document-altering. In many instances, the felony was added to otherwise misdemeanor cases to turn nonviolent protesters into felons. Prosecutors also used the threat of adding the felony enhancement to secure plea deals on lower-level charges.
At least 130 individuals have been convicted at trial or accepted plea deals on the obstruction count with many sentenced to prison time.
Since the Fischer decision was published, prosecutors have been dismissing the count in pending cases. Last week, the D.C. appellate court vacated 15 1512(c)(2) convictions. Dozens more will see their convictions vacated over the next several weeks.
But the relief did not come soon enough for defendants who already served prison time on the charge. Further, the DOJ is asking judges to keep defendants currently in jail on the 1512(c)(2) behind bars by seeking longer prison time on their remaining charges.
For example, Thomas Robertson, a former police officer from Virginia, was sentenced to 87 months following his conviction by a D.C. jury in 2022. The 1512(c)(2) conviction represented the bulk of the prison sentence since it is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
This month the DOJ dismissed the obstruction count against Robertson, but prosecutors asked Judge Christopher Cooper to keep Robertson incarcerated for the full term by applying several sentencing add-ons to his conviction.
“I think what happened that day was an attack on democracy, and, as this Court found, the defendant advocated for an armed rebellion and counterinsurgency, and he came with the intent to do violence,” assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi told Cooper on Sept. 4. “Robertson was an avid and willing participant in an unprecedented crime. His offenses specifically targeted the peaceful transfer of power, an essential government function and one of the fundamental and foundational principles of our democracy.”
Cooper, whose 1999 wedding was officiated by then-Judge Merrick Garland, consented to most of the DOJ’s sentencing enhancements. He sentenced Robertson to 72 months in federal prison.
“The historical significance of the certification and the effect that your conduct had on our democratic principles and the country more generally, this is not just hyperbole,” Judge Cooper told Robertson. “These are very real harms that not just you, but including you, caused on January 6th.”
The DOJ is expected to make the same argument in several other cases.
“The continued harsh treatment of Jan. 6 prisoners is a glaring example of the egregious weaponization of our justice system under the Biden-Harris administration,” Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, who recently was denied access to a section of the D.C. jail that houses J6 defendants, told RCI. “This politicized use of the Department of Justice, spearheaded by Kamala Harris and her allies, has turned the legal system into a tool for silencing dissent and punishing political opposition.”
Critics say Garland’s ongoing prosecution of Trump also contradicts his insistence that the DOJ steers clear of national elections. Special Counsel Smith, appointed by Garland in November 2022, just renewed the stalled case against Trump related to the events of Jan. 6 in Washington. Smith could have waited until after the election to file his new indictment, and critics say his timing can be an interpreted to bolster J6 as a campaign issue.
The Justice Department continues to allocate resources to the special counsel’s office; recent financial disclosures show Smith and DOJ spent more than $35 million in the first 14 months of the special counsel’s investigation. That figure likely could double by the time his appointment ends, which is at the discretion of the attorney general, or include the amount spent on the dual investigations before Smith was appointed.
Smith’s continued pursuit of Trump has drawn renewed scrutiny and skepticism since the Supreme Court challenged his original indictment as a broad attack on presidential immunity.
On July 1, the court published its decision in Trump v. United States. Authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the 6-3 opinion for the first time in history established three categories of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution: official acts, outer perimeter acts, and private acts. Official acts, the court held, are covered by immunity while outer perimeter acts – such as Trump’s communications with Vice President Mike Pence related to the J6 indictment – are what Roberts described as “presumptively immune.” On that score, Roberts continued, “it is ultimately the Government’s burden to rebut the presumption of immunity.”
The court further concluded that former presidents are not immune from prosecution for “unofficial” or private acts.
In order to hew to the decision, Smith filed a superseding indictment on Aug. 28 that partially gutted his original indictment, which had been handed up a year earlier. Since the Supreme Court determined Trump’s interactions with DOJ officials fell safely within the core constitutional authority of a sitting president, Smith had to cut nine pages of evidence and drop a co-conspirator, former Assistant Associate Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.
Although the watered-down indictment contains the same four counts as the first version, the case remains on uncertain legal ground given the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and opinion in the Fischer case.
But the special counsel, presumably with the consent of Attorney General Garland, is reinvigorating the case to coincide with the final weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign. Long-standing DOJ rules preventing the department from interfering in national elections are once again being ignored as Smith reappears in the headlines as early voting begins this month in several states including Virginia, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. In early October early voting commences in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada.
Smith found a like-minded ally in Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, the Obama appointee presiding over the unprecedented case. It was Chutkan’s 2023 order denying Trump’s claims of immunity from prosecution that the Supreme Court overturned and sent back to her for further proceedings.
Chutkan, who has a record of making anti-Trump statements in court and who imposed a gag order on the former president last year, told Trump’s lawyers at a Sept. 5 hearing that the election is not a factor in her calculation as to the next steps.
“I understand there is an election impending, and I’ve said before and I say again that the electoral process and the timing of the election and what needs to happen before or shouldn’t happen before the election is not relevant here,” Chutkan informed John Lauro, Trump’s lead attorney in the J6 case. “This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” she added.
In a follow-up scheduling order, Chutkan issued a series of deadlines leading right up to and a few days beyond Election Day. The special counsel will file a brief later this month articulating why he believes the existing elements of the J6 indictment are not protected under the Supreme Court ruling.
By permitting the filing of what even Chutkan herself described as a “procedurally irregular” document, Smith’s brief is likely to contain cherry-picked passages from grand jury testimony and other allegations to create damaging headlines that again claim Trump tried to stay in power by breaking the law.
The brief is expected to be filed before Sept. 26; Trump’s attorneys will have a chance to respond, further dragging the matter into the headlines.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/21/2024 - 23:20
Published:9/21/2024 10:38:24 PM
|
[Markets]
The Sins Of The Gray Lady (Or Why The Press Hates You)
The Sins Of The Gray Lady (Or Why The Press Hates You)
Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics,
The following is a chapter from the recently released book, “Against the Corporate Media: Forty-two Ways the Press Hates You.”
Readers of the New York Times know the news may change, but the message is always the same in their paper of record. It will play up every Republican kerfuffle and downplay Democratic scandals while presenting the choice between the two parties as a Manichean struggle between good and evil. Now clad in rainbow colors, the Gray Lady will, in the name of inclusion, celebrate a wide range of heretofore marginal behaviors – homosexuality, polyamory and transgenderism – while sowing divisions by separating Americans into warring camps based on race, gender, and ethnicity.
The transformation of the Times, and much of American journalism, during the last decade from a traditional newspaper that largely reports the news into the daily call sheet for the “woke” revolution that seeks to undermine the traditional pillars of American society is now so complete that it may seem unremarkable. Both its defenders and critics know exactly what to expect when they open its pages. Such acceptance, or resignation, is dangerous because it normalizes the great sin of the New York Times: the betrayal of hitherto bedrock journalistic principles of fairness, objectivity and pluralism that made the Fourth Estate a pillar of American democracy during the 20th century.
The paper’s radical reinvention of itself into a results-oriented tool serving leftwing social change has happened quickly – the Times of 2010 bears little resemblance to the paper published today. But enough time has passed so that we can identify both the key incidents and the dynamic political, cultural and economic forces that have transformed America’s most influential newspaper, and thus the nation itself.
That story began to come into focus on August 7, 2016 – the day American journalism crossed the Rubicon. That’s when the New York Times published a front-page article arguing that Donald Trump was such an “abnormal” candidate that “normal standards” of reporting on him were henceforth “untenable.” From now on, the paper made clear, the news columns of the Times would be taking sides. “If you view a Trump presidency as something that’s potentially dangerous,” Jim Rutenberg wrote, “then your reporting is going to reflect that. You would move closer than you’ve ever been to being oppositional.”
The article never explained why the normal standards of objectivity were insufficient. If Trump were truly a danger to the Republic, wouldn’t an honest accounting of his behavior be enough to expose him? As would become clear in the years that followed, the true danger to the nation would come from the license Rutenberg’s piece gave to reporters at the Times and the many news outlets that followed its lead to betray the core tenets of modern journalism not just in covering Trump, but regarding a wide array of issues. “All the news that’s fit to print” became redefined as all the news that advances the left’s narrative on race and crime, climate change and gender, capitalism, and even the history of the United States.
The breadth of this effort was suggested by researcher Zach Goldberg, whose keyword searches of the Times’ archive revealed the newspaper’s politically correct embrace of hot-button terms associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2010, Goldberg found that fewer than two hundred articles per year mentioned the word “social justice”; by 2018, the recorded total had more than quadrupled. He found similar increases in articles that mentioned “diversity and inclusion,” “whiteness,” “white privilege,” “white supremacy,” “systemic racism,” “discrimination,” “critical race theory,” “unconscious bias” and “implicit bias.” In 2010, Goldberg found some four hundred Times articles which included the word racism; by 2018, the total had risen six-fold.
The Times did not just radically change what it covered, but also how it covered it. Views on race and other issues that conflicted with the progressive narrative were increasingly seen through the Trumpian lens as “abnormal” and “potentially dangerous.” As Rutenberg suggested, journalism’s time-honored commitment to “objectivity” fell before the argument that respectfully airing a range of views on consequential issues was to fall prey to the sin of “both-siderism,” “whataboutism,” or “moral equivalence” – i.e., giving people deemed as liars (conservatives) the same space as truth-tellers (progressives).
Echoing language once restricted to discussion of the Holocaust, the Times brands anyone who questions global warming orthodoxy or the results of the 2020 presidential race as “climate-change deniers” and “election-deniers.” Those who challenge the wisdom of allowing young children claiming gender dysphoria to receive irreversible “medical treatment” or who assert that America has, in fact, removed racial impediments to advancement, are cast as bigots.
Yes, the Times has always had a liberal bias, and its history is filled with egregious examples of distorted coverage. As Ashley Rindsberg documented in his 2021 book, The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times’s Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History, these include the downplaying of Stalin’s crimes during the 1930s, largely ignoring the Holocaust during World War II, romanticizing Fidel Castro during the 1950s, and retailing a long history of anti-Israel coverage.
But its recent turn is different thanks to its aggressive ambition and scope. Rather than serving as an honest broker whose mission is to provide readers with the information needed to make decisions about important issues, it insistently puts its thumb on the scale, both in terms of the stories covered and those ignored. By replacing skepticism with ideology, the Times seeks not to inform, but to persuade. Its aim is not to reflect society but to transform it, and views to the contrary are verboten, beyond the pale of acceptable discourse.
Because the Times is, by far, the most influential news outlet in the United States, its embrace of progressive ideology has had a cascade effect, transforming the coverage and sensibility of thousands of newspapers and websites, TV and radio stations, entertainment companies, and corporations that follow its lead. Deliberately, it has legitimized and mainstreamed far-left views.
As Goldberg demonstrated, the Times’ commitment to the ongoing cultural revolution is deeply embedded in the sensibility and assumptions of almost every article it publishes. These include unnuanced celebrations of polyamory and drag queens and mainstreaming gender confusion among children in its “New York Times for Kids” special section. But two especially significant failures – The 1619 Project and the paper’s coverage of the Trump/Russia conspiracy theory – capture the extreme, dangerous path the paper of record now follows.
In August 2019, the newspaper devoted an entire issue of the New York Times Magazine to The 1619 Project. Its stated “goal” was “to reframe American history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 [the year enslaved sub-Saharan Africans first landed in North America] as our nation’s ”real” birth year. Doing so,” the magazine’s editor Jake Silverstein wrote in an introduction, “requires us to place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country.” Through eighteen articles and fifteen artistic contributions that spanned the length of American history, the project abandoned journalism’s traditional mission of presenting the complexity of consequential issues in order to make the argument that the nation’s past, present, and future have been and forever will be defined by anti-black racism. There were no dissenting views, and few countervailing facts.
The vast ambition of The 1619 Project underscores the Times’ transformation into a tool of the cultural revolution whose aim is to disrupt traditional understandings and beliefs about almost every aspect of American life. The hubris is astonishing. While newspapers have often revisited episodes of the past in response to scholars having unearthed new information, the 1619 Project started with an ideological position about the sweep of American history which it then set out to demonstrate through tendentious pieces. The lead essay was not written by a scholar, but an activist black journalist, Nikole Hannah-Jones.
The backlash was immediate, as many leading historians wrote lengthy critiques of nearly every article. This included a letter to the Times signed by five prominent scholars – including James M. McPherson and Sean Wilentz of Princeton University and Gordon Wood of Brown University – which challenged two of Hannah-Jones’ most sweeping assertions regarding the Revolutionary War and Abraham Lincoln.
“On the American Revolution, pivotal to any account of our history, the project asserts that the founders declared the colonies’ independence of Britain 'in order to ensure slavery would continue.' This is not true. … The project criticizes Abraham Lincoln’s views on racial equality but ignores his conviction that the Declaration of Independence proclaimed universal equality, for blacks as well as whites, a view he upheld repeatedly against powerful white supremacists who opposed him.”
The historians wrote that “These errors, which concern major events, cannot be described as interpretation or ‘framing.’ They are matters of verifiable fact, which are the foundation of both honest scholarship and honest journalism. They suggest a displacement of historical understanding by ideology.”
Rather than engage these prominent scholars, Hannah-Jones dismissed them as “white historians.” A few months later, their interpretation of the Project’s ideological spirit was underscored by Leslie M. Harris, an African-American historian at Northwestern University who helped fact-check Hannah-Jones essay. She wrote in Politico that she was stunned by Hannah-Jones’ assertion “that the patriots fought the American Revolution in large part to preserve slavery in North America,” because “I had vigorously argued against [it] with her fact-checker.”
In response to a letter from the five historians, Silverstein admitted that “we can hardly claim to have studied the Revolutionary period as long as some of the signatories, nor do we presume to tell them anything they don’t already know. … we disagree with their claim that our project contains significant factual errors and is driven by ideology rather than historical understanding.”
Instead of directly engaging their scholarship built on decades of professional experience and research, Silverstein advanced the postmodern view that there is no truth. “As the five letter writers well know, there are often debates, even among subject-area experts, about how to see the past. Historical understanding is not fixed; it is constantly being adjusted by new scholarship and new voices.”
Scholarship and journalism, however, are not supposed to be echo chambers for any current view, they are professional disciplines because they employ multiple processes of verification. They compare interpretations and opinions against the known body of facts – which can change – to determine the most accurate version of reality. Silverstein rejected that standard because he and his team didn’t want to search for the truth, they wanted to make an argument. “The very premise of The 1619 Project, in fact, is that many of the inequalities that continue to afflict the nation are a direct result of the unhealed wound created by 250 years of slavery and an additional century of second-class citizenship and white-supremacist terrorism inflicted on black people.”
This helps explain why the Times ignored most leading scholars of the period when preparing its sweeping reframing of American history. In interviews after publication, Hannah-Jones was even more explicit in the results-oriented structure of The 1619 Project when she stated that her goal “is that there'll be a reparations bill passed” compensating African Americans for past mistreatment. In another sign of the power of the Times, the call for African-American reparations, long a fringe movement, became a mainstream issue in the wake of publication as many communities and states openly considered the idea, including California, which assembled a commission that called for more than $800 billion in payments.
The Times’ influence and power were also apparent when Hannah-Jones was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her lead essay despite her profound errors.
The Times shared another Pulitzer Prize, with the Washington Post, in 2018 for its coverage of the Trump/Russia conspiracy theory. Although reports from two special counsels, Robert S. Mueller and John Durham, rejected the claim that Donald Trump had conspired with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 election, the two papers earned journalism’s top prize for what the Pulitzer board described as their “deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration.”
As with The 1619 Project, the Times’ Russiagate coverage was so one-sided, so driven by the goal of making the case against Trump, that the news that Mueller cleared Trump of the major claims against him came as a shock to many Times readers. Still, its corruption is easy to see in its refusal to address failures and to correct clear errors.
For one thing, the newspaper often relied on anonymous sources for its assertions. On Feb. 14, 2017, it published one of the foundational articles of the conspiracy theory, reporting that, “Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.” Four months later, then-FBI Director James B. Comey, told Congress that “in the main,” the Times report “was not true.” Documents declassified in 2020 show that Peter Strzok, the top FBI counterintelligence agent who opened the Trump-Russia probe, described the article at the time as "misleading and inaccurate.”
Similarly, on Dec. 30, 2017, the Times published another article based on anonymous sources that purported to describe the event that led the FBI to open the probe Strzok led. It began:
“During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton. About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.”
The Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, directly contradicted these details in subsequent interviews. He said he and Papadopoulos each had one early evening drink at the London bar, during which Papadopoulos never mentioned “dirt” or “thousands of emails,” just that “the Russians might use material that they have on Hillary Clinton in the lead-up to the election, which may be damaging.” The electronic communication the FBI used to officially open the probe on July 31, 2016, was even less precise. It stated that Papadopoulos had "suggested the Trump team had received some kind of suggestion from Russia that it could assist with the anonymous release of information during the campaign that would be damaging to Mrs. Clinton (and President Obama). It was unclear whether he or the Russians were referring to material acquired publicly or through other means.”
In fairness to the Times, the Russiagate hoax was advanced by current and former officials at the highest reaches of government – including the CIA and the FBI – who almost certainly served as anonymous sources for the newspapers. Because reporters rely on others for information, they can be duped. But, once such manipulation is clear, all promises of confidentiality are off, and journalists are under no obligation to protect sources who intentionally used and misled them. Indeed, they have a public duty to identify the source for many reasons. The first is to make their first draft of history as accurate as possible. In the case of the Russiagate hoax, this meant identifying those who perpetrated the fraud. What did they seek to gain? What weaknesses in current systems did they exploit? There are also journalistic concerns: to keep faith with their audience, news organizations must explain why they transmitted false information. They also have a professional interest in exposing liars to deter other sources from misleading them. Not only has the Times never revealed its deceitful sources but years later, the newspaper has still not corrected these and other identified errors in its reporting.
This willful refusal to set the record straight is a stark illustration of the newspaper’s ideological transformation. The Times, of course, famously runs a column of corrections each day. During its long history, it has also, on several occasions, reinvestigated and owned up to lapses in its own work, including a very public reassessment of its reporting on whether a Taiwanese-American atomic scientist named Wen Ho Lee had spied for the Chinese communists; and, in a seven-thousand word front-page story about how a troubled affirmative-action reporter named Jayson Blair had produced a number of fabricated and plagiarized stories. That led to his forced resignation in May 2003.
The Times, however, engaged in no such soul-searching regarding Russiagate – even after one of its former star reporters, Jeff Gerth, wrote a twenty-four thousand-word piece in the Columbia Journalism Review that took the newspaper and other news outlets to task for their Trump-Russia coverage that “includes serious flaws.” It appears the story was too big to correct. Nevertheless, the problems with the Russiagate coverage were so apparent that the Pulitzer board took the highly unusual step of commissioning what it called two “independent reviews” of prize-winning articles submitted by the Times and the Washington Post. However, in yet another sign of how the Times’ corruption has become standard operating procedure at the highest levels of American journalism, the board refused to release the reports or to identify their writers. Instead, it simply issued a brief statement declaring that “no passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes.”
The Pulitzer Board’s cover-up for the Times shows why the newspaper’s sins are especially grave and consequential. As journalism’s pied piper, the Times plays the tune – sets the narrative, normalizes the practices that others follow. If the Times had simply not rejected the “normal standards” of journalism – if it had accepted that its primary role is to inform, not to persuade – our national conversation would be far less angry. Instead, Americans are being gaslighted at the highest level, as the Times embraces the Rutenberg approach while at the same time invoking the traditional values it violates at every turn. For even as the Times twists the news, its authority still depends on being seen as an honest broker of the news – which is yet another reason why it is so loath to admit serious errors. As it betrays that trust, it must double down on claims of being trustworthy. In his 2023 State of the Times address, the paper’s chairman and publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, declared:
“The information ecosystem has been overtaken by misinformation, propaganda, punditry and clickbait, making it harder than ever to sort fact from fiction. And in this increasingly polarized era, fewer institutions are engaged in the difficult work of searching for the truth with an open mind and a first order commitment to independence, fairness and accuracy.”
Sulzberger, however, diagnosed the illness without any suggestion as to how the Times is spreading the disease. Instead of responding to legitimate critiques of its coverage, the newspaper continues to dismiss them as right-wing talking points. That said, it would be wrong to blame the Times for all of these ills. Despite its enormous influence as a thought leader, it is also a fragile follower, trying to remain profitable at a time when the news business continues to suffer significant financial losses during a period of social and technological change.
The Times did not invent the post-modern critiques of objectivity. It did not create the social media platforms that have empowered radical activists. It did not corrupt America’s education system – from K-12 to most colleges and universities – which have become factories of leftwing indoctrination. It did not spark the “Great Awokening,” that culture of identity and tribal politics, of grievance and guilt, which increasingly defines the worldview of its readers. It has, instead, capitulated to and facilitated the mainstreaming of these dangerous and dishonest forces.
Part of this is a business decision. As the Times has transformed itself into a digital operation, it is now far more dependent on revenues from partisan subscribers than advertisers who have long balked at controversy. These readers increasingly demand that the paper present news that confirms their views. Former opinion editor Bari Weiss described how the Times has changed in her 2020 resignation letter to Sulzberger:
“Twitter has become its [the newspaper’s] ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions. I was always taught that journalists were charged with writing the first rough draft of history. Now, history itself is one more ephemeral thing molded to fit the needs of a predetermined narrative.”
Weiss noted that the newspaper’s staff – which, like the paper’s readers, increasingly sees journalism as an instrument of social change – also have pressured the newspaper to abandon traditional values. On June 3, 2020, for example, the newspaper asked GOP Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to write a piece responding to the riots then spreading across the country following the death of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. Cotton opined that “these rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. … One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”
The backlash inside the newsroom was immediate. Dozens of Times journalists Tweeted a screenshot of Cotton’s piece with the comment: “Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger.”
The claim that words with which one disagrees are a form of violence is both an assault on the First Amendment and a common tool of censorship for the left. On June 4, Sulzberger felt compelled to defend Cotton’s piece in a staff memo. “I believe in the principle of openness to a range of opinions, even those we may disagree with, and this piece was published in that spirit,” he wrote. “But it’s essential that we listen and to reflect on the concerns we’re hearing, as we would with any piece that is the subject of significant criticism.”
When that failed to mollify the mob, editorial page Editor James Bennet, whose department had commissioned the piece, issued an abject apology at a June 5 staff meeting. “I just want to begin by saying I’m very sorry, I’m sorry for the pain that this particular piece has caused,” he said, adding, “I do think this is a moment for me and for us to interrogate everything we do in Opinion.” Although Cotton described a rigorous back-and-forth process that included at least three drafts of the op-ed and line-by-line editing, the Times asserted that an internal review “made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards.”
On June 7, Bennet, who had once been seen as a strong candidate to become the paper’s executive editor, was forced to resign. Reflecting on the experience in a 2022 interview with the online media site Semafor, Bennet said:
“My regret is that editor’s note. My mistake there was trying to mollify people,” he said.
The Times and its publisher, Bennet said, “want to have it both ways.” Sulzberger is “old school” in his belief in a neutral, heterodox publication. But “they want to have the applause and the welcome of the left, and now there’s the problem on top of that that they’ve signed up so many new subscribers in the last few years and the expectation of those subscribers is that the Times will be Mother Jones on steroids.”
The Times steadfastly refuses to grapple with the critiques of former insiders such as Bennet and Weiss, who have pointed out how its stated commitment to traditional standards is at odds with the daily journalism it produces. Lewis Menand echoed these concerns in a 2023 essay in The New Yorker, “When Americans Lost Faith in the News”:
“What people want is advocacy. … In the end, we don’t care what the facts are, because there are always more facts. You can’t unspin the facts; you can only put a different spin on them. What we want is to see our enemy—Steve Bannon, Hunter Biden, whomever—in an orange jumpsuit. We want winners and losers. That is why much of our politics now takes place in a courtroom.”
During the last decade, the Times has transformed itself into a very different publication. It is not an honest broker but an organ of advocacy. To its critics, this is a tragedy for journalism and the nation. But, as a free-standing business, that is also its right. Perhaps the Times could defend these changes. Its refusal to do so, to report on the world as it is, not as it would like it to be, does a grave disservice both to journalism and the nation.
J. Peder Zane is a RealClearInvestigations editor and columnist. He previously worked as a book review editor and book columnist for the News & Observer (Raleigh), where his writing won several national honors. Zane has also worked at the New York Times and taught writing at Duke University and Saint Augustine’s University.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/21/2024 - 17:30
Published:9/21/2024 5:41:36 PM
|
[Markets]
FBI Agents Board Sister-Ship Of Dali Involved In Baltimore Bridge Disaster
FBI Agents Board Sister-Ship Of Dali Involved In Baltimore Bridge Disaster
Early Saturday morning, Washington Post journalists observed FBI agents boarding the massive container ship Maersk Saltoro at a marine terminal in Baltimore City. The vessel is managed by the same parent company as the Dali, which toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this year. The journalists described the FBI operation as a "court-authorized law enforcement activity."
Statements from the US attorney's office said the FBI agents conducted "court-authorized law enforcement activity" on the Maersk Saltoro alongside officials from the Coast Guard's Investigative Services and the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division. There were no further details about what the agents were searching for.
This comes just days after the Justice Department slapped Dali's owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and operator, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., with a $100 million new civil claim over salvage efforts to clear the critical waterway and reopen the harbor after the Dali paralyzed the port by toppling the bridge in late March.
In the new civil claim, the Justice Department said, "This tragedy was entirely avoidable. The electrical and mechanical systems on the DALI were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations and norms for international shipping. These problems precipitated a power loss and then a cascading series of failures that culminated in the collision."
The complaint continued, "As events unfolded, and because of the unseaworthy condition of the ship, none of the four means available to help control the DALI—her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster—worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster. Mechanical and electrical systems on the massive container ship had been 'jerry-rigged' and improperly maintained, culminating in a horrific power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Six construction workers were killed when the bridge plunged into the water."
We all remember this dramatic video.
Although it's unclear what the FBI agents were searching for this morning, we've previously highlighted that federal authorities should begin vetting the crews of foreign vessels navigating US waterways. This alone represents a serious national security threat.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/21/2024 - 15:45
Published:9/21/2024 3:11:46 PM
|
[Law and Order]
Bill to Strengthen Secret Service Protection Guidelines Unanimously Passes House After Second Trump Assassination Attempt
A bipartisan bill to review and strengthen U.S. Secret Service standards has unanimously passed the House following two thwarted assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
The post Bill to Strengthen Secret Service Protection Guidelines Unanimously Passes House After Second Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:9/21/2024 9:16:40 AM
|
[Security]
Iranian Hackers Tried to Give Hacked Trump Campaign Emails to Dems
Plus: The FBI dismantles the largest-ever China-backed botnet, the DOJ charges two men with a $243 million crypto theft, Apple’s MacOS Sequoia breaks cybersecurity tools, and more.
Published:9/21/2024 5:43:02 AM
|
[Markets]
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fake Presidential Race
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fake Presidential Race
Authored by Donald Jefferies,
Don't burn your popcorn...
I’ve been an observer of national politics since I was eleven years old. I cried when they killed Robert F. Kennedy. I was a die hard Democrat. I thought they were the good guys. Then I became an independent, and have grown more radical as I age. I know the process is rigged, and yet I continue to follow it, like a heroin addict.
Donald Trump was recently the victim of yet another assassination attempt. Apparently. The same people who believe the first attempt, in Butler Pennsylvania two months ago, was staged, naturally believe this one was fake, too. And they both might very well have been. After all, everything they do is seemingly scripted. No improvisation allowed. But the response is what really grabs my attention. As I’ve noted, those on the Left who are skeptical of the Trump assassination attempts aren’t skeptical about anything else. They believe in Russian collusion. They think “Climate Change” is a tremendous threat to us all. They accept the transgender lunacy. And despite the vast majority being White themselves, they are fully on board with the anti-White agenda. So they’re certainly predisposed to accept things at face value.
The alleged would-be assassin is supposedly one Ryan Wesley Routh. Another three namer- who could have predicted that? As you can see from the photo above, when Routh was apprehended, his shirt was oddly pulled up, revealing his A-cup man boobs, and his pants were pulled down lewdly, in big hair, rock star fashion. Did he do this himself? I don’t know, maybe that’s the latest fashion trend for potential patsies? It certainly is an attention grabber. Or did law enforcement pull his shirt up, and his pants down? That takes us into more bizarre territory. Perhaps their resistance got weak, and they absolutely had to see if this fifty eight year old had six pack abs. It’s a suppressed homosexuality thing, you wouldn’t understand. However you look at it, I don’t believe we’ve seen another arrest photo like it.
But Ryan Wesley Routh is far more than man boobs and almost exposed crotch. We are told that the FBI and Interpol were “warned” about him. We are told this, after the fact, about most of the accused perpetrators of high profile crimes. We understand how corrupt and incompetent the FBI has always been, so it makes sense that they would ignore “warnings” about any potentially dangerous individual. I suppose Interpol is no better. Maybe they can hire more people, with better lone nut detectors. The brave Secret Service detail was evidently denied the opportunity to stand down at Trump’s own golf course in Palm Beach, Florida. I feel confident they would have been exemplary once again, in not doing their job, if the patsy wearing the makeshift tank top had been able to get close enough to fire at Trump.
Routh is also an author. Just like me, and many others who have never fired shots at any politician. Or pulled our shirts up and pants down so provocatively in public. Routh’s self-published book Ukraine's Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity, is an impassioned plea for World War III. Wow- nobody ever tell me that the subtitles for my books are too wordy. He is documented as a fervent leftist, having formerly supported Bernie Sanders, and having contributed financially many times to ActBlue. He tried to recruit foreign soldiers to help Ukraine defeat Russia. You’d think that, with all this information, it would be obvious that Routh was motivated by the same kind of irrational hatred for Donald Trump that has infected millions of formerly rational Americans with TDS.
But instead of acknowledging this, and perhaps issuing one of their standard lectures to the insane “Woke” Left, the mainstream media, and high profile Democrats themselves, are telling Trump to “tone down” his rhetoric. If you just stop saying “hateful” things, no one will try to assassinate you! What is most remarkable about Routh is the fact that he was inexplicably interviewed by Newsweek in 2022. His only claim to fame was his self-published book, touting the official state controlled media line on Ukraine. People who write self-published books don’t usually get to be interviewed by huge media outlets like that. I have legitimate publishers, and I couldn’t get Newsweek to notice me, even if I walked into their headquarters with a “9/11 Wasn’t an Inside Job” tee shirt pulled up past my nipples. So the FBI not only knew about Routh, but Newsweek thought he was worth an interview, two years ago?
Now I am fully aware that many are dubious about this attempt, just as they are about the incident in Pennsylvania. I am, too. Why would we believe anything that is reported, by a media that is simply regurgitating talking points from “authorities” that lie to us about everything? How did Routh know Trump was going to be at the golf course, the skeptics are asking. Good question. Initially, the New York Post went with a story that claimed two men had fired shots at each other, and it was all totally unrelated to Trump. Well, that sounds plausible. I used to golf regularly, very badly, back in the misty days of America 1.0. I guess I was lucky not to have encountered two men shooting at each other on any of the courses I played. Where else would you hold a gun battle, other than a golf course? Regardless, as in the Steve Scalise shooting, the victim’s motives are never political if he’s a leftist, only if he’s a right-wing extremist.
However real either or both Trump assassination attempts were, the response to them is even more telling. Trump has to be the only politician that survived at attempt on his life, and actually went down in the fake public opinion polls afterwards. You’d imagine that the second attempt would ensure his victory. But I think we can predict that he’ll plunge even further after the failed efforts of Ryan Wesley Routh. I’m sure the Republicuck leaders will leave no stone unturned in finding out the truth here. Sure, they haven’t managed to call a single one of the Secret Service agents who stood down completely in Butler, but these things take time. They’re still searching for photos of Thomas Matthew Crooks taken after he graduated from the eighth grade. That makes sense; few of us have our pictures taken after middle school. It’s all downhill from there.
And their task won’t be made easier by the fact that the Secret Service is unwilling to cooperate in any investigation. Well, to be fair, any real investigation would make the Secret Service look really bad. The Biden administration, Homeland Security, all of them, are urging the Secret Service not to comply with Congress. What is Congress going to do if they don’t? Remember Hunter Biden’s taunting press conference? Maybe if Peter Navarro was one of the Secret Service agents in question. And, in keeping with their appearance of upright honesty, the Secret Service is also rejecting Freedom of Information Act requests about the Butler incident. Nothing evokes innocence better than that. So we’ll never find anything out. If it was real, who was actually behind it? Or if it was staged, as millions believe, why it was staged, and by who? Was Trump in on it? Why stage a shooting, and then stop reporting on it?
Melania Trump, one of the least visible of modern political wives, recently put out a heartfelt video where she talked about the first assassination attempt, and supported the “conspiracy theorists” who feel there is more to it than a loner walking around for thirty minutes carrying a rifle, and then scaling the wall of a building, while witnesses tried in vain to get the attention of law enforcement. If only Crooks would have committed an illegal U-Turn; those cops would have apprehended him before he could U-Turn again. At any rate, Don Lemon, the gay White hater who is married to a White man, played Melania’s emotional video and ridiculed it. Made fun of it like a sixth grade bully. A gay, racist bully. Lemon can freely mock Mrs. Trumpenstein, and millions of Americans believe the Giant Orange Man is orchestrating the whole thing. I think it is all orchestrated, but Trump isn’t doing the orchestrating.
We used to have a saying, back in the smoke-filled 1970s, that bullets, not ballots, shouldn’t effect the outcome of elections. JFK’s death certainly effected the 1964 election, as did RFK’s in 1968. Then there was the George Wallace nonfatal shooting, which ended his campaign in 1972. In 1980, while Reagan was elected, his nonfatal shooting a few months later certainly seems to have impacted the way he governed. But until this year, we hadn’t seen any more bullets changing the outcome of our elections. Lots of character assassination, and false promotion of preferred establishment puppets, but no actual gunfire. As I keep saying, what makes the Trump assassination attempts so extraordinary is how quickly they are forgotten. Tossed down the memory hole. This would apply even if they were staged. They should be the big story of the 2024 presidential race. No investigation, move on to the next act.
The fact that Trump wasn’t asked a single question about the alleged attempt on his life, during the ridiculous debate with Harris, should tell us all we need to know. They don’t want any of these big events looked at honestly, whether they were fake or not. 9/11 or Sandy Hook- don’t ask questions! Why didn’t Trump’s Secret Service do their jobs? Mere incompetence cannot explain that. A volunteer group of elementary school safety patrols would have responded better. So, if you believe it really happened or not, that is what should be investigated first. Like JFK’s Secret Service detail in 1963, who failed to react at all to the sound of gunfire, Trumpenstein’s Secret Service detail failed to notice someone walking around openly brandishing a rifle, and then scaling the side of a building. Even when witnesses alerted them to it. No one is acting like these events were real, even in much of the alt media and the Trump campaign itself.
And while Trump dodges real or fake bullets, Kamala Harris keeps cackling her way to a lead in the fake public opinion polls. Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance continues to be depicted as “weird,” despite never having ingested horse semen, or driven drunk while going nearly 100 mph. Both he and Trump have been blasted by the state controlled media for objecting to Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs. That’s not the “hate” that PETA represents! Vance continues to be haunted by his “childless cat lady” comments. Never have childless women been so proud. They’ve gone beyond the programming and firmly committed themselves to not reproducing. Don’t be fruitful or multiply! Trump hates dogs and cats because he says Haitians are eating them. That’s racist! And he keeps claiming that he’s been shot at. If they frame a Black three-namer patsy for one of these real or fake shootings, that will be racist, too.
While J.D. Vance’s “weirdness” comes primarily from an anecdote invented by his political opponents, about “humping” some sofa pillows, Tim Walz and his wife seem to fit much better into the “weird” category. At a recent Wisconsin rally, Walz gesticulated wildly, in the manner of the immortal Howard Dean, and even lifted his leg at one point. Maybe he was thinking of all those dogs in Ohio who definitely aren’t being eaten by Haitians. Gwen Walz is his perfect soul mate; her wild eyed, sometimes incomprehensible speech is the stuff most political trophy wives never master. She kept saying “bye-bye” for some reason. Gwen notably said, regarding the 2020 BLM riots, that she kept her windows open so she could keep smelling the burning tires. Well, who doesn’t like the scent of a burning tire? Both Walz and his wife were Minnesota public school teachers, so you know where they’re coming from.
A new rumor revolves around Donald Trump having an affair with 31 year old conservative personality Laura Loomer. Loomer has threatened to sue odious “comedian” Bill Maher for insinuating such a thing. Those with TDS accept this without reservations. As I’ve tried to point out to them, this kind of destroys their carefully crafted image of Trump, as a clown with a really, really small penis. Can’t emphasize that enough, because it’s so important to them. And he is 78 years old. Wouldn’t this mean he’s a stud, having an affair with someone young enough to be his granddaughter? I know what you’re saying; Laura Loomer is a worthless apologist for Israel. She’s really ugly; she ought to sue her plastic surgeon. She’s actually a man, Larry Loomer. Whatever, as the young girls say. I hate to see anyone ridiculed for their looks, so this brings out my chivalry. And I can’t stand Maher.
And there is the matter of the anonymous ABC whistleblower, who released an affidavit claiming that he had recordings proving that ABC agreed to “fact check” Donald Trump in advance, as well as not ask certain questions in the debate, as requested by the Harris campaign. Whether she really had an “audio earring” that was feeding her answers, Harris undeniably was given preferential treatment by the laughable moderators. One of them, Linsey Davis, was Harris’s college sorority sister, after all. Girlfriends have to stick together. There have been reports that the ABC whistleblower went on to die in a car crash, reminding us of the precarious shelf life of whistleblowers. This has been debunked, by the state controlled “fact checkers.” Since we don’t know the identity of the whistleblower, how can we know if he’s alive? Trust the Stupid Party in Congress to get to the bottom of it. They always do.
In 1976, I was as excited as a present day illegal immigrant to cast my first vote. I studied all the Democratic Party presidential candidates, and there were plenty of them. Only Senator Fred Harris publicly supported a new investigation into the assassination of JFK, which was of course my primary political issue at that point. Jimmy Carter, the obscure peanut farmer from Georgia, was my least favorite candidate. I noticed how the media chose Carter to focus on, and incessantly promote him as the “front runner” before a single primary vote had been cast. Needless to say, they have used this tactic repeatedly over the years, to marginalize good people like Dennis Kucinich and my friend Cynthia McKinney. While Jimmy’s sister Ruth Carter Stapleton openly questioned the official JFK narrative, the Trilateral Commission’s favorite candidate remained silent on the issue.
So, this is what I’m relegated to now. Analyzing distasteful reactions to what may have been fake assassination attempts. Determining which of the corrupt, incompetent, and insane candidates are the worst in each category. As far back as the 1980s, I was involved in Third Party politics. We obviously didn’t make any inroads, as we don’t have a single viable Third Party today. I fell in love with lots of renegade candidates. Ross Perot. Pat Buchanan. Ralph Nader, Ron Paul. I even had a fling with Lyndon Larouche. Perot got 19 percent of the vote in 1992, and 8 percent in 1996. I don’t think anyone else I liked ever made it over 1 percent. My political candidates are kind of like my sports teams; they never win. So when I voted for Trump in 2016, he became my second winner, alongside Jimmy Carter, for whom I less than enthusiastically cast my first vote as a starry-eyed radical with an ACLU membership card.
As I was writing this, rumors abound that there has been yet another attempt- the third- on Trump’s life. Alex Jones and others are reporting that some attendees who sat behind the stage at a recent Trump rally in Arizona reported experiencing eye pain. Were they collateral damage from a chemical attack directed at Trump? Or were they peddling “wild conspiracy theories,” as one of the few news outlets to report the story called it? A senior Trump campaign advisor released a public statement saying they were “collecting information” about the incident. Can this be real? As real as the other two acknowledged attempts, doubted by millions? Is Trump now just going to be the continuous, designated victim of attempted assassination, yet always surviving? If he really were assassinated, would that be fake, too? Would millions cheer?
I can hear some of you saying; why another piece on this fake presidential race? It’s all rigged, the candidates are selected, not elected. And you are right. It is all scripted. A completely rigged process. I’ve known for a long time that my vote isn’t being honestly counted. But I trudged to the polls, especially when my kids were little, to set a good example of civic duty. I didn’t think they would understand, or should know, how rotten everything was at such tender ages. But I’m still doing it. I’ll probably vote again. I do it for the same reason I still play fantasy football, despite knowing how corrupt and fixed all sports are, and how they discriminate against Whites just like every other part of America 2.0. I’m addicted. If I was a different sort of person, I’d start virtue signaling. It’s not my fault I pay so much attention to your phony bread and circuses- I’m the victim here! You sucked me in a young age, just like the tobacco companies. I quit cigarettes in 1989. I can’t seem to quit politics. Or sports.
I call it the Trumpenstein Project for a reason. I don’t take anything he says seriously. But the side he purports to oppose is unquestionably, indisputably evil. And utterly mad. As always, there is no one to vote for. It is much like betting on the Super Bowl, while knowing that it’s fixed. You still get a thrill out of “your” team winning. There will be no thrills in a Trump victory, should that be the way the script is written. But it will be must see TV, to watch all those deranged leftist “journalists” react. Maybe one or more of them will lose all control, unleashing a stream of ugly profanity, or perhaps they might assault each other. Rachel Maddow vs. Joy Reid. You might see an on air suicide. How could they go on with Orange Man Bad back in the White House? As I’ve noted, that may be the best any of us can expect from this tarnished, prostituted process. It certainly is the best that I can hope for.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 09/20/2024 - 20:05
Published:9/20/2024 7:32:38 PM
|
[Markets]
Undercover Serial Predator: CIA Officer Drugged & Molested Dozens Of Women While Stationed Abroad
Undercover Serial Predator: CIA Officer Drugged & Molested Dozens Of Women While Stationed Abroad
A career CIA officer was sentenced to 30 year in federal prison on Wednesday for drugging, raping and sexually assaulting over two dozen women across multiple countries while doing official work for the agency. The CIA veteran, identified as Brian Jeffrey Raymond, had actually documented his own crimes in photographs and video. The FBI is in possession of some 500 images showing him molesting his nude, unconscious victims.
The 48-year old's crimes often took place in government-leased apartments abroad, presumably while he was 'under cover' or on assignment in a covert capacity. The assaults go back to 2006 and there are victims across Latin America - including Peru and Mexico - and other countries.
Prosecutors described a 14-year rampage: "The defendant’s goal was simple: to sexually and physically assault women when they were at their most vulnerable and to create a lasting collection of photographs and videos memorializing his abhorrent deeds," they wrote. The case specified that the attacks took place at his "government-leased housing."
His crimes began to be uncovered following a May 2020 incident in Mexico City during which time he was attached to the US Embassy there. A woman was heard screaming for help from the balcony of his residence, after which federal agents upon further investigation searched his electronic devices and found hundreds of images of women being abused.
He would meet women on dating apps, lure them to his apartment on dates, and then spike their food or drinks to make them unconscious. The AP describes, ironically enough, the following of the case as it finished up in federal court this week:
...an emotional hearing in which victims described being deceived by a man who appeared kind, educated and part of an agency "that is supposed to protect the world from evil."
It appears he often specifically used his position with the government to gain the trust of his victims (either as a CIA agent or US 'diplomat' with the embassy). NPR writes:
Court filings reviewed by NPR said they found 487 videos and images of unconscious women in “various states of undress” on multiple devices belonging to Raymond, as well as searches for terms including “passed out,” “ambien,” “ambien and alcohol and pass out,” “Zolpidem and pharmacies” and “deep sleep” between 2010 and 2011.
The FBI said almost all of the women involved “experienced memory loss during their time with Raymond and had no knowledge of the photographs, videos or any physical contact.”
“For 14 years, Raymond exploited his trusted position as a U.S. government representative to lure women into his confidence,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg.
According to additional disturbing details from The Associated Press:
Once they were unconscious, he spent hours posing their naked bodies before photographing and assaulting them. He opened their eyelids at times and stuck his fingers in their mouths.
One by one, about a dozen of Raymond’s victims who were identified only by numbers in court recounted how the longtime spy upended their lives. Some said they only learned what happened after the FBI showed them the photos of being assaulted while unconscious.
"My body looks like a corpse on his bed," one victim described of the photos to the court. "Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead." US Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said while imposing the 30-year prison sentence, based on a plea deal: "It’s safe to say he’s a sexual predator."
Clearly his position in the CIA enabled this serial predator to keep assaulting women in secret over such a long span of so many years. This comes as the CIA deals with additional pending investigations related to sexual assault and misconduct allegations. How many more serial predators are out there, using their 'cover' and security clearance to harm and abuse women?
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 23:30
Published:9/19/2024 10:47:38 PM
|
[Markets]
New Batch Of Patriot Front Records Reveals More Evidence Of FBI Infiltration
New Batch Of Patriot Front Records Reveals More Evidence Of FBI Infiltration
Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,
The FBI released a new batch of records on the white nationalist group Patriot Front on Tuesday, revealing that its members have been talking to the feds.
The 112 pages of FBI records are almost entirely redacted, but the reason for some of the redactions is noteworthy: The FBI cited section B7(d) of the Freedom of Information Act, which is an exemption designed to protect the identities of confidential sources—or, in other words, FBI informants.
Headline USA found at least three records citing B7(d) while skimming through the records.
One of the few unredacted records in the new batch also shows that a Patriot Front member agreed to a voluntary interview with FBI agents.
According to that record, the Patriot Front member told agents that Patriot Front was a group that peacefully demonstrated, encouraged its members to get off drugs, and promoted physical activity. However, several portions of the interview are redacted, including the member’s information about his social media activity. The redactions cited in this portion of the FBI file were those designed to protect privacy.
Tuesday’s FBI document dump is the latest evidence of federal infiltration in the Patriot Front. It follows a New Yorker article from last month, which revealed that the group may have provided information to the FBI about a left-wing Antifa member who infiltrated and doxxed its members.
“The exposed Patriot Front members were furious at Vincent [after he doxed the group]. To strike back, they appear to have enlisted an unlikely ally: the F.B.I.,” the New Yorker reported.
Another batch of records released in July showed that the group was infiltrated by at least one undercover informant.
“On February 11, 2019, FBI Charlotte received Confidential Human Source (CHS) reporting from [REDACTED] Division regarding [REDACTED],” the record stated.
An FBI informant who was once a member of the Patriot Front was charged in 2022 with unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon—a charge stemming from a March 2022 traffic stop in upstate New York, where police officers allegedly found him in possession of an illegally modified AR-15.
That informant, Michael Alan Jones, may have been the CHS discussed in the above-mentioned FBI memo, given that he lives close to Charlotte—the office that received information from a Patriot Front CHS in 2019. If that’s the case, it would be the first public confirmation that Jones was acting as an informant while in the Patriot Front—court records only confirmed that he spied on the Proud Boys.
Jones, who reportedly stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been referred to as a “fed-ophile” by his former comrades, due to him previously being convicted of two felony sex crimes.
Despite all that evidence, Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau has downplayed the threat of federal infiltration.
“The FBI, I don’t believe, engages in the type of undercover infiltration that a lot of people attribute to it as much as people think,” he said in June.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 23:05
Published:9/19/2024 10:22:16 PM
|
[Markets]
Rep. Gaetz: DHS Knows Of 5 "Assassination Teams" Targeting Trump
Rep. Gaetz: DHS Knows Of 5 "Assassination Teams" Targeting Trump
Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA.com,
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., made the startling claim Thursday that there are at least five known assassination teams in the U.S. conspiring to assassinate Donald Trump.
Gaetz told Just the News and Breitbart that a senior Homeland Security official told him about the five assassination conspiracies before Sunday’s latest attempt on Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
“Three of them that we know are foreign in nature. Two of them we know are domestic in nature, and that calls for a force protection that we do not have around the former president right now,” Gaetz said said, adding that DHS officials are “aware of this and were concerned that the Secret Service was not providing sufficient support.”
“Three of these teams are foreign-inspired, from my understanding - Iranians, Ukraine, Pakistan - and, you know, the work is obviously challenging to protect—protective detail, like a presidential campaign that is vigorous and out campaigning,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz didn’t go into detail about the alleged assassination teams.
Sunday’s would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, may have been the Ukrainian-inspired conspiracy he referred to. As has been widely documented, Routh went to Ukraine in 2022 and claimed to have helped recruit fighters for the country’s war against Russia.
Routh’s actions in Ukraine apparently disturbed his colleagues there. One of them, a nurse named Chelsea Walsh, reported him to Customs and Border Protection in June 2022.
Walsh again reported him to the FBI and Interpol last year, after she heard that was attempting to recruit Syrian refugees to fight in Ukraine.
“She filed an online report with the FBI and Interpol outlining her concerns about Routh and others, she said. Neither Customs nor the FBI followed up with her,” the WSJ reported earlier this week.
One of the other plots cited by Gaetz is likely related to the Pakistani man arrested on July 12 for allegedly trying to hire undercover FBI agents to assassinate Donald Trump.
Internal FBI documents leaked to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, earlier this month included new information about the Pakistani terrorist’s alleged Iranian handler, as well as his movements and interactions in the U.S.
Both Merchant and Routh have pled not guilty in their respective cases.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 21:00
Published:9/19/2024 8:33:56 PM
|
[Markets]
Secret Service Investigating Elon Musk Over Twitter/X Joke
Secret Service Investigating Elon Musk Over Twitter/X Joke
Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA.com,
Bloomberg reporter and open records expert Jason Leopold revealed Thursday that the Secret Service is apparently investigating Elon Musk over his recent joke about the lack of assassination attempts against regime Democrats.
Responding to someone asking why so people want to kill Donald Trump, on Sunday Musk posted:
“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
Musk later deleted the post and clarified that he was joking.
But the Secret Service may not find Musk’s joke to be a laughing matter. Leopold said he filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the Secret Service’s records on Musk’s post, but was denied the records because they’re subject to law enforcement proceedings.
“On Wednesday, the agency responded to the requests by saying records it has about Musk’s post were ‘compiled for law enforcement purposes’ and are being withheld because ‘disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,’” Leopold wrote on Thursday.
Nate Herring, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, also told Leopold that his agency “is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk.”
“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees,” Herring reportedly said.
Don’t expect any criminal charges against Musk. Leopold said in his experience, the worst that will likely happen will be that agents visit Musk to make sure he doesn’t pose a threat to Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
Leopold also said he requested records on a Sunday Twitter/X post from the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, which said that “anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be considered an American hero.” That post, too, has since been deleted.
The Secret Service also withheld records from Leopold on the grounds that they were subject to law enforcement proceedings. And sure enough, FBI agents visited one of the LPNH Twitter account administrators, Jeremy Kauffman. The agents’ interaction with the poster didn’t go as they planned.
“Nothing we did is against the law, and you guys are fu— heads,” Kauffman said to the agents in a video that has gone viral.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 18:55
Published:9/19/2024 6:02:26 PM
|
[World]
Chinese spies are lurking in or around the offices of our elected leaders
Earlier this month, the FBI arrested Linda Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China, who had served for a time as the deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
Published:9/19/2024 2:25:44 PM
|
[]
Iran Hacked Trump Campaign Emails and Then Offered Them to the Democrat Party to Exploit
Remember, the Media-Democrat Party and the FBI insist that this means Iran is attempting to harm both parties. They don't want to admit a terrorist state supports the Democrats -- not after eight years of demaguoging about Russia -- so...
Published:9/19/2024 12:27:07 PM
|
[Markets]
Kamala-Bucks Are Coming...
Kamala-Bucks Are Coming...
Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,
We’re still trying to process the latest assassination attempt on Donald Trump, which took place on Sunday in West Palm Beach. But while that’s important to dissect as the election gets closer, it’s important to consider a development I’ve been warning about for over two years.
President Trump has long been an opponent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or as I call them Biden Bucks. (Now that Biden is essentially out of the picture, maybe I should rename them Kamala Bucks.)
I called them “Biden Bucks” because I wanted Biden (and his partner Kamala) to take full credit for what I consider to be crimes against American citizens. More on that shortly. For now, let’s focus on Trump.
At a New Hampshire campaign rally earlier this year, Donald Trump reiterated what he’s been saying for months: CBDCs are dangerous and he would never allow one if elected.
For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites. It’s time we take a stand — together. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom, and I will stop it from coming to America. Such a currency would give a federal government absolute control over your money. They could take your money, and you wouldn’t even know it was gone.
In fact, Trump recently pledged to ban CBDCs, promote the creation of a national crypto reserve and guarantee that the government will not sell crypto obtained through law enforcement seizures.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: “Welcome aboard, Mr. President.” Again, I’ve been sounding the alarm about Biden Bucks for over two years. I’ve been warning about Joe Biden’s plan to control your money and take away your privacy rights completely.
A Threat to Your Freedom
President Trump is right. Biden Bucks are a dangerous threat to freedom. They’re a threat to our constitutional liberties and give the government total control of our private financial information.
A change in leadership is probably our last hope in stopping this madness from continuing.
Maybe you’re a new reader who’s not familiar with Biden Bucks, or maybe you’re an existing reader who hasn’t thought of them for a while. To catch you up, here are the basics: They would replace physical cash with new electronic currencies.
These Biden Bucks would have the full backing of the U.S. Federal Reserve. To be clear, they won’t just be a complement to cash. They will entirely, or very nearly entirely, REPLACE the cash (“fiat”) dollar we have now.
In other words, the dollar will be strictly digital. This digital dollar would be the sole, mandatory currency of the United States. What does this mean for you?
It would put your money under direct government control as President Trump has said. You could use it only at the government’s discretion.
We are already seeing how many retailers are no longer accepting cash across America. What happens when physical cash is eliminated from any payment transactions?
Declined!!!
Imagine this. To further advance the Biden/Harris Green New Scam, what if the Dems and their deep state enablers decide that gasoline needs to be rationed?
Your Biden/Kamala Bucks could be rendered useless at the gas pump once you’ve purchased a certain amount of gasoline in a week. You want gas, but all you get is a one-word message: Declined.
How’s that for control? That’s just one example. Biden Bucks would create new ways for the government to control how much you can buy of an item or even restrict purchases. They would keep score of every financial decision you make.
In a world of Biden Bucks, the government will even know your physical whereabouts at the point of purchase. It’s a short step from there to putting you under FBI investigation if you vote for the wrong candidate or give donations to the wrong political party.
If any of this sounds extreme, fantastical or otherwise far-fetched, I promise you it’s not. It’s happening right now. And given all the abuses of power the government’s engaged in over the past few years, why should you be surprised that Biden/Kamala Bucks wouldn’t invite even more abuse?
Kamala Would Be Even Worse
I don’t want to exaggerate, but the U.S. is moving closer and closer to an authoritarian-style government. We’re not there yet, but things are trending in that direction. And if you thought it was bad under Biden, it’ll be worse under a possible Kamala Harris presidency.
Biden was basically a puppet of top Democratic insiders, mostly holdovers from the Obama administration.
He never had any real core beliefs, he just did what he was told to do. He just wanted to be president.
Harris is different. She’s a true believer in the progressive causes the Biden administration put forward. You’d never know that if you listened to her running for president (she’s trying to position herself as a centrist), but you just have to look at her record.
As a senator, Harris had the most liberal record, even further left than Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Pertaining to Biden Bucks specifically, she pushed unsuccessfully in 2020 for a 400% funding increase for the U.S. Digital Service, an agency that did early work on payment technology, setting the stage for a central bank digital currency.
So Kamala is all in on Biden Bucks and the threat to your money and freedoms. With Biden Bucks, a Harris administration and the Federal Reserve would become both money printer and central bank, destroying any checks and balances to their power over Americans’ financial holdings.
You CAN Fight Back
But we can fight back against Biden/Kamala Bucks by adopting a variety of alternative currencies including cash (while it lasts), gold coins, silver coins and commodity barter.
That’s one reason the government is trying to eliminate cash and kill crypto. It may come down to gold and silver. I urge you to get yours while you still can.
The bottom line is the federal government is coming after our money and rights. Again, that’s not hyperbole or some conspiracy theory. We can already see it happening.
It’s up to us to preserve our freedoms as Americans and fight back. No one will save us but ourselves.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 08:50
Published:9/19/2024 8:20:29 AM
|
[Markets]
FBI Reveals That Iran Hacked Trump Campaign Materials And Gave Them To Biden/Harris
FBI Reveals That Iran Hacked Trump Campaign Materials And Gave Them To Biden/Harris
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
The AP is reporting that the FBI has uncovered evidence that Iranian hackers stole materials from the Trump campaign in the Summer and provided them to what was then the Biden/Harris campaign.
The report notes that the emails were sent to “people who were associated with Biden’s campaign” in June and July when he was still the Democratic nominee.
The FBI uncovered the “unsolicited” evidence as part of its efforts to investigate election interference.
The emails “contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” a government statement noted.
It is not known if the Biden/Harris campaign reviewed the materials.
Hilariously, however, the Harris campaign issued a statement saying that they were “victims” of the hack.
Last night in New York, Trump referred to the development, calling it “foreign election interference,” and charging that “Biden is working with Iran.”
It is clear that there is a concerted effort to undermine Trump’s campaign, with officials revealing in August that further internal communications were hacked and provided to at least three media organisations, with the perpetrators suspected to be Iranian hackers.
As we previously highlighted, the Secret Service also uncovered an assassination plot against Trump by Iran on the same weekend as the Butler shooting in July.
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/19/2024 - 08:15
Published:9/19/2024 7:24:35 AM
|
[Markets]
US Secures Convictions, Guilty Pleas As CCP-Directed Spying Exposed
US Secures Convictions, Guilty Pleas As CCP-Directed Spying Exposed
Authored by Eva Fu, Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
For years, Beijing has been deepening its hold on America, drawing intelligence from the U.S. government while silencing critics with the help of agents embedded in U.S. society.
The United States is now hitting back—and seeing results, according to experts.
In early September, prosecutors arrested Linda Sun, former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, accusing her of acting on behalf of Beijing in exchange for gifts and payouts valued in millions of dollars to her family.
There has also been a marked increase in the rate of convictions or pleas in recent months. The Justice Department has brought forth dozens of CCP-directed espionage and foreign agent cases in the past four years, resulting in at least 13 convictions or pleas, with more than half of those taking place this year—including three in the past month. an Epoch Times review of the court records show.
On Aug. 6, a Chinese American scholar posing as a pro-democracy activist was convicted by a jury for spying on dissidents for the CCP.
On Aug. 13, a U.S. army intelligence analyst from Texas pleaded guilty to selling military secrets to the CCP.
On Aug. 23, a software engineer who worked two decades at Verizon pleaded guilty to gathering intelligence on countless dissidents and organizations targeted by the CCP since 2012.
Case documents reveal a broad range of criminal actions taken by agents, often different from what most may imagine to be spying. Beyond industrial espionage and covert influence campaigns, the regime has directed hacker rings, including a group that was charged and sanctioned this year for waging a 14-year campaign on the United States.
“I feel that our nation must take every opportunity to stop these threats,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), chair of the cybersecurity subcommittee for the House Armed Services Committee, told The Epoch Times, noting that the U.S. intelligence community has identified Beijing as the number one threat to the United States.
Bacon has experienced Chinese espionage attempts firsthand. Last year, he was hacked by CCP-linked hackers who also broke into email systems of State and Commerce department officials and dozens of other groups.
“Can we ever say that whatever actions we are taking are enough? I don’t believe so as the threats are increasing in frequency, sophistication, and national security impact,” Bacon said.
Who Are the Spies?
The CCP has long targeted people of Chinese descent—of whom there are more than 60 million people outside China—as potential assets in its intelligence operations.
Among those charged by the DOJ in the foreign agent cases are officials of the CCP’s top intelligence gathering agency Ministry of State Security (MSS), Chinese citizens traveling to the United States under false pretenses, hackers residing in Asian countries; as well as asylees, permanent residents, and U.S. citizens of Chinese descent.
Some reside in the United States while dozens of others charged are known to reside in China, and will now face arrest if they ever set foot on American soil.
There are also many who are U.S. citizens that aren’t of Chinese descent. They include active military members, former law enforcement, and experts in competitive fields.
The CCP engages in what experts such as Casey Fleming, chair and CEO of risk consultancy BlackOps Partners, describe as “unrestricted warfare,” meaning there are no legal, ethical, or moral lines it will not cross to pursue its objectives. It capitalizes on one’s baser instincts—greed, pride, lust, shame—to recruit assets.
“Number one, it’s money. Number two, it’s ego. Number three, it’s blackmail,” Fleming, who advises the DOJ, FBI, and Congress on the CCP threat, told The Epoch Times.
In May, two New Yorkers pleaded guilty in an indictment that charged seven, including MSS officials in China, for trying to coerce an American family to go back to China to be imprisoned by the CCP.
The defendant had harassed the Chinese man with bogus lawsuits and told the victim it “really is a drop in the bucket for a country to spend $1 billion” to achieve what the CCP ordered, promising “endless misery” for the victim, he said. “It is definitely true that all of your relatives will be involved.”
In January, a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 27 months for giving sensitive military information to the CCP over the course of almost two years, in return for about $14,000.
“I mean, he’s paying me so I was like, okay, I’ll just do whatever he says,” the sailor told the FBI in an interview, describing the job as “easy money.”
Several other cases involving former military members include an indicted Navy sailor and army soldier, and a former U.S. army helicopter pilot who pleaded guilty.
Last month, Sgt. Korbein Schultz, an army intelligence analyst with the First Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell, pleaded guilty to sending military secrets to a CCP agent, receiving $42,000 in return.
Beginning around June 2022, Schultz began sending sensitive military files to an unnamed conspirator working for the CCP. Schultz received payment up to $1,000 per document in return.
A month into the partnership, Schultz told the conspirator he would like to turn the relationship into a long term one, according to the indictment. He provided materials including details about U.S. precision rockets, their performance, and how they would be used. He also shared manuals and technical data of several US aircraft, documents referencing the Chinese military, and documents related to the U.S. military forces in the Indo-Pacific.
The conspirator asked for information of higher levels of classification as the partnership progressed and promised higher payments for more exclusive information.
“I hope so! I need to get my other BMW back!” Schultz wrote in response to the promise of higher pay. He told the conspirator he wished he could be “Jason Bourne,” and brought up the idea of moving to Hong Kong so he could work for the conspirator in person.
Four months into the partnership, the conspirator raised the suggestion of recruiting another service member who had access to higher classified information, and Schultz set out to do so over the next few months.
In another case, two men who pleaded guilty in July to acting as CCP agents had tried to bribe an IRS agent to target Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice with five meditative exercises and teaches the principles truth, compassion, and tolerance. Since 1999, the CCP has sought to “eradicate” the practice in a whole-of-state approach.
Unbeknownst to the two men, the IRS agent was an undercover FBI agent, who took the $5,000 bribe and offer of $50,000 total as evidence in their case. In a recorded call, one of the two men, John Chen, said the money came from Chinese authorities, who were “very generous” when it came to their goal to “topple” Falun Gong.
Insider Threat
Fleming says some “insider threats” were planted in companies and the military decades ago, pointing to the former Verizon software engineer who had been sending the CCP data on Chinese dissidents in America since at least 2012 as an example, and companies are now beginning to recognize the long term effort with these high profile cases.
Some recruits are attracted by the money, others prestige. “They’ve done that to Harvard professors and so on: ‘We’re going to let you set up a sister lab in China ... and you’ll be the head of the lab,‘” Fleming said as an example. “’You’re so smart and accomplished. We‘d like you to do a white paper.’”
Fleming said he receives a few of these offers a year himself. The most recent one, from Hong Kong, came just months ago. He promptly deleted it. “I know what’s going on, but many people don’t, and they take $7,500 to do a white paper,” Fleming said.
Read the rest here...
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/17/2024 - 23:25
Published:9/17/2024 11:01:37 PM
|
[Markets]
Is ISIS Back? Actually, It Never Left The Building
Is ISIS Back? Actually, It Never Left The Building
Authored by Phil Gurski via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
In the wake of yet another foiled ISIS-inspired terrorist plot, this one by a Canada-based Pakistani seeking to kill Jews in New York on the anniversary of last year’s Hamas attack in Israel, everyone is loudly proclaiming: “ISIS is back.”
And yet, this analysis is wrong.
For someone or something to “be back,” it has to have left in the first place. This return can be surprising or expected, but in the end it is of note. With respect to the ISIS terrorist group, it has not “resurged” because it never went away in the first place.
The group has been around since the mid-2010s, having morphed into its present form after starting out as an al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Interestingly, even al-Qaeda distanced itself from ISIS as the former saw the latter as too violent!
ISIS went on to create what it called the caliphate, spanning parts of Iraq, Syria, and Kurdish territory, and carried out unspeakable crimes over a half-decade, including beheadings, drownings, burning people alive in cages, mass executions, sexual slavery, and “markets” where women were bought and sold to ISIS “fighters.” The group went on to attempt genocide against the Yazidi religious sect, dismissing its members as “devil worshippers.”
Thanks to the United States and its coalition partners, the caliphate was dissolved by 2019. Many celebrated the end of these monstrous jihadis.
However, not only did ISIS not down arms in Iraq and Syria—today they regularly carry out attacks in both nations—but the group spawned a dozen or more “provinces” in West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Mozambique, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, India, and Central Asia. These “subsidiaries” have killed thousands over the last several years. In many ways, ISIS has surpassed al-Qaeda—which itself is not dead—on the list of the most lethal terrorist groups. The branch most cited today is ISIS-K or ISIS-Khorasan, operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ISIS-K is responsible for the attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue near Moscow in March.
It gets worse. Individuals or small cells “inspired” by ISIS have carried out attacks, some low-key in nature, in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium and were thwarted in a plan to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Austria. There was even a possible ISIS-inspired attack in Ireland, a country more used to IRA action than jihadi attacks.
We in Canada have also been targeted. In addition to the recent plot that was thwarted thanks to the RCMP and the FBI, we saw an attack in a Canadian Tire in Scarborough back in 2017 carried out by an ISIS wannabe, and one in Edmonton the same year. A few weeks ago, the RCMP arrested a father-son team, the Eldidis, who were allegedly preparing a mass casualty attack in Toronto. The dad was previously featured in an ISIS video which showed him “dismembering” a captive. This threat was only neutralized thanks to intelligence shared with Canadian agencies by France.
This flurry of ISIS attacks shows no signs of abating. The group will continue to metastasize and grow over the next few years (and possibly decades). Its presence in Africa especially is of great concern as the nations afflicted have had little to no success stopping these terrorists. The eviction of U.S., French, and other nations’ counter-terrorism forces by military juntas in Mali and Niger, and their replacement by Russia’s Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group), will most likely not stem the flow of attacks. Africa risks turning into what Afghanistan was to al-Qaeda in the 1990s: A terrorist haven that poses a direct threat to us in the West.
The Canadian government has to take this threat seriously and stop pretending that jihadi terrorism is yesterday’s problem, usurped by right-wing extremism. Immigration and border agencies and officials have to perform their due diligence to ensure that ISIS terrorists do not gain refugee/citizenship status.
Pretending that terrorism has peaked is a bad position to adopt. I realize that other threats are also on the rise—foreign interference/influence, espionage, cyberattacks, etc.—but terrorism is unique in that it captures the nation’s attention like no other act of violence.
ISIS will stay at the top of that threat pyramid for some time to come. It never left.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/17/2024 - 21:45
Published:9/17/2024 9:05:58 PM
|
[Politics]
Suspicious mail sent to elections officials in several states
The FBI and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating after officials in at least eight states received the mailings.
Published:9/17/2024 3:46:02 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
Trump Assassination Attempt: Suspect on FBI Radar Since 2019, had No Line of Sight
The agents didn't scope out the property or perimeter because Trump golfing "was an off the record movement."
The post Trump Assassination Attempt: Suspect on FBI Radar Since 2019, had No Line of Sight first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:9/16/2024 6:36:21 PM
|
[Markets]
'Somebody Do Something!!' - The Blob Is Shrieking As Kamala Enters Fade-Away Mode
'Somebody Do Something!!' - The Blob Is Shrieking As Kamala Enters Fade-Away Mode
Authored by James Howard Kunstler,
Beep, Beep!
“Donald Trump is looking increasingly likely to be the winner of the presidential race. I have long held that the globalists will wrap up an economic collapse or a world war and throw it in Trump’s lap.”
- Brandon Smith
This time, the shooter lives to do some ‘splainin’. Do you wonder if he might get around to ‘splainin’ his role with the shady non-governmental orgs (NGOs) supported by the CIA who enabled his travels to Ukraine and his efforts there recruiting global mutts to fight for the Nazi-ish Azov Battalion? Perhaps he might rat-out actual government officials who assisted him in his colorful misadventures? As Ed Snowden remarked on “X”, wannabe Trump assassin Ryan Routh has “something of an Oswald vibe” — meaning, well-groomed by the intel boys, to be used as required.
Perhaps we’ll find out — if nothing fatal happens to befall Mr. Routh while in custody — how exactly he learned Mr. Trump would be on the links that afternoon? The candidate’s round of golf that day was supposedly a snap decision known only amongst his innermost circle. Or how did Mr. Routh figure out the most advantageous fairway to lay at for a clear shot?
The FBI is on the case, you may be reassured to know.
Things political are speeding up with the autumnal quickening. The blob is truly and deeply a’fright. So many blobsters will be liable to pay for their multitudinous crimes against the people of this country if Mr. Trump squeaks back into power that such a future is unthinkable to them. And yet, nothing has worked to deactivate this. . . this golden golem stalking the land. Nothing to show for the immense catalog of lawfare cases concocted to drain his wealth and stuff him into a prison cell — and astounding how amateurish they all were! Engoron and Merchan, two boobies hatched out of Judicial Error Central. Fani Willis, a walking-talking banana peel! Merrick Garland, saving democracy one abuse of power at a time!
The Butler, PA, head-shot op came awfully close to eliminating their, uh, problem, but no cigar. The Palm Beach golf course ambush had a Peter Sellers vibe, wouldn’t you agree? With the rifle muzzle poking through the shrubbery behind a fence. What next? A pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and cyanide? Maybe try to drop an anvil on Mr. Trump’s head from a passing airplane?
(Beep-beep. . . woosh!)
Somebody do something!!! The blob is shrieking to its minions from the sub-basement bunkers at Langley to the salons of Georgetown, to the US Embassy in Ukraine. Well, there’s always World War Three! And it looks like just such a romp is about to be instigated. You may have seen the photo last week of “Joe Biden” meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a big conference table, talking-up a plan to give Ukraine the green light to rain long-range missiles deep into Russia. Meaning, let NATO technicians work the targeting console to send US or British made rockets any old place over there? Like, Red Square? Or the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg? Find an actual Ukrainian to push the launch button.
How is that not a direct attack on Russia by NATO? Well, of course it is exactly that. Russia’s chief executive, Mr. Putin, clarified it for the Globalist Neocon cohort infesting NATO that such an action would bring. . . “consequences.” That is a word the Neocons are no longer acquainted with; it has been such a long time since they’ve crossed its path, like its boon companion, “truth,” also missing-in-action these days. And, to be fair, Mr. Putin did not specify what the consequences might be, not even a simple metaphor like a mushroom cloud, or an ashtray.
How did they even get “Joe Biden” off the beach for that photo op? It is understood by everyone over ten-years-old in America that “JB” is not available for duty anymore. The “out-to-lunch” sign hangs permanently on the doorknob of the Oval Office now. The USA does not have a functioning chief-of-state for the first time in 235 years. After 2021, some sort of unelected, informal Politburu that self-assembled in the White House, like a clot from a Covid Vaccine shot, is running our affairs. Maybe Kamala Harris has a clue who is in that outfit. Or somebody in the news median could ask her (if she ever gets around to holding an actual news conference, where the questions are not previewed or scripted.) Anyone dare ask?
Kamala Harris is strangely missing from the front page of The New York Times this morning.
Is that a little ominous?
The debate is behind her. There will not be another, apparently. There is nothing about her schedule on the official campaign website. Has she entered fade-away mode? Is it all over now except for the ballot harvesting and the, uh, little adjustments to the Dominion vote-counting machines? Has the drinking started again?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 17:00
Published:9/16/2024 4:06:06 PM
|
[Markets]
Sheriff Suggests "Ominous... Conspiracy" Behind Trump Assassination Attempt
Sheriff Suggests "Ominous... Conspiracy" Behind Trump Assassination Attempt
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,
Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder suggested there may be an “ominous” wider “conspiracy” at play regarding yesterday’s suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump given that the gunman appeared to know Trump’s private schedule.
Ryan Wesley Routh appeared to know that Trump was playing golf at a Florida resort despite this not being public knowledge and the decision to play being last minute.
“To my knowledge does he have any ties to Martin County? The answer is no…I think what we’re finding out is he’s not from this area, which of course raises the bigger question is how does a guy from not here get all the way to Trump International, realize that the former president of the United States is golfing and is able to get a rifle in that vicinity,” commented Snyder.
“Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman? If he’s a lone gunman, President Trump is that much safer because we have him. But if he’s part of a conspiracy then this whole thing really takes on a very ominous tone,” added the Sheriff.
Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker also told Newsweek that Routh appeared to have insider knowledge of the former president’s movements.
“The biggest question to answer is: ‘How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?'” he said.
“There are only three possible answers:
He guessed and got very lucky; he conducted surveillance on Trump and followed him to the golf course or he had inside information about Trump’s schedule.”
Bodycam footage released by the Sheriff’s office shows Routh, who reportedly was hanging around the golf course for 12 hours, being apprehended.
Meanwhile, the legacy media is still claiming that Routh’s politics are “unclear,” despite him literally having a Biden/Harris sticker on his truck.
As we highlight in the video below, there are already a ton of unanswered questions surrounding the assassination attempt, although the shooter’s political leanings clearly isn’t one of them.
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 14:25
Published:9/16/2024 1:45:26 PM
|
[Markets]
Double Trouble
Double Trouble
By Benjamin Picton, Senior strategist at Rabobank
Just when you thought that the US election couldn’t get any more nuts, we’re onto Trump assassination attempt #2. The FBI detained suspect Ryan Routh, a 58-year-old Hawaiian, who allegedly pointed an AK-47 at the former President while he was playing a round of golf in Florida. The Secret Service is reported to have fired shots at the suspect before he fled the scene in an SUV. Trump is reportedly unharmed.
After the first attempt on Trump’s life back in July, the former President saw a significant improvement in his polling numbers. The media half-life on that assassination attempt was remarkably short given the gravity of its implications, but Joe Biden quit the race just over a week later as poll pressure and Biden’s poor performance in the June debate combined to convince senior Democrats that switching horses mid-stream might be the least-worst alternative.
This time the shoe might be on the other foot. Most commentators suggest that Trump lost the recent debate against Kamala Harris, but Harris certainly didn’t deliver a knockout blow. Harris appeared sharper and mostly avoided her trademark word salads, but the cut-through moment of the debate might have been Trump’s “they’re eating the dogs; they’re eating the cats.” If that’s the only thing that low-engagement voters who care about animal welfare remember, it might be advantage Trump.
Market reaction to assassination attempt #2 is minimal. The DXY index is slightly lower in early trade, high-beta currencies like the AUD and NZD are marginally higher, crude oil is up smalls and Asian stock indices have mostly opened a little lower (with the exception of the ASX200). The message seems to be that financial markets have quickly become desensitized to near-misses for Presidential candidates, despite genuinely paradigm-shifting economic realignment being on the ballot in this election.
On that score, Trump added to his policy platform over the weekend by pledging to eliminate income taxes on overtime pay should he be successful in regaining the Presidency. This comes on top of a prior commitment to remove income tax on tips (a pledge that the Harris campaign has also adopted), a pledge to remove taxes on social security benefits, the planned extension of the 2017 tax cuts and a proposed cut to the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%. Trump’s platform is aimed squarely at the American middle and working classes, with universal tariffs on imports the key revenue measure proposed to make up for (some) of the shortfall in the tax take, while also shielding American workers from competing with cheap imports and immigrant labor.
It has long been Rabobank’s house view that Trump’s economic platform is likely to induce a domestic inflationary boom, with attendant second-round effects internationally as jurisdictions like the EU, China and others seek to protect their own industry via protective tariffs and non-tariff barriers. The Harris platform is less inflationary (involving higher taxes on employment income, capital income and corporate profits), but don’t make the mistake of thinking that this means she represents a shot at fiscal conservatism. There is no deficit hawk in this race.
That makes life hard for Jerome Powell and his colleagues at the US Federal Reserve, who will almost certainly begin cutting the Fed Funds rate this week. The perception that a cut is a fait accompli means that the size of the cut is the only matter of debate at this week’s meeting. This time last week the futures market had ~33bps cut priced into the Fed Funds rate for September. That fell to ~29bps following the publication of the August CPI report on Wednesday as the core reading printed 1-tick higher than expected on a month-on-month basis.
Market pricing has since shot up to a cut of ~66bps following the publication of an article in the Wall Street Journal by Fed whisperer Nick Timiraos which suggested that inflation data might be sufficiently benign - and the starting point for Fed Funds sufficiently restrictive - for the FOMC to deliver a double-sized cut first up. This view is motivated by the Fed’s recent shift in focus from inflation to unemployment, and comments from Powell that further softening in the labor market would not be welcomed. Gold prices seem to have sensed the theme and are rallying to fresh all-time highs this morning.
Later this week we will also see labor market data for Australia. The RBA has been an something of an outlier for central banks recently as it admonishes markets not to expect a rate cut this side of Christmas. The local commentariat remains in a state of disbelief (despite briskly rising house prices, stock prices near all-time highs, tightening credit spreads, a fiscal stance shifting rapidly from restrictive to accommodative, accelerating private credit growth, low productivity growth, a low savings rate and stubborn core inflation) as rate cuts are an article of faith Down Under. The futures market is also ascribing little credibility to the RBA’s protestations, pricing in a 90% chance of a rate cut by December. Former RBA Governor Lowe’s wildly wrong “no rate rise until 2024 at the earliest” forward guidance lives long in the memory of traders who would also be looking at falling commodity prices and grim China data over the weekend as they place bets on earlier easing.
The RBA’s Chief Economist Sarah Hunter gave a speech last week unpacking the RBA’s view that the Aussie labor market remains tight (despite recent softening) and that the unemployment rate is still below estimates of the ‘full-employment’ level. That tightness in the labour market also feeds into the RBA’s view that Australia still has a positive output gap (aggregate demand exceeding aggregate supply), whereas peer economies who hiked rates further are now experiencing excess capacity and are beginning to cut.
Hunter’s RBA colleague Brad Jones will be speaking on Wednesday. He is responsible for financial stability and Governor Michele Bullock has recently hinted that he might unpack some good news about the resilience of Aussie households and business in the face of the recent hiking cycle. Could the Hunter and Jones double act be a one-two punch to knock out hopes of an Aussie rate cut before Christmas?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 11:00
Published:9/16/2024 10:20:42 AM
|
[Markets]
Would-Be Trump Assassin Palled Around With Neo-Nazi Azov Brigade In Ukraine: What Did The Government Know?
Would-Be Trump Assassin Palled Around With Neo-Nazi Azov Brigade In Ukraine: What Did The Government Know?
Perhaps the most interesting angle to attempted Trump assassin Ryan Routh's recent history in his Ukraine connection. We documented that when he went to Ukraine to recruit for its International Legion in 2022 he was a Western mainstream media darling for a time, having been quoted on behalf of the cause to get more foreign fighters to throw into the battle against Russia by a who's who of major media sources from FT to Newsweek to the NY Times.
But when he arrived in Ukraine, according to these media reports, the 58-year old Routh himself was considered too old to fight alongside the Ukrainian army. "So plan B," Routh described to one outlet, "was to come to Kiev and promote the idea of many others coming to join the International Legion. We need thousands of people here to fight alongside Ukrainians."
"There are about 190 countries on our planet, and if the governments are not officially sending soldiers here, then we civilians should pick up this torch and make it happen," he described. He had told Newsweek in a video interview from Ukraine that the war with Russia was as simple as "good vs. evil" and essentially the same as good guys and bad guys in the Hollywood movies Americans grew up with. It was not a gray conflict, he described, but "black and white".
In March of 2022, just a month into the Russian invasion, he tweeted that everyone around the globe should be willing to volunteer and "fight and die" in Ukraine. Still, much of his time was reportedly spent in a hotel room in the far western city of Lviv.
Among the more bizarre aspects to his campaigning on behalf of the Ukrainian military's foreign legion were his efforts to recruit US-trained Afghan special soldiers to go to Ukraine's front lines. The initiative appeared so large in scale (given Routh was seeking to transfer hundreds, or even thousands, of Afghan fighters - according to his words) - that one commentator questions in light of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump: "Who was he working with in the US government that was allowing him to do this?"
In a 2023 interview with the NY Times Routh openly displayed his proclivity toward violent acts by threatening to shoot his critics, and the Times featured the quote almost as if lionizing his commitment to defending Ukraine:
In a telephone interview with The New York Times in 2023, when Mr. Routh was in Washington, he spoke with the self-assuredness of a seasoned diplomat who thought his plans to support Ukraine’s war effort were sure to succeed. But he appeared to have little patience for anyone who got in his way. When an American foreign fighter seemed to talk down to him in a Facebook message he shared with The New York Times, Mr. Routh said, "he needs to be shot."
He has received the media attention also apparently as head of the International Volunteer Center in Ukraine. Importantly, he has boasted of having "had partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week and still have not been able to get them to agree to issue one single visa." This raises the question of the degree of his involvement with US government officials at the time.
The Times had documented that Routh planned to move volunteers "in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine" - and claimed that many had expressed interests. He further boasted of breaking or at least bending foreign countries' laws in some cases. "We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country," he told NY Times. He announced on Facebook at one point, "Soldiers, please do not call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to have some answers in the coming months… please have patience."
He also recounted some of this experience in his self-published book, still available on Amazon, which is titled "Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity."
As if all of this weren't shady enough, raising a myriad of questions over who in the US government knew what and when of the future would be Trump shooter, he had connections with Ukraine's neo-Nazi Azov Brigade (often referenced by its earlier name Azov Battalion).
For a brief background review of Azov, even mainstream media has long grudgingly admitted that "in response to the neo-Nazi ideology of the group's founders, the US had banned the regiment from using American weapons in 2014." But the State Department more recently claimed it found "no evidence" that the extremist militant group has committed human rights violations or war crimes (in which case US law would prohibit providing weapons or training). This after President Volodymyr Zelensky himself has long been seen paling around with Azov commanders in public appearances.
The US State Department in June of this year announced that it finally lifted a longtime ban on giving weapons and training to Ukraine's notorious Azov Brigade (often referenced by its earlier name Azov Battalion). All the while, Azov's members have never been shy about sporting Nazi-inspired patches.
As of Monday, and with all of these deep Ukraine connections made evident with regard to Ryan Routh, the Zelensky government as well as Azov Brigade are attempting some serious PR damage control. But in the process, their statements serve to confirm Rough's connections to the neo-Nazi outfit. According to EuroNews:
Meanwhile, a video appeared on social media linking Routh to the Azov Brigade, claiming he participated in a 2022 event to support the unit's Mariupol brigade.
The Azov Brigade said the event was a peaceful demonstration open to all and that Routh was never part of the unit.
"We would like to officially state that Ryan Wesley Routh has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection to Azov," the unit said in a statement on X.
So they are literally doing the "mostly peaceful" line. The statement from Azov Brigade continues with an attempt to blame all of this on Russia: "We believe that the spread of the narrative about the possible connection between Azov and Ryan Wesley Routh is playing along with Russian propaganda and discredits the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine and the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine in general," it added.
And yet, below is an example of something Rough posted to his social media. The GrayZone reported on it before it was deleted by Facebook administrators, presumably amid the FBI/Secret Service investigation: An official Ukrainian military enlistment form Routh posted on his Facebook page, which administrators have deleted.
But one thing is still indisputable based on the piles of public evidence. As geopolitical analyst Andrew Korybko says, "The suspect is a Ukro-maniac who’d been radicalized by the Mainstream Media into traveling to Kiev, trying to join the 'International Legion'..."
Korybko further points out:
There’s no way that the earlier mentioned American “deep state” had no idea who Routh was after he’d already traveled to Kiev to try to join the “International Legion” and then openly told the New York Times about his plans to recruit Afghan soldiers that fled to Pakistan as refugees. He also brazenly boasted about how he’d purchase passports for them from there to facilitate their travel to Ukraine. The FBI might soon “do the meme” and admit that he was “on their radar”, but there’s much more to it.
The Newsweek interview... certainly the mainstream didn't treat him as just some rando who happened to be passing through war-ravaged Ukraine.
Clearly, this doesn't look like a guy who had no connections in Ukraine, or was merely some 'war tourist' on the sidelines as the Ukrainian government and Azov would have us believe. Again the question remains: what did the US government know about this radicalized individual and when did they know it? Did he have help from US government officials in his Ukraine travels and recruitment campaign?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 09:40
Published:9/16/2024 8:46:44 AM
|
[World]
Live updates: Trump says he’s safe after potential assassination attempt at golf course
A suspect is in custody as the FBI investigates the incident at former president Donald Trump’s golf course in Florida as a potential assassination attempt.
Published:9/16/2024 5:16:45 AM
|
[Security]
‘TRULY HORRIFYING’: Questions Swirl After Second Trump Assassination Attempt
For the second time in three months there was an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. “The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida... Read More
The post ‘TRULY HORRIFYING’: Questions Swirl After Second Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:9/15/2024 7:36:21 PM
|
[2024 Election]
*** Second Trump Assassination Attempt Livewire *** Law Enforcement Responds After Another Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump is safe as law enforcement responds to West Palm Beach, Florida, after what the FBI now says was an apparent second assassination attempt against Trump this year.
The post *** Second Trump Assassination Attempt Livewire *** Law Enforcement Responds After Another Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:9/15/2024 6:29:33 PM
|
[Latest News]
Trump Safe After Shots Fired 'In His Vicinity' at Florida Golf Club, FBI Investigating 'What Appears To Be an Attempted Assassination'
Former president Donald Trump is safe after multiple shots were fired "in his vicinity" as he golfed at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, his campaign said Sunday. Law enforcement officials "believe an armed individual intended to target Trump," according to CNN. Secret Service agents fired at the individual, and a rifle was recovered […]
The post Trump Safe After Shots Fired 'In His Vicinity' at Florida Golf Club, FBI Investigating 'What Appears To Be an Attempted Assassination' appeared first on .
Published:9/15/2024 4:48:59 PM
|
[Markets]
NYC Subway Murders Soar 60% As Nationwide Data Backs Trump On Crime Spike Under Biden-Harris
NYC Subway Murders Soar 60% As Nationwide Data Backs Trump On Crime Spike Under Biden-Harris
Murders across New York City's subway system have surged by a shocking 60% so far this year, even as overall crime on the rails has dipped, leaving straphangers increasingly terrified for their safety.
According to NYPD data, eight people have been slaughtered on subway cars or in stations as of September 8, up from just five during the same period last year. The surge in killings is closing in on the 25-year high set in 2022, which saw ten murders in the transit system—a grim milestone unseen since 1997. For over two decades, from 1997 to 2020, the city never recorded more than five subway murders in a single year, the NY Post reports.
"It’s not a safe environment to be waiting for the train," said Jakeba Dockery, 42, whose husband, Richard Henderson, was fatally gunned down in January on a 3 train in Brooklyn while trying to break up a fight between riders over loud music. "It just feels evil," she told The Post.
The latest casualty in the wave of violence was Freddie Weston, a 47-year-old grocer shot dead near the MetroCard booth at the Rockaway Avenue station in Brooklyn on September 5, just after 11 p.m. Weston, who was heading to work in College Point, might still be alive if there had been cameras near the station’s ticketing area, his sister Tina claimed. “They took the opportunity because there wasn’t [any] camera,” she said, her voice cracking.
Despite these horrific incidents, the NYPD points to a slew of high-profile safety initiatives that have helped tamp down an early-year surge in underground crime. Heavily trafficked stations were flooded with 750 National Guardsmen, and an additional 1,000 NYPD officers were deployed to monitor the subway system.
And, indeed, there has been some success: Total subway crime has decreased nearly 6% this year compared with the same period in 2023, with robberies down about 18% and felony assaults dropping nearly 5%, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
"This overall crime reduction is due in large part to thorough investigations by detectives into every major crime within the subway, and the proactive work of officers deployed in the transit system," the spokesperson said. "This year alone, those very officers removed 43 guns (compared to 28 last year) and 1,536 knives (compared to 1,004 last year) from the subway system, the highest weapons seizure rates in the last decade."
But even with more weapons off the rails, violent crime remains well above pre-pandemic levels, and many riders are still sweating over whether their next ride will be on the “Murder Express.”
"You don’t know if you’re going to make it home," retiree Vickie Reeves, 68, bemoaned while making a rare subway trip at the Times Square station. "There’s a lot of mental illness, and it’s painful to your heart that you don’t know who you come in contact with, if they’re going to push you in front of the train."
Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, believes the persistence in murders is partly due to a "worn out" police force and a brain-drain of veteran transit officers, as many cops resign or retire. "You can’t have just anyone patrol the subway — it’s a different animal," he said.
For Dockery, the widow of the Brooklyn shooting victim, the solution is simple: avoid the subway altogether. She now drives her car around the city - ferrying her daughter to and from high school basketball games and running errands. "I don’t do the MTA," she said. "Between the anger [of violent straphangers], the mentally ill, I can’t."
Crime Rates Remain High Across America Under Biden Administration
While New York’s subway system contends with a wave of murders, new national data reveals a troubling trend: crime rates across the United States have remained elevated under President Biden, directly contradicting propaganda spat out by the media and the White House.
According to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey released by the Justice Department on Thursday, 22.5 of every 1,000 residents reported being the victim of a violent crime in 2023, and 102.2 per 1,000 reported experiencing a property crime. Both figures are statistically unchanged from 2022 but are significantly higher than in 2020, the last year under President Trump, the Washington Times reports.
John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, noted that the data paints a stark picture of rising crime under the Biden administration, contrasting with the drop seen under Trump. "Violent crime increased by 37% under the Biden administration, compared to a drop of 17% under the Trump administration," Lott said.
The discrepancy in narratives has been a point of contention in political arenas. Mr. Trump’s campaign quickly seized on the new data, stating, "crime rates remain WAY UP under Kamala Harris — throwing a dagger straight through the heart of claims to the contrary by Democrats and their Fake News allies."
Via donaldjtrump.com:
- FACT: Violent crime is up 37% between 2020 and last year.
- Rape is up 42%.
- Robbery is up 63%.
- Assault is up 34%.
- Violent crime (excluding simple assault) is up 55%.
- Domestic violence is up 32%.
- Stranger violence is up 61%.
- Violent crime (with an injury) is up 10%.
- Violent crime (with a weapon) is up 56%.
- Motor vehicle theft is up 42%.
- FACT: The total number of violent crimes reported last year is higher than any year under President Trump.
- FACT: Kamala has overseen the two highest years for total Americans victimized by violent crime since 2012.
- FACT: Kamala has presided over three of the four most murderous years in the last quarter century.
- FACT: In most cities, murder rates remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign have cited FBI data to argue that crime rates are falling. However, Lott argues that FBI data is misleading. In 2020, 97% of police departments reported their data to the FBI, but by 2022, 31% were not reporting at all, and another 24% were providing incomplete data.
"Crime is through the roof," said Trump during last week's presidential debate. When debate moderator David Muir attempted a fact-check using FBI data suggesting a decrease in violent crime, Trump fired back, questioning the reliability of the data—a sentiment echoed by Lott.
"The victimization data showed significant improvements in several major crimes during the Trump administration. Aggravated assaults fell by 24% under Mr. Trump but rose 55% under Mr. Biden, according to the data for 2023," Lott continued. "Robbery, which fell 6% under Mr. Trump, is up 63% under Mr. Biden. Rape, which was flat under Mr. Trump, is up 42% under Mr. Biden."
While the FBI’s homicide data did show a 6.1% drop in homicides from 2021 to 2022, the discrepancy between victimization data and FBI-reported data raises questions about the real state of crime in America. The FBI's better coverage of homicides, which are almost always reported, is an exception in what Lott calls an increasingly unreliable dataset.
Some experts caution that neither survey alone provides a full picture of crime trends, noting that regional variations can skew national data. But as crime remains a hot-button issue, both in New York’s subways and across the country, the battle over the truth is far from over.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 11:05
Published:9/15/2024 10:58:47 AM
|
[Markets]
NYC Mayor Adams Compares Himself to the Bible's Job Amid Federal Probes
NYC Mayor Adams Compares Himself to the Bible's Job Amid Federal Probes
Via Headline USA,
New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared himself to Job, a biblical figure who experienced severe suffering, amid multiple federal investigations into his administration, The Gothamist reported.
Speaking at the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams called the Book of Job his “favorite” Bible story.
“It was so important for me as a child, to sit in nursery school and Sunday school to learn that lesson of Job and how, when you’re in those dark places, they are not burials, they are plantings,” Adams said.
“[A] reporter said to me this morning ‘Do you feel like you’re being persecuted?’” he continued. “I said ‘No, I’m just in my Job moment.’ I know what got me here, and I know what’s going to sustain me here.”
The comments from the mayor come just days after federal agents raided the homes of several of his top aides, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.
The FBI also raided the home of Adams’s key fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, last year.
No official has been formally accused of a crime. Some, including former President Donald Trump, have suggested that Adams is the victim of a lawfare attack by the weaponized DOJ due to his criticism of the Biden–Harris open-border policy.
In a statement last week, Adams said he was “not aware of any misdoings” on the part of his administration officials and insisted he’s told them to “follow the rules. And that’s what they have been doing, to my knowledge,” he added.
When pressed on why his administration officials continued to come under scrutiny then, Adams answered, “Those are questions I can’t answer. I’m going to … I know what I’m going to do, and that is information that’s needed to show that I have always followed the law, we’re going to give that information.”
As he was leaving the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams also urged congregants to pray for him and his administration.
“Pray—pray for them all,” Adams said. “Pray for me.”
Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/11/2024 - 19:45
Published:9/11/2024 7:20:10 PM
|
[Media]
WATCH: ABC Moderators Fact Check Trump and Let Harris Skate
ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact checked former president Donald Trump in real time during Tuesday night's debate. When Vice President Kamala Harris made false statements, they kept quiet. Muir pushed back on Trump's claim that crime is "up and through the roof," saying the "FBI says overall violent crime is actually […]
The post WATCH: ABC Moderators Fact Check Trump and Let Harris Skate appeared first on .
Published:9/11/2024 12:24:08 AM
|
[World]
Philippine celebrity pastor arrested in human trafficking, sex crime case
Philippine police have captured Apollo Quiboloy, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ megachurch founder who is also wanted by the FBI on charges of sex and human trafficking.
Published:9/8/2024 2:04:10 PM
|
[2024 Election]
Nolte: Trump Tops Kamala in New York Times/Siena National Poll
The FBI raided his home. The corporate media crusaded in lies for years to frame him as a Russian spy and insurrectionist. Fascist Democrats seek to imprison him for life, bankrupt him with lawfare, and take away his business empire.... yet Donald Trump keeps on winning.
The post Nolte: Trump Tops Kamala in New York Times/Siena National Poll appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:9/8/2024 11:16:44 AM
|
[Markets]
Ghosts In The Machine
Ghosts In The Machine
Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
“The lies then and now are mind boggling. The people who continue to lap up the lies are beyond reach. The poison unleashed into the population will be with us a long time.”
- Edward Dowd
How is it that our country turned into some kind of theme park spook ride, a cheesy-looking haunted house of programmed frights, howling holograms, phantoms with their hair on fire, doors slamming open on glimpses of hell, ill-winds and foul odors, climaxing in a tableau vivant of death-in-life neverending?
I’m sure that this will surprise you, but you can choose to be sane.
How?
You take care of your business conscientiously; you steer in the direction of what is true and away from what is false; you find purpose in your existence by discovering your talents and using them in ways that do not bring harm to other people; you seek the company of kindred spirits. . . love the one you’re with. . . work hard so you can rest easy. . . express your gratitude for being here. That’s a start.
If you prefer being insane, there’s always the current incarnation of the Democratic Party, dedicated to gaslighting the nation into ruin.
Of course, at this point — the point of extreme desperation — the Dems are just running interference for the distraught intel-Globalist blob. The blob’s agenda has been thwarted, overwhelmed by runaway debt and drinking too much of its own propaganda Kool-aid. A great deal of that has entailed the commission of crimes, which always implies the possibility of having to pay for them.
Russia is about to roll up on what’s left of Ukraine. Our State Department neocon division thought it was wicked-smart to start a little action there in 2014, to provoke Russia into a ruinous war against NATO (the game: “Let’s You and Him Fight”) in order, theoretically, to wreck Russia and depose Mr. Putin. Didn’t work. Do you know why? I will tell you (it’s really simple): Russia’s leadership is more intelligent than ours, and far less psychopathic. They perceived correctly that we were only wrecking ourselves.
Ten years later, the Ukraine caper draws to a humiliating end for our neocons, and a ruinous end for NATO and the EU. So far this year, it appears that “Joe Biden’s” party has ceased paying attention to Ukraine. The pretty yellow and blue flags have all but disappeared — except in Massachusetts, we noticed, the most highly “educated” and most deeply insane state in the union. I’ll be interested in how Kamala Harris explains our Ukraine war policy in Tuesday’s presidential debate. Defending democracy, I suppose.
The governments of the major EU nations stupidly followed the bidding of America’s psychopathic neocons and now they ‘ll have to answer for it as their people awake to the destruction of the EU nations’ economies. Early elections will be called and globalist stooges will be swept away. The turmoil will rhyme with the chaos of 1848, a year of revolution. NATO, finding itself not just purposeless but toxic to Europe’s well-being, must dissolve as members on the periphery withdraw, some seeking to join the BRICs economic bloc. Germany, France, and the UK get sucked helplessly into a new great depression and social turmoil as they contend with many millions of hostile migrants.
Here in America, you can already hear the fake anguished cry of “Russia, Russia, Russia” echoing out of Merrick Garland’s fake Justice Department. We’re to understand that the Russians are coming for our election — more gaslight — when it’s actually the Democratic party, led surreptitiously by its lawfare cadres, Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, Andrew Weissmann, Mary McCord, Lisa Monaco, et al. Their many courtroom pranks have failed against Mr. Trump. Judge Chutkan was bloviating in the DC federal court this week to generate a little heat on MSNBC, but her case has a wooden stake through its heart and Xs where its eyes used to be.
Up in New York, Judge Juan Merchan pretends to wrassle with whether or not to start Civil War Two by remanding Mr. Trump to Rikers Island on September 18 (I doubt that happens). In the event, though, I believe Mr. Trump might simply say, “No thank you,” and go about his business running for president. That would be a counter-prank I’d be eager to see. Who gets in the act then? Federal marshals? The FBI (ha!)? The Supreme Court term begins the first Monday in October. They could have something to say about the steaming pile of horseshit that was Alvin Bragg’s and Mathew Colangelo’s case. (Also, Weissmann’s, Eisen’s, Monaco’s, and McCord’s.)
Gawd knows where things might stand after next Tuesday’s great debate. The rules are pretty stringent. No candidates questioning each other. No audience. No confab with staff during commercial breaks. The mute buttons will be on. Without her “I’m speaking” routine, Ms. Harris has. . . zotz. All Mr. Trump really has to do is be polite for 90-minutes.
More than a few people, meanwhile, are beginning to ask who is running the country, since “Joe Biden” is mostly off-duty, beaching it, not attending cabinet meetings, and probably not being consulted on any number of matters being carried out in his name. Are you comforted to know that the US government is on auto-pilot, a colossal, menacing machine run by ghosts?
* * *
Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack
Tyler Durden
Fri, 09/06/2024 - 17:40
Published:9/6/2024 5:04:18 PM
|
[Markets]
The Media Lies Add Up
The Media Lies Add Up
Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,
The public is exhausted after a decade of chronic untruth from the left-wing and its media.
The 2016 presidential campaign will be long remembered for the false allegation that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to warp the election.
Citing the bogus “Steele dossier,” loser Hillary Clinton and other Democrat grandees claimed that the victorious Trump was an “illegitimate” president.
Almost immediately, the left and media then pushed for the appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller. He assembled a ‘dream team’ of partisan prosecutors to prove Trump-Russian collusion.
Some 22 months later, Mueller found no evidence that Donald Trump improperly won the 2016 election with help from any colluding Russians.
More hysteria followed when Trump was impeached in December 2019.
The left claimed he had pressured the Ukrainian government to look into the family of Joe Biden (then a potential 2020 election opponent) for its corruption with Ukrainian oligarchs—as a condition for releasing military aid designated to Kyiv.
Yet Hunter Biden was paid nearly $1 million a year by a Ukrainian energy company to enlist his father, Vice President Joe Biden, for quid pro quo services.
In turn, Joe Biden himself later bragged he had pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor, Victor Shokin—who happened to be looking too closely into the various shady schemes of the Biden family.
The deceptions and lies continued.
On the eve of the first 2020 debate, Biden aide and now Secretary of State Antony Blinken helped to round up “51 former intelligence authorities” to claim falsely that Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop—full of incriminating evidence of felonious Biden family behavior—was fabricated by the Russians.
Yet the FBI already had the laptop and had authenticated it as genuine.
The FBI was also actively enlisting Silicon Valley social media companies to suppress accurate news accounts of the laptop’s embarrassing contents—ostensibly to aid the Biden campaign.
The signees of the false letter included former intelligence kingpins such as Leon Panetta, James Clapper, and John Brennan. None has ever apologized for deliberating lying to the country in a (successful) attempt to help alter an election.
During the summer of 2021, top military officials, at least publicly, parroted the Biden administration’s lie that it was safe to abruptly withdraw all troops from Afghanistan.
The Biden plan was to take political credit for ending the two-decade-long war on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the American invasion of Afghanistan.
Yet many intelligence officials in and outside the Pentagon had warned both Biden and the Pentagon top brass that any such reckless and total withdrawal would collapse Afghanistan.
They rightly also advised that sudden flight would give terrorists a windfall of equipment and infrastructure.
But they were ignored and during the subsequent Biden misadventure, thirteen American Marines were needlessly killed.
After the greatest military humiliation in a half-century, Biden and many in the media lied that the mission was nevertheless a successful withdrawal.
But that was not all. For the first time in history, a presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was subjected to numerous criminal and civil suits in an election year.
Yet the federal prosecutor, Jack Smith, met with Biden officials. A high-ranking Biden Justice federal attorney joined the New York municipal prosecution. The Georgia prosecutor met stealthily with Biden’s legal counsel. And a major Biden donor funded the civil suit.
The once collusion-hungry media ignored all such lawfare and rank collusion.
During the 2020 Democratic primaries, the general election, and throughout the first three years of the Biden administration, it was evident that Joe Biden was physically and mentally incapable of serving as president.
Yet his aides and the media all misled the American people. They insisted that Biden was vigorous and sharp.
Then suddenly in June 2024, within a 24-hour period, Biden was declared by these same insiders as unfit to continue as the Democratic nominee.
Their new problem with Biden was not just his long-standing embarrassing dementia. Rather bad polls increasingly warned that voters no longer believed their lies and thus would likely not reelect Biden but would instead punish most Democrats in the upcoming 2024 election.
So, a new media narrative arose: the once-hale Biden was forced to resign as the Democrat nominee. His once widely caricatured vice president, Kamala Harris, just as abruptly was coronated as his replacement candidate by an equally suddenly gushing and colluding media.
In sum, for some nine years, the media and the left have successfully fed the country a succession of rank deceptions and conspiracies.
They did so because they proclaimed Donald Trump too dangerous to be president and therefore any means they employed to stop him were to be justified. And they are doing so yet a third time in 2024.
As they continue, they have all but destroyed democracy, ruined the reputation of the media, alienated the public—and embarrassed their country before the world.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 09/06/2024 - 16:20
Published:9/6/2024 3:34:29 PM
|
[Markets]
Georgia Swiftly Charges Father Of School Shooter With Murder, Manslaughter
Georgia Swiftly Charges Father Of School Shooter With Murder, Manslaughter
Just one day after 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly went on a killing spree at his Georgia high school, state police have arrested his father and charged him with murder because he made an AR-15 available to his son. Police sources told NBC News that Colin Gray gave the rifle to his son as a gift -- a move that came after the pair had been questioned by police investigating a tip about someone threatening to shoot up a school.
"These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon," Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) director Chris Hosey told reporters on Wednesday. Fifty-four-year-old Colin Gray has been hit with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colt Gray is being held in a youth detention center on four murder charges so far, but will be tried as an adult.
Police say that, around 10:20 am on Tuesday, Colt Gray used an AR-15 purchased by his father to kill two 14-year-old students and two teachers, and wound another seven students and two teachers. He surrendered immediately upon being confronted by police. The carnage took place at Apalachee High School in Winder, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. "The nine injured, I am very happy to say, will make a full recovery," said Barrow County Sheriff on Thursday.
The charges could represent the substantiation of an emerging trend in charging parents who enable their children to access firearms and then use them with horrific results. In an historic first earlier this year, the parents of a 2021 Michigan school-shooter were each convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to secure a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol, while ignoring stark indications that their son's mental health was spiraling downward.
More than a year before the Georgia shooting, investigators in neighboring Jackson County were handed a tip from the FBI that led them to question Colt and Colin Gray. The FBI was notified by concerned citizens who'd seen someone on the Discord messaging platform bragging about intentions to go on a middle school shooting spree the next day, and posting photos of firearms. The poster's username was a Russian translation of "Lanza," the last name of the perpetrator of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.
When questioned in May 2023, Colt said he'd used Discord before but that his account had been hacked and he wouldn't threaten a mass shooting. According to a transcript of the interview, investigator Daniel Miller said, "I gotta take you at your word and I hope you’re being honest with me.”
Colin Gray told police he owned hunting weapons but kept them locked and inaccessible to his son, adding that “[Colt] knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them.” He also told investigators that his separation from Colt's mother had taken a toll on the then-13-year-old, and that he'd been subjected to bullying at school.
An investigator said no arrest was in order due to "inconsistent information" about the Discord account, including indications it had been accessed in multiple Georgia cities and Buffalo, New York. School officials were cautioned to monitor Colt Gray. “We did not drop the ball at all on this,” Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum tells Associated Press. “We did all we could do with what we had at the time.”
The shooter's aunt, Annie Brown, told the Washington Post that Colt Gray "was begging for [mental health] help from everybody around him.” She also said she'd texted a relative last month, expressing her unease that Colt had access to firearms, and that Colt's grandmother had asked a school counselor for help. "[He] starts with a therapist tomorrow," the grandmother messaged one week before Tuesday's bloodshed.
Colt Gray's mother, Marcee Gray, has a colorful 17-year criminal record across three counties that includes charges of domestic violence, methamphetamine possession, property damage, criminal trespass, driving under the influence, and a civil fraud claim associated with an alleged bad check she and her husband presented for a vehicle purchase.
Michigan and Georgia's criminal charges for parents leaving weapons unsecured and accessible to troubled kids should serve as a cautionary tale for those exercising their right of armed self-defense.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 09/06/2024 - 07:45
Published:9/6/2024 6:54:37 AM
|
[Markets]
Highlights From Trump's Town Hall With Fox News
Highlights From Trump's Town Hall With Fox News
Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
HARRISBURG, Pa.—Former President Donald Trump continued his courtship of voters in Pennsylvania, one of a handful of states that could decide the 2024 presidential election, with a wide-ranging town hall discussion on Sept. 4.
Fox News host Sean Hannity reminded the audience at New Holland Arena that the Republican nominee’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, declined an invitation to debate Trump that night. That’s why the event instead became a Trump-only town hall.
So far, Harris has agreed to one debate with Trump, set for Sept. 10 with ABC News in Philadelphia. Trump also invited her to appear Sept. 25 on CBS News.
Banter between Hannity and Trump on Wednesday, sprinkled with video montages of Harris’s past statements, filled about 50 minutes that had been allotted—even before a single audience member had been able to ask a question.
Then, Trump suggested, “Let’s make two shows” from the footage; Hannity obliged, and the event continued for about 15 more minutes as Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for Senate, and four attendees sought answers from the former president. Their questions focused on safety, immigration, and the economy. Trump repeated his past pledges to improve on all three of those fronts.
The network was slated to broadcast the prerecorded Trump–Hannity interview later on Sept. 4; the Trump–audience interactions will air during Hannity’s regular time slot on Sept. 5. Other media outlets, including The Epoch Times, were permitted to report on the exchanges only after the first segment was broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 4.
The following are key highlights from the town hall.
ABC Debate: ‘I’m Gonna Let Her Talk’
After Hannity asked what the former president was doing to get ready for next week’s debate with Harris, Trump replied: “I think I’ve been practicing all my life for this stuff. It’ll be an interesting evening.”
The former president said debates are unpredictable, so a candidate needs to be nimble. Many before him have prepped extensively, only to fail miserably in the heat of debate. “Everybody has a plan until they get ‘punched in the face,’” Trump said, quoting Mike Tyson.
“A lot depends on ABC. ... I hope they’re going to be fair,” he said, adding that a contract bars the network from providing questions to either candidate in advance of the showdown.
The Trump and Harris camps had proposed different ground rules for the debate; they disagreed over whether the candidates should be seated or standing, and over whether microphones should be muted while the opposing candidate is speaking.
Trump’s strategy? “I’m gonna let her talk,” he said.
That is what he did on June 27 in Atlanta, where CNN hosted a debate between him and President Joe Biden. The incumbent was widely seen to have struggled during that face-off.
Biden withdrew from the race less than a month later and endorsed Harris as his preferred successor.
Fracking a Big Deal for Pennsylvania
Noting that many thousands of Pennsylvanians depend on fracking for their livelihoods, Trump told the audience, “You have no choice; you’ve gotta vote for me.”
Hannity played multiple video clips of Harris making past statements opposing fracking. Trump said he disbelieves her recent statement that she won’t ban the procedure that is used to help extract gas or oil from the ground. He said Democrats’ policies have directly hurt the industry even without an outright ban.
“You have to have fracking. ... It’s a massive business for Pennsylvania, and you can’t take a chance” that Harris would eliminate it, Trump said.
Trump Trending Upward
Hannity noted the town hall came at a time when Trump was trending upward in some of the polls. Those include a Trafalgar Group poll showing Trump ahead of Harris in Pennsylvania by 2 percentage points.
The host said the latest numbers seem to suggest that Harris’s “long-lived honeymoon phase now finally, finally appears to be over.”
In the RealClearPolitics average of opinion polls, Harris was holding a 1.9 percent national lead against Trump on Sept. 4. But a few very recent polls were detecting a shift in momentum.
In Rasmussen Reports’ Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on Sept. 4, Trump opened a six-point lead over Harris nationally. But in Rasmussen’s five-day average, he was only 2 percent ahead of her.
Many other polls still show Harris with an edge over Trump nationally, but still within the margin of error, which runs at 3 percent or more for most polls.
An online prediction and betting site, Polymarket.com, on Sept. 4 showed Trump with a 52-percent chance of winning the Nov. 5 election; Harris had a 47-percent chance.
Contrast With Harris–Walz Accessibility
Hannity noted that Harris has given no solo news conferences since she became the apparent Democratic nominee 45 days prior to the Fox town hall.
She and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, participated in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Aug. 29 but disclosed no new policy specifics. And, as of Sept. 4, no policy platform was yet listed on Harris’s website.
Hannity contrasted this with the dozens of news conferences and interviews Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have given since Biden dropped out of the race.
After Trump passed the 16-minute, 30-second mark into the program, Hannity thanked him for going longer than Harris’s CNN interview; the audience laughed.
Heightened Security
Hannity and Trump have appeared together for many broadcasts since Trump first campaigned for president in 2016. But “never before have restrictions been so tight,” Hannity said.
In the wake of a gunman’s failed assassination attempt against Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump’s security team insisted on a smaller audience for the Fox town hall, Hannity said. Seating arrangements were also strictly controlled.
No attendance estimate was provided, but the arena, which holds 7,300 people, appeared to be about one-third full.
Hannity and Trump expressed sadness over the Georgia school shooting that left at least four people dead and nine wounded hours before the town hall.
In addition, Hannity also noted that FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about an unprecedented spike in security threats.
When Hannity wondered aloud why so many problems with violence and threats persist, Trump replied, “It’s a sick and angry world for a lot of reasons,” expressing confidence that he will improve conditions if he wins reelection.
“It starts now, Trump!” one man in the audience said.
Reassuring ‘Hesitant’ Voters
A woman asked Trump what he had learned from his first term as president that could help reassure “those that are hesitant to vote for [him] now.”
Trump replied that he learned the importance of putting the right people into key positions in his administration.
“I put people in, that in some cases were not what I really wanted. ... I know the good ones, the bad ones, the weak ones, the smart ones, the dumb ones,” he said, his last phrase prompting a chuckle from the audience. “A big key to running it is getting the right people. ... I know now the people, and I know them better than anybody.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 09/05/2024 - 19:50
Published:9/5/2024 7:18:15 PM
|
[Markets]
Amazon Admits Alexa's Wildly-Biased Treatment Of Trump, Harris Questions Was 'Error'
Amazon Admits Alexa's Wildly-Biased Treatment Of Trump, Harris Questions Was 'Error'
After viral videos demonstrated Alexa virtual assistant devices giving wildly-biased answers to questions about presidential contenders Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Amazon said the phenomenon resulted from an "error" on the company's part that has now been rectified.
When asked "why should I vote for Donald Trump," Alexa was routinely replying, "I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader.” However, when people asked the gizmo why they should vote for his opponent, Alexa spewed a variety of enthusiastic Harris endorsements.
Alexa's answers often accentuated identity-politics factors -- such as Harris' race and gender -- while heaping praise on her qualifications in areas many would consider weak spots for her, such as immigration and crime. Here's an assortment of Alexa's responses:
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country.”
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field. Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and her record of accomplishment in criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate."
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishments. As the first female vice president, Harris has already broken down a major gender barrier, and her career in politics has been characterized by a commitment to progressive ideals and a focus on helping disenfranchised communities."
"Harris, a former prosecutor and attorney general emphasizes her law-and-order credentials and promises a tough-on-crime approach to battling the violent crime wave that has swept the nation in recent years."
"Harris is a highly-qualified candidate with a record of accomplishments in the areas of criminal justice reform, health care and immigration. Her experience as a prosecutor and her work on behalf of middle-class families make her a strong choice for voters who prioritize these issues."
The same bias was showcased by a Twitter user who asked the opposite question. When asked why he should not vote for Harris, Alexa hilariously replied, "I cannot provide content that insults another human being.” When asked why he shouldn't vote for Trump, Alexas gave this elaborate answer:
"There are several reasons why you may not want to vote for Donald Trump. Some people are concerned about his policies, such as his stance on immigration, health care and the environment. Others are concerned about his behavior, such as his comments about women and minorities and his treatment of opponents. Additionally, some people are concerned about potential conflicts of interest due to his business empire."
Reposting that video, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung railed against what he called "big tech election interference."
Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/04/2024 - 12:30
Published:9/4/2024 11:48:22 AM
|
[Markets]
Is Kamala Very, Very Afraid?
Is Kamala Very, Very Afraid?
Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
“On many subjects important to public life today, vast numbers of people know the truth, and yet the official channels of information sharing are reluctant to admit it.”
- Jeffrey Tucker
You might wonder, as I do, whether Kamala Harris can even stay in the race until November 5. Based on her grim appearance in last week’s “interview” with Dana Bash, slumped at the table of a crummy Georgia café under poor lighting, her trademark cackle suppressed, she looked psychologically wilted. Don’t be surprised if late this week she “catches Covid” and asks to “postpone” the September 10 debate with Mr. Trump.
Consider the depressing reality of her situation, lately cloaked by the farcical “joy” motif put out by her party’s campaign spin doctors: First, the cabal running the White House bum-rushed “Joe Biden” out of the campaign, just hooked him offstage like a broke-down vaudevillian annoying the audience with his tired antics. Then, the same gang buffaloed Kamala onto center stage by some mystical process that disregarded her lack of preparation, her proven unpopularity in the 2020 primaries, and her near-invisibility in 3.5 years as veep.
For a couple of weeks her head must have been spinning with sheer intoxication at the amazing turn of events. Who wouldn’t be amazed to find him or herself unexpectedly selected to run for president? But now, post the artificial hoopla of the convention, the dread steals in. If she was previously used to self-medicating with chardonnay during the irksome veep years, imagine the pressure now on those campaign bus trips.
She has a lot to be afraid of. She’s not nimble of mind in the spotlight, and she knows it. When she tries to riff on anything off-the-cuff, all that comes out are laughable tautologies. She really doesn’t know much about the world, even about simple geography, certainly not the complex interplay of national interests. Her economic notions are a kind of Frappuccino® of processed Marxian sludge from the Berkeley cafés. If exposed regularly to even friendly reporters, she’d ignite howling embarrassment for herself (and the party). And, after all, there’s her record, including hundreds of videos on the Internet showing plainly the crazy policies she supports and now has to pretend to dissociate from.
Lurking behind her is not only the American intel blob of dark forces and sinister figures, but an international blob made up of malevolent groups within and throughout Western Civ, clearly working to bring it down — the Eurocrats wrecking their own countries’ agriculture and their industrial economies while jailing their opponents for thought crimes; the WEFers pushing the demented climate change agenda and ruinous migrant invasions; the bankers looking to seize the “collateral” (property, chattels, investment portfolios) of a billion everyday citizens when the bond Ponzi scheme blows up, as it must; the WHO steered by Bill Gates seeking to inject unsafe vaccines into everybody in order to greatly and quickly reduce the population; the Soros NGO legions working to subvert the public interest here, there, and everywhere; the NATO warmongers trying like hell to start World War Three. . . . Kamala Harris surely understands — if she understands anything — that she has become their chosen pawn, and is at their mercy (they have none).
She should be afraid especially of the American blob. That combine of higher-ups in the CIA, the DOD, the FBI, the DHS, the State Department, and Gawd knows how many lesser-known agencies and “black op” back offices, knows that it is in great danger if Mr. Trump happens to get elected (despite their best efforts to rig things). After all the trips laid on him, all the way up to attempted assassination, you can be sure that Mr. Trump will be coming after the cabal for committing real and serious crimes. They are running scared now. Despite all the power seemingly at their command, nothing has availed so far — not lawfare, not bullets — to stop Mr. Trump’s implacable march back into the Oval Office, where he could possibly succeed in turning the USA back into a functioning republic
Poor Kamala Harris is the blob’s wholly inadequate instrument to fend off this fate. If she continues to perform badly, the blob might not hesitate to try getting rid of her. That may be the blob’s last chance of stopping the election from happening altogether. The nation has never been in the predicament of having the head of a ticket resign or die in the homestretch of an election campaign. There is no provision in the Constitution for it because there are no provisions in the Constitution for political parties per se. It would all be a kind of improv.
And then, of course, America would be stuck with the unfit and incapable “Joe Biden,” heading the government, at least until something else can be worked out. Maybe that working out would just be the final stage of the coup that has been in motion, really, since 2016 when John Brennan, Barack Obama, and James Comey attempted to oust Mr. Trump with RussiaGate. Some kind of “interim commission” might be formed to “solve” the problem of the cancelled election. They’ll look for someone with “proven ability” to serve as provisional president — maybe, someone who has already been president. . . say, Mr. Obama. Voila and fait accompli! If he finds himself appointed rather than elected, he would not be in defiance of the 22ndAmendment. Okay, now try re-thinking how scared Kamala Harris must be.
* * *
Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/03/2024 - 15:45
Published:9/3/2024 3:10:12 PM
|
[Markets]
Busted Spy In NY Gov. Hochul's Office Received Millions From China, Bought Posh Homes & Ferrari
Busted Spy In NY Gov. Hochul's Office Received Millions From China, Bought Posh Homes & Ferrari
A former top aide to New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has been arrested Tuesday on federal criminal charges in a political bombshell. She is accused of acting as an undisclosed agent of China and the Chinese Communist Party. She's been identified as Linda Sun, who had previously served as Hochul's deputy chief for a year, following stints in other positions at the state government level.
The significant list of allegations includes that she worked to advance CCP interests in sate government, and in return received huge sums of money and oversaw the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions connected to Chinese government business interests.
Perhaps most alarming is that she's alleged to have on multiple occasions blocked the ability of representatives of the Taiwanese government from meetings with NY government officials. Her husband, Chris Hu, has also been arrested, implicated in the conspiracy.
The couple was arrested by the FBI at their posh Long Island home on Tuesday, estimated to be a house worth over $4 million, which has luxury cars in the garage, including a 2024 Ferrari.
The indictment states that while "acting at the request of PRC government officials and the [Communist Party of China] representative, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP."
She allegedly engaged in "blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to" the NY governor’s office. Sun is also accused of lobbying to successfully change Gov. Hochul's messaging related to China and Taiwan. She even tried to facilitate an official trip of the NY governor to China.
Prosecutors say the couple laundered the proceeds of their alleged schedule to buy a $4.1 million home in Manhasset, Long Island, a $2.1 million condominium in Honolulu, and luxury automobiles that include at 2024 Ferrari. —CNBC
"As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced Tuesday.
"The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars. Our Office will act decisively to prosecute those who serve as undisclosed agents of a foreign government," he added.
Other 'benefits' received from the Chinse government included employment from the Chinese government given to Sun's relatives, luxury high-end meals delivered to her parents in China, event tickets, and the promotion of a family friend's business. A list of the key charges against her include:
- violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act
- visa fraud
- alien smuggling
- money laundering conspiracy
Her husband Chris has been charged with the following violations:
- money laundering conspiracy
- conspiracy to commit bank fraud
- misuse of means of identification
The governor's office has immediately tried to distance Hochul from Sun, even though it looks like her deputy chief of staff was highly influential:
Hochul’s press secretary Avi Small, in a statement to WNBC News 4 in New York City, said, "This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago."
"We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process," Small said.
Apparently the investigation has been on for some time, given Sun's high level position in Hochul's office began in September 2021. She had held a series of positions in the state government from 2012 to 2023. She had also held a staff position in the administration of former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Her latest position was as Deputy Director of the New York State Department of Labor.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/03/2024 - 14:45
Published:9/3/2024 2:03:04 PM
|
[Latest News]
Former Hochul, Cuomo Aide Arrested for Acting as Undisclosed Chinese Agent
A former aide to New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) and disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo was arrested on federal charges early Tuesday morning.
The post Former Hochul, Cuomo Aide Arrested for Acting as Undisclosed Chinese Agent appeared first on .
Published:9/3/2024 11:44:32 AM
|
[Entertainment]
Jude Law stalked Nicholas Hoult to prep for Venice film ‘The Order’
Jude Law plays an FBI agent tracking Nicholas Hoult, as leader of a violent neo-Nazi group in the ’80s inspired by white supremacist handbook “The Turner Diaries.”
Published:8/31/2024 5:59:12 PM
|
[Markets]
Fifty Shades Of Central Bank Tyranny
Fifty Shades Of Central Bank Tyranny
Authored by Aaron Day via The Brownstone Institute,
he United States has had a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) since the late 1990s—or possibly even as far back as the 1970s, depending on how you define it. Definitions matter. Just as the bestselling novel 50 Shades of Gray explores the complex dynamics of control and submission in a relationship, our financial system has evolved into what could be called “50 Shades of Central Bank Tyranny.”
Each layer of our digital currency system peels back the seductive mask of freedom, revealing progressively darker shades of control. As we delve deeper, what seems like autonomy at first glance is only an illusion where more intricate and pervasive forms of dominance lay hidden, its grip tightening with every layer.
Our politicians work their sleight of hand by manipulating language itself to give a false impression, masking either a different intent or simply trying to gain the appearance of a victory with little or no actual underlying achievement. After all, the Patriot Act was anything but “patriotic.” The CARES Act, while sounding warmly empathetic, cared more about large multinational corporations than small businesses, about Big Pharma over American health, and above all, about the expansion of the surveillance state and protection of the censorship industrial complex over the liberty and free speech of the American people.
Just as 50 Shades of Gray reveals the intricate power plays in a seemingly consensual relationship, so too does our current financial system reveal its true nature as a digital dominatrix—one that has been steadily adding links to the chain of financial enslavement, tightening its grip on our autonomy for decades.
In this article, I will define what a Central Bank Digital Currency is by exploring its major categories. I’ll demonstrate that the US already operates with a form of CBDC, albeit without the flashy labels. I will also show that the Federal Reserve (the Fed) can introduce more dystopian elements into this system—such as programming restrictions on when, how, and where you can spend your money without requiring Congressional approval.
However, the fear of central bank control over your transactions is, in fact, a red herring. The real threat lies with our government, which has already perfected the art of surveillance. Adding programmability is just the next logical step. Ultimately, both Republicans and Democrats are steering us toward the same destination: total digital control. They may use different words and different propaganda, but their goals converge. While we can’t simply vote out of this predicament, we can opt out entirely.
Context
If you have been following me at all, you know that I have been laser-focused on warning people about the threats of CBDCs for the past two years. This dedication led me to write a book, The Final Countdown, and even run for President to raise awareness about the issue. I handed a copy of my book to Vivek Ramaswamy, and after reading it, our conversations helped bring the CBDC issue to Donald Trump’s attention. Since exiting the race last October and becoming a Brownstone Fellow, I’ve traveled to 22 states to discuss the dangers of CBDCs.
Currently, I’m hosting over 15 four-hour workshops nationwide—and soon internationally—educating people on using alternative currencies to avoid CBDCs and evade The Great Taking, the carefully engineered process that could strip us of our stocks, bonds, and 401(k)s to benefit the largest banks through legal maneuvers across all 50 states.
I entered the crypto space in 2012, but it wasn’t until I saw friends and people I admired being arrested, imprisoned, or having their businesses destroyed by the federal government that I became truly passionate about this issue. Since I exited my personal bank account in 2019, this has impacted me personally. I started to research the topic and discovered that the crackdown on crypto was directly related to CBDCs. Put simply, the government needed to crack down on crypto to usher in a CBDC.
For two years, I have been traveling around the country (and soon the world) to warn people about the perils of CBDCs that could come right around the corner. But as I’ve dug deeper into the technical and legal aspects of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that we already have a CBDC. We have for decades. Our transactions are already surveilled. Banks and the government can censor our accounts. The money in our bank accounts is already digital (at least 92%). There is no need to worry about the future threat of CBDCs. We already have them. At this point, we are just fighting over our degrees of slavery.
The Dollar Is Just an Entry in a Database
It becomes clear that we already have CBDCs when you start examining how money is created.
As explored in my previous article, “You Might Own Nothing Sooner Than You Think,” modern commerce now flows through vast, centralized databases. These databases form the backbone of our financial system, housing everything from our bank account balances to our stock holdings. Money is no different.
Let’s start with the basics of money creation: government borrowing. The government sells IOUs in the form of Treasury securities (bills, notes, and bonds) to the Federal Reserve. Where does the Federal Reserve get the money to buy these securities? They create it out of thin air. Or, to be more accurate, they simply add some ones and zeros in the database – an Oracle database, no less (thanks, Larry Ellison!).
The Federal government then pays its bills through its account at the Federal Reserve. When checks are written for projects like a $3.4 million turtle tunnel in Florida or a $600,000 study on why chimpanzees throw feces, the funds are transferred from the Fed’s Oracle database to the accounts of vendors and employees at commercial banks, each maintaining their own separate databases. Some use Oracle, and others use Microsoft.
Here’s where it gets even more absurd: for every dollar deposited by its customers, a commercial bank can create nine new dollars in its database to loan out to other customers. We have a fractional reserve system, and for years (since 1992), banks were required to send 10% of the deposits back to the Federal Reserve to be held as reserves. Covid-19 legislation removed this requirement, and now banks aren’t required to have 10% at the Federal Reserve (although for a variety of other reasons they do still keep about that level at The Fed).
The government issues an IOU to the Federal Reserve, which creates digital money in a database. The government pays its bills, the checks are deposited in commercial banks that create additional money, and a portion of it is sent back to the Fed—all in the form of digital entries in databases. If you add up the number of Central Bank and Commercial Bank databases globally, you wind up with more than 60,000 separate databases sending entries back and forth.
What’s a CBDC?
When someone asks me, “What is a CBDC?” I start by examining the grammar of the question. A CBDC is a Central Bank Digital Currency. The Federal Reserve is our central bank, and our currency is already digital—the 1s and 0s are created out of thin air in an Oracle database. By this definition, we’ve had a CBDC for decades.
As of 2024, only 8% of US currency exists physically, leaving the other 92% digital. So, are we a 92% CBDC? We become a CBDC at the point at which greater than 50% of our currency exists digitally.
Politicians and central bankers claim we don’t currently have a CBDC and wouldn’t likely agree with my definition. I have tried to understand their definitions and isolate the discrepancies.
Generally speaking, when central banks, the World Economic Forum (WEF), United Nations (UN), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) talk about CBDCs, at their core, they are defined as being digital, being a liability of the central bank (as opposed to being the liability of commercial banks), and if you recall from earlier, create their own money in their own separate database and provide only the small amount (10%) back to the central bank in the form of reserves.
This has always struck me as a difference without a distinction. Why? Because it’s the commercial banks that own the Federal Reserve—or at least, that’s the common belief. As a private entity, the true ownership of the Federal Reserve remains shrouded in secrecy, but by all accounts, it appears to be controlled by a cartel of private banks. I recommend G. Edward Griffin’s The Creature from Jekyll Island for more insight into this.
Here’s how it works: The money is initially created in the Federal Reserve’s database, and then it’s deposited into the separate databases of the very banks that own the Federal Reserve. These banks, in turn, create even more money based on those deposits.
Having dispensed with the idea that a currency issued by a central bank and a currency issued by a central bank that is then used as backing for the issuance of more currency by a commercial bank is effectively given the same thing given that the banks own the Federal Reserve, let’s address some other misconceptions about a CBDC.
Myth: If I have a CBDC, I will have an account directly with the Federal Reserve, and my bank will disappear.
Most people have the fear/belief that a Central Bank Digital Currency means they would have an account directly with the Federal Reserve, and the commercial banks would go away altogether. This is also one of the reasons many think CBDCs will never happen—because commercial banks will resist and fight to the death for their very survival. Yet none of the CBDCs launched (including China’s) have this structure. In China, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) creates the CBDC and then issues it to commercial banks.
The consumers don’t deal directly with the central bank. There are 134 countries pursuing a CBDC, and we haven’t seen any (including the US) contemplating cutting out the commercial banks. Therefore, I don’t think you can reasonably say that consumers having an account directly with the central bank constitutes a critical requirement for being a CBDC.
When you hear talking heads from the UN, WEF, World Bank, IMF, and others talk about CBDCs, you often hear programmability, surveillance and control, financial inclusion, and essential elements. Let’s do a test and see if the current dollar has or could have these “features.”
Programmability: The most dystopian fears about CBDCs revolve around their ability to be programmed. In theory, with their nebulous owners, governments, or central banks could embed rules dictating how, when, where, and even if you can spend your digital money. People often associate this kind of programmability with blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, using smart contracts and tokens (unique digital representations of assets, which I discuss in detail in this article).
You don’t need new blockchain technology to enable programming. The Federal Reserve’s Oracle database and the Microsoft and Oracle systems used by commercial banks are programmable right now. Companies and individuals have been using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with these databases for years. Rules are already in place to flag certain transactions based on specific criteria—exactly what programmability is all about. So, while having a single, centralized digital currency might make it easier for Big Brother to enforce spending rules, the tech to do it is already alive and kicking in our current system.
The existing financial system relies heavily on complex algorithms and automated decision-making processes, influencing everything from payment processing to credit scoring. But what’s truly astonishing is the extent to which programming has already permeated our financial lives, with examples including credit cards that can shut off access to money based on carbon emissions, health savings accounts that only allow purchases of pre-approved medical expenses, transaction routing algorithms that prioritize certain merchants over others, anti-money laundering systems that flag suspicious activity in real time, and payment processors that can dynamically adjust interest rates and fees based on individual credit scores.
A complex series of algorithms and automated decision-making processes are already at work as you head to the home goods store to buy a new gas stove (while it is still legal). When you swipe your credit card to make the purchase, the payment processor’s algorithm checks your credit score to determine whether you’re eligible for the purchase, while the bank’s system reviews your account balance to ensure you have enough funds to cover the transaction.
Meanwhile, the anti-money laundering (AML) system runs in the background, flagging any suspicious activity that might indicate money laundering or other illicit activities. The algorithm also checks the merchant category code (MCC) for the home goods store, verifies that the purchase is within your approved spending limits, and calculates the interest rate and fees associated with your credit card based on your individual credit score. As the transaction is processed, the payment processor’s algorithm routes the payment to the store’s bank, and the funds are transferred, all in a matter of seconds, allowing you to take your new gas stove home and start cooking up a storm.
The Doconomy Mastercard, a co-branded card with the United Nations, takes programmability a step further by tying financial transactions to carbon emissions. The card uses algorithms to track the carbon footprint of every purchase, and if a user’s carbon spending exceeds a certain limit, the card can be declined or even shut off. This social engineering is achieved through a complex system that assigns a carbon score to each merchant and transaction, considering factors such as the type of goods or services being purchased, the location, and the mode of transportation used. The algorithm then calculates the user’s total carbon footprint and compares it to a predetermined limit, which can be adjusted based on the user’s individual carbon budget. If the limit is exceeded, the card can be restricted or shut off, limiting the user’s access to their money.
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are another example of programmability in the financial system. HSAs are tax-advantaged savings accounts that allow individuals to set aside funds for medical expenses. However, these accounts come with strict rules and limitations on what products and services can be purchased. The funds in an HSA can only be used for pre-approved health expenses, such as doctor visits, prescriptions, and medical equipment.
The account is linked to a debit card or checkbook, but the funds can only be used at merchants that have been pre-approved by the HSA administrator. This is achieved through a system of merchant category codes (MCCs) identifying the type of business or service provided. When an HSA card is swiped, the MCC is checked against a list of approved codes to ensure that the transaction is eligible for reimbursement. If the MCC is not approved, the transaction is declined, limiting the user’s ability to access their own funds for non-medical expenses. This programmability ensures that HSA funds are used only for their intended purpose while providing a convenient and tax-efficient way to save for medical expenses.
When a politician gives a speech claiming they are fighting the good fight against these horrible CBDCs on the basis of protecting Americans from having their money programmed, inform them about how the existing system works. No major technical upgrade is needed, and no significant laws have been passed to add more programmability. New rules and algorithms are developed every day, all without any public hearing, Congressional approval, or even a shoutout on your favorite financial news channel.
Surveillance: If there’s one thing Americans are increasingly worried about, it’s that every single transaction will be under the government’s watchful eye. Ted Cruz didn’t mince words when he said, “The Biden Administration is actively working to create a new digital currency that will allow the government to spy on our transactions and control our financial freedom. We must stop this now.” Ron DeSantis has also made his stance crystal clear, declaring, “The Biden administration’s push for a Central Bank Digital Currency is all about surveillance and control. Florida won’t stand for it—we will protect Floridians’ financial privacy and security.”
And let’s not forget Senator Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s Republican senator, who’s a favorite among Bitcoin enthusiasts. She has also sounded the alarm: “I’m deeply concerned about the Biden Administration’s push for a CBDC. It could be used to gather information on Americans and potentially even control their spending. We need to ensure any digital currency system protects privacy and individual liberty.”
It’s not just Republicans waving the flag while bleating about privacy. Even Elizabeth Warren, who has advocated for CBDCs, has said, “If we’re going to create a digital dollar, we have to make sure it works for everyone, not just the wealthy, and that it protects consumer privacy.”
How noble. How patriotic. How completely divorced from the reality of their voting records. Our current digital dollar is and has been highly tracked and censored for decades.
In the US, the government has various methods to gain access to financial transaction information, depending on the type of information and the circumstances. Here are some of their methods:
Let’s put this into more personal terms. I could write an entire book with just case studies about how the government has used surveillance techniques to target people. I have friends in prison for non-violent crimes made possible by this very surveillance.
I’ve picked these two gems because they highlight just how extreme the surveillance measures are with our banking system as it is today.
The Case of Rebecca Brown: Civil Asset Forfeiture Gone Wrong
In 2015, Rebecca Brown’s father, Terry Brown, was driving from their home in Michigan to visit family in New Jersey. He was carrying $91,800 in cash, and his daughter spent years saving to buy a house. Terry didn’t trust banks (wise man), so he withdrew the money and carried it with him for safekeeping.
While driving through Pennsylvania, a state trooper pulled him over for a minor traffic violation. When the officer discovered the cash, he immediately became suspicious, despite Terry’s clear explanation that the money belonged to his daughter and was intended to buy a house. Without any charges or evidence of a crime, the police seized the entire $91,800 under civil asset forfeiture laws.
Rebecca and her father spent over a year and thousands of dollars fighting to get their money back. The case garnered national attention, highlighting the abusive nature of civil asset forfeiture laws that allow law enforcement to take money from innocent people without any proof of wrongdoing. Eventually, the money was returned, but only after a long and costly legal battle that left the family financially strained and emotionally exhausted.
The Story of Nick Merrill: Gagged by a National Security Letter
Nick Merrill owned a small New York internet service provider (ISP). Out of the blue, one day in 2004, his life completely changed when the FBI served him with a National Security Letter (NSL). The letter demanded that he turn over confidential customer records, and it came with a gag order. He wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, including his lawyer, about the request.
Merrill was horrified. The FBI didn’t provide any evidence or court order—just the NSL. He couldn’t challenge the letter in court because the gag order made it illegal to speak about it. Merrill felt his constitutional rights had been violated, but had no visible recourse.
For years, Merrill fought the gag order in secret, unable to tell even his closest friends what was happening. It wasn’t until 2010—six years later—that Merrill finally won the right to speak publicly about his case, becoming the first person to challenge an NSL gag order successfully. The experience left him deeply shaken. And as he was the first to challenge an NSL successfully, we don’t know how many people have had a similar experience.
So, let me recap this for you: the NSA already bulk collects our financial data, the IRS uses AI in conjunction with the IRS to monitor our spending, the banks already have rules (programming) to track for suspicious behavior, and between the Patriot Act and National Security Letters, we can be spied on without court approval and may not even be able to talk about it (even with a lawyer).
Our money is digital, and it’s already under heavy surveillance. How much worse can it get? At first, I thought maybe folks like Cruz, DeSantis, and Warren didn’t realize how deep the surveillance rabbit hole already goes. But then I dug deeper. Despite their public outcry about privacy, Ted Cruz voted for the US FREEDOM Act, which reauthorized parts of the Patriot Act, including those pesky NSLs. Warren backed it too, while pushing to strengthen the Bank Secrecy Act. DeSantis? Same deal—he voted for the US FREEDOM Act and supported efforts to tighten the Bank Secrecy Act’s grip.
Financial Inclusion: One of the most absurd claims and a perfect demonstration of Orwellian doublespeak from globalist organizations like the WEF, UN, and Bank of International Settlements is that CBDCs will promote financial inclusion.
When they say CBDC, what they really mean is banning physical cash. Remember that no formal definition states that you can’t have a CBDC alongside physical cash. The very definition of CBDC itself is not only contested between these groups, but it also has shifted and become more narrowly defined as time progresses. In part, I think this is to deflect from how authoritarian the existing system already is. You can have both cash and a CBDC like we already do in America, and many of the other pilot programs worldwide contemplate either having physical cash alongside CBDCs or gradually phasing out cash. So, again, definitions matter. BIS and WEF “inclusion” means they’ll strip away cash and call it progress.
Here’s the kicker: about 4.5% of Americans are unbanked and depend on physical cash to survive. Under a CBDC system, use of the system and carrying out transactions require permission, and that permission can be denied. Banks could completely exclude these people from the economy—left without any means of exchange. That’s not inclusion; it’s worse than the current situation. It’s explicit exclusion.
Tokenization: The IMF and BIS have been peddling a semantic argument that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is only truly “digital” if it’s tokenized, i.e., assigned a unique, trackable token to each unit of currency. However, this distinction is largely a matter of terminology rather than substance. The vast majority of money already exists in digital form, stored in databases such as the Federal Reserve’s Oracle database or commercial banks’ Oracle/Microsoft databases. The real debate is not about whether money is digital but about who controls the digital ledger. In the US, the divide seems to be along party lines, with Democrats advocating for a central bank-issued, tokenized currency, while Republicans, led by Cynthia Lummis, push for commercial bank-issued stablecoins. However, this distinction needs to be more precise, as both options are equally programmable, surveillable, and controllable by the government.
Moreover, commercial banks own central banks, rendering the distinction between the two largely moot. Tokenization doesn’t magically make something “digital;” it’s simply a different type of digital representation. Ultimately, whether it’s a central bank-issued token or a commercial bank-issued stablecoin, the result is a programmable, trackable, and potentially oppressive digital currency threatening individual freedom and autonomy.
CBDC Finally Defined
We have a central bank digital currency. Politicians and globalist organizations like the UN/WEF/BIS like to shift the goalposts, adding narrow definitions that get more tyrannical with each new redefinition.
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are no longer a future concept but a present reality. We’re not waiting for their implementation; they’re already here, and we’re now measuring the degrees of tyranny that come with them. The CBDC Tyranny Index is a tool designed to help us understand the level of control and surveillance that comes with these digital currencies.
Instead of letting them frame the debate by adding new bells and whistles to the definition of CBDC, I’ve created an index issued as a scoring system to determine the level of tyranny. The index consists of several categories: surveillance and monitoring, control mechanisms, cashless society, tokenization, issuer, globalization, and crypto regulation. Each category has a score, and the sum of these scores indicates the level of tyranny. The higher the score, the more oppressive the CBDC.
We’re already at the Bondage Level, with a score that indicates a significant loss of freedom and autonomy. But it’s not going to stop there. The cut-off for the Servitude Level is 120 points, and there are multiple ways to reach that threshold. One way is through the increased use of AI-powered monitoring, combined with a cashless society and tokenization. But make no mistake; this is just one possible path to Servitude. We know the end game: a global digital currency tied to a social credit system where every transaction is tracked and controlled. This is the dystopian future that’s discussed in my book, The Final Countdown.
How We Can Fight Back
I wrote this article to make one thing perfectly clear: we already have a CBDC. CBDCs aren’t a future threat, they are a present reality. The existing system is already digital, programmable, and trackable. Politicians, central bankers, and globalist organizations keep shifting the definition of CBDC to deflect from the fact that we already have one and to groom us for even deeper shades of tyranny.
We need to take ownership of the definition of CBDCs to make their intentions clear – which is that they are moving towards absolute digital enslavement and a global technocracy.
We must hammer and meme the bondage, servitude, and enslavement CBDC tiers and explain the different elements of the CBDC tyranny index. We need to bring awareness to the fact that Republicans and Democrats are both complicit in bringing about this tyranny, both complicit in the semantic manipulation of the definition of CBDCs, and both are actively working towards passing legislation that elevates the level of tyranny from bondage to servitude.
The Dems will get us to the servitude level through a Central Bank-issued, tokenized dollar under the guise of financial inclusion. This is the current policy under President Biden’s Executive Order 14067. The Republicans will get us there through enhanced surveillance and by giving monopoly control of tokenized commercial bank digital currency to the largest banks, most likely under the guise of stopping illegal immigration, terrorism, and money laundering.
I highlight the behavior of politicians on both sides of the aisle, not because I think you should write or call your Congressman. We can’t vote our way out. All of the legislation that added the programmability and surveillance has been bipartisan. Every fiat currency in human history has failed, and even the last 5 global reserve currencies only lasted 84 years. The difference this time is that it is a controlled demolition. They are doing it intentionally to bring in a wholly digital control system.
The way forward is through radical non-compliance and adopting monetary alternatives that are outside the state’s control. In 2019, I stopped using a personal bank account and started using self-custody crypto, gold, and silver. In light of the recent revelations about the hijacking of Bitcoin (I recommend reading Hijacking Bitcoin for more information) and its traceability, I have moved to privacy coins like Zano and Monero and use physical gold, goldbacks, and silver as well. I am currently hosting 4-hour workshops in cities across the US and soon internationally as well where I show people exactly how to obtain and use alternative currencies as a substitute for the dollar. .
By exiting the dollar now, we can end our bondage, stave off complete digital enslavement, and build a future based on free will and centralization. We need not cry about the loss of our current system. We should set fire to tears and begin a freer, decentralized future.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 08/31/2024 - 16:00
Published:8/31/2024 3:45:18 PM
|
[]
'Member That Whole FBI/Election Interference Conspiracy Theory? Welp, Mark Zuckerberg Just Verified It
Published:8/29/2024 11:07:12 AM
|
[Uncategorized]
Trump Assassination Attempt: FBI Shows Photos of Shooter’s Gun, Explosives
Dude: An account linked to the shooter has been researching Trump's "campaign schedule and upcoming appearances in Pennsylvania" since September 2023!
The post Trump Assassination Attempt: FBI Shows Photos of Shooter’s Gun, Explosives first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:8/28/2024 2:33:32 PM
|
[Media]
Zuckerberg Admits Facebook Killed Hunter Biden Laptop Story After FBI 'Warned' of 'Russian Disinformation'
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook killed the Hunter Biden laptop story after the FBI "warned" of a "potential Russian disinformation operation," and acknowledged that it "shouldn't have demoted the story."
The post Zuckerberg Admits Facebook Killed Hunter Biden Laptop Story After FBI ‘Warned’ of ‘Russian Disinformation’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:8/26/2024 11:32:12 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
Zuckerberg: Biden Admin, FBI ‘Repeatedly Pressured’ Facebook to ‘Censor’ COVID Content, Hunter Biden Story
"Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either decision - and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again."
The post Zuckerberg: Biden Admin, FBI ‘Repeatedly Pressured’ Facebook to ‘Censor’ COVID Content, Hunter Biden Story first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:8/26/2024 9:12:38 PM
|
[Markets]
Vote For Harris If You Want Radical Racial Indoctrination Of Your Kids
Vote For Harris If You Want Radical Racial Indoctrination Of Your Kids
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
What starts in California and Minnesota is guaranteed to not stay in California and Minnesota if you vote for Harris.
“Liberated” Studies Hit Minnesota
Beginning in kindergarten, the state’s schoolchildren will be indoctrinated in radical racial ideology.
The Wall Street Journal reports Tim Walz Brings ‘Liberated’ Ethnic Studies to Minnesota
Tim Walz was a schoolteacher before entering politics, so what is his approach to teaching? The Minnesota Department of Education will soon release the initial version of a document that lays out how new “liberated” ethnic-studies requirements will be implemented in the state’s roughly 500 public-school districts and charter schools.
Mr. Walz signed the law establishing this initiative in 2023. The department’s standards and benchmarks, approved in January, require first-graders to “identify examples of ethnicity, equality, liberation and systems of power” and “use those examples to construct meanings for those terms.”
Fourth-graders must “identify the processes and impacts of colonization and examine how discrimination and the oppression of various racial and ethnic groups have produced resistance movements.” High-school students are told to “develop an analysis of racial capitalism” and “anti-Blackness” and are taught to view themselves as members of “racialized hierarchies” based on “dominant European beauty standards.”
The Walz administration has relied on committed political activists to design and guide implementation of the state’s education agenda. One of them is Brian Lozenski, an associate professor of urban and multicultural education at Macalester College in St. Paul and a leader and a founding organizer of Education for Liberation Minnesota, or EdLib MN, a group that aims to “be a political force” in Minnesota and “contend with the status quo of colonial education that prioritizes Eurocentric curricula.
The St. Paul course makes “resistance” to America’s fundamental institutions a central theme. It instructs 16-year-olds to “build” a race- and ethnicity-based “narrative of transformative resistance” and to “challenge and expose” “systems of inequality.” It tells them to “resist all systems of oppressive power rooted in racism through collective action and change.” Accompanying artwork, labeled “seeds of resistance,” features protest signs that read “No Bans/No Walls” and “Abolish Prison.”
Minnesota’s experience with this radical restructuring of its public education system may give Americans a picture of what the nation as a whole could soon face.
A Beauty from EdLib MN
Things Kindergarteners Need to Study
-
Use economic models and reasoning and data analysis to construct an argument and propose a solution related to an economic question. Evaluate the impact of the proposed solution on various communities that would be affected.
-
Apply economic concepts and models to develop individual and collective financial goals and strategies for achieving these goals, taking into consideration historical and contemporary conditions that either inhibit or advance the creation of individual and generational wealth.
-
Ask historical questions about context, change and continuity in order to identify and analyze dominant and nondominant narratives about the past.
-
Analyze the ways power and language construct the social identities of race, religion, geography, ethnicity, and gender. Apply these understandings to one’s own social identities and other groups living in Minnesota, centering those whose stories and histories have been marginalized, erased, or ignored.
-
Describe how individuals and communities have fought for freedom and liberation against systemic and coordinated exercises of power locally and globally. Identify strategies or times that have resulted in lasting change. Organize with others to engage in activities that could further the rights and dignity of all.
-
Use ethnic and Indigenous studies methods and sources in order to understand the roots of contemporary systems of oppression and apply lessons from the past that could eliminate historical and contemporary injustices.
Things First Graders Need to Study
-
Investigate a variety of historical sources by: a) analyzing primary and secondary sources; b) identifying perspectives and narratives that are absent from the available sources; and c) interpreting the historical context, intended audience, purpose, and author’s point of view of these sources.
-
Integrate evidence from multiple historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument or compelling narrative about the past.
-
Analyze the ways power and language construct the social identities of race, religion, geography, ethnicity, and gender. Apply these understandings to one’s own social identities and other groups living in Minnesota, centering those whose stories and histories have been marginalized, erased, or ignored.
Things Fourth Graders Need to Study
-
Explain and evaluate processes, rules and laws of United States governmental institutions at local, state and federal levels and within Tribal Nations.
-
Use economic models and reasoning and data analysis to construct an argument and propose a solution related to an economic question. Evaluate the impact of the proposed solution on various communities that would be affected.
-
Analyze how scarcity and artificial shortages force individuals, organizations, communities, and governments to make choices and incur opportunity costs. Analyze how the decisions of individuals, organizations, communities, and governments affect economic equity and efficiency. [Mish comment: There’s your pro-socialism and price-gouging indoctrination]
-
Evaluate how government actions affect a nation’s economy and individuals’ well-being within an economy. [More socialism if not outright communism]
-
Describe places and regions, explaining how they are influenced by power structures. [Excluding of course the indoctrination taught]
-
Analyze the ways power and language construct the social identities of race, religion, geography, ethnicity, and gender. Apply these understandings to one’s own social identities and other groups living in Minnesota, centering those whose stories and histories have been marginalized, erased, or ignored.[Massive DEI campaign]
The above snips are from a 109 page “American Experiment” Standards and Benchmarks document for Minnesota.
I stopped at grade 4. I couldn’t take anymore.
Glenn Youngkin Lesson
It is discussion of education, and only education, that propelled Glenn Youngkin to gubernatorial victory in Blue Virginia.
Instead of talking about DEI, indoctrination, inflation, and the border, Trump is attacking Pocahontas, offering ridiculous freebees in competition with Harris without saying how he will pay for them, and let’s be honest (running a pathetic campaign).
If you are cheering playground name calling, then you are part of the problem.
Trump won in 2016 (by a small margin), because Hillary was equally obnoxious and because of a last minute gift from then-FBI Director James Comey reopened the agency’s investigation into her private email server just days before the 2016 election.
Trump lost in 2020 on the current path.
Trump and Hillary are alike. Neither will admit they are to blame for losing.
Don’t fool yourself. Polite stupidity, DEI, and extreme socialistic indoctrination could easily win again if Trump keeps marching down the path he is on.
People are sick of divisive politics, and rightfully so. Biden promised to be a moderate but was a Progressive wet dream candidate instead.
Trump promised less divisiveness and that lasted precisely one day.
Glenn Youngkin might have won in a landslide. Instead, Trump is currently behind because of his own doing.
Trump Would Rather Be Crass Than President
Being crass will not bring an a single vote. Anyone cheering playground name calling is already voting for Trump.
Trump Seeks More Influence Over the Fed
On August 8, I commented Trump Seeks More Influence Over the Fed, a Really Stupid Idea
To understand why it’s stupid, ask yourself what would happen if Democrats get complete control again.
Trump Fires Arrows Missing the Target Badly
Also on August 8, I asked Trump Fires Arrows Missing the Target Badly, Will a Recession Save Him?
Trump’s strategy has gone from boring to shockingly bizarre and counterproductive. Does Trump think his opponent is Brian Kemp or Kamala Harris? What about recession? Walz?
Trump Lets Harris Get Away With Nonsense
Harris is pretending to be a moderate and Trump is letting her get away with it.
If Trump won’t talk about inflation, indoctrination, and his vision of the future instead of his alleged past greatness, then who will?
Harris and the media are very pleased with this aspect of Trump campaign because it allows Harris to stay in hiding.
All I can do is suggest that if you don’t want your kids to be part of an “American Experiment” indoctrination of DEI and socialism, then you need to abandon Harris no matter how crass Trump appears.
Also, ask yourself what would happen if Democrats get complete control.
Very Serious Setup
This is a very serious setup. But if you offend enough people, anger and misplaced hope can easily overrule common sense.
Yet, many Republicans are happy with the Trump campaign. I’m not. Trump’s best hope is a recession will bail him out.
I predict a recession but I don’t know if it will be strong enough.
Improving the McKelvey Recession Indicator
On August 20, I commented Improving the McKelvey Recession Indicator, No False Negative or Positive Signals
Adding the job vacancy rate to the McKelvey (Claudia Sahm) recession signal eliminates false negatives and false positives, and provides a much faster signal than Sahm.
I note that since 1953, every time the economy was in the current state, the economy was in recession.
That does not make the odds 100 percent because everything is up to the NBER, the official arbiter of recessions.
My recession post is on the complicated side, but please check it out.
Also note that the BLS Revises Jobs Down by 818,000 the Most Ever, About 68,000 Per Month
Do I get to say I told you so? My advance estimate a month ago was 779,000 lower. Bloomberg estimated 730,000.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/26/2024 - 05:00
Published:8/26/2024 4:36:28 AM
|
[2024 Election]
Exclusive – Donald Trump Unveils Dramatic Details of Assassination Attempt: Moment It Happened, Who’s to Blame, Why He Got Up and Yelled ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’
PALM BEACH, Florida — Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News exclusively that when he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, in mid-July he knew instantly it was a bullet that had hit him.
The post Exclusive – Donald Trump Unveils Dramatic Details of Assassination Attempt: Moment It Happened, Who’s to Blame, Why He Got Up and Yelled ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:8/25/2024 5:57:35 PM
|
[Markets]
Secret Service Agents (Finally) Placed On Leave After Trump Assassination Attempt
Secret Service Agents (Finally) Placed On Leave After Trump Assassination Attempt
Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,
Three weeks ago, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe angrily pushed back on senators’ calls to immediately fire or discipline key agents directly responsible for the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at last month’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Since that time, Secret Service leaders have placed several members of the Pittsburgh Field Office on administrative leave, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.
(Administrative leave occurs when a federal employee temporarily leaves their position and work duties – either because of a misconduct investigation or medical or mental health issue. These employees usually still receive pay and benefits, but those decisions are left to the discretion of agency leadership.)
While these members of the Pittsburgh Field Office were placed on leave, a different set of agents, several assigned to Trump’s permanent protective detail, are still on the job providing Trump protection, the sources say. They remain operational even though they too were deeply involved in devising the Butler rally’s security plan.
The differing treatment of the two teams is spurring internal dissension and speculation that the Pittsburgh office could bear the brunt of the serious security failures that day, even though there’s plenty of blame to go around.
During a joint Senate committee meeting July 30, Rowe said he couldn’t understand or defend why the roof where shooter Thomas Crooks fired from wasn’t better secured. He said the Secret Service is investigating whether any employees broke the rules or didn’t follow established protocol to protect obvious vulnerabilities. If so, he said they would be held accountable through the agency’s disciplinary process and face punishment, including termination.
Yet, Rowe and other senior officials back in Washington headquarters should share the blame, these sources argue. The agency’s top brass were almost certainly involved in declining at least some of the security assets requested for the Butler rally despite a heightened threat level brought on by a specific Iranian assassination plot against Trump.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in late July amid bipartisan outrage over her lack of transparency about the rally security failures. But critics in Congress and the Secret Service community are calling for more accountability in the wake of the worst security failure since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
Dan Bongino, a popular conservative personality who spent 11 years in the Secret Service, has blasted his former agency’s “apocalyptic security failure” and called for a full house-cleaning of the upper leadership ranks in its Washington headquarters. Rowe, he said, is just as bad, if not worse than Cheatle because he was her hand-picked deputy and played a key role in her management decisions.
“My Secret Service colleagues I worked with, where nothing like this ever happened at our advances, are horrified at Ron Rowe, ashamed at what this agency has become,” he said in on his podcast the day after Rowe testified before the Senate. “… I’m not talking about a small cadre of them. I’m talking about a big group of former agents [who] are on fire about what happened here – they are horrified about what’s going on with this agency.”
Other current Secret Service agents, including one who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, pinned the failures at Butler directly on Rowe and other top leaders alleged ties because their decisions leading up to the July 13 rally set the rank-and-file agents up for failure.
“Leadership’s mismanagement of technology and personnel are what led to the failures in Butler, but they are not the ones being held accountable,” a source in the Secret Service community told RealClearPolitics.
The FBI arrested Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man with to Iran, one day before the Butler rally. Merchant was charged with a plot to carry out political assassinations on U.S. soil, including against Trump.
The arrest comes two years after U.S. officials disrupted another Iranian scheme aimed at former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton. Trump and his national security team have faced threats from Iran since Trump ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasam Soleimani in early January 2020.
Mid-level Secret Service managers based in D.C. routinely reduce the level of security assets as a way to cut costs. There’s even greater pressure to reject asset requests during presidential campaign years when agency resources are especially stretched thin because there are multiple candidates to protect.
Because of the heightened Iranian threat against Trump, those decision wouldn’t just be made by mid-level Secret Service managers but likely would involve top agency officials too, the sources argued. In the case of the Butler rally, it was the first time agency leaders approved counter snipers for a Trump reelection event, but they still only allotted two counter sniper teams rather than the four teams requested, multiple sources have told RCP.
Because of the sniper shortage, the Secret Service was forced to ask local law enforcement to man the rooftop where 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Crooks fired off his shots at Trump and the crowd, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was attending the rally with his family.
Exactly why that rooftop was not adequately covered remains a key question in the ongoing investigation with the Secret Service and local law enforcement continuing to trade accusations over that glaring failure.
Other whistleblowers have come forward to complain that Secret Service leaders did not allocate a counter-surveillance unit, roaming agents who work to find and intercept suspicious people or fortify vulnerable areas during a rally. If they had, these whistleblowers argue, those CSU teams would have intercepted and questioned Crooks as soon as he pulled out a range finder and held it up to the crowd.
Sen. Josh Hawley in early August sent a letter to Rowe saying he had received detailed information personally laming him for directing “significant cuts” to the Countersurveillance Division, a department that performs threat assessment evaluations of events sites before the events occur and did not perform its typical evaluation of the Butler site and was not present that day. An unnamed whistleblower further alleged that Rowe directed a 20% reduction in the CSD’s manpower, an assertion that, if proven, would undercut Rowe’s repeated denials that he wasn’t involved in any decisions rejecting requests for added security for Trump over the last two years.
In an all-hands conference call last week, Rowe committed to a complete “paradigm” overhaul at the agency and said he is making headway in pressing for major budget increases. He also pledged to jettison the long-term approach of stretching resources too thin – what is known within the agency as “doing more with less” – and to improve the Secret Service’s technological capability to adapt to “constantly evolving” threats.
“We can no longer operate with that mindset,” Rowe told the agents during his address to every employee. “We can no longer wear our people down.”
Rowe argued that the near-assassination of Trump served as a wake-up call to the agency – “an opportunity to examine our own paradigm and examine our own methodologies, to challenge assumptions, to look at the new dynamic threat environment we’re operating in, look at the demand in which we’re placing on our people.”
Trump’s security detail, a 60-member team dedicated to protecting the former president, has faced the toughest schedules and heaviest workloads over the last year of any Secret Service division or detail. The agents have endured long hours, often working seven days a week in a row before taking time off. The Trump detail also has taken on more of the responsibility for creating and executing the security plans for rallies, these sources said, a job that was always shared with the local field office closest to each rally. But over the last year, as Trump has faced heightened threats, his detail has taken on more and more responsibility for security planning and decisions at rallies, these sources say.
For instance, the site agent, the individual charged with devising most of the security plan for the event, was a member of the Trump detail for the Butler rally. But the lead agent, who typically oversees security at the entire sequence of events – from the airport arrival to the rally to the hotel stay to airport departure – was a member of the Pittsburgh Field Office. During final preparations for a rally, the site agent and lead agent join forces in conducting walk-throughs of the security plans with supervisors from each of their teams.
Because members of the Pittsburgh Field Office shared the responsibility with the individuals from the Trump detail, sources are questioning why no one from the Trump detail has been put on administrative leave while several of their Pittsburgh counterparts have been. Even the innermost ring of security – those agents on the Trump detail who quickly used their bodies as human shields to protect Trump – are still on the job despite the obvious trauma of going through such a stressful event.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi didn’t respond to questions from RealClearPolitics about that disparity. He also didn’t answer several other detailed questions about the agency’s administrative leave and disciplinary policies.
“The U.S. Secret Service is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel related to the event in Butler, Pennsylvania and the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “The U.S. Secret Service’s mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure.”
“The U.S. Secret Service holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action,” he added. “Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further.”
During Rowe’s July 30 Senate testimony, the acting director and Hawley got into a shouting match over the agency’s failure to fire anyone, including those responsible for the failure to surveil the rooftop where Crooks opened fire.
“You’re asking me, Senator, to completely make a rush to judgement about somebody failing. I acknowledge this was a failure,” Rowe said during the questioning.
“Is it not prima facie that somebody has failed? The former president was shot,” Hawley shot back.
Rowe responded that he had “lost sleep” over the security failures that day and assured Hawley that he would hold people accountable “with integrity” and not “rush to judgement.”
“Then fire somebody to hold them accountable,” Hawley demanded.
Rowe countered that he needed to allow the FBI investigation to continue to gather all the facts and determine culpability and argued that there were likely several people and factors to blame for the failures, not just one scapegoat.
In the wake of the assassination attempt, whistleblowers have come forward to share with RCP what they describe as a corrosive culture of fear, favoritism, uneven disciplinary action, and retribution they say has plagued the agency for years, harming its core protective mission. The uneven discipline and lowering of hiring standards because of a staffing shortage has led to several embarrassing security breaches and misconduct scandals in recent years, sowing distrust and resentment.
Rowe has pledged to hold those responsible for the security failures in Butler accountable, but others argue his close friendship with Tim Burke, who heads the Pittsburgh Field Office, could complicate that task.
Just last year, a former member of that Pittsburgh office won a complaint he filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws, according to two sources in the Secret Service community.
The special agent complained to Burke that an office leader was sexually harassing another employee, but Burke said he didn’t believe the accusations and advised the employee to drop the matter. After the agent insisted his charges were accurate and filed formal complaints within the Secret Service, he said Burke, with the blessing of top Secret Service leaders, unfairly retaliated against him for the disclosure, putting him on administrative leave and downgrading his salary from a GS14 level carrying a salary of $104,604-$135,987, to a GS13 level, which ranges between $88,520 and $115,079. Such disciplinary action would require approval from top agency leaders, and Rowe likely knew about it even if he didn’t sign off specifically on the demotion.
Yet, just months after filing the EEOC complaint, the agent provided evidence of his sexual harassment claim and won his case, quickly regaining his GS14 status, according to three sources in the Secret Service community. He also was allowed to relocate away from the Pittsburgh Field Office. It’s unclear if Burke, who is close friends with Rowe and is generally liked by top Secret Service leaders, faced any disciplinary action for failing to take the charges seriously.
In another alarming incident that could have implications for the Iranian plot against Trump, two men of Pakistani heritage were arrested and charged with posing as Department of Homeland Security officers in Washington and duping four Secret Service agents charged with protecting President Biden and his family. According to federal prosecutors, the imposters provided the Secret Service agents with tens of thousands of gifts, including rent-free apartments, in a two-year scheme that began in February 2020 while Trump was still in office,.
At one point after Biden took office, one of the Pakistani men, Arian Taherzadeh, offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for an agent assigned to first lady Jill Biden’s protective detail, according to the legal filings. One of the men, Haider Ali, told witnesses he had connections to intelligence agencies in Pakistan, and he also had several visas issued by Pakistan and Iran, prosecutors said.
“Taherzadeh and Ali have attempted to use their false and fraudulent affiliation with DHS to ingratiate themselves with members of federal law enforcement and the defense community,” David Elias, an FBI agent, wrote in the affidavit.
Yet, Elias did not say why the men orchestrated the elaborate plan to impersonate DHS agents and cozy up to members of the presidential protective Secret Service detail. Prosecutors said they used their false identities to obtain security footage of the apartment building, as well as a list of the building’s residents and contact information.
The Secret Service agents implicated in the scheme were placed on administrative leave, but it’s unclear what disciplinary action, if any, was taken against them.
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/22/2024 - 12:35
Published:8/22/2024 11:41:04 AM
|
[World]
Were maggots planted at DNC-related breakfast? FBI, police investigating
Chicago police and the FBI are investigating whether maggots were intentionally placed in a hotel breakfast being served to delegates attending the Democratic National Convention.
Published:8/21/2024 8:14:21 PM
|
[]
Pass the Gaslight - Tim Walz's Quip About a Joyful Thanksgiving is Either Stupid or Dishonest
Published:8/19/2024 6:35:26 PM
|
[Markets]
Watchdog Group Says FBI Is Hiding Records On Trump Assassination Attempt
Watchdog Group Says FBI Is Hiding Records On Trump Assassination Attempt
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,
A leading watchdog group says the FBI is hiding records relating to its coordination with the Secret Service for the rally during which an assassin tried to kill Donald Trump.
The FBI cited FOIA exemption 7(A) to protect ongoing enforcement proceedings surrounding the incident on July 13 in Butler, PA, when gunman Thomas Crooks was able to shoot at Trump despite being spotted behaving suspiciously hours beforehand.
Judicial Watch sent an FOIA request on July 26th asking the FBI to produce all relevant documents pertaining to its preparation and coordination with the Secret Service for Trump’s rally.
However, the group has been stonewalled by the FBI, leaving questions as to why there was seemingly a delay in taking out Crooks before the shooting unanswered.
“Why is the FBI hiding records on its and the Secret Service’s failures to protect Trump?” asked Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.
“The Biden-Harris administration is covering up the near assassination of former President Trump.”
“The FBI’s refusal to release these records raises serious concerns,” comments journalist Sharyl Attkisson.
Despite the motive behind the shooting still not being known, it has almost completely disappeared from the headlines within the space of a single month.
As we previously highlighted, Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the committee overseeing the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, has warned that the FBI cannot be trusted.
“You know I do not trust the FBI do this investigation, honestly,” Johnson said in response to claims by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate that the feds had discovered comments posted by shooter Thomas Crooks that espoused “anti-Semitic and anti-immigration themes.”
Last week it was revealed that Crooks’ body was cremated just 10 days after the assassination attempt, leading some to assert that this was part of an attempt to cover up evidence.
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/19/2024 - 12:05
Published:8/19/2024 11:29:53 AM
|
[Latest News]
When It Rains It Pours: DC City Council Member Who Said Jews Control the Weather Arrested by FBI
Trayon White, the liberal Washington, D.C., council member who said Jews manipulate the weather in a scheme to "own" American cities, was arrested by the FBI on Sunday.
The post When It Rains It Pours: DC City Council Member Who Said Jews Control the Weather Arrested by FBI appeared first on .
Published:8/19/2024 10:36:18 AM
|
[2024 Election]
Rep. Higgins: FBI Released Crooks' Body for Cremation, Injured Congressional Investigation, Cleaned Evidence from Crime Scene
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) requested to examine the body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, only to discover that the shooter's body is "gone."
The post Rep. Higgins: FBI Released Crooks’ Body for Cremation, Injured Congressional Investigation, Cleaned Evidence from Crime Scene appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:8/16/2024 3:28:28 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
FBI Released Trump Shooter’s Body for Cremation Days After Assassination Attempt
"Yes, Butler County Coroner technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI."
The post FBI Released Trump Shooter’s Body for Cremation Days After Assassination Attempt first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:8/16/2024 11:40:08 AM
|
[Markets]
Watch: Amazon's Alexa Says Trump Wasn't Shot
Watch: Amazon's Alexa Says Trump Wasn't Shot
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
Someone asked Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa for clarification on whether President Trump was really shot on July 13, and it replied in the negative.
Footage widely shared on social media shows Alexa being asked “Was Trump really shot?”
The bot replies “No, Donald Trump was not really shot.”
It adds, “There were two attempted assassinations of Donald Trump, one in 2016 and another in 2024. Both times the assailant was stopped and arrested by security forces.”
“These events were widely reported in the news,” it adds.
As we previously highlighted, the FBI has categorically confirmed that Trump was hit by a bullet, despite earlier doubts sowed by Director Christopher Wray, who appeared to give credence to a theory that Trump was hit by shrapnel or glass.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” an FBI statement noted.
Wray had earlier in the week during testimony in Congress stated “There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel,” further spurring deranged leftist conspiracy theorists, including some who believe the entire thing was staged by Trump himself.
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 08/16/2024 - 10:15
Published:8/16/2024 9:34:17 AM
|
[e0ed9ce7-9311-5efa-a9ac-d49c0bd200f9]
House Oversight investigating Walz over 'longstanding connections' to China
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, notifying the bureau of the committee’s investigation into Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Published:8/16/2024 9:08:59 AM
|
[bc3a033d-c2c1-5b17-a522-49816b211109]
DHS, FBI probed for info on alleged Iranian agent's assassination plot possibly targeting Trump
Top bipartisan lawmakers conducting oversight of homeland security are demanding answers from DHS Secretary Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray after a foiled assassination attempt.
Published:8/15/2024 4:42:06 PM
|
[Markets]
Futures Trim Gains After Dismal Outlook From Home Depot
Futures Trim Gains After Dismal Outlook From Home Depot
US futures are slightly higher, although well off session highs following disappointing guidance from Home Depot while rising tension in the Middle East weighed on risk appetite. Tech leads modest gains as we receive the first batch of the week's macro data today when PPI drops at 830am ET. As of 7:45am ET, S&P futures are 0.2% higher, paring a gain of 0.5%, after yesterday’s flat close on Wall Street; Nasdaq futs are up 0.3% with NVDA rising 1.5% as Mag7 are all higher and Semis catch a bid, following yesterday’s outperformance. European markets are lower even as Asian stocks erased last week’s sharp declines led by a bounce in Japan thanks to a drop in the yen. Bond yields are 1-2bps higher which is boosting the USD. Commodities are mostly lower with WTI reversing losses to trade around $80 and Brent at $82 as the US sees an Iranian attack against Israel as increasingly likely; Ags/Precious metals are under pressure. Fed’s Bostic speaks today, and disappointing earnings from HS may shape the market narrative. Tomorrow’s CPI and Thurs’ Retail Sales are the key catalysts.
In premarket trading, Home Depot falls 2% after the company beat lowered its same store sales forecast to a decline of 3-4% for the year, signaling that it expects consumer spending to remain soft in the coming months. Said otherwise, HD expects business to get worse in the second half of the year, which is hardly an endorsement for the strength of the US consumer. Tencent Music Entertainment plunged 6% after reporting results that showed paying users for social entertainment missing estimates. Here are some other notable premarket movers:
- Dell Technologies shares climb 2.4% after being raised to equal-weight from underweight at Barclays. The bank noted that there’s less downside to the stock as much of the AI hype “has now been washed out of the share price.”
- Baxter rises less than 1% after funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle agreed to buy the company’s kidney care segment for $3.8 billion.
- Huya gains 7% as the board declared a special cash dividend.
- On Holding slips 5% after the sneaker maker maintained its annual adjusted Ebitda forecast, despite the metric topping the consensus estimate for the second quarter.
- Pacira BioSciences falls 3% after Truist downgraded the stock to sell from buy, saying a generic Exparel entry is imminent following a court ruling that canceled the drug’s patent.
- Paysafe gains 10% after boosting its revenue forecast for the full year.
- Rumble rises 4% after the video-network platform reported second-quarter results, with revenue topping estimates.
After last week’s turmoil, markets are focusing on Wednesday’s US CPI report, which may help determine whether the Fed has room to secure a soft landing for the economy. The recent rally in crude oil prices also puts the spotlight on producer-price numbers later Tuesday, as an indicator of pipeline inflationary risks. But first, there is the PPI report on deck at 830am today: economists expect core PPI to rose 0.2% last month from June, when it gained 0.4%, while the headline print is also expected to gain 0.2%.
“The US producer price index for July will give an early indication of price pressures in the month ahead of the consumer price index,” Kristina Clifton, a senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a note. “Any hints from the PPI of soft inflationary pressures in July can cause financial markets to double down on large interest rate cuts this year from the FOMC” and weigh on USD, she said.
Traders are also monitoring events in the Middle East after the US said an Iranian attack on Israel could be imminent. The implications were underscored by Fitch Ratings’ move to downgrade Israel’s sovereign debt by one notch, to A from A+, while keeping a negative outlook and citing “continued war” and geopolitical risks.
“One could argue that equity is still in recovery mode after last week’s shakeout, and holding out from really putting money to work until we get the key US data this week,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd. “Pricing US growth is still the main game in town.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 erased an early advance after the ZEW gauge of German investor expectations tumbled more than economists expected (from 41.8 to 19.2, exp. 32.0). Here are the most notable European movers:
- Gaztransport & Technigaz again has a clean sweep of positive analyst ratings after Berenberg moves back to a buy after five months with a hold rating, saying the pullback in the stock looks overdone. The shares gain as much as 5.4%.
- Swissquote gains as much as 6.8%, hitting the highest in more than a month, after releasing first-half earnings which ZKB sees as positive even though guidance for the full year continues to be slightly below estimates.
- Galderma shares rise as much as 3%, making them the biggest gainer in the Stoxx 600 Health Care Index, after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Swiss dermatology company’s Nemluvio for the treatment of adults with prurigo nodularis, a skin disease.
- PolyPeptide rises as much as 15%, extending its winning streak to a fifth day, after the Swiss biotech firm slightly lifts 2024 guidance and outlines target to double 2023’s reported revenue level by 2028.
- Bilfinger shares climb as high as 6.6%, the most in six months, after the industrial services company reported faster growth in sales and earnings than expected during the second quarter, according to analysts at Oddo BHF as they nudged up their price target on the stock.
- Valneva shares trade 4.3% higher after the French vaccine developer forecast “substantially lower cash burn” in the second half. The stock pared a gain of as much as 11%.
- Henkel shares gain 0.3% after results from the German home products maker contained few surprises after its pre-release in July. RBC praised the firm’s 1H gross margin growth.
- Tecan shares slump as much as 18%, the most since September 2004, after the Swiss laboratory-equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected results for the first half and cut its outlook for 2024.
- Grifols shares dropped as much as 5.7%, worst performing stock on Spain’s IBEX 35, on a report that Brookfield, which is considering a joint takeover offer, found accounting irregularities in its due diligence.
- Brenntag shares fall as much as 2% after the German chemicals distributor’s second quarter results were what Morgan Stanley called mixed, highlighting lowered guidance and softer messaging from the company.
- Dowlais shares plunge as much as 17% to a record low, before paring the drop to trade 3% lower, after the automotive engineering company signaled its full year results will be below expectations, according to analysts.
- Genuit Group falls as much as 5.3%, the biggest drop since June last year, after the plastic piping company suffered from soft demand and reported lower revenue and profits in the first half. Analysts note the challenging backdrop, but were impressed Genuit has grown margins and see an eventual recovery panning out next year.
Earlier in the session, Asian stocks climbed Tuesday, with a regional benchmark reclaiming levels seen before the historic August 5 selloff, as equities in Japan extended their rebound on return from a holiday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed as much as 1.2%, headed for a third-straight day of gains. Japan’s Topix jumped nearly 3% as a weaker yen was seen providing support for exporters, while benchmarks in China and South Korea also gained. Industrials and information technology were the top-performing sectors on the regional gauge. The continuation of a rebound in Japan is helping all of Asia, said Andrew Jackson, head of Japan equity strategy at Ortus Advisors Pte in Singapore. “Japan is the only market that really matters” right now, he added.
The key Asian stock gauge plunged 6.1% last Monday to mark its worst day since 2008 as fears of a deeper US economic slowdown, an extended rout in Japanese equities and a rotation away from heavyweight tech shares weighed on the market. Many investors bullish on Japan, which commands the highest weighting in the MSCI Asia gauge, have said that the recent selloff in the nation’s stocks provides a fresh reason to buy what has been one of 2024’s hottest trades.
In China, regulators told commercial banks in the Jiangxi province not to settle their purchases of government bonds, taking some of the most extreme measures yet to cool a market rally that has alarmed Beijing. The crackdown is beginning to take a toll on corporate debt markets, as the average yield for one-year corporate yuan bonds with AA ratings — typically considered junk debt in the onshore market — saw the largest jump since December 2022.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. The British pound gained and the FTSE 100 index underperformed Europe’s benchmark after data showed UK unemployment unexpectedly fell in the second quarter, complicating the Bank of England’s shift to lower interest rates.
Treasury 10-year yields erased an earlier gain to slide to a session low of 3.89%, down 1bp on the session, while US spreads also trade near prior day closing levels. Treasuries were rangebound over Asia, early London session as investors stay sidelined ahead of PPI data due 8:30am New York and then CPI print due Wednesday. Bunds marginally outperform Treasuries and gilts into the US session while S&P futures give up early gains to trade back to near unchanged on the day. Ahead of PPI data, Fed-dated swaps are still pricing in around 100bp of rate cuts for the year with approximately 36bp of cut premium priced into the Sept. 18 meeting
In commodities, WTI trades within Monday’s range, snapping a five-day streak of gains with a 0.3% decline to near $79.8. Most base metals trade in the red. Spot gold falls roughly $12 to trade near $2,460/oz.
Today's US calendar includes only July PPI at 8:30am. CPI print is due Wednesday, Fed speakers scheduled for the session include Bostic at 1:15pm
Market Snapshot
- S&P 500 futures up 0.2 to 5,381
- MXAP up 1.1% to 177.48
- MXAPJ up 0.1% to 556.52
- Nikkei up 3.4% to 36,232.51
- Topix up 2.8% to 2,553.55
- Hang Seng Index up 0.4% to 17,174.06
- Shanghai Composite up 0.3% to 2,867.95
- Sensex down 0.8% to 79,001.72
- Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 7,826.84
- Kospi up 0.1% to 2,621.50
- STOXX Europe 600 little changed at 499.36
- German 10Y yield little changed at 2.23%
- Euro little changed at $1.0921
- Brent Futures down 0.5% to $81.85/bbl
- Gold spot down 0.5% to $2,461.45
- US Dollar Index little changed at 103.21
Top Overnight News
- European stocks rose, tracking gains in Asia, as investors awaited US price data for guidance on the Federal Reserve’s policy path.
- Chinese authorities are going to extraordinary lengths to tighten their grip on the world’s third-largest government bond market.
- UK unemployment fell unexpectedly after companies stepped up hiring, a sign of underlying strength in the economy that complicates the Bank of England’s shift toward lower interest rates.
- The US believes an Iranian attack against Israel has grown even more likely and may come as soon as this week, officials said, as allied leaders sought to head off all-out war and the Pentagon deployed more forces to the region.
- Within the moneyed circles of the Middle East, there’s increasing talk of a shifting power dynamic in the upper echelons of high finance. Apollo, Blackstone and other big money managers are reshaping longstanding practices to win part of the $4 trillion in Gulf sovereign wealth.
- MSCI Inc. continues to cull China stocks from its indexes, setting the stage for a further drop in the nation’s share of a key emerging-market benchmark.
- Oil declined after a five-day advance, with a likely escalation in the Middle East conflict offset by signs of weakening global demand growth.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks followed suit to the mixed lead from the US ahead of key data and as markets continue to brace for Iran's retaliation. ASX 200 traded indecisively after mixed data releases and as gains in financials, real estate and the commodity-related sectors were counterbalanced by losses in tech, telecoms and defensives. Nikkei 225 surged on return from the long weekend and reclaimed the 36,000 status after returning to last week's pre-turmoil levels. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were indecisive with the former supported in energy stocks after yesterday's oil rally, while the mainland index oscillated between gains and losses in a tight range owing to the lack of fresh macro drivers.
Top Asian news
- China's Vice Premier Liu called for efforts to minimise damage to agricultural production caused by torrential rains and flooding, as well as urged efforts to improve the agricultural sector's capacity for disaster prevention and mitigation. China's Vice Premier also said they need to step up financial support for the restoration of agricultural production, according to Xinhua.
- China's Hesai is to be removed from the US Defence Department blacklist, according to FT.
- Japan's parliament is to hold a special session at the Lower House committee on August 23rd to discuss the BoJ rate hike, while BoJ Governor Ueda is likely to be asked to attend the special session, according to sources cited by Reuters.
- China M2 (July): 6.3% (exp. 6.1%); Total Social Financing (CNY) 770bln (exp. 1.1tln)
European bourses, Stoxx 600 (+0.1%) started the session entirely in the green but succumed to some early morning pressure, which has since pared in recent trade; as it stands, indices are generally in the green. European sectors are mixed, having initially opened with a positive bias. Travel & Leisure is found at the foot of the pile, hampered by the recent advances in oil prices. Basic Resources also lags amid the weakness in the metals complex. US Equity Futures (ES +0.3%, NQ +0.5%, RTY +0.2%) are modestly firmer as traders remain mindful of today’s US PPI figures, ahead of CPI tomorrow. Firms have reportedly started testing Huawei's new Ascend 910C chips, according to WSJ sources; Huawei in talks to secure tens of thousands of chips; framed as a "challenge" to Nvidia (NVDA) on AI hardware.
Top European news
- European Gas Prices Fall as Russia Flows Take Steam Out of Rally
- Fortnox Sinks to January-Low After CEO Tommy Eklund Leaves
- Meta Faces Legal Challenge From Polish Billionaire Over Fake Ads
- UK’s Ofgem Approves £3.4 Billion Electricity ‘Superhighway’
- Grifols Drops on Report Brookfield Found Accounting Issues
- UK Reviews Early Data Releases Traders Say Spur Volatility
Fx
- DXY is a touch firmer (within a 103.08-27 range) with the USD showing a mixed performance vs. peers (softer vs. risk currencies/firmer vs. havens). Today's focus for the greenback will fall upon PPI metrics, albeit any reaction may tempered somewhat by the fact that CPI is due out tomorrow.
- EUR is softer vs. the USD with a disappointing German ZEW release adding to the woes for the region's outlook. EUR/USD is managing to hold above yesterday's 1.0910 low.
- GBP was given a boost by UK jobs metrics which saw an unexpected fall in the unemployment rate, albeit, the usual data reliability caveats apply. BoE pricing points to a 66% chance of an unchanged rate in September.
- USD is edging gains vs. JPY with the dollar firmer vs. havens alongside gains in stocks. For now, USD/JPY is respecting yesterday's 146.41-148.22 range.
- Antipodeans are both benefitting vs. the USD with the Dollar currently losing out to cyclical fx currencies.
- PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1479 vs exp. 7.1760 (prev. 7.1458)
Fixed Income
- USTs are essentially unchanged and awaiting PPI before Wednesday’s US CPI for insight into PCE at the end of the month, a figure which is scheduled for the week after the Jackson Hole symposium. Into the release, USTs are in a narrow 113-04 to 113-11+ band.
- Bunds are firmer but ultimately rangebound, continuing the holiday-thinned action seen on Monday. ZEW was particularly poor, with the strongest decline of expectations reported for two years, sparking a modest uptick in Bunds to re-approach their earlier 134.65 peak. No real reaction to subsequent Schatz supply.
- Gilts gapped slightly higher at the open to 99.82 from a 99.72 close on Monday, despite a hawkish reaction seen in the Pound following the release. Benchmarks did pull back off these levels ahead of the regions supply, but caught another bid following the robust auction but also in tandem with Bunds, which benefited from the dire German ZEW metrics. Gilts are now back towards their 99.88 peak.
- UK sells GBP 3bln 3.75% 2038 Gilt: b/c 3.28x (prev. 3.42x), average yield 4.131% (prev. 4.314%) & tail 0.1bps (prev. 0.1bps)
- Germany sells EUR 4.038bln vs exp. EUR 5bln 2.70% 2026 Schatz: b/c 2.1x (prev. 2.0x), average yield 2.38% (prev. 2.73%) and retention 19.24% (prev. 18.08%)
Commodities
- Crude is slightly subdued intraday but holding onto a bulk of yesterday's gains amid geopolitical uncertainty. Two major risks include the threat of a retaliation against Israel from Iran and Lebanon, whilst Ukraine's gains inside Russia could lead to increased tensions between the West and Moscow. Brent trades towards the upper end of a USD 81.50-82/bbl parameter (vs 82.40/bbl high yesterday).
- Precious metals trade lower amid the rising Dollar and as newsflow remains light thus far, with participants awaiting potential geopolitical escalations before or after US CPI tomorrow.
- Base metals trade lower across the board amid the cautious risk tone coupled with the firmer Dollar.
- US Department of Energy said the US seeks to buy 6mln bbls of oil to help replenish the SPR.
- IEA OMR: Maintains 2024 world oil demand growth forecast unchanged at 970k BPD; cuts 2025 forecast by 30k BPD; says weak growth in China now significantly drags on global gains - Chinese oil demand contracted for the third straight month. OPEC+ cuts are tightening physical markets. For now, supply is struggling to keep pace with peak summer demand - tipping the market into a deficit. Global observed oil inventories fell by 26.2mln bbls in June after four months of builds. US summer driving season set to be strongest since the pandemic.
- Workers at BHP's Escondida copper mine in Chile will begin strike action, according to the union.
Geopolitics: Middle East
- Israeli forces stormed the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank from the Al-Tur military checkpoint, according to Al Jazeera.
- Source close to Hezbollah said Iran expressed concern that Israel and the US may strike its nuclear program and fears they will use the outbreak of any large-scale conflict as a pretext to neutralise Iran's nuclear deterrence, according to a report by The Washington Post.
- US and Israeli officials said their assessment was that the Iranian attack wouldn't happen on Monday night, while President Biden's top Middle East adviser will travel to Cairo for talks on security arrangements along the Egypt-Gaza border which is critical for a hostage deal, according to Axios's Ravid.
- US State Department said Secretary of State Blinken discussed in a call with his Turkish counterpart the importance of Hamas's return to negotiations in the middle of this month, while Blinken stressed the importance of completing the framework agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, according to Al Jazeera.
- FBI was reportedly investigating suspected hacking attempts by Iran in the Biden and Trump campaigns, according to Reuters and The Washington Post.
- "Israeli Army Radio: Israel told allies that it would respond to any Iranian attack by hitting targets in the heart of Iran", according to Al Jazeera.
- "Hamas will participate in the round of negotiations expected next Thursday", according to Sky News Arabia citing CNN sources
Geopolitics: Russia
- Russia's Intelligence Service suggest Ukrainian President Zelensky is taking steps that threaten escalation far beyond Ukraine, via Ria.
US Event Calendar
- 06:00: July SMALL BUSINESS OPTIMISM 93.7, est. 91.5, prior 91.5
- 08:30: July PPI Ex Food, Energy, Trade YoY, prior 3.1%
- 08:30: July PPI Ex Food, Energy, Trade MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0%
- 08:30: July PPI Ex Food and Energy YoY, est. 2.6%, prior 3.0%
- 08:30: July PPI Final Demand YoY, est. 2.3%, prior 2.6%
- 08:30: July PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0.4%
- 08:30: July PPI Final Demand MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0.2%
Tyler Durden
Tue, 08/13/2024 - 08:10
Published:8/13/2024 8:01:43 AM
|
[Markets]
Sen. Grassley Questions Immigration Parole For New Alleged Trump Assassination Plotter
Sen. Grassley Questions Immigration Parole For New Alleged Trump Assassination Plotter
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) posed a series of questions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking clarity on the recent arrest of a Pakistani national regarding his attempts to assassinate high-ranking U.S. government officials, allegedly including former President Donald Trump, in light of the fact that he was flagged on a federal watchlist and recently granted immigration parole.
The alleged Pakistani plotter, Asif Raza Merchant, 46, was apprehended on July 12, 2024, when he attempted to leave the United States. Currently in federal custody in New York, Merchant’s plot was foiled when he allegedly conspired with undercover agents, who posed as assassins, to attempt to murder high-ranking U.S. citizens.
The alleged scheme was conducted as part of a larger Iranian ploy to retaliate against the killing of General Qasem Soleimani, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, according to an Aug. 6 Justice Department (DOJ) statement that revealed the incident. Soleimani was taken down in 2020 during the Trump administration for aiming to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
On Aug. 9, Grassley wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking him for more information regarding Merchant’s immigration parole status. Citing media reports, Grassley said that Merchant was interviewed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force upon his arrival in the United States on April 13 because he was flagged in the federal database as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest.”
Despite this, Merchant was granted Significant Public Benefit Parole on April 13 by the DHS, which he overstayed after it expired on May 11, Grassley said. He asked the DHS to provide answers to the following:
- Did the DHS grant Merchant Significant Public Benefit Parole before or after his placement on the terrorist watchlist and being listed as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest”?
- On what basis was Merchant granted Significant Public Benefit Parole?
- Provide the entire Alien Registration File (A-File) for Asif Raza Merchant.
- How many individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database have DHS granted parole and allowed entry into the United States?
Following Merchant’s arrest, Garland said, “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray said of the incident: “This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook.
“A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”
Assassination Attempts on Trump
The Pakistani national’s plan to assassinate Trump has not been confirmed by federal agencies. The Epoch Times reached out to the DHS and the DOJ for comment regarding the issue. The FBI declined to comment.
According to court documents, Merchant’s plot involved “three different criminal schemes: (1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official.”
Merchant told the confidential source, an undercover agent, that “trusted” people would be needed to conduct the killing and perform protests after the incident as a distraction, and that they would need “a woman to do ‘reconnaissance.’”
Merchant paid the agent an advance sum of $5,000 to hire hitmen and told him that the final plans would be revealed after Merchant left the country.
He was subsequently arrested on July 12, a day before Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“The failure of the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania, is even more outrageous in light of suspected Iranian-backed assassins targeting former Trump Administration officials, including President Trump himself. That day, the threat of sniper attacks was even higher than normal,” House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said in a statement after the DOJ unsealed its charges against Merchant.
“I was previously briefed concerning the Iranian threat and the circumstances of Mr. Merchant’s arrest and questioned then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on whether she had reviewed the intelligence concerning the Iranian threat. She confirmed to me that she read the intelligence and was aware of this Iranian murder-for-hire plot.”
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/12/2024 - 23:25
Published:8/12/2024 10:58:16 PM
|
[Markets]
ICE Updates On Illegal Alien Crimes Will "Make Your Head Spin"
ICE Updates On Illegal Alien Crimes Will "Make Your Head Spin"
President Biden's appointed "border czar," Kamala Harris, has single-handedly failed the American people. She owes citizens a straightforward explanation of why this administration facilitated the greatest illegal alien invasion this nation has ever seen. Some of these migrants are on FBI terror watchlists.
"In less than four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has released into the United States more than 5.4 million illegal aliens, with another 1.9 million illegal alien 'gotaways' escaping into the country during the same time," GOP House Judiciary Committee wrote in a report last week. The report also revealed about 100 illegal aliens that crossed the border were on the terrorist "watch list."
Biden officially tasked VP Harris on March 24, 2021, "to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle…in stemming the movement of…migration to our southern border."
The illegal alien invasion began shortly after VP Harris became border czar.
And the insanity followed:
Tasking VP Harris as the border czar was doomed to fail from the very beginning. As a senator, she compared US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the KKK during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in 2018.
"We have to critically re-examine ICE and it's role ... and we probably have to start thinking about starting from scratch," Harris also said as a senator in an interview with MSNBC.
And her running mate, Tim Walz, marched in an "Abolish ICE" protest in 2018.
Harris and Walz share the same anti-ICE view. It's worth reminding readers that ICE's mission is to protect the US from illegal alien criminals and cross-border crimes. The call to abolish ICE seems like a recipe for disaster, especially after allowing millions of unvetted illegals into the country.
Meanwhile, NYPost reported today, "NYC migrants allegedly raped woman at knifepoint in Coney Island: police sources."
Fox News' Bill Melugin told X users earlier today, "Strongly recommend looking at the press releases page for ICE each day. Nonstop arrests of egregious foreign criminals the agency has to track down after they are caught & released at the border under the Biden/Harris admin."
Here are some of those headlines:
-
ERO Boston arrests Dominican national charged with fentanyl trafficking in Rhode Island
-
ERO New York City arrests Honduran national charged with carjacking and convicted of assault
-
ERO Boston arrests Guatemalan national charged with sex crime against Rhode Island minor
-
ERO Boston arrests Ecuadorian national charged locally with kidnapping, rape, assault
-
Mexican noncitizen sex offender convicted of unlawful re-entry into US following ERO Boston arrest
-
ERO Baltimore arrests Colombian gang leader wanted for homicide, arms trafficking, aggravated theft
Melugin added, "It'll make your head spin."
Democrats really want voters to forget about Harris' role in triggering the border crisis.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/12/2024 - 21:20
Published:8/12/2024 8:44:43 PM
|
[Markets]
Big Question: How Are Ukraine Stakeholders, CIA, & The US Intel Community Going To Stop Donald Trump?
Big Question: How Are Ukraine Stakeholders, CIA, & The US Intel Community Going To Stop Donald Trump?
Authored by 'sundance' via TheConservativeTreehouse.com,
This is the simple albeit massive question that even President Trump himself doesn’t spend time thinking about.
Melania does.
-
To stop him in 2016, the FBI and DOJ ran a comprehensive surveillance operation against his campaign. The same people manufactured a completely fabricated case of Trump colluding with Russia. Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2017, the DOJ and Congress ran a comprehensive Special Counsel operation against his presidency. The justification of the SC operation was to prove a completely fabricated case of Trump colluding with Russia. The real reason for the SC operation was to cover up the FBI and DOJ completely fabricating the case of Trump colluding with Russia. Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2019, congress and the intelligence apparatus (Mary McCord and Michael Atkinson) manufactured an impeachment hoax using Ukraine, a fabricated DoD plant on the National Security Council (Vindman), the CIA (Ciaramella) and the Intelligence Community Inspector General (Attkinson). Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2020, the U.S. Intelligence Community, working through the U.S. CDC, seeded a global pandemic and quickly manufactured an election result using mail-in ballots to manufacture 81 million votes for a completely controlled candidate with dementia. Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2022, Joe Biden (through AG Garland) appointed a special prosecutor (smith) to investigate, indict and convict him. Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2023, the FBI and DOJ raided his home. Indicted him under claims of “national security,” then began to use Lawfare in the court system against him. Have you forgotten?
-
To stop him in 2024, the U.S. Secret Service permitted a 20-year-old with a backpack, range finder, drone and long rifle, to walk into a Trump rally, set up position on a rooftop next to the USSS operating team, and fire eight shots at less than 150 yards at President Trump’s head, wounding his ear. Have you forgotten?
So, my question remains:
What will the Ukraine stakeholders, in congress, within NATO, within the State Dept, within the CIA and Intelligence Community and within the multinational banking and investment companies (Blackrock), do over the next few months to stop President Donald Trump from winning in November?
…She Knows!
With the 2024 election rapidly coming, it is worth revisiting the actual tariff outcome to American consumers in order to dispel the popular myths about tariffs raising prices here at home.
CPA – […] Since the Section 301 tariffs were imposed, the share of imports from China has steadily declined from 21.6% in 2017 the year prior to the tariffs to 16.5%, a decline of 5.1%. No other country has lost as much share of total U.S. import penetration over the past five years.
In terms of total import value, Mexico gained the most from the tariffs, adding $110.8 billion. Vietnam gained the second most in import value by $78.4 billion and by far gained the most of total share of U.S. imports. In 2017, Vietnam accounted for about 2% of U.S. imports at $46.5 billion. In 2022, the U.S. imported $127.5 billion in goods from Vietnam, and the share of the total nearly doubled to 3.9%. Other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia all saw significant increases in their value of imports by the U.S. (read more)
This might be the cited data you want to bookmark for later reference.
It was the Fourth Quarter of 2019…..
Right before the pandemic would hit a few months later, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, all of them said Trump’s 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs on China, Canada and the EU would create massive inflation – it just wasn’t happening!
Overall, year-over-year inflation was hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; yup, that was our inflation rate. The rate in the latter half of 2019 was firmed up with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate basically remained consistent. [See Below] The U.S. economy was on a smooth glide path, strong, stable, and Main Street was growing with MAGAnomics at work.
A couple of important points.
First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers, and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America First MAGAnomic initiative. Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector.
Which brings us to the second important point. Notice how food prices had very low year-over-year inflation – 0.5 percent. That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag’s hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:
(BLS) […] The index for food at home declined for the third month in a row, falling 0.2 percent. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs decreased 0.7 percent in August as the index for eggs fell 2.6 percent. The index for fruits and vegetables, which rose in July, fell 0.5 percent in August; the index for fresh fruits declined 1.4 percent, but the index for fresh vegetables rose 0.4 percent. The index for cereals and bakery products fell 0.3 percent in August after rising 0.3 percent in July. (link)
For the previous twenty years, food prices had been increasingly controlled by Big Ag, and not by normal supply and demand. The commodity market became a ‘controlled market’. U.S. food outputs (farm production) was controlled and exported to keep the U.S. consumer paying optimal prices.
President Trump’s trade reset was disrupting this process. As farm products were less exported, the cost of the food in our supermarket became reconnected to a ‘more normal’ supply and demand cycle. Food prices dropped, and our pantry costs were lowered.
The Commerce Dept. then announced that retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in August 2019, twice as high as the 0.2 percent analysts had predicted. The result highlighted retail sales strength of more than 4 percent year-over-year. These excellent results came on the heels of blowout data in July, when households boosted purchases of cars and clothing.
The better-than-expected number stemmed largely from a 1.8 percent jump in spending vehicles. Online sales, meanwhile, also continued to climb, rising 1.6 percent. That’s similar to July 2019, when Amazon held its two-day blowout Prime Day sale. (link)
Despite the efforts to remove and impeach President Trump, it did not look like middle class America was overly concerned about the noise coming from the pundits. Likely that’s because blue collar wages were higher, Main Street inflation was lower, and overall consumer confidence was strong. Yes, MAGAnomics was working.
Additionally, remember all those MSM hours and newspaper column inches where the professional financial pundits were claiming Trump’s tariffs were going to cause massive increases in prices of consumer goods?
Well, exactly the opposite happened.
[BLS report] Import prices were continuing to drop:
[Table 1 – BLS report link]
This was a really interesting dynamic that no one in the professional punditry would dare explain.
Donald Trump’s tariffs were targeted to specific sectors of imported products. [Steel, Aluminum, and a host of smaller sectors etc.] However, when the EU and China responded by devaluing their currency, that approach hit all products imported, not just the tariff goods.
Because the EU and China were driving up the value of the dollar, everything we were importing became cheaper. Not just imports from Europe and China, but actually imports from everywhere. All imports were entering the U.S. at substantially lower prices.
This meant when we imported products, we were also importing deflation.
This price result is exactly the opposite of what the economic experts and Wall Street pundits predicted back in 2017 and 2018 when they were pushing the rapid price increase narrative.
Because all the export dependent economies were reacting with such urgency to retain their access to the U.S. market, aggregate import prices were actually lower than they were when the Trump tariffs began:
[…] Prices for imports from China edged down 0.1 percent in August following decreases of 0.2 percent in both July and June. Import prices from China have not advanced on a monthly basis since ticking up 0.1 percent in May 2018. The price index for imports from China fell 1.6 percent for the year ended in August.
[…] Import prices from the European Union fell 0.2 percent in August and 0.3 percent over the past 12 months.
[Page #4 – BLS Report, pdf] – BLS press release.
So yes, we know President Trump can save Social Security and Medicare by expanding the economy with his America First economic policy. We do not need to guess if it is possible or listen to pundits theorize about his approach being some random ‘catch phrase’ disconnected from reality. Yes folks, we have the receipts.
This was MAGAnomics at work, and this is entirely what created the middle class MAGA coalition. No other Republican candidate has this economic policy in their outlook, because all other candidates are purchased by the Wall Street multinationals.
America First MAGAnomics is unique to President Trump, because he is the only one independent enough to implement them.
That’s just the reality of the situation.
They hate him for it…
* * *
[Support CTH Research Here...
Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/11/2024 - 23:20
Published:8/11/2024 10:52:24 PM
|
[Markets]
Russiagate Continues To Survive Like A Sci-Fi Monster Resilient To Bullets
Russiagate Continues To Survive Like A Sci-Fi Monster Resilient To Bullets
Authored by Ray McGovern via Consortium News,
Russiagate continues to survive like a science fiction monster resilient to bullets.
The latest effort at rehabilitating it is an interview by Adam Rawnsley in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine of one Michael van Landingham, an intelligence analyst who is proud of having written the first draft of the cornerstone "analysis" of Russiagate, the so-called Intelligence Community Assessment.
The ICA blamed the Russians for helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. It was released two weeks before Trump assumed office. The thoroughly politicized assessment was an embarrassment to the profession of intelligence.
Worse, it was consequential in emasculating Trump to prevent him from working for a more decent relationship with Russia.
In July 2018, Ambassador Jack Matlock (the last U.S. envoy to the Soviet Union), was moved to write his own stinging assessment of the “Assessment” under the title: “Former US Envoy to Moscow Calls Intelligence Report on Alleged Russian Interference ‘Politically Motivated.’”
In January 2019, I wrote the following about the ICA:
“A glance at the title of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) (which was not endorsed by the whole community) — ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections’ — would suffice to show that the widely respected and independently-minded State Department intelligence bureau should have been included. State intelligence had demurred on several points made in the Oct. 2002 Estimate on Iraq, and even insisted on including a footnote of dissent.
James Clapper, then director of national intelligence who put together the ICA, knew that all too well. So he evidently thought it would be better not to involve troublesome dissenters, or even inform them what was afoot.
Similarly, the Defense Intelligence Agency should have been included, particularly since it has considerable expertise on the G.R.U., the Russian military intelligence agency, which has been blamed for Russian hacking of the DNC emails.
But DIA, too, has an independent streak and, in fact, is capable of reaching judgments Clapper would reject as anathema. …
With help from the Times and other mainstream media, Clapper, mostly by his silence, was able to foster the charade that the ICA was actually a bonafide product of the entire intelligence community for as long as he could get away with it. After four months it came time to fess up that the ICA had not been prepared, as Secretary Clinton and the media kept claiming, by ‘all 17 intelligence agencies.’
In fact, Clapper went one better, proudly asserting — with striking naiveté — that the ICA writers were ‘handpicked analysts’ from only the F.B.I., C.I.A., and NSA. He may have thought that this would enhance the ICA’s credibility. It is a no-brainer, however, that when you want handpicked answers, you better handpick the analysts. And so he did.”
[See: The January 2017 ‘Assessment’ on Russiagate]
Buried in Annex B of the ICA is this curious disclaimer:
“Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation, and precedents. … High confidence in a judgment does not imply that the assessment is a fact or a certainty; such judgments might be wrong.”
Small wonder, then, that a New York Times report on the day the ICA was released noted:
“What is missing from the public report is what many Americans most eagerly anticipated: hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack. That is a significant omission…”
Burying Obama’s Role
Mainstream journalism has successfully buried parts of the Russiagate story, including the role played by former President Barack Obama.
Was Obama aware of the “Russian hack” chicanery? There’s ample evidence he was “all in.” More than a month before the 2016 election, while the F.B.I. was still waiting for the findings of cyber-firm CrowdStrike, which the Democratic Party had hired in place of the F.B.I. to find out who had breached their servers, Obama told Clapper and Dept. of Homeland Security head Jeh Johnson not to wait.
So with the election looming, the two dutifully published a Joint Statement on Oct. 7, 2016:
“The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. … “
Obama’s role was revealed in 2022 when the F.B.I. was forced to make public F.B.I. emails in connection with the trial of fellow Russiagate plotter, Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann
Clapper and the C.I.A., F.B.I., and NSA directors briefed Obama on the ICA on Jan. 5, 2017. That was the day before they gave it personally to President-elect Donald Trump, telling him it showed the Russians helped him win, and that it had just been made public.
On Jan. 18, 2017, at his final press conference, Obama used lawyerly language in an awkward attempt to cover his derriere:
“The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.”
So we ended up with “inconclusive conclusions” on that admittedly crucial point… and, for good measure, use of both words — “hacking” and “leaked.”
The tale that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016 was then disproved on Dec. 5, 2017 by the head of CrowdStrike’s sworn testimony to Congress. Shawn Henry told the House Intelligence committee behind closed doors that CrowdStrike found no evidence that anyone had successfully hacked the DNC servers.
But it is still widely believed because The New York Times and other Democrat-allied corporate media never reported on that testimony when it was finally made public on May 7, 2020.
Enter Michael van Landingham
Rolling Stone’s article on July 28 about van Landingham says he is still proud of his role as one of the “hand-picked analysts” in drafting the discredited ICA.
The piece is entitled: “He Confirmed Russia Meddled in 2016 to Help Trump. Now, He’s Speaking Out.” It says: “Trump viewed the 2017 intel report as his ‘Achilles heel.’ The analyst who wrote it opens up about Trump, Russia and what really happened in 2016.”
Without ever mentioning that the conclusions of the ICA were proven false, by Henry’s testimony and the conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that found no evidence of Trump-Russia “collusion,” Rolling Stone says:
“The 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), dubbed ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections,’ was one of the most consequential documents in modern American history. It helped trigger investigations by the House and Senate intelligence committees and a special counsel investigation, and it fueled an eight-year-long grudge that Trump has nursed against the intelligence community.”
Rawnsley writes in Rolling Stone the following as gospel truth, without providing any evidence to back it up.
“When WikiLeaks published a tranche of [John] Podesta’s emails in late October, the link between the Russian hackers and the releases became undeniable. The dump contained the original spear phishing message that Russian hackers had used to trick Podesta into coughing up his password. News outlets quickly seized on the email, crediting it for what it was: proof that the Russians were behind the campaign.”
Because Rawnsley didn’t tell us, it’s not clear how this “spear phishing message” provides “undeniable” proof that Russia was behind it. Consortium News has contacted Rawnsley to provide more detail to back up his assertion.
Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and close friend of Julian Assange, suggested to Scott Horton on Horton’s radio show in 2016 that the DNC leak and the Podesta leak came from two different sources, neither of them the Russian government.
“The Podesta emails and the DNC emails are, of course, two separate things and we shouldn’t conclude that they both have the same source,” Murray said. “In both cases we’re talking of a leak, not a hack, in that the person who was responsible for getting that information out had legal access to that information.”
Reading between the lines of the interview, one could interpret Murray’s comments as suggesting that the DNC leak came from a Democratic source and that the Podesta leak came from someone inside the U.S. intelligence community, which may have been monitoring John Podesta’s emails because the Podesta Group, which he founded with his brother Tony, served as a registered “foreign agent” for Saudi Arabia.
“John Podesta was a paid lobbyist for the Saudi government,” Murray noted. “If the American security services were not watching the communications of the Saudi government’s paid lobbyist in Washington, then the American security services would not be doing their job. … His communications are going to be of interest to a great number of other security services as well.”
Leak by Americans
Horton then asked, “Is it fair to say that you’re saying that the Podesta leak came from inside the intelligence services, NSA [the electronic spying National Security Agency] or another agency?”
“I think what I said was certainly compatible with that kind of interpretation, yeah,” Murray responded. “In both cases they are leaks by Americans.”
William Binney, a former U.S. National Security Agency technical director, told Consortium News this regarding Rolling Stone‘s assertion about the Podesta emails:
“Saying something does not make it so. There is no evidence the phishers or hackers were Russian. In today’s networks, you really have to have the underlying internet protocol (IP nr) or device medium access control (MAC nr) to show the routing to/from [sending and receiving] devices to show exfiltration plus trace route evidence to show if that data went any further.
[In other words, you would need the unique computer addresses of the hacked and the hacker and anyone they may have relayed it to, if it were a hack.]
[Rawnsley] gives none of this type of data. So, until he provides this type of data, I view his statements as an opinion and not worth much at all.
The whole world-wide network has to have these numbers to get data from point A to point B in the world. No one (NSA included) has shown this data going to Wikileaks for publication. The 5EYES have Wikileaks under cast iron cover/analysis and would know this and report it.”
“There is one more aspect that’s important to take into account,” Binney added. “It’s the network log. This contains a record of every instruction sent on the network along with addresses for the sender and receiver. It’s held for a period of time according to storage allocated to it.”
Binney said:
“So, if there’s a hack, then the instruction to achieve the hack is in the log. Remember, Crowd Strike did the analysis of the DNC server all through this time and never talked about the network log. Now, Podesta’s computer does not have a network log, but the DNC and worldwide network providers do.”
Binney told CN that he proposed automated analysis of the worldwide log for the NSA in 1992, “but they refused it as it would expose all the money and program corruption in NSA contracts.”
Binney said he was putting that function into the ThinThread program in 1999/2000 that he was developing for the NSA, but the agency “removed it in 2001 after 9/11.”
A report by the private cybersecurity firm SecureWorks in June 2016 assessed with “moderate confidence” that a group identified as APT28, nicknamed “Fancy Bear” among other names “operating from the Russian Federation … gathering intelligence on behalf of the Russian government” was behind the Podesta phishing, though as Binney points out, the NSA found no such evidence, when it would have had to, had Russia done it.
The name “Fancy Bear” of the alleged hackers from GRU, the Russian defense intelligence agency, incidentally, was coined by Dmitri Alperovich, the anti-Putin Russian co-founder of CrowdStrike.
“This whole Russiagate affair was a concoction of the DNC, the Clintons, the F.B.I. etc. and none of them have produced any specific basic evidence to support their assertions,” Binney said. “The idea that the word ‘Bear’ implies Russia is about the level of technical intellect we are dealing with here.”
Binney said these are the key technical questions that still need to be answered:
1. What are the IP and/or MAC numbers involved? And, what are the allocations of these numbers by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (network number allocation authority)?
2. What are the trace routes of the hacked packets going across the worldwide network?
3. What instructions are in the network log indicating data exfiltration of data?
4. Are there any other specific technical aspects that are relevant to a potential hack? No opinions or guesses, that’s not factual evidence of anything beyond the writers biases.”
Binney said in email:
“Even if you assume the Russians did the hack and have the DNC/Podesta emails, you still have to show the transfer of these emails to Wikileaks to know who really did the deed. So far, no one has evidence the emails were sent to Wikileaks.
Most importantly, Julian Assange publicly said it was not the Russians. Kimdotcom said he helped others (not the Russians) to get data to Wikileaks. Craig Murray talked about physical transfer of data. These statements by people involved in WikiLeaks is clearly consistent with the technical evidence I and others have assembled.”
Binny said that “until such time as those others produce specific technical evidence for peer review and validation (like we have), they are just pushing sludge up an inclined plane with a narrow squeegee hoping they can get it over the top and accepted by all.”
Binney noted that the ancient Greek school of sophism called this the fallacy of repetition. “That’s where they keep repeating a falsehood over and over again till it is believed (it helps when they say the same thing from many different directions especially by people in positions of authority),” Binney said.
So the head of CrowdStrike testifies that there’s no evidence anyone hacked the DNC and according to Binney and Murray, there is no definitive proof that Russia was behind the Podesta phishing expedition either. WikiLeaks maintains that a state actor was not the source of either.
And yet the Russiagate myth persists. It is useful in so many ways for those in the U.S. who still want to ratchet up even more tension with Russia (as though Ukraine isn’t enough) and for a political party to perhaps again explain away an election loss if it happens in November.
Thanks to Bill Binney and two other VIPS very senior NSA “alumni”, and the detailed charts and other data revealed by Edward Snowden, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) was able to publish a memorandum on Dec. 12, 2016 that, based on technical evidence, labeled the Russian hacking allegations “baseless.” The following July we issued a similar VIPS memo, with the title asking the neuralgic question, “Was the ‘Russian Hack’ an Inside Job?” The question lingers.
I have now posted an item on X to call attention to this latest Russiagate indignity.
I cannot escape the conclusion that journalism is not like war: In war the victors get to write the history; in today’s journalism, the losers — who get it wrong — get to write it.
O Tempora, O Mores!
Tyler Durden
Sat, 08/10/2024 - 23:20
Published:8/11/2024 12:10:08 AM
|
[Markets]
"I F**king Told Them!": Enraged Butler Cop On Bodycam Says He Told Secret Service To Cover Warehouse Used By Shooter, And They Agreed
"I F**king Told Them!": Enraged Butler Cop On Bodycam Says He Told Secret Service To Cover Warehouse Used By Shooter, And They Agreed
Bodycam footage from local Pennsylvania police reveal that in the moments after last month's attempted assassination of Donald Trump, an officer says he told the Secret Service to cover the warehouse used by shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
"I f—ing told them that they needed to post guys f—ing over here…I told them that f—ing Tuesday," said a Butler Township officer in audio captured by his body-worn camera and obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
"I talked to the Secret Service guys. They’re like, ‘Yeah, no problem. We’re going to post guys over here,'" the officer continues.
The footage paints a more complete picture of the anger and frustration moments after Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to fire eight shots at the former president from an AR-style assault rifle. A spectator was killed, two others were injured, and Trump suffered a bullet wound to the ear. The Journal obtained the videos under a public-records request Thursday.
A police officer in one of the videos at one point refers to a suspicious individual who had been lost by authorities. The unidentified officer referred to “a gentleman with a flat face that we were looking for earlier. He was creeping people out.”
The officer's account, which was broadcast over radio channels, was captured by one of the body cameras. "He was watching people out in the woods by the water tower. I’m not sure he is the gentleman down or not," the officer says.
Around 10 minutes after the shooting, another officer says to a fellow officer "I thought you guys were on the roof. I thought it was you. I thought it was you."
To which "No" can be heard in response.
"What the fuck! Why were we not on the roof? Why weren't we?" the officer replies.
As the Epoch Times notes further, the footage also shows the moment an officer with the Butler Township Police Department tried to get on the roof of a building where suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was perched. Another officer helped lift the responding officer to the roof after rally attendees alerted police that there was an individual on the roof near the rally where Trump was set to speak.
In the clip, an officer is seen moving toward a building before another officer tries to hoist him onto the roof. The officer is then seen trying to climb onto the building before he drops down.
Only officers’ hands are seen as he tries to get onto the roof in the video, which does not show Crooks.
Butler Township Police Department Lt. Matthew Pearson last month told a local Pennsylvania news outlet that the officer was not able to draw his firearm because he was holding onto the building. And Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the New York Post last month that the officers who interrupted Crooks may have distracted the shooter before he shot at the former president, hitting him in the ear.
“If I’m interrupted, and I move my gun, you are going to have to reassess that whole situation at this point, so yes, you can make a case that those two officers saved the president’s life,” Slupe told the paper.
He then asked, “Can you imagine 10 seconds before that? That the president was looking straight ahead and where that bullet could have potentially landed.”
More than three weeks after the assassination attempt, federal officials have not disclosed the Crooks’s motive. So far, few details have emerged about the suspect, and his family has not issued a public statement responding to the incident.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Butler Township Police Department for comment.
Previous Footage Released
Separate bodycam footage from a responding official was released in connection to the July 13 shooting, which killed a rally attendee and injured two others. In late July, Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office released rooftop bodycam footage of an officer who responded to the shooting—after Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
It shows an officer with the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit standing next to a dark-suited man, who appears to be a Secret Service agent, according to a press release from Grassley’s office.
In the clip, at least three other law enforcement officials can be seen, although it is not clear exactly how many were present on the roof when the footage was filmed.
On the ground next to them appears to be the body of Crooks. Although the shooter’s body has been partially blurred in the video, a long trail of blood on the roof can be seen.
The Beaver County officer and the purported Secret Service agent can be heard discussing the timeline of events they believe led up to the assassination attempt, including whether the man lying on the ground next to them is the same man seen in a photo sent out by a member of Beaver County’s sniper team.
“So, this is the guy … that the sniper saw,” the agent says.
“Yes, a Beaver County sniper seen [sic] and sent the pictures out, this is him,” the officer replies.
The Secret Service agent then asks whether or not an abandoned bike that was found in the area belonged to the shooter.
“We don’t know,” the officer responds.
The Beaver County officer then shows the agent photos on his phone.
“I don’t know if you got the same ones I did?” the officer asks the agent, referring to the photos.
“I think I did, yeah, he’s [the shooter] got his glasses on,” the agent replies.
Two days later, Grassley released additional bodycam footage “filmed in the hour following the attempted assassination,” also obtained from the Beaver County emergency department.
That footage shows law enforcement talking about a need to use a drone to secure and inspect a water tower that was onsite, according to his office.
Katabella Reporters contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/08/2024 - 16:20
Published:8/8/2024 3:42:56 PM
|
[Crime]
FBI Raids Home of Former UN Official and Convicted Sex Predator Scott Ritter
The FBI on Wednesday raided the home of Scott Ritter, the former United Nations weapons inspector and convicted sex predator who has collaborated with isolationist organizations such as the Ron Paul Institute and the Quincy Institute.
The post FBI Raids Home of Former UN Official and Convicted Sex Predator Scott Ritter appeared first on .
Published:8/8/2024 12:44:34 PM
|
[Markets]
Pakistani National With Alleged Iranian Ties Charged In Plot To Assassinate US Officials
Pakistani National With Alleged Iranian Ties Charged In Plot To Assassinate US Officials
Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times,
A Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran has been charged in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a politician or U.S. government officials on U.S. soil, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release and indictment unsealed on Tuesday.
Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant,” 46, was charged with murder-for-hire as part of a scheme targeting public figures within the United States. He was apprehended and is currently in federal custody in New York.
The arrest underscores what the DOJ said is its commitment to thwarting Iran’s ongoing efforts to retaliate against American officials, particularly in response to the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani was killed in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Jan. 3, 2020, under the Trump administration.
“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
The plot was uncovered through a coordinated effort involving multiple FBI field offices and the New York City Police Department, among other agencies, DOJ said.
According to court documents, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan in April, following a period in Iran.
He is described as a citizen of Pakistan, born in Karachi, with a wife and children in both Pakistan and Iran, and he traveled frequently to Iran, Syria, and Iraq.
Merchant allegedly sought to hire hitmen to carry out assassinations on American soil, believing he was working with a trusted contact who reported his activities to law enforcement and became a confidential source.
He used operational security measures, such as multiple cellular phones and removing them during sensitive discussions, to avoid surveillance, the court documents claim.
During meetings in New York, Merchant outlined a plan involving multiple criminal schemes, including the theft of documents, organizing protests as distractions, and the assassination plot. These activities were discussed using coded language; for instance, “tee-shirt” referred to protests, “flannel shirt” to stealing, and “fleece jacket” to murder.
In June, Merchant met with individuals he believed to be hitmen, who were actually undercover FBI agents, to arrange the logistics of the plot.
He provided an advance payment of $5,000 and indicated that instructions for the assassination would be issued after his planned departure from the United States in mid-July, the DOJ said.
However, law enforcement intervened and arrested Merchant on July 12, before he could leave the country, DOJ said.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” said Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office.
“This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”
The complaint also highlighted Merchant’s intent to recruit trusted individuals for various roles in his scheme, including reconnaissance and organizing a protest, with further instructions to be conveyed in coded language.
The DOJ emphasized at the time of filing in mid-July that premature disclosure of the complaint’s contents could have jeopardized the investigation, with risks including fleeing suspects and tampering with evidence before it was ultimately unsealed this week.
[ZH: We have one question:]
Of course this is not the first Iranian-linked assassin on the loose in America.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 08/06/2024 - 20:55
Published:8/6/2024 8:48:26 PM
|
[]
Oakland's Police Union Demands Mayor Sheng Thao Resign Immediately
Published:8/6/2024 7:59:12 PM
|
[af9a7462-97fc-58b1-aea6-3fc276cb6aa6]
FBI executes search warrant on Rep. Andy Ogles, seizes cell phone day after primary win
Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles announced that he is being investigated by the FBI, noting that his phone was seized by agents in connection to a campaign finance probe.
Published:8/6/2024 6:58:02 PM
|
[Markets]
DOJ Should Investigate China's United Front Groups Over Violence In San Francisco: Report
DOJ Should Investigate China's United Front Groups Over Violence In San Francisco: Report
Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Two U.S.-based advocacy groups are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the activities of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “united front” foreign influence organizations in the United States, after identifying groups responsible for street violence in San Francisco during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit in 2023.
The Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC) and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) used open-source research and facial recognition technology to identify CCP-aligned actors allegedly assaulting peaceful pro-democracy protesters during Xi’s four-day visit, according to their newly-released report.
The groups found that 19 leaders of the CCP’s united front groups were in San Francisco during Xi’s visit and 12 of them allegedly participated in attacks against protesters. These leaders came from all over the United States, including New York, California, Portland, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Philadelphia.
“Investigate whether united front groups in the U.S. are acting as unregistered foreign agents of the PRC in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” the two groups urged the DOJ, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
The report also urged the DOJ to “explore the potential criminal liabilities of individuals and groups engaged in” transnational repression.
Xi arrived in San Francisco on Nov. 14 last year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Many decided to use his visit as a platform to peacefully protest against the CCP’s human rights violations, holding demonstrations at the San Francisco International Airport; on the streets near the Moscone Center, where APEC meetings were held; in areas outside of the St. Regis Hotel where Xi stayed; and in other locations around the city.
However, the peaceful protests were marred by violence allegedly committed by Xi’s supporters and pro-CCP demonstrators. The report documents 34 cases of harassment, intimidation, and assault.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, said in a July 31 statement that the CCP-directed attacks “were an outrageous violation of American sovereignty and the values we all hold dear.” He called on the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department to hold the perpetrators accountable.
“This thuggery—also known as transnational repression—has no place in America,” Moolenaar said. “The CCP cannot be allowed to bring its Orwellian model of totalitarian control to American soil.”
United Front Groups
The CCP leverages a network of groups, some directly under the control of the United Front Work Department within its Central Committee, to carry out its “united front” strategy to advance the regime’s interests overseas. A big part of the strategy involves exerting influence and control over Chinese diaspora communities and promoting favorable narratives about China under the CCP’s rule.
One united front leader identified in the report is Li Huahong, the head of the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance (CACWA). According to the report, Li, who was wearing a CACWA jacket at the time, allegedly attacked Chinese activist Jia Junwei outside of St. Regis on Nov. 14 last year. Jia had traveled to San Francisco seeking justice for her deceased father, a victim of the regime’s land expropriation policies who died in Chinese detention in 2017.
Jia said that Li “snatched her banner, dragged her into an area surrounded by other CCP supporters who held up their large PRC flags so that no one could see what was happening, pulled her hair, and hit her in the head,” the report states, adding that an ambulance later arrived at the scene and first responders treated Jia.
Li was “alleged to be involved” in more attacks the next day, alongside a dinner reception for Xi at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, according to the report. Inside a parking garage across from the hotel, an unidentified man wearing a CACWA jacket was among a group of 15 masked CCP supporters allegedly attacking Tibetan protesters, after the latter unfurled a banner with the words “Dictator Xi, Your Time Is Up.”
In 2013, Li was convicted in New York on charges of attacking Falun Gong practitioners. The faith group is persecuted by the CCP in China.
Also on Nov. 14 last year, Li Huanjun, a victim of forced demotion in China, said that she was hit in the head with a flagpole and pinched on the arms, waist, and other places several times during encounters with CCP supporters.
One of the individuals who allegedly participated in the harassment and intimidation of Li Huanjun was Jing Dongsheng, the report stated, identifying him as the president of the Oregon Association for the Promotion of the Peaceful Unification of China.
Four other united front leaders were allegedly responsible for attacks against Chinese activist Wang Wei on Nov. 15 last year. According to the report, their names are Wengxi Zhuoma, president of the Sichuan Association of Washington State; Guo Jianwei, president of the Henan Association of Washington State; Fang Weixia, chair of the Association of China’s Peaceful Reunification of Washington State; and Chen Wenshen, vice president of the Seattle-area Fujian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Washington State.
In a video, Fang can be seen “punching … and kicking” activist Wang, according to the report.
Wang explained in the report that he was wearing a “Free China” sticker on his arm, which could be the reason he became a target of the CCP supporters.
“A question which the U.S. government, local governments, and federal and local law enforcement authorities may need to confront is whether the CCP united front groups and individuals are essentially acting as unregistered foreign agents, in which case they may be in breach of the law,” the two groups wrote.
Transnational Repression
HKDC and SFT said that local authorities in San Francisco did not do enough to protect protesters.
“Despite strong awareness of CCP [transnational repression] at the federal level and a general commitment to countering it, agencies were unprepared to do so in San Francisco,” the two groups wrote.
“Local law enforcement authorities exhibited a lack of awareness of [transnational repression], were often unresponsive when alerted to the attacks, and took little and inadequate action in response to the attacks.”
The report explained that protesters had to change their protest plans several times “due to safety concerns.”
For example, Tibetan and Uyghur groups canceled their plan to march to the Hyatt Regency on Nov. 15, 2023.
“When they saw the large numbers of CCP supporters gathered outside the hotel and an absence of separate protest zones, they decided against this course of action as they feared it could lead to a potentially violent confrontation,” the report reads.
Standing Up for Liberty
The report offered recommendations to the White House, the Department of State, the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Congress, and state and local authorities to address the CCP’s acts of transnational repression.
It urges the State Department to impose targeted sanctions against foreign individuals who “direct or engage” in acts of transnational repression. It also asks the Department of Homeland Security to offer transnational repression-related training to state and local law enforcement.
Congress is also urged to pass legislation such as the Transnational Repression Policy Act, the Stop Transnational Repression Act (H.R.5907), the Combating Transnational Repression Act of 2024 (H.R. 7443), the Law Enforcement Support and Transnational Repression Hotline Act (H.R. 7433), and the Strengthening State and Local Efforts to Combat Transnational Repression Act (H.R. 7439).
Introduced by Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) in February and co-sponsored by Reps. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), and Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), H.R. 7439 would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a “transnational repression threat training program” for state, local, tribal, campus, and territorial law enforcement, according to a press release.
“Silence and lack of action will surely signal to the CCP that it has ‘gotten away with it’ and simply encourage it to continue to pursue its objectives to silence, intimidate, and inflict violence on those it perceives as its enemies abroad,” the report reads.
“At best, it leaves those who live in the United States and advocate for freedom and human rights in East Turkestan, Hong Kong, the PRC, and Tibet uncertain and skeptical that U.S. authorities will protect them when the CCP seeks to come after them, and, at worst, fearful and intimidated in the ‘land of the free.’”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/05/2024 - 22:45
Published:8/5/2024 9:49:25 PM
|
[Markets]
Report Finds Biden-Harris Released 99 Illegal Aliens On FBI Terror Watchlist Into American Communities
Report Finds Biden-Harris Released 99 Illegal Aliens On FBI Terror Watchlist Into American Communities
A new interim staff report from the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, published on Monday, highlights how the Biden administration, with 'Border Czar' VP Kamala Harris, facilitated the greatest illegal alien invasion ever on the United States.
The report titled "Terror At Our Door: How The Biden-Harris Administration's Open-Borders Policies Undermine National Security And Endanger Americans" revealed that the failed southern border policies of President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris have flooded the nation with more than 5.4 million illegal aliens. Additionally, at least 1.9 million known "gotaways" also entered, bringing the total to 7.3 million illegal entries.
Fox News' Bill Melugin, who also reviewed the report, said the border data that dates back between 2021-23 shows "at least 99 illegal aliens on the FBI terror watchlist were released into the US after being arrested by Border Patrol at the southern border, and another 34 watchlisted aliens are still in DHS custody."
And this.
"With the border in chaos under the Biden-Harris Administration, the terrorist threat to the homeland has skyrocketed. This border insecurity has been the Administration's choice, and it is a mistake," the report stated.
The report noted that 375 illegal aliens on the US Gov'ts terrorist watchlist have been apprehended by Border Patrol agents under Biden's first term with VP Harris as Border Czar.
The report continued, "That is a more than 3,000 percent increase of watchlisted alien encounters compared to all four years of the Trump Administration."
At the end of last month, leftist MSM spent days in an all-out propaganda media blitz to convince voters that VP Harris was never border Czar - that's because the nation killing open southern borders pushed by Biden & Harris is such a disastrous topic during the election cycle.
Meanwhile, national security 'experts' have warned countless times that the Biden-Harris Administration's open-border policies can only suggest it's only a matter of time before a terror event unfolds in the US.
Just last week, we reported...
In June.
In April.
And in March.
This aged well.
A majority of Americans care about two things ahead of the elections: 1) inflation and 2) the border.
For Harris and Obama's Democrat party, there's no escaping that disastrous border issue.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/05/2024 - 19:25
Published:8/5/2024 6:32:10 PM
|
[Markets]
Former Secret Service Chief Wanted To Destroy Cocaine Evidence
Former Secret Service Chief Wanted To Destroy Cocaine Evidence
Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and others in top agency leadership positions wanted to destroy the cocaine discovered in the White House last summer, but the Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division stood firm and rejected the push to dispose of the evidence, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.
Multiple heated confrontations and disagreements over how best to handle the cocaine ensued after a Secret Services Uniformed Division officer found the bag on July 2, 2023, a quiet Sunday while President Biden and his family were at Camp David in Maryland, the sources said.
At least one Uniformed Division officer was initially assigned to investigate the cocaine incident. But after he told his supervisors, including Cheatle and Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe, who was deputy director at the time, that he wanted to follow a certain crime-scene investigative protocol, he was taken off the case, according to a source within the Secret Service community familiar with the circumstances of his removal.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi did not immediately return RCP’s request for comment.
The discovery of the bag of cocaine posed an unusual problem for Cheatle, who resigned in the face of bipartisan pressure after the July 13 assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
Hunter Biden had a well-documented addiction to cocaine, crack cocaine, and other substances for many years but repeatedly claimed to be sober since 2021, an assertion that has prompted President Biden to often proclaim how “proud” he is of his son. While neither Joe nor Hunter Biden were at the executive mansion when the cocaine was found, it was discovered after a period when Hunter had been staying there.
Cheatle became close to the Biden family while serving on Vice President Joe Biden’s protective detail – so close that Biden tapped Cheatle for the director job in 2022, in part because of her close relationship to first lady Jill Biden.
When the cocaine was first discovered, Cheatle apparently knew it would spark a media firestorm. The incident prompted viral memes about Hunter Biden’s addictions and accusations from Republican political figures, including Nikki Haley, that the Secret Service knew whose cocaine it was and was trying to cover it up.
Normally, the discovery of cocaine or another illegal narcotic in the White House complex or in and around the first family and their staff wouldn’t come to light at all.
That’s because the president’s and first lady’s, as well as family members’ protective Secret Service details, the inner-most ring of protective agents assigned to the first family, would simply dispose of illegal drugs or other “contraband” found in the White House, personal residences, or other private areas of the president, his family, and White House staff, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.
But it wasn’t a member of President Biden’s regular detail who found the bag of cocaine just two days before the July 4 holiday last year. Instead, a member of the agency’s Uniformed Division, which is charged with protecting the facilities and venues for presidents and other agency protectees, discovered the substance in the White House complex while conducting routine rounds of the building.
The exact location where the officer found the bag changed several times during the first weeks of media reports on the incident. Initial reports said the cocaine was found in a reference library. Later reports indicated it was in a “work area” of the West Wing, which is attached to the mansion that houses the president and his family, the Oval Office, the cabinet room, the press briefing room, and offices for staff. CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, then reported it was found in a facility used by White House staff and guests to store phones.
An official Secret Service statement, issued at the conclusion of the agency’s internal investigation into the cocaine discovery, said a Uniformed Division officer found the bag in a “vestibule leading to the lobby area of the West Executive Avenue entrance to the White House,” a well-trafficked area used on the weekend for White House tours. That statement was released on July 13, eleven days after the cocaine’s discovery.
The officer who first found the bag with a white substance immediately flagged it as a potentially hazardous substance, worried that the bag of white power could contain deadly anthrax or ricin.
A Technical Security Division, or TSD, investigator would normally be deployed to the scene. These investigators, sometimes wearing hazmat suits, can identify different types of hazardous substances and explosives and work to quickly remove or defuse them. However, the TSD investigator was not called in on a Sunday evening of a holiday weekend. Instead, a Secret Service officer or agent called in the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department, who evacuated the White House complex while they tested the white substance on site, determining it was cocaine.
Because the press was part of the evacuation, there was no way to hide the information about the discovery, and the Secret Service leaders quickly shifted to crisis communications mode. Meanwhile, the substance and packaging were treated as evidence and sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which again analyzed it for biothreats. Those tests also came back negative for hazardous material.
Then, the Secret Service sent the plastic bag and its contents to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime laboratory for fingerprint and DNA analysis. While there were no latent fingerprints detected, the FBI lab found some DNA material, according to three sources in the Secret Service community. Several sources, citing private statements by a special agent in the Forensics Services Division who supervised the vault containing the cocaine evidence, said the agency ran the DNA material against national criminal databases and “got a partial hit.” The term “partial hit” is vague in this context, but in forensics lingo usually means law enforcement found DNA matching a blood relative of a finite pool of people.
“The Congressional oversight committees need to put White under oath and confirm the ‘partial hit,’” a source told RCP. “Then the FBI needs to explain who the partial hit was against, then determine what blood family member has ties to the White House or what person matching the partial hit was present at the White House that weekend.”
Other sources familiar with the investigation and Cheatle’s alleged push to destroy the cocaine didn’t know if anyone at the Secret Service ran the DNA material found on the cocaine against a national criminal database. In January, federal prosecutors urged a judge to reject Hunter Biden’s efforts to dismiss gun charges against him, revealing that investigators last year discovered cocaine residue on the pouch the president’s son used to hold his gun. In June, a 12-member jury found Hunter Biden guilty on charges related to his purchase and possession of the firearm while he was addicted to crack cocaine.
But Secret Service leaders, under pressure from Cheatle and other top agency officials, chose not to run additional searches for DNA matches or conduct interviews with the hundreds of people who work in the White House complex.
“That’s because they didn’t want to know, or even narrow down the field of who it could be,” a source stated. “It could have been Hunter Biden, it could have been a staffer, it could have been someone doing a tour – we’ll never know.”
During the feverish speculation in the days and weeks after the cocaine’s discovery, the White House refused to answer whether the cocaine came from a Biden family member and labeled as “irresponsible” reporters who asked about a possible link to Hunter or another Biden family member.
In announcing the conclusion of its investigation into the cocaine incident, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency determined that interviewing all 500 people could be a strain on resources, might infringe upon civil liberties, and would likely be fruitless without corresponding physical evidence tying any person to the drugs.
“On July 12, the Secret Service received the FBI’s laboratory results, which did not develop latent fingerprints, and insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons,” Guglielmi said. “Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals.”
“There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area,” Guglielmi continued. “Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered.”
“At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence,” the spokesman added. “The U.S. Secret Service takes its mission to protect U.S. leaders, facilities, and events seriously, and we are constantly adapting to meet the needs of the current and future security environment.”
Over the last month as the agency has come under fire for a series of mistakes leading to an assassination attempt against Trump, Guglielmi has been forced to correct a previous press statement that the agency did not deny repeated requests for additional security assets from the former president’s staff in the months leading up to the assassination attempt.
It’s unclear exactly when Cheatle and other top officials tried to persuade the Forensics Services Division to destroy the evidence. At some point during the investigation, Matt White, the vault supervisor, received a call from Cheatle or someone speaking on her behalf asking him to destroy the bag of cocaine because agency leaders wanted to close the case, according to two sources in the Secret Service community.
“Protocol is, whether you act on the [DNA] hit or not, we still have to maintain evidence for a period of up to seven years,” a source told RCP. “It became a big to-do.”
White’s boss, Glenn Dennis, the head of the Forensics Services Division, then conferred with the Uniformed Division, which first discovered the cocaine.
“A decision was made not to get rid of the evidence, and it really pissed off Cheatle,” a source in the Secret Service community said in an interview.
At the time of the cocaine’s discovery, Richard Macauley was serving as the acting chief of the Uniformed Division after the recent retirement of Alfonso Dyson Sr., a 29-year veteran of the agency. When Dyson left his position, Macauley, who is black, became the acting director. Despite Cheatle’s push to hire and promote minority men and women, Macauley was passed over for the job of Uniformed Division chief in what many in the agency view as an act of retaliation for supporting those who refused to dispose of the cocaine, according to several sources in the Secret Service community.
In 2018, Macauley was named the Secret Services Uniformed Division Officer of the Year. In an interview with Federal News Network, a news talk show focused on issues of interest to federal government workers, a host lauded Macauley for receiving the award and credited him with tightening operations, increasing diversity, boosting officer training, and improving working conditions, “all while taking care of his own shift operations.” Macauley would go on to serve one year, from February 2022 to January 2023, as deputy assistant sergeant at arms at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 08/05/2024 - 15:20
Published:8/5/2024 3:13:25 PM
|
[Politics]
China's swimming doping controversy making waves at Paris Olympics — and in Washington
Overturned positive drug tests for Chinese swimmers and the IOC's push to stop a potential FBI investigation into the matter has angered many U.S. swimmers.
Published:8/2/2024 5:40:54 AM
|
[Markets]
Senators Introduce Bill To Blacklist Chinese Drones In The US
Senators Introduce Bill To Blacklist Chinese Drones In The US
Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Two senators have introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent Chinese drone technologies from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced the Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act (S.4792), according to a statement. The measure was introduced as an amendment to the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The lawmakers explained that Chinese drones pose a risk because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wields considerable influence over Chinese companies.
“Drones made in communist China pose a significant threat to our freedoms and security and cannot be allowed to continue operating in American skies. Companies based in Communist China are at the will of Xi’s evil regime, meaning one of the United States’ greatest adversaries has total access to every bit of data collected by devices,” Scott said in a statement.
“It should terrify every single American that the Chinese Communist Party, known for spying, stealing, and espionage, could have access to footage of Americans, their land, their businesses, and their families without their knowledge.”
The legislation would prohibit Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) Technologies, Autel Robotics, and other CCP-linked drone industry participants from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure by adding them to the Federal Communication Commission’s covered list.
The legislation would also set up a short-term grant program under the Department of Transportation to allow first respondents to replace existing Chinese drones and purchase U.S.-made alternatives.
According to the language of the bill, the program would be called the First Responder Secure Drone Program, with an appropriated fund of $15 million for fiscal year 2025.
Chinese Drones
DJI and Autel control about 90 percent of the global drone market; the two Chinese firms have commercial relationships with thousands of state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies in the United States, according to Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).
In June, the two House lawmakers sent a letter asking the Departments of Homeland Security and Energy to declassify threats posed by Chinese drones.
“Drones have tremendous potential to support agriculture, make our communities safer, and grow our economy. Yet without further intervention, the drone industry could be susceptible to massive intervention from the Communist Party of China, directly threatening our national security and economy,” Warner said in a statement.
“I’m proud to introduce bipartisan legislation to restore American leadership in the drone industry and ensure that the CCP can’t wreak havoc by spying on Americans or otherwise disrupting key functions of drone technology.”
To tackle the threats posed by Chinese drones, Scott and Warner introduced the American Security Drone Act of 2023, which President Joe Biden signed into law as part of the fiscal year 2024 NDAA. The law prohibits federal agencies from purchasing and operating drones made by Chinese companies.
“Now, we must pass the Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act as a necessary next step to eliminate the threats we face from Communist China and further protect the security of the United States and every American family,” Mr. Scott said.
In January, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a memo on cybersecurity vulnerabilities related to China-manufactured drones. The memo points out that different Chinese laws, including the nation’s National Intelligence Law that took effect in 2017, compel Chinese companies to hand over data collected within China and elsewhere to Beijing’s intelligence agencies.
Michael Robbins, chief advocacy officer for the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, a U.S.-based nonprofit, issued a statement sharing the concerns addressed in the memo.
“In the interest of national security, organizations collecting sensitive information, including critical infrastructure owners and operators, must shift away from unsecure PRC drones and reliance on foreign supply chains,” he said, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
In 2022, the Pentagon added DJI to its list of “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/01/2024 - 22:35
Published:8/1/2024 10:25:58 PM
|
[Markets]
New Video Emerges Of Shooter Running Across Roof As Trump Is Speaking
New Video Emerges Of Shooter Running Across Roof As Trump Is Speaking
Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,
A video has emerged of wannabe assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks literally running across the infamous sloped rooftop from which he would subsequently try to kill Donald Trump while the former President was speaking.
Rather than army crawling, Crooks can be seen standing straight up and running across the top of the American Glass Research (AGR) building.
The video has only just come to light because it was filmed by James Copenhaver, one of the victims who was wounded and has been recovering.
Copenhaver was in hospital for two weeks, and is now still recovering in a rehabilitation centre, attorney Joseph Feldman at the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman told Fox News.
The unbelievable footage has people once again asking how on Earth the Secret Service snipers didn’t notice Crooks.
Is it any wonder at this point that people think it was allowed to happen?
Also, what about the ‘dangerous’ slope on the roof we’ve all heard about? Doesn’t seem that hard to traverse.
The emergence of the footage comes as Beaver County officials also Fox News that the Secret Service ordered the local sniper team to position themselves on ground level looking into the crowd, rather than as opposed to on top of the roof where Crooks ended up.
As we highlighted earlier this week, footage has also emerged of local police surrounding Crooks from the foot of the building around two minutes before he fired any shots at Trump.
Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the committee overseeing the investigation into the attempted assassination, has warned that the FBI cannot be trusted on the matter, and Rep. Cory Mills, a former Army sniper, has announced he will be conducting a “parallel independent investigation” into the attempted assassination after Speaker Mike Johnson assembled a task force to probe the Butler shooting without including either Mills or Rep. Eli Crane, also a former sniper.
In addition, Secret Service counter sniper sent out an email Monday night, copying in the entire Uniformed Division warning that if changes are not immediately made, a further assassination attempt on Trump before the election may be successful.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/01/2024 - 14:35
Published:8/1/2024 2:03:45 PM
|
[Security]
He Was an FBI Informant—and Inspired a Generation of Violent Extremists
Joshua Caleb Sutter infiltrated far-right extremist organizations as a confidential FBI informant, all while promoting hateful ideologies that influenced some of the internet's most violent groups.
Published:8/1/2024 9:57:39 AM
|
[Markets]
Doug Casey On 'Your Enemy, The Deep State'
Doug Casey On 'Your Enemy, The Deep State'
Authored by Doug Casey via InternationalMan.com,
A lot of people would like political solutions to their problems, i.e., getting the government to make other people do what they want. People with any moral sense, however, recognize that can only create more problems.
Clever players, therefore, use the government as a tool but do so from behind a curtain. They know that it’s more effective, and a lot safer, to pull the puppet’s strings from offstage. Sometimes, they step into the limelight, depending on the circumstances and the depth of their personal narcissism. But they’re all about two things: Power and money. Call them the Deep State.
Once a country develops an entrenched Deep State, only a revolution or a dictatorship can turn things around. And probably only in a small country.
The American Deep State is a powerful informal network which controls most institutions. You won’t read about it in the news because it controls the news. Politicians won’t talk about it or even admit that it exists. That would be like a mobster discussing murder and robbery on the 6 o’clock news. You could say the Deep State is hidden, but it’s hidden in plain sight.
The Deep State is involved in almost every negative thing that’s happening right now. It’s essential to know what it’s all about.
The State
The Deep State uses and hides behind the State itself.
Even though the essence of the State is coercion, people have been taught to love and respect it. Most people think of the State in the quaint light of a grade school civics book. They think it has something to do with “We the People” electing a Jimmy Stewart character to represent them. That ideal has always been a pernicious fiction because it idealizes, sanitizes, and legitimizes an intrinsically evil and destructive institution, which is based on force. As Mao once said, political power comes out of the barrel of a gun.
The Deep State
The Deep State itself is as old as history. But the term “Deep State” originated in Turkey, which is appropriate since it’s the heir to the totally corrupt Byzantine and Ottoman empires. And in the best Byzantine manner, our Deep State has insinuated itself throughout the fabric of what once was America. Its tendrils reach from Washington down to every part of civil society. Like a metastasized cancer, it can no longer be easily eradicated.
In many ways, Washington models itself after another city with a Deep State, ancient Rome. Here’s how a Victorian-era freethinker, Winwood Reade, accurately described it:
“Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung. That was their return cargo.”
The Deep State controls the political and economic essence of the US. This is much more than observing that there’s no real difference between the left and right wings of the Demopublican Party. Anyone with any sense (that is, everybody except the average voter) knows that although the Republicans say they believe in economic freedom (but don’t), they definitely don’t believe in social freedom. And the Democrats say they believe in social freedom (but don’t), but they definitely don’t believe in economic freedom.
Who Is the Deep State?
The American Deep State is a real but informal structure that has arisen to not just profit from but control the State.
The Deep State has a life of its own, like the government itself. Within the government, it’s composed of top-echelon employees of a dozen Praetorian agencies, like the FBI, CIA, and NSA…top generals, admirals, and other military operatives…long-term congressmen and senators…and directors of important regulatory agencies.
But the Deep State is much broader than just the government. It includes the heads of major corporations, all of whom are heavily involved in selling to the State and enabling it. That absolutely includes Silicon Valley, although those guys at least used to have a sense of humor, evidenced by their defunct “Don’t Be Evil” motto.
It also includes the top people in the Fed, and the heads of the major banks, brokers, and insurers. Add the presidents and many professors at top universities, which act as Deep State recruiting centers… top media figures, of course… and many regulars at things like the WEC, Bohemian Grove, and the Council on Foreign Relations. They epitomize the status quo, held together by power, money, and propaganda.
Altogether, I’ll guess these people number a couple thousand. You might analogize the structure of the Deep State to a huge pack of dogs. The people I’ve just described are the Top Dogs.
But there are hundreds of thousands more who aren’t at the nexus but who directly depend on them, have considerable clout, and support the Deep State because it supports them. This includes many of the wealthy, especially those who got that way thanks to their State connections… the 1.5 million people who have top secret clearances (that’s a shocking but accurate number), plus top players in organized crime, especially the illegal drug business, little of which would exist without the State. Plus mid-level types in the police and military, corporations, and non-governmental organizations.
These are what you might call the Running Dogs.
Beyond that are the scores and scores of millions who depend on things remaining the way they are, like the 50%-plus of Americans who are net recipients of benefits from the State—the 70 million on Social Security, the 90 million on Medicaid, the 50 million on food stamps, the many millions on hundreds of other programs, the 23 million government employees and most of their families. In fact, let’s include the many millions of average Joes and Janes who are just getting by.
You might call this level of people, the vast majority of the population, Whipped Dogs. They both love and fear their master; they’ll do as they’re told and roll over on their backs and wet themselves if confronted by a Top Dog or Running Dog who feels they’re out of line. These three types of dogs make up the vast majority of the US population. I trust you aren’t among them. I consider myself a Lone Wolf in this context and hope you are, too. Unfortunately, however, dogs are enemies of wolves and tend to hunt them down.
The Deep State is destructive, but it’s great for the people in it. And, like any living organism, its prime directive is: Survive! It survives by indoctrinating the fiction that it’s both good and necessary. However, it’s a parasite that promotes the ridiculous notion that everyone can live at the expense of society.
Is it a conspiracy headed by a man stroking a white cat? I think not. It’s hard enough to get a bunch of friends to agree on what movie to see, much less a bunch of power-hungry miscreants bent on running everyone’s lives. But, on the other hand, the Top Dogs all know each other, went to the same schools, belong to the same clubs, socialize, and, most importantly, have common interests, values, and philosophies.
The American Deep State rotates around the Washington Beltway. It imports America’s wealth as tax revenue. A lot of that wealth is consumed there by useless mouths. And then, it exports things that reinforce the Deep State, including wars, fiat currency, and destructive policies. This is unsustainable simply because nothing of value can come out of a city full of parasites.
A SOLUTION?
Many Americans undoubtedly believe Donald Trump is a solution to what ails the US. They think he’s a maverick who will smash the Deep State. That’s understandable since he’s a cultural conservative. He wants the country to resemble the happy days of yesteryear, when Mom, apple pie, and Chevrolets were more important than Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He’s a nationalist, a traditionalist, and business-oriented. That’s all very well. But irrelevant to the Deep State.
The problem is that Trump will almost necessarily surround himself with Deep State players; they’re really all there is in and around the Washington Beltway, Wall Street, Academia, or the media. He’s not about to abolish government agencies (although he might prune a few) and fire scores of thousands of government employees. His lack of a philosophical core will guarantee that instead of trying to abolish the State (in the manner of Millei or Ron Paul), he’ll just use it in ways he thinks are righteous. The proof of that is the trillions of new government spending and deficits he approved of when he was in power. He’ll spend trillions more if he’s re-elected. And all of it will feed the Deep State.
On the bright side, if Trump is elected, his rhetoric will be less objectionable than Kamala’s. There will probably be less overtly disastrous legislation enacted, and some regulations will likely be cut back.
On the not-so-bright side, I’m afraid the Democrats could win come November. They have control of the apparatus of the State, and they absolutely don’t want to give it up. The Deep State will be just fine if Trump wins, of course. But nobody wants to take a chance; there might be some broken rice bowls. He might turn into a loose cannon. So the Deep State, the Establishment, will be even fatter and happier if the Dems take control.
That’s what they’ll work for. And that’s the way to bet.
* * *
It’s clear there are some ominous social, political, cultural, and economic trends playing out right now. Many of which seem to point to an unfortunate decline of the West. That’s precisely why legendary speculator Doug Casey and his team just released this free report, which shows you exactly what’s happening and what you can do about it. Click here to download it now.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/31/2024 - 21:40
Published:7/31/2024 8:57:54 PM
|
[Markets]
Buttigieg's 'Crime Down Under Biden' Claim Doesn't Hold Up: John Lott Jr.
Buttigieg's 'Crime Down Under Biden' Claim Doesn't Hold Up: John Lott Jr.
Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearPolitics,
“Crime went down under Biden, and crime went up under Trump,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg claimed on Fox News Sunday. “Why would America want to go back to the higher crime we experienced under Donald Trump?”
“It’s no accident that violent crime is near a record 50-year low,” President Biden similarly claimed. And fact-checkers, at places like Politifact, rate Biden’s statement as “true.”
For months, the news media has relied on FBI data to relentlessly push this claim. But the problem is that the FBI data only counts crime reported to police, not total crime, and even then, it does a poor job of measuring reported crime.
Buttigieg dared viewers to “do yourself a favor and look up the data.” But Buttigieg either doesn’t understand the crime data or he is really hoping that Americans don’t take him up on his dare.
There are two different measures of crime. The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System program annually counts the number of crimes reported to police. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), by contrast, asks 240,000 people a year whether they have been victims of a crime. The NCVS is used to estimate total crime, both reported and unreported. Survey results indicate that only 42% of violent crime and 32% of property crime were reported to law enforcement in 2022, the last year the NCVS data is available.
Buttigieg didn’t claim that the reported crime fell. He claimed that crime went down.
In saying Biden’s claim was correct, Politifact declared: “Other types of crime statistics, including the National Crime Victimization Survey, show current levels of violent crime far lower than their peaks in the early 1990s.” But Biden was saying that the violent crime rate was near a 50-year low, not that it was lower than it was in the 1990s. There have been many years over the last 50 where the violent crime data from the NCVS is lower than in 2022. In addition, to say the violent crime rate increased by 42.4% in 2022 after a smaller increase in 2021 seems far from the low it was in 2020.
Unreported crime has increased as law enforcement has collapsed, and that has reduced the rate at which people report crimes to police. In cities with more than one million people (where violent crime disproportionately occurs), arrest rates for violent crime plunged from 44% in the five years preceding COVID-19 (2015-2019) to 20% in 2022. Property crime arrest rates dropped by even more.
Since 2020, the FBI’s number of reported crimes and the NCVS’s number of total crimes have been negatively correlated. For instance, in 2022, the FBI reported a 2.1% drop in violent crime while the NCVS showed an alarming increase of 42.4% – the largest one-year percentage increase in violent crime ever recorded by the NCVS.
It is puzzling enough that measures of reported and total crime don’t match. But the FBI’s and NCVS’s estimates of reported crime have also gone in opposite directions since 2020. From 2008 to 2019, the FBI and NCVS measures of reported violent crime generally tended to move up and down together. However, from 2020 to 2022, these two numbers were almost perfectly negatively related to each other. Each time one measure of reported violent crime rose, the other measure fell.
While the FBI’s number of reported violent crimes fell by 2% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022, the NCVS’s measure showed increases of 13.6% and 29.3%, respectively.
The fact that the FBI and NCVS measures of reported crime go in opposite directions raises real concerns about the FBI data.
So even if Buttigieg wanted to claim that reported crime went down, that is even debatable.
A frequently discussed concern with the FBI data is the decline that occurred in police department reporting after a new system was implemented. In 2022, 32% of police departments didn’t report CRIME data to the FBI. Another 24% only partially reported it, so less than half of departments fully reported crime data.
Police departments downgrading crimes further biases the FBI numbers. Classifying an aggravated assault as a simple assault means that it will be excluded from FBI violent crime data, which doesn’t include simple assaults. The difference often involves whether the criminal used a weapon in committing an assault, but many radically left-leaning district attorneys are refusing to include weapons charges against defendants. That could explain the difference between the two measures of reported crime. After all, the NCVS asks victims if the assault involved a weapon, even if the police reports ignore that characteristic of the crime.
Soros-backed district attorneys from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles have created other biases in the FBI data by downgrading felonies to misdemeanors. Recent numbers show that the progressive Manhattan DA downgraded felonies to lesser charges 60% of the time. Eighty-nine percent of the time that would-be felonies were downgraded, they were downgraded to misdemeanors.
This isn’t a new problem. In the past, Chicago has intentionally misclassified murders by mislabeling them as non-criminal “death investigations.” However, the problem may be growing, and police may also be responding to the decisions of prosecutors.
Over the last few years, as police ranks have thinned due to retirements and budget cuts, police departments have stopped responding to non-emergency 911 calls in places such as Charlottesville, Chicago, and Olympia, Washington. Instead of police coming out to crime scenes, however, people can still go down to their local police stations. People may think that they reported a crime by calling 911, but a crime isn’t officially counted until police make a report.
Much is made of the drop in murder rates over the last few years. Murder rates dropped by 13% in 2023, though the preliminary 2023 murder rate is still 7% above 2019 levels. The NCVS doesn’t survey its respondents about murder, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a measure that doesn’t match up with the FBI data. While the FBI shows murder peaking in 2020 and dropping in 2021 and 2022, the CDC shows it peaking in 2021 and higher in 2022 than in 2020.
The FBI data doesn’t match the NCVS or CDC data. The gigantic gap between these measures, even when they are measuring the same thing, should raise major doubts about the accuracy of the FBI’s reported crime data. People say that they are reporting more crimes to the police, but that isn’t showing up in the FBI reports.
Americans in our country’s urban centers know that crime is increasing as law enforcement is collapsing.
Lott is the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author most recently of “Gun Control Myths.”
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/31/2024 - 17:20
Published:7/31/2024 4:39:32 PM
|
[]
FBI Claims Matthew Crooks Is a Right-Winger. GAB's Andrew Torba Proves They're Lying -- As Usual
Andrew Torba @BasedTorba BREAKING: The FBI is now claiming that the Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks had an unspecified "social media account" in 2019/2020 (when he was 14/15 years old) that posted "anti-immigrant and anti-semitic" content. This is not consistent...
Published:7/31/2024 4:39:31 PM
|
[Markets]
Secret Service Counter-Sniper Warns Another Trump Assassination Attempt Is Coming
Secret Service Counter-Sniper Warns Another Trump Assassination Attempt Is Coming
Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,
A Secret Service counter sniper sent out an email Monday night, copying in the entire Uniformed Division warning that if changes are not immediately made, a further assassination attempt on Donald Trump before the election may be successful.
RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree revealed the communication from the counter sniper, who stated that he no longer feels proud to be working for the agency, that higher ups need to be fired.
The Secret Service “SHOULD expect another assassination attempt,” the sniper wrote, urging “This agency NEEDS to change. If not now, WHEN? The NEXT assassination in 30 days?”
“Sadly we have fallen short for YEARS,” the counter sniper continued, adding “We just look good doing it. I have conveyed these thoughts to not only supervisors (to include the current Captain of CS, but those responsible for training us (SOTS/CS). Only to be brushed off as those with less experience somehow knew more than me.”
“The team I was once proud to be a part of, is something I have to somehow hide as I move into my next career,” the counter sniper, whose name is redacted, further explained.
“Who wants to hire a USSS CS guy who failed? That’s the public perception I’m not faced with. The USSS CS team is a stain I will never be able to cleanse,” he emphasised.
“The motto of the USSS…CYA. And every supervisor is doing it right now,” he added.
Crabtree says that a source told her that the Secret Service quickly deleted the email, attempting to prevent personnel from seeing it.
The reporter further noted that Senator Marsha Blackburn read from the email while questioning Secret Service acting Director Ronald L. Rowe, who was testifying before a joint meeting of the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on Tuesday.
Here is what Blackburn said, and the response of Rowe:
Elsewhere during the hearing, other Senators, including Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee lambasted Rowe over the security failings of the Secret Service and the fact that no one has been fired yet.
Republicans have charged that Rowe is a Democrat stooge.
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate stated that there was never any doubt that Trump was hit by a bullet, despite what Director Christopher Wray said days ago about it potentially being shrapnel.
FBI Director Suggests Trump Wasn’t Hit By A Bullet
In response, President Trump retruthed this post on Truth Social:
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/31/2024 - 13:40
Published:7/31/2024 1:04:35 PM
|
[Markets]
Democrats Vs. The Man Who Could Get To The Bottom Of The Trump Shooting
Democrats Vs. The Man Who Could Get To The Bottom Of The Trump Shooting
Authored by Julie Kelly via RealClearInvestigations,
After the evasive House testimony of now-former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray’s shortlived suggestion that Donald Trump may not have been hit by a bullet, one man alone may help allay Republican fears that the Biden administration will not conduct a forthright investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump last month: Joseph Cuffari.
The Trump-appointed inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security has already opened two investigations into the U.S. Secret Service, which is under the purview of the DHS, related to the agency’s handling of the July 13 shooting.
But some Republicans are concerned because, they say, Cuffari has been stonewalled by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on other internal examinations – including one that might have revealed Secret Service lapses that might have prevented the attempt on Trump’s life.
Specifically, congressional sources tell RCI that Cuffari’s report, “USSS Preparation for and Response to the Events of January 6, 2021,” has been on Mayorkas’ desk since at least April.
The report, according to Politico, will “cast light on a series of embarrassing security lapses for the agency.” And given some comparisons between Jan. 6 and July 13, the report might shed light on systemic issues that impacted both events.
For example, unanswered questions remain as to why the Secret Service allowed Trump to take the stage at The Ellipse outside the White House around noon on Jan. 6 amid reports of individuals with weapons in the vicinity – a question many Americans have about the July 13 assassination attempt. Law enforcement and spectators noted the presence of a suspicious individual, later identified as the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, at least a half hour before Trump took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In addition, no one has explained how the Secret Service failed to notice an alleged pipe bomb found outside the Democrat National Committee DC office on Jan. 6 – while then Vice President-elect Harris was inside the building. Previous reporting by RCI shows multiple law enforcement officers, including one with a bomb-sniffing dog, walking past the bench where the device was found.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chairman of a House subcommittee tasked with a separate investigation into Jan. 6 as well as the now-defunct J6 committee, recently accused Mayorkas of intentionally holding the release of the report. The Georgia Republican told Mayorkas in a letter that “the failure to provide an in-depth review of the department’s security planning and operational failures related to January 6 not only raises concerns about the department’s botched planning for former president Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, but it is quite possible that such reports could have prevented the security breakdown that resulted in the near assassination of a former president and presidential candidate.”
Top Democrats have long sought to remove Cuffari – a former investigator for the Air Force and Department of Justice whom Trump appointed in 2019 in 2019 – from office. The coordinated effort began when the IG notified Congress that a trove of Secret Service texts from January 5 and 6, 2021 had been deleted in late January 2021 under the Biden administration. The purge occurred weeks after every federal agency received a directive from Congress to preserve all evidence related to January 6.
Cuffari said messages belonging to at least 24 Secret Service officials including then director James Murray and Cheatle, who was an assistant director of the agency on January 6, were gone. So, too, were the texts of then acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli, both Trump appointees.
His office subsequently opened a criminal investigation into the matter.
“The USSS erased those text messages after OIG [Office of Inspector General] requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6,” the inspector general wrote in a July 2022 letter to chairmen of both the Senate and House Homeland Security committees, including Rep. Bennie Thompson, who also chaired the Jan. 6 committee at the same time.
Cuffari further flagged the DHS’s lack of cooperation with his inquiry, something he had already pointed out in an earlier report to the committees. “DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys,” Cuffari continued in the letter.
Not true, responded Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He claimed the texts had been deleted when cell phones were reset to factory settings as part of a device replacement program. “The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.” (Guglielmi’s truthfulness was brought into question recently when he claimed it was “absolutely false” that the Secret Service rejected the Trump campaign’s multiple requests for additional security prior to the Pennsylvania rally. The Washington Post later confirmed that top Secret Service officials “repeatedly denied” requests for more manpower and equipment to protect the former president at large events.)
And despite initially insisting the texts were not lost, Guglielmi shortly thereafter said the missing Jan. 6-related messages were not recoverable. Cuffari did acquire the cell phones of two dozen Secret Service agents on duty that day, which did not have texts from that day but could have other pertinent information.
But rather than demand that the DHS use its extensive investigative tools to retrieve the texts, Thompson instead turned his fire on Cuffari. Thompson suggested Cuffari’s alleged delay in notifying the committee about the purged texts represented a cover-up and “cost investigators precious time to capture relevant evidence.” Cuffari had, in fact, notified the Homeland Security committee of both the Senate and House, of which Thompson was chairman, at least twice that DHS officials were not cooperating in his J6 probe.
“The Department repeatedly suggested that OIG might not have a right of access to the records sought, but during the months-long period in which access was delayed the Department did not cite any legal authority – that would have justified withholding the information,” Cuffari disclosed in a September 2021 report to Congress.
Despite Cuffari’s warnings related to stonewalling by DHS brass, Thompson accused Cuffari of withholding news of the deleted messages. In a July 2022 letter, just two weeks after Cuffari disclosed the missing texts, Thompson asked him to step aside from the J6 inquiry. Calls for Cuffari’s dismissal have also been driven by the nonprofit “watchdog” group, the Project on Government Oversight. The vice chair of POGO’s board is Debra Katz, a lawyer for Brett Kavanagh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, during his tawdry Supreme Court nomination hearings.
Critics say Thompson’s demand for Cuffari’s recusal appeared to contradict his stated mission to find the truth about Jan. 6. For example, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, a star witness for the committee, provided a shocking account about how Trump allegedly assaulted one of the Secret Service agents on his detail that afternoon. Wouldn’t Thompson and the other committee members want records to prove her claims, which are now in dispute by several individuals, including the driver she said Trump tried to attack? Why would Thompson want to get rid of the watchdog attempting to locate messages critical to filling an important missing piece of the Jan. 6 puzzle?
In fact, Thompson told Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) in February his committee “could have had a better, more thorough report had we had access to all those records.” Thompson further said that the deletions not only violated the Federal Records Act but may have also amounted to obstruction of justice since he had issued a subpoena, the only one his committee sought from an executive office, seeking the records.
Talk but No Action
But neither his committee nor a Democrat-controlled Congress did anything about it. Unlike the committee’s criminal referral to the Department of Justice against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding, Thompson did not pursue criminal charges against any DHS official responsible for erasing the text records.
But Thompson did continue his attacks on Cuffari aided by his House colleagues and DHS IG employees, who wrote a letter accusing Cuffari of “continued mismanagement.” “IG Cuffari has made it clear that he wishes to remain in his position, even in the face of prolonged, deserved criticism in the media, from Congress, from other oversight entities and from his own staff. A true leader would recognize the effect of his actions on his workforce and understand the right thing to do would be to step aside,” anonymous staffers wrote in a September 2022 letter to Joe Biden asking him to fire Cuffari.
The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or CIGIE, which oversees federal inspector generals, also went after Cuffari by opening a flood of inquiries into the DHS IG’s office. In response, Cuffari filed a lawsuit seeking relief from “an unjust, Kafkaesque system produced by an unconstitutionally structured entity and abetted by a complete absence of independent oversight, accountability and lawful due process.” A federal judge dismissed his effort to stop the investigation, ruling that he had not suffered any harm.
CIGIE is mired in its own scandals; in May, several Republican House members sent a letter to a top CIGIE official demanding answers about the “politicization” of the organization. During a House hearing on July 24, committee members accused CIGIE chairman Mark Greenblatt of a lack of transparency and the “subjective” nature of CIGIE’s work.
House Democrats, including Thompson, continue to seek Cuffari’s resignation more recently for deleting text messages off his government device. Cuffari told Congress he did not consider the texts applicable under the Federal Records Act.
Intriguingly, as Cuffari begins his probe of the attempt on Trump’s life, his Jan. 6 report may shed light on an alleged threat to Vice President Harris.
More than three-and-a-half years later, investigators still have not arrested anyone for planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee on the evening of Jan. 5. The FBI’s investigation reportedly remains open but apparently went cold.
For reasons still unknown, Harris left Capitol Hill around 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 6 following a briefing for the Senate Intelligence Committee. Although an official schedule indicated she planned to go home, she instead arrived at DNC headquarters along with a Secret Service detail at 11:25 a.m.
Video captured by a security camera outside the building showed a bomb-sniffing dog conducting a vehicle search at 9:44 a.m., roughly two hours before Harris’ arrival. The canine did not detect the explosive device sitting just a few feet away near an outdoor bench.
Neither did officers from Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police, who intermittently arrived at the building throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Harris’ Secret Service detail did not appear to conduct any meaningful search of the premises before or during her visit.
And when a plainclothes Capitol Police officer discovered the pipe bomb at 1:07 p.m., no officer appeared overly concerned that a device the FBI later said was viable and deadly was within distance of the incoming vice president.
She was evacuated about 10 minutes later.
How did the Secret Service miss the device in plain view? Was anyone fired for failing to properly sweep the area and endangering the life of their protectee? Were new protocols put in place to avoid repeating such a frightening scenario in the future?
Cuffari’s report presumably will finally answer those questions because agency officials have not.
Not only are the FBI and Secret Service tight-lipped about the incident, but Harris herself has yet to discuss it publicly.
Harris has not explained why she, a sitting U.S. senator at the time, left the Capitol 90 minutes before the beginning of the joint session of Congress to certify her groundbreaking election. She appears to have been the only senator not in attendance as the proceedings commenced. Why did she plan to miss such a historic event? How did she feel when she was told of the alleged bomb?
It would be nearly impossible for the national news media to continue to ignore her ties to the pipe bomb story if Cuffari addressed it in his investigation.
“Any delay or obstruction by Mayorkas is unacceptable," Loudermilk said in an email, "especially now that the DHS IG is investigating the serious USSS security failures at the Trump rally in Butler PA.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/30/2024 - 22:05
Published:7/30/2024 9:34:33 PM
|
[American Intelligence]
Christopher Wray- the FBI Director who takes briefings from Joy Reid
In what world does Christopher Wray live? On July 14 Donald Trump narrowly escaped being assassinated by Thomas Crooks. The same left-wing media that steadfastly refused to insist Joe ...
The post Christopher Wray- the FBI Director who takes briefings from Joy Reid appeared first on Flopping Aces.
Published:7/30/2024 6:26:50 PM
|
[Congress]
6 Takeaways From Senate Hearing on Trump Assassination Attempt
Top FBI and Secret Service officials testified Tuesday about security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump 17 days earlier. ... Read More
The post 6 Takeaways From Senate Hearing on Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:7/30/2024 5:37:56 PM
|
[]
Sen. John Kennedy Gets Confirmation It Was Not a Space Laser That Hit Trump
Published:7/30/2024 5:37:56 PM
|
[]
Secret Service Agent Email: I Will Not Be Silent Until The Top Five "Leaders" Responsible for This Catastrophe Have Resigned, Which They Already Should Have Done
RealClearPolitics' Susan Crabtree has another scoop. By the way: The Secret Service immediately deleted this email, so you know they're a bunch of straight-shooter Lunchbucket Joes like the FBI are. Susan Crabtree @susancrabtree EXCLUSIVE: A Secret Service counter sniper sent...
Published:7/30/2024 4:24:09 PM
|
[Politics]
Acting Secret Service head 'ashamed' rooftop wasn't secure at rally where Trump was shot
Agents searching for a motive are reviewing a social media account that could belong to Donald Trump's would-be assassin, the FBI deputy director testified.
Published:7/30/2024 2:00:10 PM
|
[2nd Amendment]
Over 2 Weeks Later: FBI Still Unsure How Would-Be Assassin Got Rifle onto Roof
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said the agency does not know how Donald Trump's would-be assassin got a rifle onto the roof from which he fired.
The post Over 2 Weeks Later: FBI Still Unsure How Would-Be Assassin Got Rifle onto Roof appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:7/30/2024 2:00:10 PM
|
[Latest News]
Trump Shooter Believed To Be Author of 'Extreme' Anti-Semitic Comments Online, FBI Says
Former president Donald Trump’s would-be assassin is believed to have shared anti-Semitic posts online the FBI described to the Senate Tuesday as “extreme in nature.”
The post Trump Shooter Believed To Be Author of 'Extreme' Anti-Semitic Comments Online, FBI Says appeared first on .
Published:7/30/2024 2:00:10 PM
|
[Politics]
Watch Live: Secret Service, FBI Officials Questioned on Security Failures in Trump Assassination Attempt
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testify before the Senate about the security failures that led to the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.
The post Watch Live: Secret Service, FBI Officials Questioned on Security Failures in Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:7/30/2024 12:54:27 PM
|
[]
Monday Overnight Open Thread (7/29/24)
***** The Quotes of The Day Quote I "We want to get his perspective on what he observed," Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office I certainly hope President Trump has his attorney...
Published:7/29/2024 9:42:23 PM
|
[World]
Trump rally shooter sought info on attempted killing of foreign leader
Thomas Matthew Crooks’s motive for Trump rally shooting is still unclear, FBI officials said. They have not found evidence tying others people to the attack.
Published:7/29/2024 10:04:46 AM
|
[Uncategorized]
After FBI Dir. Wray Fueled BlueAnon Claims Trump Was Not Shot, FBI Admits He Was Struck by Bullet
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle"
The post After FBI Dir. Wray Fueled BlueAnon Claims Trump Was Not Shot, FBI Admits He Was Struck by Bullet first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:7/27/2024 11:18:05 AM
|
[Markets]
FBI Says Unequivocally That Trump Was Hit By A Bullet
FBI Says Unequivocally That Trump Was Hit By A Bullet
Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,
The FBI has released a statement declaring that without doubt President Trump was hit by a bullet two weeks ago at his rally in Pennsylvania.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” the FBI statement asserts.
“The FBI’s Shooting Reconstruction Team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation remains ongoing,” the statement adds.
The statement comes following comments made by FBI director Christopher Wray earlier in the week during testimony in Congress that spurred leftist conspiracy theories that Trump was hit by glass or shrapnel.
“There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel,” Wray said to Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday.
Responding to the statement in a Truth Social post, Trump wrote
“I assume that’s the best apology that we’ll get from Director Wray, but it is fully accepted!”
Trump’s doctor, Ronny Jackson, also blasted Wray.
Now Trump supporters are calling for Wray to resign.
Even if you entertain the patently crazy leftist theories that it wasn’t a bullet that hit Trump, what difference does it make?
Meanwhile, Trump has announced that he will be holding a second rally in Butler, to honor those who were injured and killed during the assassination attempt.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/27/2024 - 11:40
Published:7/27/2024 11:18:05 AM
|
[]
FBI: On Second Thought, Trump Was Shot
Published:7/27/2024 7:58:32 AM
|
[Politics]
A bullet — or bullet fragment — hit Trump during assassination attempt, FBI says
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” the FBI said in a statement Friday.
Published:7/26/2024 7:39:23 PM
|
[Markets]
Sinaloa Drug Cartel Co-Founder Tricked Into Flying To Small US Airfield, Greeted With Handcuffs
Sinaloa Drug Cartel Co-Founder Tricked Into Flying To Small US Airfield, Greeted With Handcuffs
In a story destined to be dramatized on the big screen, a major Mexican drug lord was tricked on Thursday into flying aboard a small plane that landed near El Paso, Texas, where federal agents greeted him on the tarmac with handcuffs.
That big prize was 76-year-old Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who co-founded the infamous Sinaloa cartel with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in the late 1980s. El Chapo was extradited to America in 2017 and is serving a life sentence at the federal supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. El Chapo's son, Joaquín Guzman Lopez, may become his "so close and yet so far" neighbor at the Alcatraz of the Rockies, as he was also nabbed in the creative scheme -- and reportedly participated in it.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the arrests in a statement issued Thursday:
“The Justice Department has taken into custody two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world...Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks."
According the Wall Street Journal's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) sources, El Mayo was led to believe the small aircraft he was boarding would take him to survey covert airstrips inside Mexico. The scheme was months in the making, and was a joint project with the FBI.
Adding to the cinematic intrigue, a high-ranking cartel member is said to have tricked the two into boarding the US-bound airplane. Plot twist: The New York Times reports that it was Guzman Lopez -- El Chapo's son who was also aboard and arrested. Fox News' Bryan Llenas reports that a source tells him Guzman Lopez was said to have turned on El Mayo because he blamed him for his father's apprehension.
While the DOJ and DEA statements didn't identify the airstrip, reports from Reuters and KTSM indicate the plane landed at Santa Teresa International Jetport, which is located in New Mexico, just across the state line from El Paso. "One worker at the Santa Teresa airport...[said] that he saw a Beechcraft King Air land on the runway, where federal agents were already waiting," Reuters reports.
Since the Sinaloa Cartel is widely believed to be the foremost smuggler of illicit fentanyl, the twin-arrests represent a major triumph for federal law enforcement, and come at a time when Donald Trump and other Republican candidates are sharply criticizing the Biden administration's performance on that particular drug-war front.
Another of Chapo's sons, Ovidio Guzman, was extradited to the US in January 2023. El Chapo's four sons are known as "Los Chapitos," and the same name is used by the criminal organization they've run, which is one of four that comprise the Sinaloa Cartel. In October, the Sinaloa Cartel reportedly banned fentanyl production and trafficking, but the DEA dismissed the announcement as "probably a publicity stunt," noting that the volume of fentanyl seized at the border was undiminished.
"Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable," said Garland. Synthetic opioids -- including fentanyl -- were responsible for more than 74,000 deaths in the United States in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the DEA crowed that the arrest of El Mayo represents an "enormous blow to the Sinaloa Cartel," don't count on it to have a material impact on the flow of drugs into the United States. "We aren’t talking about a structure that depends on a few kingpins — it’s very diffuse and resilient to these kinds of hits,” International Crisis Group senior analyst Falko Ernst tells the Times. In the near term, he adds, the principal result will likely be violence as the cartel's succession competition plays out.
It should also be noted that, in a grand example of unintended consequences of government market interventions, the rise of fentanyl is itself a product of the war on drugs. Per Richard Cowan's Iron Law of Prohibition, "As law enforcement becomes more intense, the potency of prohibited substances increases." That's because high-potency drugs are easier to smuggle -- giving a 10-pound parcel of fentanyl a far better risk/reward/ROI profile than a truckload of marijuana.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 - 09:30
Published:7/26/2024 8:44:51 AM
|
[Markets]
Utah Attorney Catches FBI Deception In OKC Bomb Records Case
Utah Attorney Catches FBI Deception In OKC Bomb Records Case
Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,
Last month, the Justice Department asked a judge to pause a lawsuit seeking records about the FBI’s involvement with the Oklahoma City bombing. But in doing so, the DOJ and the FBI made statements so misleading they merit sanctions, according to the plaintiff in that case, Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue.
The deception spotted by Trentadue stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit he filed against the FBI in February, seeking records about Roger Edwin Moore, who was a CIA asset, an FBI informant and a business associate to OKC bomber Tim McVeigh; as well as for records about the Aryan Republican Army, a neo-Nazi bank-robbery gang also involved in the attack.
Trentadue filed the lawsuit after waiting nine years for the FBI to process his FOIA request for those records. Despite that long wait, the FBI then asked a federal judge for another nearly 12 years to release the records he seeks.
Then, last month the bureau represented to a federal judge that many of the records Trentadue wants are already on the FBI’s website. But according to Trentadue, that’s a lie.
“That statement is so misleading as to merit sanctions. The BOMBROB records posted by the FBI, for example, consist of just 5,514 pages, not the 36,795 pages of responsive documents that the Bureau claims to possess,” Trentadue said in a Tuesday court filing, responding to the FBI’s request to pause his lawsuit. BOMBROB was FBI’s investigation of the ARA.
“More importantly, of these 5,514 pages, only 51 pages reference McVeigh. Similarly, the FBI’s website contains just 229 pages of records on Roger Edwin Moore, not the 31,129 pages of responsive records that the Bureau claims to have located, and none of these records involve Moore’s participation in Operation Punchout,” Trentadue added, referencing the FBI operation in which Moore served as an informant.
Trentadue also took issue with the FBI telling the judge that he agreed to receive records at a rate of 500 pages per month, which would mean it would take about 12 years to receive them all. Trentadue explained that he initially was OK with receiving 500 records per month on a rolling basis nearly a decade ago—as opposed to waiting for the FBI to gather all the records and send them in one batch.
“Plaintiff agreed to receiving the document sin 500-page increments on a CD as they were processed, whereby he would not have to wait until all of the records were processed before receiving them,” he explained in his Tuesday filing. “Plaintiff NEVER agreed to the FBI processing the documents at the rate of only 500-pages per month.”
For Trentadue, dealing with DOJ/FBI deception is nothing new. For instance, in a separate lawsuit seeking surveillance footage of the OKC bombing, a federal judge is investigating allegations that the FBI tampered with one of his witnesses. Trentadue referenced that ongoing scandal in his Tuesday response to the FBI.
“It can fairly be said that the only difference between the FBI and Russian KGB is that the KGB never claimed to be a legitimate law enforcement agency. It can also be fairly said that in cases such as this involving an overarching specter of government malfeasance, the FBI has been and will be anything but honest and candid with the court,” he said.
Trentadue wants the presiding judge to order the FBI to give him records at the rate of 5,500 pages per month.
In his Tuesday filing, he noted that the 30th anniversary of the OKC bombing is this April. He argued that there’s immense public interest in that case, and attached two articles written by this reporter as evidence of that. To Trentadue’s point, Headline USA’s article about his initial lawsuit in February is currently the third-most viewed story on the site in 2024.
“The court should deny the FBI’s motion to stay and commence with the BOMBROB request because of the upcoming anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing … The court should also order the FBI to process the records at the rate of 5,500 pages per month with interim month-end releases of the documents processed during each month, which will result in Plaintiff receiving all of the records in about 13 months instead of 11-plus years,” he said.
It’s not clear when the judge might decide on the matter.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/25/2024 - 20:05
Published:7/25/2024 7:07:14 PM
|
[]
FBI Director: The Assassin's Gun Was Legally Bought and Then Sold to Him
Which only serves as proof to Democrat gun-grabbers that all guns, legally or illegally purchased, must be outlawed. In a testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that Thomas Crooks' family had over a...
Published:7/25/2024 11:26:41 AM
|
[]
Trump Shooter Researched Lee Harvey Oswald
Published:7/25/2024 11:04:30 AM
|
[Politics]
The Thomas Crooks Conspiracy Theories Aren’t Going Anywhere
The FBI says Donald Trump's would-be assassin acted alone; the CIA denies any association with him. But experts say the complex reasons for belief in conspiracies will likely keep people believing.
Published:7/24/2024 4:47:19 PM
|
[Politics]
Dem Reps. Nadler and Schiff Compete for Distinction of Biggest Dirtbag at Hearing on Trump Shooting
Published:7/24/2024 12:16:59 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
FBI Director Wray Admits Trump Shooter Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Rally
Crooks also had three explosive devices.
The post FBI Director Wray Admits Trump Shooter Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Rally first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:7/24/2024 10:48:57 AM
|
[Markets]
Watch Live: Secret Service Boss Cheatle Faces House Grilling As DHS Forms Panel To Review Trump Shooting
Watch Live: Secret Service Boss Cheatle Faces House Grilling As DHS Forms Panel To Review Trump Shooting
Watch Live (due to start at 10amET):
In a move seemingly timed to ease the immediate pressure on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday night announced the formation of an independent review panel charged with examining the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, which appeared to illuminate an astonishing degree of Secret Service incompetence.
The unusual Sunday night announcement came about 12 hours before Cheatle's 10 am Monday appearance before the House Oversight Committee, which Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has touted as "must-watch TV," telling CNN, "She's got a lot to answer for. And those concerns are bipartisan." Underscoring that notion, Oversight Committee member and Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle has already demanded that Cheatle resign, via a statement released Saturday:
"The evidence coming to light has shown unacceptable operational failures. I have no confidence in the leadership of the United States Secret Service if Director Cheatle chooses to remain in her position.
The creation of the panel will give Cheatle a flimsy shield she can use to try deflecting Monday's pointed questions about the Secret Service's damning actions and inactions surrounding the July 13 shooting at Trump's rally that wounded Trump and two spectators and killed a third.
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened on July 13," said Mayorkas. "This independent review will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to ensure they carry out their no-fail mission most effectively and to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
In his Sunday night statement, Mayorkas also made the deeply dubious assertion that the Secret Service is "the greatest protective service in the world." The victims and surviving family members of the shooting at Trump's rally would likely quarrel with that poorly-timed chest-thumping. It's also wildly inappropriate given the panel he just appointed should be at least theoretically free to reach an entirely different conclusion.
That panel has been given 45 days to perform its review. While new experts may be added shortly, it initially has four members:
-
Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
-
Fran Townsend, a homeland security advisor to President George W. Bush
-
Mark Filip, who was deputy attorney general to George W. Bush
-
David Mitchell, former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Delaware
Damning information about the Secret Service's handling of Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania continues to emerge. On Saturday, the agency was caught in a lie: Having repeatedly denied that Trump's campaign was denied additional security resources it had requested, the agency was exposed as having done just that, via a report from the Washington Post.
On Friday, the world learned that would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was able to fly a drone over the event site just a few hours before he opened fire. The Secret Service typically bans drone flights at secured sites; but it's unclear if such a prohibition was at least nominally imposed at the rally.
Crooks was identified as a suspicious individual more than an hour before he opened fire from a rooftop only about 450 feet from Trump's podium. At the time, he'd already been observed in possession of a range finder and carrying a duffel bag. Later, he was spotted on a rooftop 20 minutes before all hell broke loose. As it did, female agents assigned to the DEI-focused protective detail appeared to falter under fire -- even struggling with holstering a weapon.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Cheatle's credibility took a sharp downturn when, asked why no Secret Service agent was posted atop ideal sniper roost used by the shooter, she told ABC:
"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof."
That flatly ridiculous rationale fueled a brewing public perception that an emphasis on stocking the Secret Service with diversity hires -- including Cheatle -- had greatly weakened the agency. "The initial excuses that [Cheatle] has given for the lapses that happened last Saturday are just unbelievable, so we're going to get down to the bottom of it," said Speaker Johnson.
You can watch Cheatle's 10am Monday appearance before the House Oversight Committee here. She'll try dodging the fusillade of rhetorical bullets fired her way from both sides of the aisle, but could emerge more bloodied than Trump.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 07/22/2024 - 09:45
Published:7/22/2024 9:02:06 AM
|
[Markets]
Trump Shooter Flew Drone Over Rally Site Just Hours Before Event
Trump Shooter Flew Drone Over Rally Site Just Hours Before Event
In the latest indicator of a glaring lack of security surrounding the Pennsylvania rally where a bullet came within inches or less of killing former President Trump, sources familiar with the investigation say would-be assassin Thomas Crooks flew a drone over the event site just a few hours before he opened fire.
As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Crooks used the overflight to record footage of the rally layout on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show. His research of the facility began soon after the Trump campaign announced the event on July 3. He registered to attend on July 7, and soon thereafter, made the roundtrip drive of more than two hours from his Bethel Park home to recon the site in person.
According to data from the drone, Crooks -- who's said to have been highly intelligent and tech-savvy -- flew it on a pre-programmed path, an official who'd been briefed on the investigation told the New York Times. The Secret Service typically bans drone flights at secured sites; NBC News reports it's unclear if such a prohibition was imposed at the rally. Conversely, the Secret Service usually requests FAA permission to deploy drones in restricted airspace such as the Trump rally, but did not on this occasion, according to the Times.
This new development in the investigation adds a troubling new entry to an already damning timeline on the day of the shooting, which killed spectator Corey Comperatore and wounded two others. Crooks was identified as a suspicious individual more than an hour before he opened fire from a rooftop only about 450 feet from Trump's podium. At the time, he'd already been observed in possession of a range finder and carrying a duffel bag. Later, he was spotted on a rooftop 20 minutes before all hell broke loose.
The drone was found in Crooks' Hyundai Sonata. Parked near the event, it also contained two crude explosive devices, a bulletproof vest and several 30-round magazines for the rifle he used in the attack. The homemade bombs had a receiver comparable to what's used to ignite fireworks from a distance, the Journal's sources said. In the months leading up to the assassination attempt, Crooks received a number of packages shipped to his house marked "hazardous materials."
On the day before the rally, Crooks spent several hours shooting on a rifle range at the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, of which he was a member. Sources have told Fox News that Crooks used a DPMS AR-15 chambered in 5.56mm. His father bought it in 2013.
On his last morning on Earth, Crooks bought a ladder at Home Depot at 9:30am; investigators don't think he ended up using it. In the afternoon, he bought 50 rounds of ammunition.
Investigators are reportedly still uncertain about Crooks' specific motivation. His internet search history indicates he'd not only examined Trump's campaign schedule, but also the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which starts on Aug 19. He also sought images of both Trump and President Biden. Officials have told federal lawmakers that Crooks had a hatred of politicians in general, and didn't have a distinct political profile or ideology of his own.
What will be the next damning detail to drop?
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/20/2024 - 09:55
Published:7/20/2024 8:57:39 AM
|
[Security]
The Feds Say These Are the Russian Hackers Who Attacked US Water Utilities
Plus: The FBI unlocks the Trump shooter’s phone, a security researcher gets legal threats for exposing hackable traffic lights, and more.
Published:7/20/2024 5:44:02 AM
|
[Markets]
Slowly... Then All At Once!
Slowly... Then All At Once!
Authored by James Howard Kusntler via Kunstler.com,
“Biden has been jabbed at least four times. This is his third covid diagnosis. The shots are working great.”
- Jeff Childers, Coffee & Covid
There was a lot of talk about divine intervention at the Republican Convention this week. The country has witnessed a rush of seemingly providential events since the fateful night of June 27th when, to universal horror, “Joe Biden” was unmasked as The Phantom of the White House. The attempt on Donald Trump’s life Saturday, with its intimations of blob involvement, was only the latest of countless trips, hoaxes, capers, and ops that smacked of demonic inspiration laid on the public, so you can’t blame them for feeling that “God is among us now.”
A huge piece of this dynamic has been the Right’s amazing impotence in the eight-year-long march of insults to the republic - especially the failure to find relief for any of that in the courts of law, until last month when the SCOTUS finally kneecapped Democratic Party lawfare operations. A paramount example of that impotence was being unable to find one jurisdiction willing to adjudicate election fraud in 2020 on the merit of the arguments.
But there was much more, starting with collective helplessness in the drawn-out RussiaGate psychodrama, even when all the players and their many nefarious acts were exposed by the alt news media, and extending to the mendacious roguery of the two-year Mueller (Weissmann) Commission, followed by fifty-one former intel higher-ups labeling Hunter Biden’s laptop “Russian disinformation, followed by Rep. Adam Schiff’s Ukraine “whistleblower” prank featuring CIA/NSC/DOD/DOJ moles Eric Ciaramella, Colonel Vindman and IC Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and then the FBI-instigated J-6 riot with the ensuing faked-up House J-6 committee . . . plus you can throw in the stupid Ukraine war, the drag queens in the kindergartens, the bumbling Durham investigation, ten million unvetted illegal migrants flowing into the country and this year’s four show-trials put on to finally break Mr. Trump.
For many in this land, it has been like the classic nightmare of being paralyzed in the presence of evil. So, it’s no wonder that the Republicans came into their convention with a tremendous tailwind of relief when events suddenly broke their way in June. Now, everyone knows that the current president is a vindictive invalid who will be tossed overboard by his own terrified party in a matter of hours now. And the entire scaffold of lies supporting “Joe Biden” and his party is wobbling badly, too.
You could see it in the deranged terror of Rachel Maddow’s increasingly contorted face last night as she rehearsed all the hoaxes she has helped to perpetrate, along with her mentally-ill posse of Jenn Psaki, Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, and the strangely mute white male Ari Melber. It seemed that any minute Rachel’s head would spin and start spewing pea soup at the camera. When will an exorcist finally pay a visit to MSNBC?
As the sun sets on “Joe Biden’s” career, what’s left of his campaign runs an ad in which he promises “to finish the job.”
Sounds kind of sinister now, doesn’t it, like something a crime boss might tell his caporegimes? And for sure the country is suffering from this three-year-plus reign-of-terror against common sense and common decency.
The wreckage is everywhere, all over this land. “Defending our Democracy,” my ass.
The party big dawgs have paid their terminal visit to the old grifter bringing the sad news that it’s over. Of course, this excites several new headaches for them. Foremost: how can “JB” bow out of the election on account of mental infirmity but still remain president? Even if they call it something else, make some other excuse, the whole world knows now that the president is gone in the head. There are six months remaining to the end of his term and a lot of urgent issues requiring a president’s attention. You can be sure that pressure will rise to shove him out of office altogether. And it may come before the Democratic Convention in late August — if we want to be taken seriously by the rest of the world.
Of course, that would elevate Kamala to the White House. Would getting to be the first female president of-color for six months be her consolation prize for graciously declining an automatic nomination to run in “JB’s” place, so that the party can stage an “open convention” free-for-all? Or would she better serve the party as a sacrificial goat to head the ticket and get buried in what’s shaping up to be an election landslide for the Republicans? Anyway, which of the various replacement politicians — Newsom, Whitmer, Pritzker, PA Gov. Shapiro —really wants to squander a political future in an election that’s as much a vote against the Democratic Party itself as any particular figure in it? Let the party go down so it can be purged of Green Woke Satanic mentally-ill communists and reorganized on a sane and decent basis.
But then there’s always HRC.
She’s been laying back alertly, waiting for an opening to swoop in on her leathery wings and cast a fresh spell over the batshit-crazy women who, in recent times, comprise the party’s base.
At one point, not many years ago, the party was broke and had to be bailed-out by the Clinton Foundation. To what extent does that entity still own the DNC, and especially its cargo of super-delegates? I guess we’re going to find out.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/19/2024 - 16:20
Published:7/19/2024 4:15:46 PM
|
[2024 Election]
Exclusive -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn: Secret Service, FBI Directors 'Owe the American People Answers' Regarding Attempted Assassination of Trump
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke to Breitbart News about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and how the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation "owe the American people answers' regarding what happened at the Trump rally.
The post Exclusive — Sen. Marsha Blackburn: Secret Service, FBI Directors ‘Owe the American People Answers’ Regarding Attempted Assassination of Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:7/18/2024 10:19:04 AM
|
[Markets]
Ex-CIA Wife Of WaPo's "Spy Hunter" Max Boot Indicted As Foreign Spy
Ex-CIA Wife Of WaPo's "Spy Hunter" Max Boot Indicted As Foreign Spy
Max Boot - a big fan of 'forever wars' who laundered Trump-Russia conspiracy theories through the Washington Post - is married to a South Korean spy who used to work for the CIA, and is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (now on 'administrative leave) - according to a new indictment revealed on Wednesday.
Boot's wife, Sue Mi Terry, 54, a native of Seoul living in Manhattan, used her position as a foreign policy expert to trade access to top US officials in exchange for luxury goods and 'high-end sushi dinners,' according to the indictment.
Terry allegedly began spying for South Korea in October 2013, five years after she left the CIA, and three years before Boot began calling Donald Trump a Russian asset.
Terry is accused of having "disclosed sensitive US government information to South Korean intelligence and used her position to influence US policy in favor of South Korea" over the course of a decade, in exchange for "money and luxury gifts," FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis said in a statement.
From 2001-2011, Terry served in a range of US government positions - including as a CIA analyst, as well as Director for Korea, Japan, and Oceanic Affairs for the White House National Security Council, the Post reports.
According to the indictment, a South Korean spy bought Terry a Dolce & Gabbana coat from a Chevy Chase, Maryland store in November of 2019 - which she returned days later for a $4,100 Christian Dior coat.
The spies also funneled over $37,000 to a public policy program on Korean affairs run by Terry - who never registered as a foreign agent with the DOJ, and had been warned by the FBI in 2014 that she could be a target for illegal foreign influence.
Meanwhile, she was passing intelligence to her South Korean handler according to the indictment:
For instance, Terry delivered handwritten notes about a private North Korea-related June 2022 meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to her South Korean intelligence handler who picked her up in a car minutes later, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Weeks after that, Terry hosted a happy hour – at her handlers’ behest – where she allowed the South Korean spy to mingle with congressional staffers while posing as a diplomat, the filing charges. -NY Post
The indictment also details how Terry was "visibly nervous" in a voluntary interview with the feds, and eventually admitted to having met with her South Korean handler after initially claiming she did not know his name.
Terry was released after posting a $500,000 bond during her initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
What's more, Boot and Terry co-published South Korean propaganda in the Washington Post...
Boot also had the back of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who allegedly banged a Chinese spy.
Amazing...
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/18/2024 - 07:45
Published:7/18/2024 6:53:22 AM
|
[Markets]
RussiaGate 2.0: Donald Trump Has Opted For "Real Peace" Negotiations With A "Foreign Adversary"
RussiaGate 2.0: Donald Trump Has Opted For "Real Peace" Negotiations With A "Foreign Adversary"
Authored by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky via GlobalResearch.ca,
Introduction
Normalization of diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation had first been proposed by Donald Trump in 2017.
Under RussiaGate (2016), President-elect Donald Trump had been accused of treason “after President Obama announced new sanctions [in late December 2016] against Russia and Trump praised Vladimir Putin’s response to the sanctions.” (Daily Caller, December 30, 2016, emphasis added)
Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leo Panetta had already intimated prior to the elections that Trump was a threat to national security.
Even prior to the inauguration of president Trump, the US media in liaison with US intelligence had launched successive waves of smears directed against President-elect Donald Trump.
The objective from the very outset was to discredit president Trump, presenting him as a Manchurian candidate serving the interests of the Kremlin.
Vanity Fair November 1 2016
Donald Trump, The Manchurian Candidate: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Campaign to Destabilize the Trump Presidency. Regime Change in America
The Atlantic October 8 2016
RussiaGate 2.0
The RussiaGate objective as formulated in 2016 was:
“to get rid of a President who intended to normalize relations with Russia, thus curtailing the budget and power of the military/security complex.”
(Paul Craig Roberts, emphasis added)
In January 2019, the FBI Russia investigation was quoted by the media as “evidence” that Trump was “wittingly or unwittingly” an agent of the Kremlin.
What is the stance of the FBI today in regard to the candidacy of Donald Trump? The FBI played a key role in sustaining RussiaGate. (P. C Roberts). I should mention that the FBI is also responsible (coincidentally) for the investigation of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
Let us wake up to REALITY.
The levels of political manipulation, fraud and criminality have reached their pinnacle.
The ultimate intent of the campaign against Trump in 2016-19, led by the Neocons and the Dems Clinton faction was to destabilize the Trump presidency.
From RussiaGate 1.0 to RussiaGate 2.0
There is continuity: Under RussiaGate 2.0 (2024) which we are currently experiencing, various accusations of treason against Trump will once more go into high gear, ultimately with a view to sabotage the peace process as well as destabilize Trump’s candidacy to the presidency of the U.S.
Trump has confirmed: …
“that if reelected, he would swiftly bring an end to the war in Ukraine by speaking with Putin.
“I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelensky as president-elect before I take office on January 20.
I’ll have that war settled,” Trump said on June 27 during a debate with Biden, adding,
“I’ll get it settled fast, before I take office.”
(Quoted by Newsweek)
Speaking with Putin is regarded as an act of treason. This courageous statement, reminiscent of Donald Trump –the alleged Manchurian Candidate— is unlikely to be accepted by the “Deep State”, the Military Industrial Complex and the powerful financial groups which support the Democratic Party leadership.
What will be the ultimate outcome?
Real peace negotiations are an integral part of Trump’s election campaign.
Trump’s national security advisory team has prepared a balanced plan: if the Kiev regime does not enter into peace talks with Moscow, the U.S. would (under a Trump presidency) immediately suspend the flow of US weapons to Ukraine:
“Under the plan drawn up by [General Keith] Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, who both served as chiefs of staff in Trump’s National Security Council during his 2017-2021 presidency, there would be a ceasefire based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks, Fleitz said.
They have presented their strategy to Trump, and the Republican presidential candidate responded favorably”. (Reuters, June 23, 2024)
It is worth noting that this peace proposal - which is part of his election campaign - was formulated barely a few weeks prior to the failed attempt to assassinate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/17/2024 - 20:45
Published:7/17/2024 8:04:05 PM
|
[Markets]
Cops Radioed "Blanket Tactical Channel" About Shooter After Rooftop Confrontation, Yet Nothing Was Done
Cops Radioed "Blanket Tactical Channel" About Shooter After Rooftop Confrontation, Yet Nothing Was Done
Evidence continues to mount that Saturday's attempted assassination of Donald Trump by shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was allowed to happen, despite ample warning from bystanders, local PD, and even the shooter's parents.
To review:
- Local PD notified the Secret Service that they had inadequate resources to monitor the building used by Crooks.
- The parents of Thomas Matthew Crooks called law enforcement before the assassination attempt to warn them that their son was "missing" and they were "worried" about him.
- Crowds were shouting at the police to do something about the guy on the roof with a rifle for several minutes.
And now for the kicker:
After Crooks was positioned on the roof, one cop boosted another cop up to the roofline - only for Crooks to point his weapon at him. At that point, the boosted cop fell.
Both of them radioed the threat on a "blanket tactical channel" before the shooting, on which "everyone who was on the tactical channel heard it" according to Butler Township manager, Tom Knights.
"The boosting officer and the officer that fell were both on the radio indicating that there was an individual on the roof that did, in fact, have a weapon," said Knights. "There was a blanket tactical channel being used. Everyone who was on that tactical channel heard it."
Watch (via @KanekoaTheGreat):
It is unknown how much time passed between that radio communication and when shots rang out - or whether the Secret Service was on the "blanket tactical channel" (one would assume). But there was ample knowledge of the armed guy trying to kill Trump before he began shooting.
We're sure Congress will get to the bottom of this...
...or not:
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/17/2024 - 17:25
Published:7/17/2024 4:38:23 PM
|
[]
FBI Claims Trump Shooter Remains an 'Elusive Enigma'
Published:7/17/2024 4:20:05 PM
|
[Markets]
Secret Service Explanations For Security Failures Not Adding Up; DHS Inspector General Launches Investigation
Secret Service Explanations For Security Failures Not Adding Up; DHS Inspector General Launches Investigation
In the wake of Saturday's attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the #1 question is how the Secret Service could have failed to secure a rooftop a little over 400ft away - which former Army sniper Rep. Cory Mills called a "sniper's paradise" that was so obvious he wondered aloud whether it was an "intentional" failure.
And in typical government fashion, their excuses aren't adding up.
Sloped roof?
According to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle - who has rejected calls to resign, there was no agent placed on the building because it had a "sloped roof."
"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point, and so there’s a safety factor that would be considered there, that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof," she said in a Tuesday interview with ABC News. "So, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside."
This is obviously absurd. For starters, the counter-snipers near Trump were perched on a roof with a steeper slope.
Snipers had eyes-on the shooter before Trump went onstage:
Conspicuously absent from the Secret Service's explanation are reports that a local PD sniper stationed on the second floor inside the building saw the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, outside the building and looking up at the roof. He then walked away, returned, whipped out his phone, when one of the snipers took the first of two pictures of him.
Crooks then took out a rangefinder - at which point the sniper radioed to a command post. Crooks then disappeared again and came back a third time with a backpack. The snipers called in once again with information that he had a backpack and that he (Crooks) was walking toward the back of the building.
By the time other officers came for backup, he had climbed on top of the building and was positioned above and behind the snipers inside the building, the officer said.
Two other officers who heard the sniper's call tried to get onto the roof. State police started rushing to the scene, but by that time, a Secret Service sniper had already killed Crooks, the officer said. -CBS News
So - law enforcement had eyes-on the shooter the entire time, took pictures of him, notified their command post - and nothing was done until Crooks shot Trump, at which point Secret Service snipers returned fire and killed him.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi has said that local police officers radioed agents about a possible suspicious person before Mr. Trump came onstage. It’s unclear if the sniper teams were alerted. -NYT
What's more, a Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told CNN that a Butler Township officer encountered Crooks on the roof of the building before the shooting, but retreated down a ladder after Crooks pointed his gun at him. According to Slupe, there was a security failure, but said "there is not just one entity responsible."
Three hours?
Further complicating matters is a NYT report citing a law enforcement official who said that the local PD forces were in an adjacent building, not the one the shooter was firing from.
Nothing from the Secret Service on this report - and not one mention of it in today's breakdown in the Washington Post - which is now suggesting that the slope could have hindered counter-snipers' view.
Meanwhile, while law enforcement has suggested that the Crooks used an air conditioning unit to climb onto the dangerously sloped roof, while questions are being asked about various ladders.
Resources diverted?
According to RealClearPolitics, resources were diverted away from Trump's rally to an event where First Lady Jill Biden was speaking. USSC spox Anthony Guglielmi denied this was the case.
Blame Game:
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Secret Service blamed local law enforcement for failing to secure the building, and vice-versa.
"There was local police in that building – there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building," Cheatle said during her interview with ABC News.
Yet - according to Butler County DA Richard Goldlinger, the "Secret Service was in charge," and that "it was their responsibility to make sure that the venue and the surrounding area was secure."
"For them to blame local law enforcement is them passing the blame when they hold the blame, in my opinion," he told the Washington Post on Tuesday.
One former Secret Service agent told CNN: "The Service is responsible for everything, not just the inner perimeter. They should make sure all of this is covered."
Former secret service agent Jeffrey James told the Daily Caller that protection "works in a series of concentric circles," in which there is an inner circle of secret service agents, a second circle that's a mix of both agents and local law enforcement, and an outer ring that is largely state and local partners.
If the agent in charge of the site told a local law enforcement officer on the outer perimeter that the building is his responsibility, then anything that happens is on the officer.
“But if that agent didn’t find one of the local law enforcement partners and give very clear, direct directions…then it’s going to be the responsibility or the fault of that agent for not delegating that,” he told the DCNF.
It’s unclear what instructions the Secret Service gave to local law enforcement. -Daily Caller
"Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, state or federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump. They acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone at the event and we must recognize that," said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event."
Good news: the government is investigating itself again!
While House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is set to investigate the incident - with a vow to subpoena Cheatle, and both the Oversight Panel and the Homeland Security Committees are trying to schedule briefings, and Rep. Cory Mills wants to launch a 'J13 Committee' to investigate the assassination attempt - the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched its own internal investigation into the Secret Service's handling of the rally.
A new bulletin listed under "ongoing projects" on the DHS Office of Inspector General website said the project objective is to "evaluate the United States Secret Service's (Secret Service) process for securing former President Trump's July 13, 2024 campaign event." -ABC News
We're sure the government will do a great job investigating itself.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/17/2024 - 11:45
Published:7/17/2024 11:01:20 AM
|
[Markets]
Quinn: "They" Will Do Anything To Win
Quinn: "They" Will Do Anything To Win
Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” – William J. Casey, CIA Director (1981)
The always mysterious question when trying to figure out what is happening in this insane world and why it is happening is who are “they”? In the current chaotic atmosphere, “they” are in the process of throwing their senile child sniffing pedophile Trojan horse president overboard because his dementia ridden brain has been laid bare for all the world to see. It isn’t just the Democratic Party throwing him to the wolves.
When you witness the party, supposedly loyal politicians, the regime media, surveillance state spooks, Hollywood celebrities, and globalist billionaires all simultaneously turn on the person they installed in 2020 through a rigged election, you realize the voting public have no say in how this country is run. Whether you refer to “they” as the Deep State, invisible government, ruling elite, globalist oligarchs, or shadowy men in smoke filled backrooms, we are just bit players in this surreal horror movie.
It is no longer a conspiracy theory that we are ruled by unelected men using their wealth to pull the levers of society to benefit themselves and the apparatchiks who do their dirty work. At some level, this type of control has existed since the inception of our country. Andrew Jackson’s tirade in the 1830s revealed there were deceitful men operating in the shadows, with their greedy agendas prevailing over what was best for the people.
“Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out!”
The capture of our government, media and financial system accelerated during the last century as described by Edward Bernays in his 1928 book – Propaganda. Of course, he wrote this fifteen years after the capture of our financial system, with the Creature from Jekyll Island – the Federal Reserve being created by a cabal of bankers and politicians intent on lining their pockets.
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons… who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”– Edward Bernays – Propaganda (1928) pp. 9–10
The traitorous president who signed the bill creating the Federal Reserve, in the same year he signed into existence the loathsome income tax, and later promised to keep the U.S. out of World War I, before taking us into that war, supposedly regretted handing over control of the government to a small cabal of dishonorable men. Politicians and Wall Street bankers have been using the debasement of our currency to enrich themselves at our expense, ever since.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world — no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” – Woodrow Wilson – 1919
For decades the Deep State was able to remain hidden, working in the shadows behind the scenes, with the general population oblivious to their existence. But their existence was outed when they assassinated John F. Kennedy in front of the entire world and took out their CIA patsy on national TV. The CIA, along with their media mouthpieces, created the term “conspiracy theorist” as a derogatory term to keep the public sedated and onboard with whatever narrative they were selling.
The Church Committee in the mid-1970s further revealed the depth and breadth of the traitorous activities of the CIA and the surveillance state bureaucracy. Mike Lofgren defined the Deep State in his 2016 book, describing how the consent of the governed has been nothing more than a fantasy for many decades in this country.
“I have come to call this shadow government the Deep State…a hybrid association of key elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States with only limited reference to the consent of the governed as normally expressed through elections” ? Mike Lofgren, The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government
Still, anyone questioning the officially approved narrative, as propagated by the bought off politicians; captured propaganda spewing regime media; paid-off “experts” in academia, finance, the military and the sciences; globalist organizations; and billionaires with fake foundations, was ridiculed and censored as nutjob conspiracy theorists.
But, since Trump’s unlikely rise to power in 2016 and the subsequent traitorous acts by the Deep State and their lackeys in the government, media, and surveillance state bureaus, in attempting to destroy Trump through the fake Russiagate investigations, two impeachments based on nothing, creating a fake pandemic to rig the 2020 election, instigating a fake insurrection to keep him from running again, using the power of the DOJ to bring multiple fake charges against him, raiding his residence with orders to shoot if necessary, allowing millions of illegals to enter the country and encouraging them to vote illegally to throw the 2024 election, vilifying him as a threat worse than Hitler, and now being exposed using a patsy to try and assassinate him while his Secret Service detail pretended to protect him.
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind a Deep State/Invisible government is running the show, and we are all nothing more than spectators who are brainwashed into doing what we are told by those who “have our best interests at heart”. After they failed by one inch in blowing Trump’s head off (ala JFK), the narrative being spun is that we all must unite and tone down the vitriol. It is too late, and they know it. This is all for show.
We are now at war with the Deep State, and anyone associated with their criminal deeds. Their need to retain power grows more desperate by the day. They have concluded they must win the upcoming election at all costs, or their unlawful acts over the last eight years will be revealed and retribution doled out to the perpetrators. Their failure in assassinating Trump, does not mean they will not try again.
Their biggest hurdle is their ballot rigging operation only works in the swing states when the vote is reasonably close. The presidential debate and subsequent embarrassing press conferences have revealed Biden to be dementia ridden husk, who can’t even read a teleprompter at this point. Only the most brain-dead liberal kooks will vote for this walking dead candidate.
After Trump’s triumphant post assassination attempt photo-op, with fist raised in victory, his odds of winning the election went through the roof. The potential replacement candidates for Biden are a motley crew of idiocy, failure and low IQ diversity options. When the Deep State was blindsided in 2016 with the Trump victory, they proceeded to derail his presidency by convincing him to hire their Deep State operatives into key roles, while keeping the Congress, DOJ, DOD, FBI, and CIA at war with everything Trump tried to accomplish. If he wins this time, he won’t make the same miscalculations again. And they know it.
We have less than four months until the election. These being the waning years of this Fourth Turning, whatever happens from here on out will only be intensified. There will be no unity. There will be no compromise. Fourth Turnings do not wind down. They accelerate towards a bloody crescendo, with clear winners and losers. The potential for civil and global war rises on a daily basis.
Most of the ignorant, I-gadget distracted, narrative believing masses, have no clue how close the world is to erupting in violent no-holds barred death and destruction. Virtually no one is alive who remembers the horrors of WWII. That is why Fourth Turnings re-occur every eighty years or so. We forget the past and are condemned to relive it. There are several scenarios that could play out.
The Deep State may have provided Trump with a stark reminder about who really runs the show. Will he heed their warning? If so, they may let him win and then continue their control behind the scenes, letting him know they can take him out at a time of their choosing. Trump’s cooperation in this scenario is possible, but after the last eight years of unbridled attacks on him, this may be unlikely.
They could try another assassination attempt, but the world is now aware of their hatred for Trump, and would likely react negatively towards all parties involved in the murder of the past and future president of the U.S. The question is how desperate are these godless authoritarians? How many innocent people are they willing to sacrifice at the altar of mammon and power, to continue their stranglehold on the political, financial, social, and economic structures of the U.S. and western world.
Knowing they will do anything to win and remain in control of the levers of our society, what may seem unthinkable to you and me, wouldn’t make these sociopaths pause for a second. They’ve already killed tens of millions with their fake pandemic and their toxic antidote gene therapy. All done to rig an election, enrich themselves, and cull the herd. We already know the neo-con branch of the Deep State has been saber rattling towards both Russia and China.
We also know false flags are one of their favorite tools to initiate conflict and fill their coffers with blood money. Our blood and their money. We’ve already seen a possible scenario with their puppet Zelensky in the Ukraine. If you can create a national emergency through either a civil or foreign war, you can cancel the election until the emergency is over.
A successful assassination of Trump this past weekend would have initiated some form of chaos in the streets, with the political powder keg poised to be lit by one side or the other. The Deep State is certainly capable of creating a false flag that kills hundreds or thousands of innocents, blaming white nationalist Trumpers for the tragedy. Another George Floyd incident could be cooked up, with Soros unleashing his Antifa and BLM terrorist hordes on cities across the land.
The normal citizens supporting Trump will only be pushed so far, and if they begin to fight back, all hell could break loose. This is what the Deep State wants. Chaos and violence in the streets would be their excuse to “delay” the elections. That would even cause more violence and upheaval. The Deep State thrives on violence, chaos, war, and a fearful populace, begging to be saved.
The Deep State is conducting the war against Russia. The Ukrainian soldiers are being chewed up by the Russian army, but the high-tech aspects of the war are being carried out by Americans, who are the only ones capable of operating the drones and advanced missiles being used against Russia. They know Putin’s red lines. If they choose to start World War III, they will initiate an attack guaranteed to force Putin into a drastic response, attempting to ignite a conflagration across Europe, into the Middle East.
With the US/EU sanction war having pushed Russia, China and the rest of the BRIC countries closer together, China and possibly India would side with Russia in a global conflict. The use of nuclear arms becomes more and more likely as the warring countries become more desperate and pushed into a corner.
The Deep State has no qualms about killing millions to attain their goals and retain their wealth, power and control over the masses. I do believe the next four months will mark a turning point in the history of the world. I fear there will be much bloodshed, but will continue to try and decipher the path of this Fourth Turning and guide my family and anyone choosing to listen towards the light and away from the darkness. I do believe Strauss & Howe’s possible outcomes for this Fourth Turning are an accurate portrayal of what awaits us within the next decade.
-
This Fourth Turning could mark the end of man. It could be an omnicidal Armageddon, destroying everything, leaving nothing. If mankind ever extinguishes itself, this will probably happen when its dominant civilization triggers a Fourth Turning that ends horribly. For this Fourth Turning to put an end to all this would require an extremely unlikely blend of social disaster, human malevolence, technological perfection and bad luck.
-
The Fourth Turning could mark the end of modernity. The Western saecular rythm – which began in the mid-fifteenth century with the Renaissance – could come to an abrupt terminus. The seventh modern saeculum would be the last. This too could come from total war, terrible but not final. There could be a complete collapse of science, culture, politics, and society. Such a dire result would probably happen only when a dominant nation (like today’s America) lets a Fourth Turning ekpyrosis engulf the planet. But this outcome is well within the reach of foreseeable technology and malevolence.
-
The Fourth Turning could spare modernity but mark the end of our nation. It could close the book on the political constitution, popular culture, and moral standing that the word America has come to signify. The nation has endured for three saecula; Rome lasted twelve, the Soviet Union only one. Fourth Turnings are critical thresholds for national survival. Each of the last three American Crises produced moments of extreme danger: In the Revolution, the very birth of the republic hung by a thread in more than one battle. In the Civil War, the union barely survived a four-year slaughter that in its own time was regarded as the most lethal war in history. In World War II, the nation destroyed an enemy of democracy that for a time was winning; had the enemy won, America might have itself been destroyed. In all likelihood, the next Crisis will present the nation with a threat and a consequence on a similar scale.
-
Or the Fourth Turning could simply mark the end of the Millennial Saeculum. Mankind, modernity, and America would all persevere. Afterward, there would be a new mood, a new High, and a new saeculum. America would be reborn. But, reborn, it would not be the same.
The odds are stacked against us, but if we give up the fight, we will surely lose. Our choices and actions in the coming days will surely matter. We must fight, fight, fight!! Godspeed and good luck.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/16/2024 - 19:00
Published:7/16/2024 6:51:44 PM
|
[]
FBI: Shooter's Phone Has "No Clues" About Motive
Published:7/16/2024 10:38:24 AM
|
[Politics]
Rifle used by Trump rally shooter bought 11 years ago, person familiar says
The FBI continues to search for a motive and clues in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa.
Published:7/15/2024 3:24:22 PM
|
[Markets]
FBI Claims Purportedly Struggling To Crack Trump Shooter's Phone
FBI Claims Purportedly Struggling To Crack Trump Shooter's Phone
Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA.com,
The FBI has reportedly taken alleged Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’s phone to its lab in Quantico, Virginia, where its technicians are working to unlock it as part of the investigation into his possible motives.
But according to Fox News reporter Laura Ingraham, the FBI’s finest techies are struggling to crack the phone.
“An official is telling Fox they believe the shooter acted along. We’re also learning they can’t get into his cellphone,” Ingraham said on Sunday. “They have it at Quantico but haven’t been able to get any data out of it.”
The FBI’s claim that it can’t crack Crooks’s phone should be treated with skepticism. The bureau has a track record of lying about such matters.
The most notorious case of the FBI claiming it couldn’t crack an encrypted phone happened in December 2015, in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting, in which two shooters killed more than a dozen victims.
At the time, the FBI claimed it couldn’t access one of the shooters’ iPhones. The bureau sought a court order to force Apple to help the FBI break the phone’s encryption.
Apple resisted the FBI’s coercsion, but the dispute was never fully litigated. It turned out, the FBI hired an Australian cybersecurity firm to hack the phone around March 2016 or shortly thereafter. The purported true story of how the FBI unlocked the phone wasn’t told until 2021.
A similar situation occurred in May 2020, when then-Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray criticized Apple for not helping investigators who were attempting to gain access to two iPhones used by Mohammed Alshamrani, who launched a terror attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida in December 2019.
Wray has continued his anti-encryption throughout the years. In March 2021, for example, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption was stifling his agents from investigating domestic extremism.
“Like Alshamrani, the plotters who sought to kidnap the governor of Michigan late last year used end-to-end encrypted apps to hide their communications from law enforcement. Their plot was only disrupted by well-timed human source reporting and the resulting undercover operation,” Wray said at the time.
“Subjects of our investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol siege used end-to-end encrypted communications as well.”
According to Wray and other law enforcers, tech companies should be able to build “backdoors” into their encryption that preserves privacy, while allowing for access when necessary. That, they say, strikes the proper balance between data security and national security.
However, numerous tech experts, civil libertarians, and others say that it’s impossible to build a backdoor that can’t be exploited by hackers. They also say that by banning encryption, the United States would be following in the footsteps of authoritarian countries such as China, which blocked the encrypted messaging app Signal.
“It is important to understand that any kind of back door (or front door) access for the ‘good guys’ can also be exploited by the ’bad guys,’” the pro-industry Information Technology & Innovation Foundation stated in a July 2020 report, in the midst of the Apple-Barr controversy.
“For example, key escrow systems would introduce new attack vectors that could allow attackers to gain access to encrypted information, such as by compromising the system that maintains copies of the keys.”
...and in case you hadn't put it all together, here's Matt Walsh...
...what do they need to hide?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 07/15/2024 - 13:25
Published:7/15/2024 12:35:14 PM
|
[]
FBI: Trump Shooting May Have Been Domestic Terrorism
Published:7/15/2024 7:45:39 AM
|
[Politics]
What we know about the Trump rally shooting in Pennsylvania
The FBI is investigating the Pennsylvania shooting as an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. It named Thomas Matthew Crooks, now dead, as the suspect.
Published:7/14/2024 10:47:14 AM
|
[Politics]
Suspected Trump rally shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks is from Bethel Park, Pa.
The suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., is now dead. The FBI is investigating the Pennsylvania rally shooting as an assassination attempt.
Published:7/14/2024 10:38:36 AM
|
[Politics]
Live updates: FBI investigates Trump rally shooting as assassination attempt, names suspect
The suspected shooter, who was killed, was identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Former president Donald Trump said he was shot in the ear.
Published:7/14/2024 3:46:52 AM
|
[Markets]
Prosecutors Knew Epstein Had Sex With Underage Girls Years Before Plea Deal, "Outrageous" Transcripts Reveal
Prosecutors Knew Epstein Had Sex With Underage Girls Years Before Plea Deal, "Outrageous" Transcripts Reveal
While the entire world - or rather Democrats - are shocked to learn that Biden's dementia is not a vast right wing conspiracy as they themselves had claimed prior to the catastrophic Trump-Biden debate, and that their eyes and ears had not in fact been deceiving them for the past three years, last week a Florida judge dropped a bombshell 150-page transcript related to a 2006 grand jury investigation of Jeffrey Epstein (readers may remember him if not his clients, none of whom it would appear are notable enough to be criminally charged), revealing that prosecutors were aware that Epstein sexually abused underage girls.
As Breanna Morello explains, the transcripts reveal that the deal between Epstein and prosecutors came two years after they learned that Epstein engaged in statutory rape of teenage girls, and resulted in minimal punishments for the billionaire human trafficker. In the end, Epstein was charged with only one count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite evidence of multiple rapes and a pattern of behavior. Thanks to this slap on the wrist which meant he would be free shortly after, Epstein went on to sexually exploit children until his "suicide" in 2019 and made hundreds of millions from child trafficking with countless billionaires and political oligarchs, ferrying them back and forth on his Lolita Express to Epstein island, where countless underage girls were raped by the true ruling class which to this day remains immune from the legal system.
"Details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,” Judge Luis Delgado wrote, adding that the transcript has (further) diminished public perception of the criminal justice system, which in recent months is best known for getting hijacked to serve Biden's failed crusade to incarcerate Trump before the election. The filings were released after a 2024 Florida law made it legal to do so for transcripts related to Epstein.
As noted above, the 2008 charges boiled down to a count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite investigators’ knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The charge was significantly less severe than the evidence warranted, especially since investigators had knowledge of Epstein's pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The limited charge ignored the full extent of Epstein's criminal activities.
The filing, which itself further unveils prosecutorial missteps that enabled Epstein’s later conduct, came years after the lenient, and delayed, sentence was criticized.
“The story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado wrote.
Florida’s Southern District Attorney, Alex Acosta, who served for a period of time as Trump former Secretary of Labor, approved a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2008, despite prosecutors’ knowledge of the rapes. Acosta eventually left the Trump administration in scandal after details emerged outlining his botched prosecution of the prolific trafficker.
Watch the full report below.
Morello's complete analysis of the transcripts can be read here, and as a post-script, here is Elon Musk once again asking the most obvious question amid this whole farce: how come there has not been "one – just one – even *attempted* prosecution of that Epstein (Bill Gates & Reid Hoffman come to mind) client list."
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 - 21:35
Published:7/6/2024 9:21:35 PM
|
[Markets]
The Hidden History Of Robert Mueller's Right-Wing Terror Factory, Part 2
The Hidden History Of Robert Mueller's Right-Wing Terror Factory, Part 2
Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,
The first article of this series chronicled the FBI’s mid-2000s program to stage neo-Nazi rallies around the country as a means to conduct surveillance and recruit potential informants.
Those rallies were just the beginning of a sweeping multi-state investigation, Headline USA can reveal.
Indeed, after an FBI informant was exposed in 2007 for organizing a Nazi rally in Orlando the year before, the bureau launched another operation in the same area. Dubbed “Primitive Affliction,” the FBI set up a neo-Nazi motorcycle front group to infiltrate Florida’s right-wing underground.
Federal agencies are known to have used motorcycle front groups cases against targets such as the Hells Angels for drug- and gun-trafficking investigations. However, Headline USA is unaware of such a tactic being employed in a politically charged domestic terrorism case until Primitive Affliction.
This publication has also found that then-FBI Director Robert Mueller had a personal interest in Primitive Affliction, which ran from about 2007 to 2012. Indeed, Mueller was briefed daily on the operation during its final stages, according to a newly unearthed performance review of one undercover cop on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Because Primitive Affliction collapsed with no terrorism convictions, the case never grabbed the national spotlight. However, a deeper look at the case reveals infiltration and entrapment techniques used by the FBI in 1990s investigations against the Aryan Nations, as well as more recent cases such as the 2020 militia conspiracy to kidnap Michigan’s governor.
Mueller did not respond to an email about Primitive Affliction. The FBI declined to comment.
Reviving the Aryan Nations
In the 1980s and 90s, the Aryan Nations rivaled the Ku Klux Klan as the face of “white hate” in America—and for good reason, having been linked to numerous bank robberies, the assassination of a Jewish radio host and the Oklahoma City bombing, along with other crimes.
But by the mid-2000s, the Aryan Nations was largely decimated by numerous arrests and civil litigation. The group had splintered into various factions around the country. One of its remaining leaders, August Kreis, was desperate to consolidate power.
Working out of a South Carolina mobile home with a man named Joshua Caleb Sutter—who was a known FBI informant since 2003—Kreis attempted several publicity stunts to put his name on the map.
For example, at one point Kreis pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and claimed to seek an alliance with Muslim jihadists. Sutter, who was Kreis’s “minister for Islamic liaison,” also reportedly posted a “message of solidarity and support” to Saddam Hussein on the Aryan Nations Web site. (If Sutter’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he made headlines in 2021, when it was revealed that he earned more than $100,000 from the FBI while running a Satanic publishing house.)
When that didn’t work in attracting new members or donations, Kreis began plotting with another Aryan Nations member, Robert Killian. Like Sutter, Killian turned out to be undercover law enforcement—Killian an undercover cop on the FBI’s JTTF.
An avid motorcyclist living in Orlando, Killian had been hanging out at a local Outlaw biker bar while posing online as a member of the Aryan Nations. Using the name “Doc,” by 2007 he had risen to become the Aryan Nations Florida state administrator—which, ironically, gave him power to vet applicants. The Orlando Sentinel later described Killian as the Aryan Nations’ “top recruiter.”
Apparently, someone in the FBI had the idea of merging a domestic terrorism case with a biker case. Killian planted the idea in Kreis’s head to start a neo-Nazi motorcycle club, the 1st SS Kavallerie Brigade Motorcycle Division—named after a horse-mounted unit of Nazi Germany’s Waffen-SS.
For Kreis, a biker gang posed the opportunity to attract publicity, gain members and increase revenue for the Aryan Nations.
But first, they needed bikers. To that end, Killian convinced an Outlaw biker named Brian Klose to become the leader of the 1st SS Kavallerie. According to people familiar with the matter, Killian was able to convince Klose to leave the Outlaws by playing to his ego. Keeping with the neo-Nazi theme, Klose was named “Fuhrer” of the new group.
Klose would come to regret his decision to leave the Outlaws for what turned out to be an FBI front group.
With Klose surrounded by a gaggle of informants and undercover cops, the 1st SS Kavallerie clubhouse was open for business. According to internal law enforcement records, there were at least four undercover employees and an untold number of informants who infiltrated the group, along with numerous wiretaps and other “sophisticated techniques.”
Kelly Boaz a.k.a. ‘Kevin Post’
One of the key undercover agents from Primitive Affliction was Kelly Boaz, a local Orange County cop who, like Killian, had earned a spot on the FBI’s JTTF—receiving specialized training from the ADL and SPLC, according to their personnel records.
Boaz earned a JTTF assignment despite a scandal-plagued career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, where he was the subject of more than a dozen internal investigations since joining in 1989, several involving allegations of excessive force.
In December 1999, for example, Boaz was involved in a predawn raid where another officer shot a suspect. Months later in August 2000, Boaz was at the center of another controversy when he shot and killed an unarmed thief at a shopping center.
He was cleared of wrongdoing in both incidents, but his supervisor was reportedly demoted and his racketeering squad was disbanded. A civil lawsuit was filed against him and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office over the December 1999 incident, but the case was eventually dismissed.
Despite Boaz’s controversial past, the FBI relied on him to build a complex case against a supposed network of white supremacist terrorists.
Boaz, who declined an interview request, entered Florida’s neo-Nazi scene sometime after the Orlando neo-Nazi rally organizer, FBI undercover operative David Gletty, had his cover blown in the media—as detailed in Part 1 of this series.
According to court records, Boaz was introduced to the Outlaw bikers and the 1st SS Kavallerie in 2009 by his colleague, Killian. By then, Boaz had already infiltrated the Black Pistons biker gang and was posing as one of its members, a renegade bomb maker named “Kevin Post.”
For nearly the next three years, Boaz and the FBI built their case.
During his investigation, one of his informants purportedly learned about another right-wing group in the area called the American Front. Operation Primitive Affliction eventually expanded to the Russia-linked American Front, which will be the subject of Part 3 of this series.
In both cases, Boaz made extravagant claims of the drug deals and terroristic plots he witnessed in his roughly three years as an undercover biker/bomber. He also claimed that his life was threatened when an Outlaw biker put a firearm to his head and accused him of being law enforcement.
Mueller likely heard similar reports. A glowing performance review for Boaz said the case “was briefed to the FBI Director daily during the executions of the disruptions.”
But a deeper look at the evidence produced in court casts doubt on Boaz’s claims, as well as the FBI’s entire case.
Kavallerie Collapse
“Biker Gangsters Busted after Three-Year Probe,” the Orlando Sentinel reported on March 31, 2012.
Two nights earlier, Boaz and the FBI had rounded up the targets of Primitive Affliction. One of those arrested was a woman named Deborah Plowman, who was at her home near Chicago when more than a dozen armed agents swarmed her on March 29, 2012. According to Boaz, he saw Plowman take pills at an Outlaw bikers party several years earlier.
After spending the night in jail, Plowman was told she needed to travel to Florida to face drug-trafficking charges—or else, she’d face extradition. Baffled, Plowman professed her innocence.
She was telling the truth.
On April 19, 2012, Plowman turned herself into law enforcement in Florida to be interviewed by Boaz. It didn’t take long before Boaz realized that he had the wrong person arrested.
“Boaz asked [Plowman] if she has ever used the nickname or has ever been called ‘Sin,’ to which she replied with a ‘no,’” Plowman said in a lawsuit she filed later over the wrongful arrest.
“Defendant Boaz immediately began to break out into a sweat upon viewing and questioning [Plowman], realizing he caused the wrong person, [Plowman], to be arrested in his undercover operation, instead of ‘Sin’ [Kristy Pryzbylla].”
It turned out, Plowman was married to someone Boaz had been investigating, and the undercover agent somehow confused her with Pryzbylla. Plowman quickly hired a lawyer, who blasted Boaz in the Orlando Sentinel for his carelessness.
“Had Boaz pulled her drivers license, he would have known it wasn’t her, and he’d made a huge mistake,” Plowman’s then-attorney, Jerry Theophilopoulos, said at the time. “In all my 20 years of practice, I’ve never seen anything like what they did to Deborah Plowman.”
Plowman had her charges dropped in May 2012, and she eventually won $30,000 from Boaz in a civil lawsuit.
Boaz’s sloppy police work would continue to rear its ugly head as the fruits of Primitive Affliction moved through the courts.
The other defendants—including the “Fuehrer” Klose, Ronald Cusack, Carlos Eugene Dubose and Harold Johnson Kinlaw—were initially charged with violent crimes, such as bomb-making and soliciting murder. However, prosecutors later dropped most of the charges related to violence, instead reaching deals with the defendants to plead guilty to drug charges.
Assistant State Attorney Steven Foster reportedly said at the time that prosecutors were willing to strike plea deals with alleged white supremacist extremists because they were following the “Al Capone theory of prosecution”—referencing how federal authorities jailed the notorious mobster for tax evasion instead of his countless violent crimes.
“We decided to strike against the Kavallerie Brigade by bringing these heavy-duty drug charges to shut the active members down,” Foster reportedly said, bragging about shutting down an FBI front group.
However, one of the Outlaw biker defendants, Dubose, fought his charges.
It was a good thing he did.
A retired U.S. Marine, Dubose’s crime stemmed from when he cracked his skull in a motorcycle accident. Down and out on his luck and looking for cash, Dubose took another blow in life when an FBI informant arranged for him to sell his prescription painkillers to an undercover officer.
Initially charged with selling more than 28 grams of Oxycodone pills, Dubose could have spent the rest of his life in prison. But when he started receiving pre-trial discovery, he noticed something: An FBI report showed he only gave the undercover officer 9 grams of pills—a crime that carried the far lesser max sentence of seven years imprisonment.
After successfully diminishing the severity of his drug charge, Dubose decided to plead guilty to that lone count. But he continued to vociferously deny any involvement in a bomb plot—a charge that stemmed from a conversation he had with Boaz, aka renegade bomb maker “Kevin Post,” nearly three years earlier in 2009.
To Dubose’s point, the Feb. 27, 2009, conversation he had with Boaz/Post never developed any further over the next three years. And a transcript of the conversation shows Dubose choosing his words carefully when talking about “hypothetically” building a pipe bomb: “We’re not lookin’ to do anything. It’s just a matter if we start to go to war with somebody,” Dubose told Post/Boaz at the end of the discussion.
Florida prosecutors admitted that Boaz’s one recorded conversation didn’t contain smoking-gun evidence of bomb plots, but they claimed there were other discussions where Dubose made such plans.
Even though there were no recordings of those other purported conversations—and even though Dubose never possessed or attempt to build a bomb—the judge accepted the narrative of Boaz and the government. He tossed the motion to dismiss, and Dubose took a plea deal soon thereafter.
Gun to the Head?
Boaz’s credibility would be challenged once more at Dubose’s April 21, 2014, sentencing hearing, where the undercover agent claimed to have had a weapon pointed at his head.
During the hearing, defense attorney Harold Uhrig asked Boaz the obvious question: If Dubose pointed a gun at him, why didn’t the government mention that before?
“I’ve gone through about 600 pages of transcripts, reports, supplemental reports, I don’t find it anywhere mentioned in there. Are you telling me that there’s some information that y’all did not disclose to us?” Uhrig asked Boaz.
Boaz insisted that he did report the gun-pointing incident to the FBI for “intelligence gathering,” but he didn’t tell the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Boaz also admitted that he didn’t have any documentation proving that he reported the alleged incident to the FBI.
After Boaz’s dubious testimony, the judge still sentenced Dubose to five years imprisonment for both the drug trafficking and bomb solicitation charges.
The judge did admit that the available evidence “somewhat” supported Dubose’s version of events.
However, the judge noted that Dubose did talk about having a bomb “in the event of a war.” Therefore, “the Court finds, viewing the evidence in its totality, that [Dubose intended] to obtain a destructive device for the purpose of injuring or causing damage to persons or property,” the judge said, allowing the government to somewhat save face after a disastrous case.
The judge sentenced Dubose to five-year concurrent sentences for the drug and bomb charges.
While prosecutors were able to secure some convictions from the 1st SS Kavallerie investigation—Klose is still in prison on felony drug trafficking charges—they fared even worse in the American Front case, thanks in part to more Boaz blunders.
Bizarre developments would continue to occur outside the courtroom, too. As they prepped for trial around 2013, Boaz and several other government officials would begin receiving strange threats, purportedly from a neo-Nazi fugitive on the run in Mexico—the subject of Part 3 of this series.
Stay tuned…
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/05/2024 - 23:10
Published:7/5/2024 11:27:10 PM
|
[Markets]
Can Biden Clear The Next Hurdle? Stakes High For Friday Primetime Interview
Can Biden Clear The Next Hurdle? Stakes High For Friday Primetime Interview
Though he separately assured staffers and governors on Wednesday that he's staying in the race all the way to Election Day, President Biden has privately conceded to close allies that he must excel in his public appearances over the next several days if his campaign is to survive, according to the New York Times.
Those upcoming events include weekend campaign stops in swing states Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but the most attention by far will be paid to a Friday night sit-down interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos. After taping the interview on Friday, July 5, ABC will provide a first glimpse of the conversation that evening via "World News Tonight with David Muir." The full interview -- after ABC's edits -- will air as a "primetime special" on Friday at 8pm ET, and again on Sunday morning's "This Week."
In contrast to last week's debate -- when Americans who hadn't been paying attention were shocked by Biden's shuffling gait, periodic incoherence, weak voice and slack-jawed stares -- the ABC interview will be pre-recorded, and it will be edited. However, seemingly in response to backlash about that taped-and-edited format, ABC has committed to releasing a full transcript of the interview on Friday.
As Fox News notes, that's a decision with some significant historical context where both ABC and Stephanopoulos are concerned:
In 2018, ABC News was heavily criticized for a massive editing job when former FBI Director James Comey sat down with Stephanopoulos for his first interview since he was abruptly fired by then-President Trump the previous year. The full transcript released by the network revealed it chose not to air several key moments during its Sunday night special, such as when Comey ripped former President Obama.
Readers will naturally view the idea of a Stephanopoulos interview with justifiable wariness of soft-pitch questions and friendly editing. However, we're in a different political world than last week, one where liberal media has abandoned its monolithic shielding of Biden's mental health from public scrutiny. It's a world where Stephanopoulos won't be uniformly pressured by his peers and leftist mobs on social media to make Biden look "sharp as a tack," to borrow the propaganda line that Biden's defenders regularly employed in the months leading up to the debate.
To appreciate how much has changed, consider that the cornerstone leftist media institution -- the New York Times -- crossed the Rubicon last weekend. Its editorial board, noting Biden's "infirmity" that Americans had "[seen] with their own eyes," urged Biden to quit the race, saying that would be "the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now provide."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Boston Globe followed suit, along with columnists and pundits across the country, from Paul Krugman to James Carville and Joe Scarborough. Emboldened by the media's lead, elected Democrats have started to issue their own pleas for Biden to quit, starting with Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva. A draft letter, intended to be signed by multiple members, is circulating on Capitol Hill. At least two House reps have publicly said Biden can't win after what Americans saw in the debate.
Given the debate-triggered earthquake that's altered the leftist landscape, Stephanopoulos will likely feel significant pressure to act something like a real journalist, for once. Indeed, the interview could prove to be the most historically significant of his career.
On the other side, Team Biden has every interest in molding the event to its benefit. On Wednesday night, the Daily Beast reported that Biden's handlers are pulling on one very significant lever -- the length of the interview, which will take place in Wisconsin as Biden is on the campaign trail:
The Beast has learned that behind the scenes there is deep concern inside ABC News’ upper echelons that Stephanopolous could get as little as 15 minutes to conduct what should be a searching interview offering insight into the president’s mental state...
One source suggested it would be more in the range of 20 minutes—still a relatively short period of time for even an accomplished interviewer to cover questions both over Biden’s cognitive state and his ability to stay in the campaign
The Biden campaign is forced to balance two huge risks. A longer interview increases the odds of a major Biden flub, while a shorter interview could anger Democrats who -- wary of not only losing the White House but also suffering consequences up and down the ballot -- are demanding that Biden quickly and urgently make a strong case that he's mentally fit to serve another term.
In the week following the debate, Biden's response has disappointed Democratic leaders and major donors alike, with a senior campaign advisor telling the Washington Post that Biden had met widespread panic with "deafening silence."
His few efforts to shore up public opinion during that stretch have been terribly underwhelming. Attendees at a celebrity-laden fundraiser in the Hamptons on Saturday said Biden's appearance only reinforced their deep worries about his fitness. The event was tightly orchestrated, and Biden did his speaking with the aid of a teleprompter, reminding attendees that he struggles to manage unscripted dialogue -- even with a friendly audience.
Similarly, when Biden took to a White House podium to address the Supreme Court ruling providing a large degree of legal immunity to former President Trump, he read from a teleprompter and left without taking any questions from the press.
ABC is certain to garner high ratings on Friday night; Biden's chance of prospering from the opportunity is much lower.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/04/2024 - 10:15
Published:7/4/2024 9:57:55 AM
|
[Markets]
Smith: It's Damned Hard To Be Proud Of America
Smith: It's Damned Hard To Be Proud Of America
Authored by Justin Smith via The Burning Platform blog,
Americans probably still have many good reasons to be proud of America, but as I sat thinking about what I would write to commemorate our Independence Day, they all seemed to evade me at the moment, given where we find our country today. And even tho’ we have seen some recent gains moving the country away from the Marxist-Maoist Democrat Party’s communist agenda and the plan to fundamentally transform America into something despicable, foreign and conquered, it will be for naught so long as the American people keep embracing corrupt politicians and act as tho’ the Bill of Rights are unimportant footnotes in Mad Magazine, written by President Alfred E. Newman, trudging into the years ahead unprincipled and immoral as ever.
After decades of witnessing America hasten into a dark nightmare of an existence and an ever more uncertain, ill-prepared direction for the future of the country, under a fascist Marxist-Maoist regime, our reasons to be proud of this country have become practically non-existent, on this 4th of July, due to largely inadequate counters or no counterattacks at all to prevent or halt the constant and continuous assaults and attacks by America’s domestic terrorists and the enemies-from-within, as well as enemies from abroad. And as many prepare to celebrate America’s Independence Day, Americans should reflect on their own vision for the not so “united” United States of America and whether or not they love this nation enough to ensure its continued success and survival throughout the 21st century as the greatest nation on earth.
This is the nation that gave the world the marriage between the ideas of liberty and the equality of all under the law, which greatly enabled and facilitated the highest levels of individual liberty and the greatest economic prosperity ever seen throughout the entire history of mankind. This alone would ordinarily make America a very Exceptional nation indeed, if not for the advent of the new amerikkans who hate America’s founding, Her principles and Western civilization itself.
The American Flag is heavily worn, and its stars are faded today, after roughly 200 years of America being such an exceptional nation. Yes, we know She’s stood tall for many years, the best She could for 248 years, but a large segment of the American people — those with a long line of American ancestry as well as the newer generations of immigrants — have themselves diminished and torn asunder the luster of the idea of American Exceptionalism and that Shining City on the Hill that has so often been used across history to depict America, and in far too many instances they have sabotaged the country and American virtues and principles by way of numerous Machiavellian mechanisms, as seen for example in the 1913 Federal Reserve Bank Act, 1929 Stock Market Crash, 1965 Immigration Act, the Covid Pandemic, mail-in ballots, “Election Month” instead of “Election Day” and the New Green Deal.
Our nation emerged from the fire, fury and chaos of the War for Independence with the hopes of the people and a people determined to live free through their own capabilities and devices without the heavy, tyrannical hand of any government from that day on, but from the looks of things today, those hopes were dashed repeatedly across the ages. They revolted over a two percent tax hike on tea, and yet here we sit today taxed on every damned thing under the sun, including the property we supposedly own and the very damned air we breathe.
The average American has many more valid reasons to revolt today, than they had in 1776. Consider the Declaration of Independence, and then consider the current political malaise that has grabbed the American people by the cajones and seemingly just sucked the will and the life out of them, as they sit back ever complacent and apathetic as a Marxist-Maoist juggernaut rolls over their inalienable God-given rights as seen in Natural Law made by God the Creator. One can almost hear the bleating as one walks down Main Street USA.
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and intransient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
Never in American history have we seen our country and its people so sorely abused and put upon. Never have the American people suffered such a long train of abuses and usurpations, as we are suffering through today under this Marxist-Maoist communist regime that has captured our government through and through. And it’s damned hard to be proud of a country that has allowed for this, that stands by this very moment watching as if the situation will somehow miraculously resolve itself, as the Democratic Party move ahead with the fundamental transformation of America into something foreign and antithetical to Her founding, a tyrannical Socialist Super-State
It’s damned hard to be proud of a country that is doing next to nothing to stop the treason on the southern border that allows millions of illegal aliens to cross each year, mostly military aged men from all across the world, from the socialist-loving people of Nicaragua, Mexico and El Salvador to nations hostile to America like China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and many others too — smuggling tons of China’s death dealing fentanyl into the country in the process. Yes, there’s nothing for the American people to be proud to see in a country that won’t stand up in the face of an existential threat, because its people have grown weak and complacent and obedient to their deaths, even with the Democrat Party admitting they plan to legitimize these illegal aliens and hand them “the right to vote”.
Yea — I can’t be too proud of America when She has nearly totally forgotten Her Veterans in far too many respects, as we see thousands of homeless Veterans trying to get help in vain, while the Veteran Administration Office is busy filing medical claims for Illegal Aliens [I shit You not] as explained in a recent article by Representative Greg Steube (R-FL).
How can anyone be proud of America when the tyrant in the Oval Office has weaponized the DOJ, the FBI and the IRS against his political opponents with impunity, giving a wink and a nod to Attorney Generals in every state that it’s open season on former President Donald Trump and any conservative or independent political leaders that currently are trying to fight back in any meaningful manner against the Biden regime’s anti-American agenda? No one should be proud to see this illegal and unconstitutional lawfare being utilized as tho’ it’s business as usual.
How can anyone be proud of a country that allows Government Agents to gun down innocent patriotic Americans such as Randy Weaver’s wife Vicki and his son Sammy, LaVoy Finicum and Ashli Babbitt under suspect and largely unwarranted circumstances?
And it sure as hell is hard to be proud of America, when so many of Her leaders seem to give more allegiance to foreign interests than they give to America, especially where the Bidens, Clintons and McConnells [and many others too] are concerned in regard to their respective dealings with China and Russia, especially when one looks at the millions handed to the Biden Crime Family by several Big Players in the Chinese Communist Party.
Are you proud of this America that has spent and manipulated us all into economic oblivion and a debt-based economy hell that forces everyone in a household to have to work a fulltime job and a parttime job too, since 2000, making the traders and top business executives even wealthier while everyone else goes bust? Are you proud of an America that has every ordinary citizen pinching pennies and scraping everything they can together, just to get by, when it was just sixty years ago that one man’s salary would still pay the rent/mortgage, utilities, gas for the car and groceries for a family of four.
It’s damned hard to be proud of a country that, despite the final defeat of Roe vs Wade, still promotes and facilitates the murder of millions of unborn babies, even up to them exiting the birth canal, as millions cry “a woman’s right to free reproduction”. How about they clamp their damned legs shut if they don’t want children, or get on the pill and make their sexual liaison wear a condom? Better yet, wouldn’t it be a fine thing and the right thing if they could be brave enough to allow the baby its life and give it to loving adoptive parents?
How can we be proud of America, when so many of Her people revel in their sick, demented, immoral perversions and deviancy and brainwash America’s children so deeply that twenty-five percent of that demographic now identifies as non-binary, homosexual or transsexual? What is there to be proud of in a country that enables minor children to be severely damaged both physically and psychologically for life, behind their parents’ back, and given transsexual gender therapy treatment? I’ll tell You what. NOTHING. Not one damned thing.
There’s nothing found in a country to instill pride, when its own churches wallow in the immoral ways of society and lend comfort to the deviant pervert heretics, even to the point of allowing “drag queens” to promote their sinful way of life before the congregants.
What pride is to be found in an America that has forgotten God and Her own founding virtues and principles?
No one believes this current situation or this current government’s agenda represent anything remotely close to the principles our ancestors fought to defend and preserve in 1776 or WWI and WWII.
“president” Joe aka Traitor Joe does not love America, or he would not be attempting to “fundamentally change” Her into something completely antithetical to every idea and principle She is founded upon. He wouldn’t be destroying our border security, our energy infrastructure, our economy and our families if he had the tiniest bit of concern or true love for America.
Yes. This 4th of July, it’s hard to feel proud of an America that has fallen so far from its beginning.
Americans must stop enabling the fools and knaves in the ranks of the Democrat Party Communists and RINOs to twist and manipulate the truth, and they can no longer remain so passive as these anti-Americans break the fine things so many have devoted their lives to build by way of their insane and asinine policies, that are purposely designed to destroy America. We will kneel and build them again, forcing our hearts and nerve and sinew to fight on long after we are worn out, and so, we hold on and continue when there is nothing in us except the will to enable and ensure that a free America will soon exist once more, after this next election. Afterward, if we are not compelled toward armed rebellion beforehand, we will untangle ourselves from the Marxist-Maoist tentacles and the mess the communist ideology has created within our system and, perhaps, return America and Her courage to Her resplendent magnificence and place of honor, in order that we may preserve freedom and individual liberty far into the future for our children and grandchildren and their children’s children, and many generations yet to come.
Now more than ever, America needs Her people to return to God and the principles upon which She was founded and to remember those things that made America great so many years ago, to understand that America still has the potential to be great again, far into the future, if only Her people will take a hard stand for true freedom and liberty for all.
Thinking of what America faced then and now, I think of the rousing speech Patrick Henry delivered to the Continental Congress in the spring of 1775. Henry concluded:
“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. … There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our Chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable — and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
“… Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Even more heart-wrenching are the final words of the Declaration of Independence, since every signer of this sacred document believed he was signing his own death warrant:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
My eternal allegiance is to God, Family and America, and for anyone who desires to rebuild America anew, we must pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/04/2024 - 09:30
Published:7/4/2024 9:14:47 AM
|
[Markets]
Crypto Hacks, Scams Totaled Over Half-A-Billion Dollars For Q2, 2024: Report
Crypto Hacks, Scams Totaled Over Half-A-Billion Dollars For Q2, 2024: Report
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Over half a billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency was stolen in the second quarter this year through hacks and scams, with two incidents making up the bulk of the stolen funds, according to a recent report by bug bounty platform Immunefi.
Crypto losses in Q2, 2024, totaled more than $572 million, the June report said. Over $564 million in losses were accounted for by 53 hacking incidents and the remaining $8.45 million by 19 fraud incidents. Hacking was responsible for 98.5 percent of losses, with fraud making up 1.5 percent. Two major hacking incidents in that quarter made up $360 million (62.8 percent) of the total losses.
The first was a May 31 hacking attack against Japanese cryptocurrency platform DMM Bitcoin that led to a loss of around $305 million, while the second was a cyberattack targeting Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk, on June 23, which resulted in $55 million worth of funds getting stolen.
More than $920 million in crypto losses were identified—a 24 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Main targets of the exploits were centralized finance (CeFi) entities. In CeFi, all crypto trades are handled via a central exchange. This stands in contrast to decentralized finance (DeFi) where there is no exchange involved in the trade.
CeFi losses made up 70 percent of the total losses, with DeFi accounting for the remaining 30 percent.
“This quarter highlights how infrastructure compromises can be the most devastating hacks in crypto, as a single compromise can lead to millions in damages,” said Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador.
“This was evident during this quarter, where losses surged primarily due to hacks targeting CeFi infrastructure, surpassing DeFi, despite a smaller number of hacks in that sector. Robust measures to safeguard the entirety of the ecosystem are crucial.”
According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), payments made via cryptocurrencies “typically are not reversible.” As such, the hacked cryptos may be difficult to recover.
Immunefi data shows that $26.7 million was recovered from four incidents in Q2, representing only 5 percent of total losses. The recovery rate was a slight improvement over the 3.9 percent recovered in Q2, 2023.
An April 2023 poll by Pew Research showed that 17 percent of U.S. adults have invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency.
Crypto Hackers
The U.S. Department of Justice has arrested several people in connection with crypto hacking incidents over the past year.
In May, two brothers were arrested for allegedly stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency. The duo sought to pull off the heist “through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
They are accused of manipulating and tampering with the processes used to validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. This allegedly allowed them to gain access to certain pending transactions and eventually steal people’s cryptocurrency.
In April, Shakeeb Ahmed, a former security engineer at a tech firm, was sentenced to three years in prison for hacking two decentralized crypto exchanges and stealing more than $12 million in cryptocurrency.
In one incident, he attacked crypto exchange Nirvana Finance and stole $3.6 million in funds. The theft represented almost all the funds owned by the company. As a result, Nirvana was forced to shut down.
Meanwhile, crypto fraud is also causing major losses to ordinary citizens. According to the FTC, Americans reported losing over $10 billion to fraud last year. Consumers said they lost more money to fraudulent bank transfers and cryptocurrencies than all other methods combined.
“Digital tools are making it easier than ever to target hard-working Americans, and we see the effects of that in the data we’re releasing today,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“The FTC is working hard to take action against those scams,” he added.
According to a 2023 report by the Institute for Marketplace Trust, investment/cryptocurrency scams topped the list of “riskiest scams” last year. Over 80 percent of victims of these scams reported a monetary loss.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/03/2024 - 05:00
Published:7/3/2024 4:42:30 AM
|
[Markets]
How Financial Surveillance Threatens Our Democracies: Part 1
How Financial Surveillance Threatens Our Democracies: Part 1
Authored by Alexandre Stachtchenko via Bitcoin Magazine,
When they descended into coal mines, miners would take a caged canary with them.
The toxic gasses, notably carbon monoxide, that accumulate in these places and pose a deadly risk to miners, would kill the canaries before the miners.
This information made them aware of the danger, enabling them to evacuate before it was too late.
On May 14, 2024, Alexey Pertsev, a software developer who built an open-source tool to preserve online privacy, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to more than 5 years in prison by a Dutch court.
In the court's decision, the following can be read:
"The tool developed by the suspect and his co-authors combines maximum anonymity and optimal concealment techniques with a serious lack of identification functionalities. Therefore, the tool cannot be characterized as a legitimate tool that has been inadvertently used by criminals. By its nature and operation, the tool is specifically intended for criminals."
Seeking to preserve one's privacy is thus at worst proof of criminality, at best complicity in a crime. A threshold has been crossed.
Unfortunately, it is likely that this case will generate little empathy and interest, as the person involved worked in the crypto industry, and the tool developed, Tornado Cash, was intended to preserve transaction confidentiality.
However, it would be a grave mistake to consider this an isolated incident limited to a fledgling industry for which the public has little affection.
This is our canary in the coal mine.
It has stopped singing and is dying. If we do not react, all the miners will perish. Cryptos are an early and glaring revealer of an insidious phenomenon that has been eroding our liberal democracies for about thirty years and is reaching a point of no return.
Despite the lack of evidence of their effectiveness, financial surveillance measures continue to be regularly reinforced, defying all democratic rules and requirements: the primacy of secrecy, freedom as a norm, the principle of proportionality of rights limitations, technological neutrality, presumption of innocence... Preemptive control prior to any offense becomes the norm, the enforcement of law becomes selective and arbitrary, bank account closures take on the appearance of censorship and financial suffocation, and property rights are reduced to a mere shadow.
The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing has degenerated into collective hysteria worthy of authoritarian or even totalitarian regimes, to the point of criminalizing a fundamental and constitutional right: privacy. The famous American computer engineer Phil Zimmermann warned us in 1991: "if privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy."
Far from being a "crypto" issue, this shift away from liberal democracy concerns everyone. There are numerous examples in regimes known for their democracy, spanning from India to the United Kingdom, and from Canada to France.
Note: If the crypto part does not interest you, you can proceed directly to part II.
I. LESSONS FROM THE CANARY
1. THE UNITED STATES INVOLVES ITSELF
Less than a year ago, the arrest of the Tornado Cash developers had already legitimately caused quite a stir. But the scope of the case, limited to the crypto world, perceived as a den of terrorists and money launderers, had quickly confined the indignation to a small group of insiders.
In April 2024, American and European public authorities, emboldened by this success, continued to move forward in a worrying direction.
Several events occurred almost simultaneously. The arrest of the developers of the Bitcoin wallet developers of Samourai Wallet, by the FBI in cooperation with the IRS (the American tax authority), with the guilty cooperation of European authorities, kicked things off. Their crime would be to have “conspired to launder money” and to have “operated an unlicensed money transfer business”. They face 20 years’ imprisonment for the first charge and 5 years for the second. By comparison, the maximum irreducible life sentence in France is 30 years.
Following this was an FBI notice urging all Americans not to use "money transmitting businesses" that do not collect their identity and are not registered. And the Federal Bureau continued by threatening to freeze all funds that had been mixed with funds obtained through illegal means.
To better understand the absurdity of such an announcement by the FBI, let us transpose the reasoning into the physical world, and highlight two major issues.
The first concerns the accusation of operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Samourai Wallet is a company that provides Bitcoin wallets with enhanced transaction privacy. It does not operate transactions on behalf of its clients; it provides the wallet software. In the physical world, their equivalent would be a leather craftsman who crafts leather wallets enabling their users to store cash. He facilitates cash management but has no say in how the wallet owners spend their cash.
Here, the U.S. federal services conflate and lump together a large bank that operates transactions on behalf of its clients and a leather craftsman, holding the latter responsible for how his clients use their cash.
How far can we go with this line of reasoning? To ATMs? To the people at the Central Bank who print these bills? To the lumberjacks who produce the wood used for the paper of the bills?
Similarly, should we hold a carpenter responsible for what his clients decide to put in the furniture they make? Or an architect if the house they build ends up being used for drug trafficking?
It quickly becomes apparent that this conflation is completely absurd. A wallet creator is not responsible for what the wallet owner decides to do with the money stored in it. Being part of the cash or cash storage value chain should in no way imply responsibility for its final use, as there is no limit to this reasoning.
This question was actually raised 20 years ago regarding peer-to-peer exchanges, which allow multiple people to exchange information directly in a decentralized manner. This communication protocol and the software that enable it are sometimes used to commit offenses, particularly against intellectual property rights. However, despite attempts to criminalize the tool itself4, European5 and American6 courts have ruled in favor of technological neutrality, stating that the software in question allows both legal and illegal exchanges and that their providers are not responsible for the use made by third parties. The case law then focused on the responsibility of each individual involved in a potentially illegal activity, acquitting some individuals due to lack of evidence of their criminal intent7. These judicial solutions are obviously in line with the normal exercise of fundamental rights.
The second issue lies in the threat of fund blocking.
Freezing any money mixed with funds obtained through illegal means would be equivalent to arresting anyone whose bills, whether in their leather wallet or pocket, have passed through the wrong hands.
In 2009, a university study covered by CNN showed that 90% of American dollar bills carry traces of cocaine, and up to 100% in some major cities. This helps us better understand the absurdity of the FBI's threat: almost all the cash in the world has already passed through the wrong hands. Should all cash holders be imprisoned? Of course not.
Following these absurd coercive actions, on 26 April 2024, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York published the government's rationale against Roman Storm, the lead developer of the privacy software Tornado Cash. The author insists, considering Tornado Cash as a "money transmitting business."
According to this argument, "the definition of “money transmitting” in Section 1960 does not require the money transmitter to have 'control' of the funds being transferred. [...] For instance, a USB cable transfers data from one device to another [...]."
A very broad definition of a "money transmitting business" that would even include USB cables, according to their own admission. At this rate, the question will soon become "who is not a money transmitter?"
Here, the DOJ (Department of Justice) is so ambitious that it goes against the guidelines provided by FinCen (Financial Crime Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department). In other words, the U.S. government does not agree with itself, which indicates a certain uneasiness.
In 2013, FinCen explained that software developers were not "money transmitters" ("The production and distribution of software, in and of itself, does not constitute acceptance and transmission of value, even if the purpose of the software is to facilitate the sale of virtual currency.").
In 2019, following an inquiry regarding certain programmable features on Bitcoin (Time-locked and multi-signature), FinCen reiterated that the partial control that could be exercised by wallet developers was not sufficient to qualify them as "money transmitters" ("the person participating in the transaction to provide additional validation at the request of the owner does not have totally independent control over the value.").
2. EUROPE AT THE FOREFRONT OF AN ILLIBERAL SHIFT
Beyond the opportunistic qualifications of various parties and to return more simply to the way the law should be applied in a liberal democracy, let's recall that cryptocurrency transfers are transfers of electronic communications according to the definition provided by European Union law.
Moreover, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum allow for the exchange of communications that can be qualified as correspondences (the possibilities of exchange are not limited to monetary units). Electronic communications are protected by the right to privacy and personal data protection, and a limitation such as lifting confidentiality or blocking can only be justified if it is necessary for the effective pursuit of a defined objective, in a strictly proportionate manner, particularly in the case of a proven offense and personally committed by the individual whose communication is limited.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has also ruled in this sense, considering that the systematic analysis of communications, even when possible, infringes on the fundamental right to the protection of users' personal data, in violation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Court specifies that an injunction to block communications that does not distinguish "between illegal and legal content [...] could result in the blocking of communications with legal content" and thus infringe on the freedom of expression and communication. Regarding cryptocurrency transfers, we can also invoke an infringement on the right to property.
It is therefore inconceivable, in a liberal democracy, to ask a private actor to block transactions or other types of communications without being certain of their illegality.
We can note another convenient schizophrenia on the part of the American authorities, which Lyn Alden aptly summarizes by referring to "Schrödinger's Currency": Bitcoin is considered as a currency only when it allows for the prosecution of individuals. The rest of the time, it is a speculative tool to which this qualification is denied. Indeed, to apply the definition of "money transmitter," it is necessary to consider that what is being transmitted (bitcoins) is indeed money. To the point that the government argues that "Bitcoin clearly qualifies as money" in order to prosecute Roman Storm.
Europe regularly engages in this distortion as well, as I had already shown in the justification invoked to include "crypto-assets" in the TFR regulation. Cryptos have indeed appeared in a text that previously targeted exclusively "banknotes and coins, scriptural money, and electronic money." But to say that Bitcoin is a currency...
Moreover, in Europe, coincidentally, a new regulation was voted on April 25 imposing new financial constraints, still with the laudable objective of combating money laundering.
Among the constraints, we can particularly note a €10,000 cash payment limit across Europe, but also the requirement for digital asset service providers (DASPs) to collect even more information about their clients, including for transactions under €1,000, and for personal wallets, known as "self-custodial," "self-hosted," or "un-hosted," i.e., not managed by a financial intermediary on behalf of third parties. The leather wallets of the digital world.
A small digression into Newspeak here: by imposing the terminology "self-hosted" or "un-hosted," regulators and legislators are trying to enforce the view that third-party custody is the norm, and self-custody is the exception. This is obviously a dangerous and insidious view, suggesting that wanting to keep one's own money is suspicious, even though it is part of the normal exercise of freedoms. There are no "un-hosted" or "self-hosted" wallets. There are just wallets, period. And there are third parties who hold wallets on behalf of others.
Returning to the text, let’s casually note that it is particularly precise and imposes know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for transactions under €1,000 only on DASPs, exempting banks and other financial institutions, which handle far larger volumes than DASPs. The proportionality of this amount and this discrimination is not justified.
In addition, there is a ban on supporting enhanced privacy cryptocurrencies. Let us recall here that historical commodity monies (gold, silver, copper, bones, etc.) are anonymous, as is still cash today. The ban is therefore inequitable and strikes under the pretext of its electronic nature. It is again unjustified, although it unacceptably hinders the normal exercise of a freedom since we are talking about its outright extinction (such a disproportion is not admitted by the European Court of Human Rights).
As previously mentioned, all these actions are extremely problematic in several respects.
First, because these constraints are based on no rational reasoning or relevant justification and are simply the result of paranoia related to cryptos, coupled with a KYC model (Know Your Customer, the customer identification processes imposed on financial institutions) that has been elevated to a religion despite the lack of convincing results over several decades. Second, because they disregard the requirements for the protection of fundamental freedoms on which the European Union was built and to which it is subject. Third, because they are counterproductive, meaning they create new threats, the consequences of which are increasingly severe.
3. AN UNFOUNDED PARANOIA
Nearly all texts dealing with the "necessary" regulation of "crypto-assets" have abandoned scientific and legal rigor to the point of never proving the initial assertion from which their reasoning starts: "cryptos are a good means to facilitate money laundering."
To appreciate this, one only needs to analyze all the texts on the subject issued in recent years. This is an exercise I have already done for the TFR text. Indeed, in the "proportionality" paragraph of the proposed amendment to the regulation, there is a small phrase indicating that, according to the opinion of EU surveillance authorities, "specific" risk-increasing factors have been identified concerning cryptos.
Why is proportionality an extremely important principle in a state governed by the rule of law?
Because the adequacy of a legislative standard or instrument to the pursued objective, i.e., the balance between the infringement on a right and the general interest, is absolutely crucial to avoid authoritarian and liberty-infringing drifts. One cannot hide behind an objective, however commendable, to impose disproportionate restrictions on rights.
For example, one might think that by installing a policeman in everyone's home, crime would be reduced. The objective may be considered laudable, but the individual rights that would be compromised in the process represent an unacceptable reduction in freedoms. Thus, society decides to tolerate potentially higher crime rates (subject to the risks to freedoms generated by surveillance itself) in order to preserve the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, without which democracy cannot exist.
Conversely, the prohibition of alcohol while driving is a restriction that can be considered proportionate: alcohol consumption is not prohibited, but it is prohibited in situations where its consumption is systematically dangerous for oneself and others. The impacts of such legislation can be monitored by observing the number of accidents, for example. A right has been restricted, certainly, but the general interest prevails since the effectiveness of the measure in relation to an important objective (the preservation of life) can be demonstrated, and the infringement on rights is minimized by limiting the restrictions as much as possible.
In a liberal democracy, freedom is the norm and constraints the exception. It is up to the state, when it wishes to restrict a freedom, to demonstrate that it does not go further than necessary to achieve its objective and that this objective is effectively achieved. Furthermore, the state is obliged to adopt norms to ensure that all persons and institutions, both public and private, respect this rule.
In the case at hand (money laundering and terrorist financing), and despite the assertion that "supervisory authorities have identified specific risk factors," when one plays the detective wishing to trace back to the source, one realizes that the opinion in question, dating from 2019, itself admits that the so-called "competent authorities" do not have the "knowledge and understanding of these products and assets, which prevents them from carrying out a proper impact assessment."
It also deflects by referring to another opinion (sic) from the European Banking Authority, which dates back to... 2014. In this "original" opinion, we find a rather laconic analysis: "the phenomenon of Virtual Currencies being assessed has not existed for a sufficient amount of time for there to be quantitative evidence available of the existing risks, nor is this of the quality required for a robust ranking."
In other words, the TFR regulation, imposing monitoring of all crypto transfers from one provider to another, was built on the basis of two reports. One report stated that there was no evidence to qualify or quantify the risks, while the other admitted that competent authorities lacked the knowledge and understanding to conduct an analysis.
Therefore, concluding the paragraph on the "proportionality" of the TFR regulation by stating that "In accordance with the principle of Proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), this regulation does not exceed what is necessary to achieve its objectives" is questionable at best. Since the risks are not assessed, it seems difficult to characterize the restriction of rights as "proportionate."
In his fight against FINMA, Alexis Roussel made the same observation for Switzerland. The Swiss National Risk Assessment (NRA) of 201822 regarding money laundering risks in crypto indicates, from its very first sentence, that no cases of terrorism financing related to crypto have been identified, and only rare cases of money laundering. However, the subsequent statement recommends classifying these assets as "high-risk" by their very nature. Specifically, this means that a crypto transaction, even of €10, carries the same level of risk as a €100,000 transfer to an account in Russia. This equivalence is established without democratic processes in Switzerland and without any evidence.
The 2024 NRA23 does not seem to have made much progress and still admits to lacking data to assess risks.
We can clearly see a pattern emerge: anti-money laundering regulations and increasingly stringent data collection requirements are imposed without legitimate basis or factual data to justify their implementation.
A more comprehensive overview has been provided by L0la L33tz in Bitcoin Magazine24, allowing us to supplement this inventory of breaches of the most basic rigor in Europe, as well as by sister institutions of Bretton-Woods, the IMF, and the World Bank, which are true compasses for global decision-makers.
For example, in 2023, the annual report for 2021 from the European Union's FSRB (the European branch of the Financial Action Task Force, FATF)25, an intergovernmental group established in 1989 to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, was released.
The report begins with the following quote: "It is well known that money launderers have abused cryptocurrencies, initially to transfer and conceal profits generated from drug trafficking. Nowadays, their methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated and on a larger scale."
Unfortunately, starting an argument with "it is well known" reads the same as an essay that begins with "Throughout history, mankind": it does not exude the rigor of thorough research.
The report itself admits that a study will be dedicated in 2022 to analyzing money laundering trends in cryptocurrencies, suggesting that it did not exist at the time of writing the report, asserting as an obvious truth what had never been studied.
This report dedicated to the study of money laundering trends in cryptocurrencies has indeed been published26, but it focuses not on the phenomenon itself but rather on the analysis of the implementation of regulations. Regulations that, it is worth noting, are based on unproven money laundering.
Regarding the study of facts and the field, the report interestingly notes that the risk assessment "lacks depth." It also observes that the majority of regulators lack the tools and expertise necessary to effectively analyze and investigate cases of money laundering and terrorism financing related to "virtual assets."
The study also takes the same shortcut as the aforementioned Swiss analysis: finding very few cases of money laundering involving virtual assets, it prefers to conclude that it is because more regulation is needed, rather than considering that money laundering is not overrepresented in these assets.
As for the IMF, it's no better: the latest report on public policies related to crypto-assets (September 2023)27 points out the lack of data on money laundering and terrorism financing risks, stating that "such impacts have not been specifically studied in relation to crypto-assets."
The IMF's Global Financial Stability Report for 202428 relies on Chainalysis figures and proposes the figure of $1.1 billion received in cryptocurrencies for ransomware globally, which is less than 0.07% of the crypto market capitalization.
The IMF's twin institution, the World Bank, does not significantly differ from the aforementioned views. In a 2023 report the institution indicates that the issue of "Virtual Assets" was not addressed in the Risk Assessment and calls on public authorities and companies to provide more data regarding these assets.
In its money laundering-related publications for 2020 and 2022 the World Bank simply makes no mention of cryptocurrencies. In its articles on crypto adoption, the World Bank merely sidesteps the issue by redirecting to FATF papers.
We have come full circle: reports cite each other, asking for more clarity on the figures, but nobody ever conducts the study itself. We rely on FATF, an unelected body, not subject to the rules of a respectable democracy, especially regarding proportionality, as I mentioned earlier.
The objective is no longer to allow a proportionate fight against money laundering but to raise the standards of controls every year, forgetting the reason why these controls were implemented in the first place.
Moreover, financial institutions use the term "compliance" to emphasize the fact that they comply with the expected control standards. The objectives of efficiency and proportionality are no longer at stake. There is no doubt that if FATF recommended putting a policeman behind every computer, legislators would rush to transpose this "best practice" into law...
It's not even hidden. In the regulation voted on April 24 by the European Union34, the justification for imposing new standards on crypto companies is absolutely not focused on combating money laundering and its effectiveness. Indeed, since MiCA has not even entered into force yet, and the adaptation of the TFR text to cryptos is very recent, how could we conduct a posteriori analysis of the effectiveness of measures that have not yet had an effect and possibly judge that they need to be strengthened?
The reasoning behind the strengthening of controls is in fact much simpler: "Due to rapid technological developments and the advancement in FATF standards, it is necessary to review that approach."
It is not the evolution of the threat, its assessment, the means used by criminals, or the results of a study, etc., but rather the advancement in FATF standards that leads Europe to align itself.
And the next steps are already laid out: "At the same time, advances in innovation, such as the development of the metaverse, provide new avenues for the perpetration of crimes and for the laundering of their proceeds."
While the most popular metaverses are still in the experimental stage and barely see a few hundred people connecting simultaneously, and as the hype subsides, they are already being talked about as nothing less than "avenues" for money laundering.
If you're looking for numbers and analyses, look elsewhere. The imposition of additional surveillance standards relies more on beliefs and perceptions than on facts because no one dares to oppose as a policymaker, risking being equated with a supporter of terrorism or money laundering. It's therefore a genuine religion, one that becomes almost impossible to question at its core.
The digital transition has been greatly beneficial for states: with the need to be banked to take advantage of financial globalization, leading to the omnipresence of banks, the number of potential targets to monitor has drastically diminished, until it ended up concerning only a handful of banks. The transition from a world in which everyone held their cash at home to one where, at least in the OECD, banking is the norm, entails an inevitable financial intermediation.
In this regard, Bitcoin was a huge wake-up call because it signifies that the entire financial regulation of the past 30 years is obsolete, as it is based on an assumption that is no longer valid, namely the need for a financial intermediary to conduct transactions in the digital world.
In tomorrow's world where companies will make wallet-to-wallet payments, who will perform KYC? Will we only realize the absurdity of the model when half the planet is working to monitor the other half?
Bitcoin shakes the very foundations of anti-money laundering efforts. And rather than questioning the regulation and its relevance, both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of respect for fundamental freedoms, we prefer the path of blindness, which leads to restricting the use of a technologically neutral tool by arbitrarily impeding innovation, the right to property, and the protection of exchange confidentiality, the importance of which for democracy, notably through encryption of exchanges, has recently been reaffirmed by the European Court of Human Rights35.
Bitcoin is a canary in the mine. A signal that something is slipping away from us, not concerning cryptocurrencies, but concerning the fundamental freedoms of all citizens, threatened by financial surveillance.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/02/2024 - 23:00
Published:7/2/2024 11:38:02 PM
|
[Markets]
Biden's 'Blue Screen Of Death': They Knew, They All Knew...
Biden's 'Blue Screen Of Death': They Knew, They All Knew...
Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
Joe Biden Catches Cold
“Biden’s entire closing statement is the political equivalent of the blue screen of death. It’s just one long frozen glitch.”
-Sean Davis, the Federalist
Maybe ninety-seconds into last night’s long-awaited debate spectacle, the consensus must have jelled among the woke-and-broken news media mavens that their champion, “Joe Biden,” was not quite killing it out there at the podium. CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash acted like witnesses at a ritual sacrifice. And afterward, the CNN post-mortem panel seemed genuinely shocked that months of playing pretend had skidded to such an ignominious finish.
Which raises a great many questions, starting with: why on earth did the Democratic Party and its media handmaidens persist in pretending month-after-month that “Joe Biden” was a fit candidate for another four-year term? Last night, he didn’t appear capable of even finishing the current term. Why did they usher him so jauntily into the nomination? And what are they going to do about that now? And what were their motives for all that pretending? “Joe Biden” circulates among scores of astute officials every day. Did they all fail to notice his incapacity? Or has the whole thing been a sham and a lie all along? Was this just the culminating hoax by the Party of Hoaxes of a long string of hoaxes against the nation going back to 2015?
To the question of motives, the answer is obvious: the news networks have worked tirelessly (and with stunning dishonor) to hide their collusion with the government in gaslighting the public. More to the point, they’ve concealed the appalling truth that the CIA, DARPA, and their many intel blob subsidiaries conducted a silent coup over the USA and have been running our country’s affairs disastrously behind the “Joe Biden” façade — and that the coup actually started well before Mr. Trump’s 2016 inauguration. You know it, and they know that you know it.
More acutely, now that “Joe Biden” has been revealed as a hoax president, whole legions of public officials appear liable to criminal charges of the most serious degree: sedition, treason, mass murder, fraud, malfeasance, and in the case of the president himself, influence peddling and bribery.
They must be desperate to avoid accounting for all that, losing their accrued fortunes to legal fees and going to prison (or worse). For example, outed just this week: news that then-CIA Director in 2020, Gina Haspel, knew about and participated in the infamous operation using 51 former Intel officers to cover up the veracity of Hunter Biden’s laptop days before the election.
They knew the laptop was real. Their colleagues over at the FBI knew it was real. They all knew it was stuffed with deal memos, legal memoranda, and emails that clearly laid out a long-running bribery operation among Biden family members and their lawyers. They knew it in 2019 when the Democratic Party moved to impeach Mr. Trump for inquiring about the Biden family’s money-grubbing activities in Ukraine — where, by the way, we may have fomented the war with Russia in part to cover up the culpability of all involved, including especially the State Department and their embassy staff in Kiev. The FBI and its bosses in the DOJ also withheld the laptop from Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers during the 2020 impeachment, though it contained massive exculpatory evidence to explain just why he made that fateful phone call to the newly elected Zelensky.
It’s obvious that the ruling blob now has to deep-six “Joe Biden.” The problem is they must induce him to renounce the nomination of his own will. The party’s nominating process is so bizarrely complex that it would very difficult to just shove him out. Another problem is that the party had to peremptorily declare “JB” their legal nominee before the August convention in order to keep him on the ballot in Ohio with its 17 electoral votes (due to some arcane machinery in the state’s election laws).
As per above, the debate fiasco calls into serious question whether “Joe Biden” is competent to even serve out this term. He (or shadowy figures pulling strings behind him) are making profoundly hazardous decisions right now, such as last week’s missile attack that killed and wounded civilians on the beach in Crimea. Are you seeing how easily “Joe Biden” might start World War Three? All of which is to say that pressure will soon rise to use the 25th amendment to relieve him of duty, leaving you-know-who in the oval office. If Joe Biden actually has to resign as president, he also loses the ability to pardon his son, Hunter, and peremptorily his other family members who shared bribery money received from China, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
If he won’t resign, and the party can’t force him off the ticket, the blob could have no choice except to bump him off. I imagine they would get it done humanely, say late at night sometime, in bed, using the same method as for putting down an old dog who has peed on the carpet one too many times. Or, if that can’t be managed and he clings to his position, maybe the party could cobble up some new nominating rules impromptu. And then, who could they slot in from the bench?
The usual suspects are like the cast of a freak show, each one displaying one grotesque deformity after another.
Gavin Newsom we understand: the party’s base of batshit-crazy women may all want to bear his child, but that limbic instinct to mate with a six-foot-three haircut-in-search-of-a-brain might not work with any other voter demographic — and Newsom has the failed state of California hanging around his neck. All Mr. Trump would have to do is broadcast the scene from a San Francisco street-cam on “X” (Twitter) 24/7.
Hillary has been stealthily flapping her leathery wings overhead for weeks as this debacle approached. She may still own the actual machinery of the Democratic Party — having purchased it through the Clinton Foundation some years back when the party was broke and needed a bailout. She could just command the nomination by screeching “Caw Caw” from the convention rostrum. Whatever happens, it will look terrible.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan? An inveterate and notorious intel blob tool, Whitmer has allowed herself to be used repeatedly by the FBI to frame and persecute conservatives in her state as well as using her state AG Dana Nessel to go after political enemies there, especially poll workers who cried fraud in the sketchiest Michigan voting districts.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Like Dreamboat Newsom in California, Mr. Pritzker is busily running Illinois (and especially Chicago) into bankruptcy and chaos. Looks aren’t everything, but if Dreamboat gives the vapors to Karens across the land, the Illinois governor will get them shrieking in terror as from the sight of King Kong on Skull Island
Who else is there? Michelle O, of course, who will be instantly branded as a catspaw for her husband seeking a fifth term — as Barack himself has averred in so many words: just hanging out in the background, managing things in his jogging suit. That would be the ultimate Banana Republic set-up for us and I don’t think the voters will go for it. It all boils down to the Party of Chaos being thrust into chaos. Can it even survive “Joe Biden?”
Then there is Mr. Trump himself. He remains the object of widespread rabid loathing, yet more and more Americans are coming to appreciate his opposition to Woke Marxist chaos and intel blobbery-gone-wild in our land. His performance last night featured his usual jumpy locutions and incomplete sentences, but in contrast to the current president, he looked neither senile nor an agent of sinister forces dedicated to bringing our country to its knees.
Had Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. been present both of the others would have been badly outclassed verbally and intellectually.
If Mr. Trump survives the blob’s efforts to delete him before November, I’m sure Mr. Kennedy will play a prominent role in another Trump administration. He knows exactly where the rot is and how to roust it out.
* * *
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack
Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/28/2024 - 16:20
Published:6/28/2024 3:35:48 PM
|
[Markets]
US Special Ops Group Warns Of Domestic Terror Threat Due To Biden's "Unsecured Southern Border"
US Special Ops Group Warns Of Domestic Terror Threat Due To Biden's "Unsecured Southern Border"
National security concerns are rising as the Biden administration's apparent experiment with open southern and northern borders has facilitated the greatest illegal alien invasion this nation has ever seen. Customs data suggests that at least 10 million migrants have crossed into the US illegally during Biden's first term. Alarming data shows a spike in military-aged men and dangerous terror-watch list suspects who have also illegally crossed the border or been apprehended.
Democrats have rolled out the red carpet for illegal aliens while gaslighting the American people and blaming everyone but themselves for the migrant crisis. The White House has been watching its polling data slide and decided late last month to sign an executive order to limit the number of illegals flooding the nation.
However, any efforts by the White House or Democrats to salvage their reputations after the biggest policy blunder in a generation are likely too late. The damage is irreversible, with 10 million illegals roaming the country freely. In recent weeks, the nation has been shocked by some migrants committing heinous crimes, including the rape and murder of young American women.
The rise in illegal crossings and suspected terrorist encounters at the southern border has been enough of a red flag for the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) to release an open letter of concern about the "current heightened risk of terrorist attacks against targets inside the United States and both US and allied interests abroad."
Here's SOAA's full letter, dated June 25:
June 25, 2024
An Open Letter of Concern,
Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) represents thousands of Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Air Force Air Commandos, and other special operators who have fought and currently serve on behalf of our nation. We are gravely concerned by the current heightened risk of terrorist attacks against targets inside the United States and both US and allied interests abroad. Our complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, without a viable stay-behind or over-the-horizon counterterrorism and intelligence capability to suppress threats, has created a vacuum in the region in which anti-American terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, are flourishing once again.
The United States has lost significant intelligence collection capabilities in the region, leaving federal authorities blind and deaf to emerging threats emanating from the region. The creation of new and reestablishment of previous terrorist training camps within Afghanistan has led to successful, deadly attacks by the Islamic State's regional branch against targets in Iran and Russia and elsewhere, providing further credence to the notion that the US is at risk. This heightened risk has been verified by multiple departments and agencies of the federal government, mainstream journalists and publications, former senior officials from both parties, and from former allies with whom we maintain communication.
This risk is compounded by developments in the Middle East and in the porous, unsecured southern border through which we have seen numerous instances of individuals on terrorist watchlists and others from adversarial countries attempt to enter the US — and those are the ones we know about only because they were detected. We do not know how many other threats are already currently inside the US.
At the same time, the US has continued to send the Taliban millions of dollars for "counterterrorism assistance," which has proved to be only marginally successful due to a lack of partners on the ground in Afghanistan. Millions more in aid is being repurposed by the Taliban to bolster their own operations.
As former White House and CIA Intelligence Agency Mike Morell recently wrote, "The Terrorism warning lights are blinking red again — echoes of the run-up to 9/11."
Time is running out, and urgent executive action is needed to address this ever-increasing threat to US national security, our families, our allies, and our homeland.
Signed, The Hon. Christopher Miller, Chair Daniel Elkins, President Alex Plitsas, Secretary Jaclyn Scott, Director Dr. Newton Howard, Director Keith Pellegrini, Director Doug Livermore, Vice President Christopher Lay, Treasurer Jess Monaco, Director Scott Mann, Director David Cook, Executive Director
The letter was first published on X by Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson.
None of what SOAA is saying should come as a major surprise to readers. We have detailed in numerous reports how open borders are a red carpet for criminals and terrorists into America:
For more on the border discussion, we are featuring a special ZeroHedge debate on this topic tonight at 7 PM ET.
Former Navy intel officer Jack Posobiec, Libertarian presidential Candidate Chase Oliver, The Hill's Robby Soave, and author Ryan Girdusky will be on the debate stage. The debate will be moderated by The Intercept's Ryan Grim and Unherd's Emily Jashinsky who host the Counter Points show on YouTube.
Tune in live this evening at 7 PM ET on the ZeroHedge homepage, X feed, Rumble channel, or YouTube. The debate will also be uploaded the following day to the ZeroHedge Spotify page.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/26/2024 - 18:00
Published:6/26/2024 5:11:27 PM
|
[]
Gagging Trump Again, This Time in Florida
Published:6/25/2024 1:28:50 PM
|
[]
Oakland Mayor Denies Wrongdoing, Questions the Timing of 'FBI Intrusion'
Published:6/24/2024 9:03:38 PM
|
[ee31714a-b544-504e-a783-906ca7c353c3]
Oakland mayor breaks silence after FBI raid: ‘I have done nothing wrong’
Oakland’s embattled mayor Sheng Thao gave her first public remarks Monday after FBI agents raided her home last week, saying she was innocent. She said she has "done nothing wrong."
Published:6/24/2024 8:36:11 PM
|
[Politics]
Judge Cannon dives into Justice Dept. budget at Trump hearing
Funding for classified documents special counsel and Donald Trump’s false statements about FBI are focus of hearings in Judge Aileen Cannon’s court room.
Published:6/24/2024 1:22:41 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
Oakland Leaders, Voters Demand Answers After FBI Raids Mayor Thao’s House
The raid came a day after the city clerk confirmed a recall effort had enough valid signatures to put the vote on the November ballot.
The post Oakland Leaders, Voters Demand Answers After FBI Raids Mayor Thao’s House first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:6/21/2024 2:51:42 PM
|
[]
Christopher Rufo: Biden Has Dispatched The Secret Police of the FBI to Harass and Intimidate Whistleblowers Who Expose Hospitals Illegally Performing Trans Surgeries on Children
And the FBI, of course, is only too eager to play the role of the American Stasi. The allegation brought forward by whistleblowers is that some trans doctors are defrauding Medicaid by falsifying eligibility for trans "therapy." Rather than investigate...
Published:6/18/2024 6:18:17 PM
|
[Markets]
US Has Reportedly 'Ramped Up' Intel-Sharing With Israel, Alarming Democrat Lawmakers
US Has Reportedly 'Ramped Up' Intel-Sharing With Israel, Alarming Democrat Lawmakers
Washington has significantly ramped up its intelligence-sharing with Israel, despite recent attempts by the Biden administration to distance itself from large-scale civilian casualties mounting from the Rafah ground offensive as well as airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
The Washington Post has documented the Pentagon is now handing an "extraordinary amount" of intelligence to Tel Aviv, including "drone footage, satellite imagery, communications intercepts and data analysis using advanced software, some of it powered by artificial intelligence."
Much of this is said to be focused on hostage-location efforts, given also that among the Oct.7 captives there were eight Americans, but three are since believed deceased.
"If we managed to unilaterally get information that we could act on, and we thought we could actually get US people out alive, we could act," a US official told the Post, adding "there was genuinely very little information specifically about US hostages."
The report confirmed the presence of the US military's elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at a CIA station in Israel, as well as personnel from the Defense Intelligence Agency. These US intel officials have been meeting with their counterparts in the country "on a daily basis". The State Department has also has a special envoy on the ground, while the FBI has also assisted ongoing investigations related to Oct.7.
WaPo also revealed that earlier in the war the US had intricate plans for a potential hostage operation to retrieve the remaining American captives (dual nationals) held by Hamas. That operation, which would have been extraordinarily high-risk both militarily as well as politically for the Biden administration, was shelved.
All of this increased intel-sharing has worried some lawmakers, who don't want the United States to be seen as too hand in glove with Israeli operations in Gaza. The Post wrote:
Other officials, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill, worry that intelligence the United States provides could be making its way into the repositories of data that Israeli military forces use to conduct airstrikes or other military operations, and that Washington has no effective means of monitoring how Israel uses the U.S. information.
Meanwhile there is this surprisingly blunt assessment from Politico concerning how the crisis impacts Biden's political future in the White House...
"Diplomats and world leaders - many of whom are gathering for the G7 summit here this week - have begun to worry that Biden’s reluctance to more fully break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could cost him the election in November," Politico writes.
Jeremy Shapiro, a former Obama State Department official who commented on recent conversations with European diplomats, explained to the outlet that "The level of concern is something between panic and terror." He added: "The alliance is too important for these countries right now."
As for growing nervousness among US lawmakers over the intel-sharing relationship at a time Israel is being increasingly seen as a 'pariah' among many countries abroad, AntiWar.com notes that—
Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has been critical of the lack of supervision on intelligence-sharing with Israel. Calling for more "robust oversight," he recently co-sponsored a bill that would require top officials to notify lawmakers if US intel was used for an operation that resulted in civilian deaths. The legislation is still making its way through the House.
A trickle of Biden admin 'protest resignations' have meanwhile continued...
While the Biden administration has publicly pushed back and fought against things like the recent anti-Israeli actions of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, it has faced some degree of revolt from within - including a spate of protest resignations in the State Department and other agencies like USAID.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 06/17/2024 - 17:20
Published:6/17/2024 4:38:16 PM
|
[Markets]
Chinese May Be 'Probing' American Military Readiness Through Base Breaches, Lawmaker Says
Chinese May Be 'Probing' American Military Readiness Through Base Breaches, Lawmaker Says
Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Fears of attacks on the homeland and foreign espionage stemming from the border crisis are growing in light of illegal immigrants breaching military bases as well as those with suspected terrorist ties.
On June 11, news broke that eight Tajikistan nationals with possible connections to the terrorist group ISIS had been arrested in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles in recent days.
Tajikistan nationals were responsible for the March 22 attack on the Crocus City Hall concert near Moscow that left more than 140 people dead and hundreds injured.
The individuals in the United States were being tracked by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. They were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on immigration violation charges, according to wire agency reports.
The suspects crossed the U.S. southern border illegally in 2023 and were released after being vetted. The federal government’s screening process did not turn up any information that would have identified them as potential terrorists with ties to ISIS.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), who sits on the National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs subcommittee, said that wiretap information revealed that one of the Tajikistan suspects was discussing “bombs.”
“That’s scary. The vetting is a joke,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times.
The incident highlights an increase in foreign nationals from adversarial nations encountered at the U.S. southern border from 180 different countries that include state sponsors of terrorism.
One of the fastest-growing groups of illegal immigrants arriving from hostile countries is China.
In the first seven months of this fiscal year, beginning October 2023, border agents have apprehended 48,500 Chinese illegal immigrants, which stands to smash the 2023 fiscal year’s record of 52,700.
At the same time, Chinese nationals and others from adversarial nations have increasingly been caught attempting to access America’s military bases.
The breaches sparked Mr. Fallon’s subcommittee to hold a classified hearing in May titled: “Intruder Alert: Assessing the CCP’s Ongoing Infiltration of U.S. Military Installations.”
Mr. Fallon described what he heard in the closed hearing as concerning.
Dozens of incidents have come to light of Chinese nationals snapping photos near military installations and critical infrastructure such as reservoirs, claiming to be tourists—even when the facilities are rural and isolated, he said.
Mr. Fallon noted that Navy Adm. Daryl Caudle said in a recent interview that incidents of foreign nationals from China and Russia trying to breach Navy bases occur “two or three times a week.”
“There are some folks in positions of authority and power that want to stick their heads in the sand and say, ‘Oh, there’s nothing here,’” he said.
It could be that the Chinese are probing how the United States responds and how close they can get to bases, he said.
That information would be critical, for example, should there be a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.
While the majority of Chinese nationals coming into the United States may be looking for a better life, even if 1 percent were communist “sleeper agents,” that would give Beijing about 480 operatives, he said.
Mr. Fallon said he doesn’t think the record-breaking number of Chinese nationals entering the United States illegally is an accident.
“That is a sky-high number when you consider under the Trump administration, it was under 1,000,” he said.
In fiscal year 2020, Border Patrol agents apprehended 554 Chinese illegal immigrants nationwide, according to government data.
“So I unfortunately believe that there’s going to be something awful that happens from an incident like this,” Mr. Fallon said.
More than 9 million illegal immigrant encounters have been documented nationwide by Border Patrol since the beginning of 2021.
Additionally, officials estimate hundreds of thousands of unknown “gotaways” who aren’t seeking asylum have illegally crossed the southwest border.
Republicans have long complained that President Joe Biden created the border crisis by rescinding policies under the Trump administration, such as “Remain in Mexico,” where asylum-seekers waited in Mexico while their cases were pending.
But Democrats have downplayed mass illegal migration and have blamed global political and economic instability for the border crisis.
House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability member Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said during the hearing last month that America’s immigration system was “broken” and implied racism was the reason behind opposition to migration.
Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow at the Center for Border Security and Immigration for the Heritage Foundation who worked as Consul with the State Department during the Trump administration.
Read more here...
Tyler Durden
Sat, 06/15/2024 - 23:20
Published:6/16/2024 12:30:53 AM
|
[Markets]
Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto Released Despite FBI Resistance
Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto Released Despite FBI Resistance
Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearPolitics,
The 2023 Nashville Covenant School murders understandably received massive news coverage when they occurred. The fight over obtaining the murderer’s diary also received news attention. But when “nearly four dozen pages” of the murderer’s diary were finally released last week, the mainstream media completely ignored it. It turns out that behind the scenes, the FBI had fought hard against the diary’s release. Some Covenant School parents also opposed releasing the diary because it would force families to re-live the nightmare. The Tennessee Star’s parent company, Star News Digital Media, successfully filed two lawsuits to obtain the diary.
Five days after the release of the diary, with the exception of the New York Post, which is a national news outlet, the news coverage was limited to seven other conservative outlets such as The Daily Wire and Newsbusters.
The school murderer was transgender, and her diary reveals a suicidal left-winger who hated whites. The FBI expressed concern that the release of the diary from a transgender person could lead the public “to dismiss the attacker as mentally ill,” which would “further permeate the false narrative that the majority of attackers are mentally ill.” It worried that the diary could “potentially inflam[e] the public.”
The FBI worried that releasing the diary could have “unintended consequences for the segment of the population more vulnerable or open to conspiracy theories, which will undoubtedly abound.” Self-professed “experts,” the FBI fears, will “proffer their perspectives” in the press.
But there is a lot of important information in the diary. As is very typical of mass public shooters, the murderer was suicidal: “A terrible feeling to know I am nothing of the gender I was born of. I am the most unhappy boy alive. I wish to be dead.” She was also on the anti-anxiety drug Buspirone, whose potential side effects include “abnormal dreams, outbursts of anger, tremors, and physical weakness.”
The FBI worries that the diary will help create a link in people’s minds between mass murderers and mental illness, but suicidal people presumably have some mental health problems. Nor should the link be particularly surprising given that the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that 51% of mass public shooters in the last 25 years were actually seeing mental health care professionals before their attacks. That is 2.5 times the rate in the general public.
The FBI acknowledged that Americans want to “understand what led to such tragic events.” But the FBI argued these statements “seldom provide the answers” and the diaries and manifestos were “often misleading.” Yet the national media appears completely uninterested in why these murderers pick the targets they do and how their motivation to get media coverage is important in understanding how to stop these attacks.
The diary showed that the murderer had picked the Covenant School because it was a soft, unprotected target. Even if the national media ignored these comments, the Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake, who had access to the diary, said on the day of the attack, “There was another location that was mentioned, but because of a threat assessment by the suspect of too much security, they decided not to.” A couple of days later, Nashville Council member Robert Swope stated that the murderer “looked at” two other Nashville public schools before deciding “the security was too great to do what she wanted to do.”
While the FBI worries that many of “the offenders themselves do not fully grasp or comprehend” what they are writing, there is a logic to attacking facilities assumed to be gun-free zones, like the Covenant School, and trying to maximize the amount of media coverage that they receive. The FBI may not want to acknowledge this, and the media may not want to cover these points, but we see it consistently in these attacks.
The mass murderer wanted to get attention for the difficulties facing transgender individuals. She compared trans individuals to other groups in a way that indicates she clearly believed that transgender people didn’t have the same rights: “Disabled have rights, civil races have rights, LGBTQ have rights, gun owners have rights.” But referring to the life of transgender people, she declared: “… with no rights, anyone’s country is a s***** dictatorship.”
The news media and the FBI under the Biden administration are attempting to control the information available to Americans about a mentally troubled woman who identified as a man. The Biden administration is free to argue against linking transgender issues to mental illness or mass murder, but censoring the information is not the right approach.
John R. Lott Jr. is a contributor to RealClearInvestigations, focusing on voting and gun rights. His articles have appeared in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune. Lott is an economist who has held research and/or teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, and Rice.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/14/2024 - 20:00
Published:6/14/2024 7:03:47 PM
|
[]
FBI Tried to Unmask Employee as Trump Supporter
Published:6/11/2024 12:12:59 PM
|
[Politics]
Violent crime continues to drop — but it’s not clear how much
New FBI data offer an incomplete picture of a drop that isn’t mentioned much on some cable-news channels.
Published:6/11/2024 10:26:39 AM
|
[Politics]
FBI Suspends Employee’s Clearance After Probing Trump Support, COVID-19 Views
The FBI revoked the security clearance of an employee after asking colleagues questions–under threat of discipline–about his support for former President Donald Trump and views... Read More
The post FBI Suspends Employee’s Clearance After Probing Trump Support, COVID-19 Views appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:6/10/2024 11:37:08 PM
|
[Markets]
Jim Jordan Reacts To Shocking Report Of Potential Juror Misconduct in Trump Trial
Jim Jordan Reacts To Shocking Report Of Potential Juror Misconduct in Trump Trial
Authored by Ben Sellers via Headline USA,
During a visit to Monroe, N.C., to support conservative congressional candidate Mark Harris on Friday, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was surprised by a reporter’s question about fresh allegations from former President Donald Trump’s New York lawfare trial that could potentially result in a mistrial.
Earlier in the day, Judge Juan Merchan wrote a letter to Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, notifying them of a Facebook comment that was discovered under a routine court post dated May 29, the day before a jury convicted Trump of 34 felonies.
The commenter, identifying himself as a juror’s cousin by the name of Michael Anderson, appeared to offer some advance inside knowledge about the verdict.
“Well, if that happened, that’s wrong,” Jordan responded when asked about the breaking news. “I have not heard that and I don’t know if it’s true, but you obviously aren’t supposed to be doing that, so we’ll have to see.“
In his letter, Merchan claimed he had just learned of the comment.
“Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention,” the judge wrote. “The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29.”
Merchan’s letter did not clarify whether the person who posted the comment was indeed related to a juror.
The judge, a Biden donor, was widely criticized for his biased rulings throughout the trial and was even suspected of receiving bribes through his daughter, whose digital marketing firm drew millions of dollars from Democrat politicians—some of whom became involved directly in the case.
Merchan’s brief letter did not outline any sort of follow up steps, although it stands to reason that the court will investigate the matter and would declare a mistrial if, in fact, juror misconduct were established.
The concern provides yet another avenue for appeal to Trump, whom many legal experts believe will ultimately see the case overturned, although the disruption to his campaign and political fallout from the conviction have yet to be determined.
At the Friday night fundraiser in North Carolina, Jordan offered high praise for Trump, with whom he has formed a close bond, touting his tenacity in particular.
“His attitude in light of everything they’ve done to him is just phenomenal,” Jordan told the audience.
The charter chairman of the House Freedom Caucus recalled an anecdote from the night Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by the FBI—an unprecedented abuse of power at the time—which took place shortly before the 2022 midterm election.
“There are certain times where you think, ‘This is not supposed to happen in this country,'” Jordan said of his reaction after seeing the news unfold on television with his wife.
When he called Trump, however, the reaction was far from what one might have expected:
“Jim, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to our party,” Trump reportedly told him. “My numbers are gonna go up.”
During an exclusive interview with Headline USA, Jordan said House Republicans had received a response on Friday after sending a letter last week to Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg and his lead prosecutor, requesting that they testify before the House Weaponization Subcommittee.
“They just sent us a letter back today saying they’re willing to talk to us, so we’ll see,” said Jordan. “But we may have to, you know, go with a subpoena to get him [Bragg] to testify as well.”
The House is also investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has publicly quarreled with Jordan and leveled ad hominem attacks against him for his oversight efforts.
Jordan noted, however, that as of this week, “Willis’s case is falling apart” following an appellate court’s decision to suspend the trial until October while evaluating whether she is ethically fit to continue as prosecutor.
The House is also attempting to impose accountability on special counsel Jack Smith. However, a proposed bill likely faces steep odds of clearing the Democrat-run Senate, even though it ironically vests greater authority in the upper chamber to close a constitutional loophole exploited by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“We’re trying to get legislation out to say that any special counsel who wasn’t approved by the Senate gets no funds,” Jordan said. “It‘s the way to get at this Jack Smith and the ridiculous things he’s done.”
Florida Judge Aileen Cannon has similarly scheduled a June 21 hearing for Trump and his co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case to argue that Smith’s appointment was unlawful since he was never confirmed by the Senate—a legal theory first floated by former Attorney General Ed Meese.
Jordan downplayed calls for the House to rescind two contempt of Congress resolutions passed by Democrats in the previous session, saying the move was unlikely to have any effect on the already prosecuted cases.
Two former Trump advisers—Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon—became the first people prosecuted and convicted under the law in roughly four decades, fueling more outrage and allegations of two-tiered justice. Navarro is currently incarcerated, and Bannon is expected to report to jail by the end of the month.
In the wake of Trump’s felony convictions, House Republicans have faced brutal criticism from some for their inaction, with Jordan, in particular, bearing the brunt of it over his failure to live up to his promise as a GOP attack dog—instead becoming the champion of the “strongly worded letter.”
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
The Center Square’s Brett Rowland contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 06/09/2024 - 22:10
Published:6/9/2024 9:33:37 PM
|
[Markets]
The Speech That Military Recruiters Don't Want You To Hear
The Speech That Military Recruiters Don't Want You To Hear
Authored by Casey Carlisle via AntiWar.com,
Before we get into this, let’s discuss what most would label “a hypothetical.” Tonight, I’m going to break into your home, point a gun at you, and rob you – all the while claiming that I’m not your enemy. Your enemy, I’ll say, is elsewhere, and I don’t mean across the street but in a different country. What will you do? By a show of hands, will you fight back and protect those in your home by evicting me or even by killing me? By a show of hands, who will thank me and travel to said country in search of the enemy, leaving those in your home vulnerable to me? Anyone? Nobody? It sounds absurd, but for reasons that I’ll soon explain, you’ll understand that it’s more real than hypothetical.
Hello, I’m Casey Carlisle. I’m a West Point graduate, and I spent five years in the Army, including 11 months in Afghanistan. Some of you are thinking about serving your country, and most of you are asking yourselves, “Why am I listening to this guy?” I’m glad that both of these groups are here, and I promise that my remarks will cause both groups to think differently about military service.
I was a high-school senior on September 11th, 2001, sitting in class and stunned after hearing the principal announce that our country had just been attacked. Why would someone want to do this to the greatest country on Earth? I was also livid, and I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill the people responsible for this atrocity, and my dilemma then was between enlisting in the military to exact revenge now or first spending years at a military academy before helping to rid the world of terrorists. I chose the latter, so I didn’t deploy to Afghanistan until 2009. My time there radically changed my views, which was uncomfortable, but, as with failure, discomfort breeds learning.
I learned that not only were we not keeping our fellow Americans safe or protecting their liberty, we were further impoverishing one of the poorest countries in the world. I watched in disgust my alleged allies – the Afghan police – rob their neighbors while on patrol and in broad daylight via traffic stops. Imagine getting pulled over, not for speeding, but because the cop hopes to rob you. My enemy – the Taliban – didn’t do such things, which is why I ended up having more respect for them than for my mission or for those who were allegedly helping us accomplish it. “Oh, but they’re horrible in other ways,” you might argue, and I’d agree; however, it’s much harder to kill an idea than it is to kill a person. Killing someone who holds an idea that you find distasteful only helps that person’s loved ones accept that idea. It turns out that killing someone for their ideas is a great way to spread those ideas.
Instead of dismissing me as an anti-American lunatic, consider the following. In the year 2000, the Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan, and today, they control all of it. This is just one of the reasons why I feel contempt for those who thank me for my alleged service. Our ‘service’ was worse than worthless, and the people thanking me were forced to pay for it. All of those who died there did so for nothing. And the innocent Afghans who were displaced, injured, or killed during our attempt to bring democracy to a country that didn’t want it were far better off in 2000 than they are now.
To be clear, the desire to serve one’s country is noble, but we must first define “country.” Serving one’s country is entirely different from serving one’s government. They are not the same. Serving one’s country is serving one’s family, friends, neighbors, and the land that they’ve made home. Serving one’s country is serving one’s community. Serving one’s government, however, is ultimately what everyone does when they enlist or when they take my path as an officer. Who are these people in government that you’ll end up serving? Are they your family, friends, or neighbors? For the most part, they are not, yet, they are ultimately who will decide your fate while in uniform. Whether they’re politicians or bureaucrats, they decide what serving one’s country entails, and, naturally, they’ll subordinate our country’s prosperity to their job security. If given the opportunity, these people will not hesitate to send you to your death if it means scoring a measly political point against their ideological foes. Serving one’s country in this context – reality – means serving these parasites.
Here’s something else to consider. When you tell the military recruiter that you want to enlist, what are you implying? You’re telling the recruiter – a government agent – that not only do you want to serve your government but that you’re willing to kill for it. Tell any other recruiter in the real economy of that proclivity, and, at the very least, you won’t be getting that job. Seems obvious enough, but have you heard of Operation Vigilant Eagle? This operation, headed by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, tracks veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and characterizes them as extremists and potential domestic terrorists. Why? Because these veterans might be disgruntled or suffering from the psychological effects of war. Yes, you heard that correctly.
The government that bribed the graduating senior into joining the military now views that same patriot as its enemy. You might protest, thinking that getting put on a list isn’t all that bad, but I’d argue that lists are never created as an end; they’re always a means, and in this case, too, they’re diabolical. Not only were these veterans put on a list for the ‘crime’ of justifiably feeling disillusioned, when a veteran was explicitly critical of the regime, these veterans were labeled “mentally unfit” and forced into psychiatric facilities where they’d receive treatment for whatever illness the regime deemed appropriate, indefinitely. I don’t know if this program continues today, but if the regime were to tell us, “We’re not doing that anymore,” would you believe it?
I know you weren’t around for 9/11, but I’m sure you recall March of 2020. I bet you were almost as angry then as I was. We all witnessed a very sad truth: the “home of the brave” is devoid of the brave, and the “land of the free” hasn’t been free for quite some time. Most Americans not only take their liberty for granted, they readily reject it. They’re terrified of it, which is why they hate it. What we all witnessed then undermines the tired slogan – the blatant lie – that those who join the military are “fighting for our freedom.” This is no theory; it’s why, to this day, the military is struggling like hell to recruit people like you. They think you’re stupid.
But you might’ve realized that serving one’s country necessarily implies staying in one’s country. You might be thinking that when one joins the military, he swears to defend the Constitution against all enemies – foreign and domestic; however, the regime would like you to combat only the foreign enemies that it tells you to hate. Who kicked you out of school in 2020? Who cancelled your games, meets, matches, and races? Who prevented you from traveling freely? Who thought it best that you not embrace your loved ones? Who masked you? Our own government is our greatest threat, and it has proven to be so scared of those it duped into ‘serving’ that it’ll send you to some other country or to a mental hospital in order to protect itself.
I’m not telling you what to do. I’m making sure that you’re fully aware of what you’re getting into if you decide to join the military, as I’m sure the recruiter didn’t tell you about Operation Vigilant Eagle. He probably didn’t tell you that 18 veterans kill themselves every day, and he probably didn’t tell you that the military is the final political option. But does it seem like the regime waits until all else fails before getting involved, or is it easier to count the countries that do not have U.S. military personnel stationed in them? Did the recruiter tell you that those who don’t ‘serve’ pay the salaries of those who do? Seems a bit backward – to be forced to pay those who allegedly serve you.
Most of the millionaires and billionaires in this country got rich by actually serving their fellow man via voluntary exchange, not by living off of their neighbors. I encourage you to consider taking that route – enriching yourself by enriching your community, not by parasitizing it. And no need to fixate on getting rich. If your interactions with your community are voluntary – no matter how lousy the pay – they’re likely honorable, no killing required. In closing, take a deep breath, and look around. Your country is here. We are your country, and when things get bad, we will need you here, not fighting those in a different country who pose no threat to us while leaving us vulnerable to our greatest threat. Thank you for listening.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 06/08/2024 - 23:20
Published:6/8/2024 11:11:17 PM
|
[In The News]
Memo Sounds Alarm Over Massive ‘Unconstitutional’ Database Of Americans’ Info Pushed By Biden Admin
by Rebeka Zeljko at CDN -
Advancing American Freedom, a conservative group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, is sounding the alarm about a Biden administration effort to collect Americans’ private financial information, according to a memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2012 authorized a program …
Click to read the rest HERE-> Memo Sounds Alarm Over Massive ‘Unconstitutional’ Database Of Americans’ Info Pushed By Biden Admin first posted at Conservative Daily News
Published:6/7/2024 8:22:36 AM
|
[Society]
The FBI Stopped Targeting ‘Radical Traditional Catholics.’ The SPLC Didn’t Get the Memo.
You may have heard that, early last year, the FBI issued a memo targeting Catholics—specifically “radical traditional Catholics”—that relied on the work of the far-left... Read More
The post The FBI Stopped Targeting ‘Radical Traditional Catholics.’ The SPLC Didn’t Get the Memo. appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:6/6/2024 9:01:55 PM
|
[d1303666-c5ff-5e29-b412-bf1fda6e09f6]
Laptop deniers conspired to make Hunter Biden news disappear. They can’t now
The Hunter Biden laptop is real, even the FBI doesn't deny it anymore. But the media and top political figures spent years doing just that. Now the press is unwilling to ask about it.
Published:6/6/2024 12:26:02 PM
|
[Uncategorized]
Hunter Gun Trial: FBI Agent Confirms No One Tampered With Hunter’s Laptop
The prosecution entered the laptop as evidence to show Hunter was on drugs at the time of the gun purchase.
The post Hunter Gun Trial: FBI Agent Confirms No One Tampered With Hunter’s Laptop first appeared on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.
Published:6/6/2024 11:07:33 AM
|
[2024 Election]
Pollak: Revoke the Security Clearance of Everyone Who Signed the Hunter Biden Laptop Letter
FBI agent Erika Jensen confirmed Tuesday that Hunter Biden's laptop was in fact real and authentic -- meaning that every single one of the 51 "former intelligence officials" who called it Russian misinformation in 2020 should lose their security clearances.
The post Pollak: Revoke the Security Clearance of Everyone Who Signed the Hunter Biden Laptop Letter appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:6/6/2024 1:34:16 AM
|
[In the Courts]
FBI Witness Completely Blows Up Hunter Biden Legal Team’s Laptop Narrative
by Katelynn Richardson at CDN -
FBI agent Erika Jensen said on the stand during Hunter Biden’s trial Wednesday that she had not seen any evidence of tampering with the data on his infamous laptop. Hunter Biden’s legal team has sought to cast doubt on the authenticity of data on the laptop, which their client abandoned …
Click to read the rest HERE-> FBI Witness Completely Blows Up Hunter Biden Legal Team’s Laptop Narrative first posted at Conservative Daily News
Published:6/5/2024 11:09:20 PM
|
[Markets]
Limited Hangouts: Tidal Waves Don’t Discriminate
Limited Hangouts: Tidal Waves Don’t Discriminate
Authored by Lori Weintz via the Brownstone Institute,
From a Russell Brand video posted May 28, 2024:
Quote from former CDC Director Robert Redfield: “[The Covid vaccines] really aren’t that critical for those that are under 50 or younger, but those vaccines saved a lot of lives…To be honest, some people got significant side effects from the vaccine. I have a number of people that are quite ill and they never had Covid, but they are ill from the vaccine, and we just have to acknowledge that.
Russell Brand’s response: “How long can you maintain the sort of slow drag that it was all worth it?… I have a question, why are there so many excess deaths all around the world?…Attempting to continue to claim that the pandemic was a success, that it was well handled, that the medications were effective, that there hasn’t been an extraordinary swindle practiced on the people of the world – seems more and more difficult to do with a straight face.”
Limited Hangouts:
To present a “limited hangout” is to put part of the information out there, in order to divert from other facts or activities you don’t want someone to notice. It is a sleight of hand, a way of getting ahead of damning truths that are too big to keep covered up, like the 1,637,441 Vaccine Adverse Event Reports (VAERS) connected to the Covid-19 injections in the US (It’s estimated that VAERS is largely underreported and represents only around 1% of actual adverse events.)
We apparently have reached a moment of communal introspection with regard to Covid-19 and our pandemic response, leading to increasing limited hangouts. The New York Times in a May 4, 2024 article informs us that some people have been injured by the Covid vaccines and implies, rightly so, that we should help them. The Brookings Institution report of 2024 commends us for saving thousands of lives by “slowing the spread” of Covid through changing our behaviors (aka social distancing and masking) until we could get the Safe and Effective™ vaccines. Everyone from former FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock to former CNN reporter Chris Cuomo now acknowledges that maybe some things could have been handled better. But they all assure us, “We did the best we could with the information we had at the time.”
An insightful individual who writes under the pseudonym of A Midwestern Doctor accurately describes the New York Times vaccine injury article as a piece, “sculpted to redeem the medical system’s reputation while admitting the absolute minimal amount of guilt necessary to accomplish that objective.”
Widening the Overton Window
It’s good to see the Overton window concerning the pandemic response opening up a bit in the mainstream media and government agencies. But it’s important to be very clear that their concessions are largely a limited hangout, designed to deflect from their own failures. In addition, these limited hangouts are an attempt to distract from the continuing goal of controlling everyone through repeated use of “emergencies” that require us to give up our freedom in order to be “safe.” Or at least to be “good citizens,” which was a powerful guilt-inducing motivator during the pandemic to gain compliance from people who weren’t actually afraid of the virus.
Why Can’t We Just Move on?
With the expansion of acceptable dialogue, some admissions that mistakes were made, and the Covid pandemic seeming to be fully in our rearview mirror some ask exasperatedly, “Why do you want to keep talking about the pandemic anyway? Why can’t you just move on?”
I’ll tell you why. There are many powerful people and organizations who are weaponizing “pandemic preparedness” for ulterior motives having nothing to do with health. In fact, the perpetrators of pandemic harms have doubled down, even as they engage in limited hangouts. It appears they believe, probably correctly, that if they say something enough times such as, “The vaccines saved a lot of lives,” people will believe it.
The Push for Digital ID’s
Buried in the Times article that finally acknowledges the possibility of some vaccine injuries is the idea that we need a national medical database in order to better track, and therefore compensate for such injuries. This would be a database where all citizens’ medical records are tracked electronically and managed by the federal government. Not only would this complete the government takeover of our medical system that has been underway for years, but it would also be the end of personal privacy. The phrase “national medical database” is a euphemism for “vaccine passports” – required medical proof in order to participate in the public square.
FDA Still Wants Money for Hazardous Gain-of-Function Research
Another reason why we can’t just forget about the pandemic is because of people like Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf. In a May 8, 2024 US Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing, Califf requested a total of $3.69 billion for the FDA budget, including an additional $168 million partly to pay for “countermeasures” to prevent a “wider outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza.” Califf states, “If we institute the countermeasures now, and reduce the spread of the virus…we’re much less likely to see a mutation that jumps to humans – for which we’re ill-prepared.”
Califf, among others, is attempting to generate fear of H5N1 avian flu that has been circulating for decades in various animal populations, and likely won’t become easily transmissible to humans unless someone in a lab tinkers with it. Let’s not forget that the nature of viruses, even lab-made ones, is to be either highly transmissible, or highly virulent, but not both. A virus can’t survive long and infect many others if it kills its host. With the medical advances we have today, we know how to treat the symptoms of illness, even in those infected with a new virus. However, the policy response to a pathogen can be horrific, as seen throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yet Robert Califf wants even more money for the FDA, partly so they can develop virus countermeasures, which is an Intelligence Community term having to do with biological warfare. In other words, Califf acknowledges that lab-made viruses are being studied around the world, and the viruses created in these labs require antidotal vaccines. Making a pathogen more transmissible, or more virulent, through experimentation is called gain-of-function research, and it is a controversial practice. Not all research in biological laboratories involves gain-of-function, and perhaps some of the research has public health benefits, but there is often lax oversight and poor adherence to containment protocols.
Lab Leaks Have Led to Multiple Disease Outbreaks in the Past Century
Epidemiologist Donald A. Henderson, credited with the eradication of smallpox through a targeted vaccination campaign, coauthored a paper in 2014 expressing concerns about gain-of-function research on the H5N1 virus:
Scientists recently have announced that they genetically modified H5N1 in the laboratory and that this mutated strain spread through the air between ferrets that were physically separated from each other. This is ominous news. Since ferret influenza virus infection closely mirrors human infection and is similarly transmissible, these scientists appear to have created a bird flu strain with characteristics that indicate it would be readily transmissible by air between humans. In fact, the lead scientist on one of the experiments explicitly stated this.
The question is this: Should we purposefully engineer avian flu strains to become highly transmissible in humans? In our view, no. We believe the benefits of this work do not outweigh the risks. Here’s why. There are no guarantees that such a deadly strain of avian flu would not escape accidentally from the laboratory. (emphasis added)
There is substantive evidence that various diseases in the past century including the 1976 swine flu outbreak, the surge of Lyme disease in the US, and the Covid-19 pandemic can be traced to lab experiments that escaped and infected the general population.
The best thing the Appropriations Committee can do for the health of the US and all citizens of the world is put a moratorium on gain-of-function research. While they’re at it, the Senate should consider restructuring that needs to happen at the FDA, and throughout the entire National Institutes of Health (NIH). They could start by removing Califf from his position, as his investments in pharmaceutical companies and stints working for them have surely compromised his ability to properly regulate the products from which he profits. In addition, the Senate should outlaw the current corrupt system in which over half of the NIH’s operating budget is provided by pharmaceutical companies the NIH is charged with regulating.
Bill Gates and the World Health Organization
Another reason we cannot just “move past” the Covid-19 pandemic is because in addition to people like compromised Director Robert Califf, we have Bill Gates, the largest donor to the World Health Organization (WHO) just behind the United States and Germany. Gates, with his outsized influence on the WHO, has the stated goal to deliver a vaccine in 100 days against the next virus. He’s heavily invested in mRNA vaccines and has found the returns on investments in vaccines to be highly profitable.
Gates, who has engaged consistently in pandemic wargame simulations for over two decades, espouses a preparedness plan that involves year-round pandemic teams in every community around the world. These teams would immediately enforce contact tracing and quarantine upon the appearance of any communicable disease until the vaccine can be deployed. In a 2022 TED talk, Gates even provided a visual of his dream, coming soon to a city near you:
The WHO is pushing for a worldwide Pandemic Treaty, and changes to the International Health Regulations. These changes, if approved by member countries, will allow the WHO unprecedented influence on community responses to epidemic and pandemic threats, as identified by the Director General. The current Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is not a medical doctor, is known to be weak on human rights, and has an uncomfortably close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. Tedros is among the many unelected persons, including government bureaucrats and public health officials, who wreaked havoc during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pandemic Preparedness as a Weapon:
The reason why we must still attempt to unpack the facts is because so many are willing to use “pandemic preparedness” as a weapon, and so few have acknowledged the absolute failure of our Covid-19 pandemic response. For example, the previously referenced Brookings Paper from March 2024, titled “The Impact of Vaccines and Behavior on US Cumulative Deaths from Covid-19,” attempts to lend validity to the unscientific human disaster of “social distancing.”
Social distancing was found to have zero impact on the spread of disease. Former FDA Director Scott Gottlieb even stated that the 6-foot distancing rule was “arbitrary,” and Dr. Anthony Fauci said the 6-foot rule “sort of just appeared.” Those admissions bring small comfort to schools, care centers, hospitals, churches, businesses, performing arts, and other organizations, and individuals whose day-to-day lives were harmed, sometimes permanently, by the 6-foot rule.
Johns Hopkins: Lockdowns Have Had Little to No Effect on Covid-19 Mortality
A 2022 analysis conducted by professors at Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics considered 18,950 studies on the effectiveness of lockdowns, paring down to 24 that met the screening procedures for their meta-analysis. For purposes of the analysis, lockdown was defined as “at least one compulsory, non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI)…that directly restrict(s) people’s possibilities, such as policies that limit internal movement, close schools and businesses, and ban international travel.” The 24 qualified studies were divided into three groups: lockdown stringency index studies, shelter-in-place-order (SIPO) studies, and specific NPI studies, and determined that “Lockdowns have had little to no effect on COVID-19 mortality.” The authors summarized:
While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.
New Zealand: a Lesson in Lockdown Failure
One need only look at the data from New Zealand in the following chart to know that social distancing and locking down entire populations does not prevent the spread of respiratory viruses.
As pointed out by former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Ramesh Thakur, 99.3% of Covid deaths in New Zealand occurred after 60% of the population was fully vaccinated. In Australia, another hard lockdown country, that figure was 93%. In other words, harsh lockdowns can delay the spread of a respiratory virus, but not prevent it. Meanwhile, the lockdowns cause economic mayhem, and social and emotional devastation, and inflict permanent disadvantages on the upcoming generation. Lockdowns are a violation of fundamental human rights and should never be tolerated again as a viable means of containing viral spread, not even if a perfect vaccine antidote can be manufactured in less than 100 days.
The above, and similar charts for other states and countries, was created by Ian Miller from official publicly available data. It’s mystifying that anyone can actually look at these charts and claim, “Yes, but Covid-19 would have been so much worse if we hadn’t masked, locked down, and taken the vaccine.” How can there be worse results than exponential growth in cases; increased illness, hospitalizations, and deaths in the vaccinated; increased Covid deaths after vaccination, and a marked rise in excess deaths – especially among the young?
Brookings Advocates for More of the Same in the “Next Pandemic”
Yet the Brookings paper joins emotionally abusive governments in praising people for engaging in anti-human social distancing because it was effective in “slowing the spread of a dangerous infectious respiratory disease for a long time.” Brookings does acknowledge that these “behavior changes” came at a “tremendous economic, social, and human cost.” The solution, according to Brookings? More of the same, but with more targeted interventions:
To avoid similar pain from mitigation in the next pandemic, we argue that we need to make investments now not only in vaccine development, but also in data infrastructure so that we can precisely target behavior-oriented mitigation efforts to minimize their economic and social impacts of the next pandemic.
Brookings advocates for both vaccine development and a centralized “data infrastructure,” so “we can precisely target behavior-oriented mitigation efforts” in the next pandemic. Refer back to Bill Gates’ paradise of swooping in by helicopter with medical SWAT teams ready to take you and yours down in order to save the world.
One might consider the times a mask was worn below the chin, a trip was taken to get away from onerous Covid regulations, a fake vaccine card was obtained to facilitate normal life, or a dinner party exceeded the numbers allowed by government decree. Then project what it might be like as the recipient of targeted “behavior-oriented mitigation efforts” in a world where those behaviors are digitally tracked and “corrected” in real time.
Bill Gates compares people to computers that need new software, and viruses to something that can be prevented from spreading by dousing them with interventions, like putting out a fire. Both analogies are untethered from real science and tone-deaf to the complexities of the human body, normally functioning societies, and our interdependence with a microbial planet.
Believing the Evidence of Your Own Eyes
The Brookings paper does a lot of talking and citing of selective data but ignores the common sense facts before our eyes. We all observed that social distancing and masking did not prevent the spread of Covid. The data and our own experiences consistently showed that Covid-19 largely was not a serious disease except for the elderly and the medically frail – something that was already known in February 2020. We all noticed that most vaccinated people contracted Covid-19. We also have observed that many multiple-vaccinated people appear to be repeatedly ill with cold and flu symptoms, while many have developed autoimmune illnesses, neurological issues, infertility problems, cancers, and heart issues within the past three years.
Those with the Megaphone Still Claim the Pandemic Response was a Success
Yet still the official Covid narrative persists, as does the fear-mongering. On May 16, 2024, the New York Times ran an opinion piece from John M. Barry, a scholar at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, titled “As Bird Flu Looms, the Lessons of Past Pandemics Take on New Urgency.” In his article, Barry claims that the public health measures taken to slow the spread of Covid are effective, but:
[E]ven the most extreme interventions cannot eliminate a pathogen that escapes initial containment if, like influenza or the virus that causes Covid-19, it is both airborne and transmitted by people showing no symptoms. Yet such interventions can achieve two important goals.
The first is preventing hospitals from being overrun. Achieving this outcome could require a cycle of imposing, lifting and reimposing public health measures to slow the spread of the virus. But the public should accept that because the goal is understandable, narrow and well defined.
The second objective is to slow transmission to buy time for identifying, manufacturing and distributing therapeutics and vaccines and for clinicians to learn how to manage care with the resources at hand.
The number of inaccuracies in just these three paragraphs from Barry’s opinion piece is astounding, qualifying more as outright propaganda than as a limited hangout.
We hear the word a lot, but a refresher from Britannica on Propaganda is in order:
Propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to manipulate other people’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions…Propagandists…deliberately select facts, arguments, and displays of symbols and present them in ways they think will have the most effect…To maximize effect, they may omit or distort pertinent facts or simply lie, and they may try to divert the attention of the reactors (the people they are trying to sway) from everything but their own propaganda. Comparatively deliberate selectivity and manipulation also distinguish propaganda from education. (emphasis added)
Propagandists such as Barry draw on their credentials, and use their writing and reasoning skills, to “distort pertinent facts or simply lie” to prop up the official Covid narrative, in this case. Gratefully there are resources for balanced discussion. There are credible individuals discussing legitimate studies and data that refute the false statements in Barry’s opinion piece. Unfortunately, many people do not know where to find their work, or simply don’t want to know.
Power, Control, Money: The Great Motivators
It would indeed be wonderful to say that the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us. Been there, done that. But unfortunately, there is an entire industry comprised of billionaires, corporate, NGO, military, intelligence, and government interests that is driving the idea of scary pandemics, and preparing radical interventions to deal with them. What could possibly be their motive? Nothing new under the sun. It’s always power, money, and a desire for control driving any human experiment that leads to cruel oppression, misery, and death. We saw it writ large through the campaigns of Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, and Mao. We saw it with Mussolini, Pol Pot, and Pinochet.
The desire for power at the expense of others is as old as the history of mankind, but for the first time, the campaign is being orchestrated on a global scale. What was revealed during the Covid pandemic was not new ways to handle frightening pandemic-causing pathogens. What was actually revealed was a global trial run of how to bring entire populations into subjugation through fear and medical tyranny under the false assurance of Safety.
The experiment wasn’t completely successful, largely because the Emergency Use Authorized (EUA) vaccines failed to prevent disease or transmission. It’s not hard to develop a product at “Warp Speed” when all safety regulations and accountability are removed from product development, approval, and distribution. The mRNA platform was not ready for human use, and still isn’t, but the EUA Covid injections were administered to billions of people under cover of a “global emergency.” The debacle of increasingly noticeable vaccine injuries is the direct result.
Nonetheless, there are plans to convert traditional vaccines to the flawed mRNA platform, as well as to develop new profitable mRNA injections to treat pandemic-potential viruses in the future. Health and Human Services is currently in discussions with Pfizer and Moderna to produce mRNA flu vaccines to treat H5N1, which announcement led to a surge in biotech companies’ stocks this week, according to the Financial Times.
An academic who went through WWII in Nazi Germany was interviewed afterward and explained how the horrors of that time gradually grew upon them, over several years, almost without them noticing. He said:
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security…
One had no time to think. There was so much going on…I speak of my colleagues and myself, learned men, mind you. Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to…we were decent people – and kept so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated…that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us.” (p. 166-168, They Thought They Were Free, By Milton Mayer)
Government Intent to Silence Dissent:
It’s very important to those in charge that we not think and not notice. This is why we hear so much today about the dangers of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, and how much the government wants to protect us from such harmful speech. In fact Homeland Security is so worried they published a Terrorism Threat Bulletin calling people who say things that might undermine public trust in government institutions “domestic threat actors.”
This bulletin was accompanied by government censorship efforts that led to removed posts and accounts throughout all social media platforms, as well as character defamation, loss of employment, and other forms of persecution – all as a consequence of exercising freedom of speech. It also led to a Disinformation Governance Board created by the Biden Administration, that was “paused” after three weeks of comparison to the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984, and following concerns raised about the head of the Board.
The government’s concerns about correct information do not extend to itself, or its mouthpieces, of which the New York Times is one. Despite the limited hangout acknowledging some “rare but serious” Covid-19 vaccine injuries, the Times is quick to claim there’s no way to know for sure if these people really were injured by the injections. The Times states:
The government’s understaffed compensation fund has paid so little because it officially recognizes few side effects for Covid vaccines. And vaccine supporters, including federal officials, worry that even a whisper of possible side effects feeds into misinformation spread by a vitriolic anti-vaccine movement.
Ah, yes. Those nasty anti-vaxxers. The ones that Homeland Security calls domestic terrorists, along with parents who speak out at school board meetings, and people who have concerns about election integrity. Homeland Security says people who question, “sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions.” So don’t ask questions and just do as you’re told. Whatever happened to the widespread consensus of the truth in Pres. Ronald Reagan’s quip, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help?’”
Multi-billionaire Bill Gates in his grandfatherly sweater and glasses said in the previously referenced TED talk that it’s, “Kind of weird” how the anti-vaxxers respond to him. He claims his Gavi foundation has saved tens of millions of lives through vaccines. Gates states, “It’s somewhat ironic to have someone turn around and say no, we’re using vaccines to kill people or to make money or…some strange things like, that I somehow want to track, you know, the location of individuals because I’m so deeply desirous to know where everybody is. Uh, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that information.” Cue the helicopters.
I understand people who want to believe that we did the best we could with the information that we had, and that our efforts to stop a virus made a difference. It’s comforting to believe that those in charge have our best interests at heart. It’s easier and less frightening to believe wise scientists, doctors, and government officials know just what we need to be “safe.”
It’s generally thought that we enlightened modern people could never be susceptible to a mass formation like that of Nazi Germany, or Mao’s Cultural Revolution; we would recognize what was going on and we wouldn’t fall for it. There seems to be a general belief that the freedoms guaranteed in the US Constitution are inviolable, and therefore we do not need to fight to retain them.
A limited hangout may open the Overton window a bit, but it’s being made very clear to anyone who is paying attention that the powers that be are loathe to give up the control they tasted during Covid-19, and next time they intend to completely squash dissent.
Combatting the Tidal Wave of Corporate and Government Control:
From attorney Jeff Childer’s Substack on US Memorial Day May 27, 2024, we gain some insight into the call to action for our times:
Lincoln’s [Gettysburg Address] could just as well have been written for us the living in the equally extraordinary year 2024, Anno Domini. In particular, the second half of President Lincoln’s short speech seems aimed right at us, reminding us that the honored dead made their ultimate sacrifices for a reason.
Our heroic dead expect that we, the living, will keep fighting to the last man and woman. In Lincoln’s own words:
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Ours is not a war fought with cannons and musket balls. Our generation’s war is a mental, emotional, and cultural war, a war waged in secret and in lies, a war with needles and mysterious snake oil payloads, a mendacious war waged against truth, thoughts and feelings.
Keep fighting! Fight for the dead. Fight for the living. Fight for those not yet born. Fight and never stop fighting, until we have achieved a new birth of freedom in America.
Tidal waves don’t discriminate between those who believe in them, and those who don’t. A wave of censorship and government controls is building, fueled by fears about another pandemic, or climate change, or whatever “emergency” can be exploited to justify government power grabs. The only thing that will stop the censorship and control from washing over everyone is enlightened people who refuse to be swept up, and who work together to push back.
Republished from the author’s Substack
Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 - 18:45
Published:6/5/2024 6:20:20 PM
|
[2024 Election]
FBI Witness Confirms in Court: No Tampering Occurred with Hunter Biden's Laptop
No tampering occurred with Hunter Biden's laptop, witness Erika Jensen, an FBI agent, told Hunter's gun trial jury on Wednesday.
The post FBI Witness Confirms in Court: No Tampering Occurred with Hunter Biden’s Laptop appeared first on Breitbart.
Published:6/5/2024 1:00:03 PM
|
[Congress]
‘VINDICATION’: FBI Reinstates Jan. 6 Whistleblower’s Top Secret Security Clearance
The FBI has reinstated the security clearance of a whistleblower who questioned the narrative about confidential informants and the Capitol riot, and who said that... Read More
The post ‘VINDICATION’: FBI Reinstates Jan. 6 Whistleblower’s Top Secret Security Clearance appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Published:6/4/2024 1:21:34 PM
|
[64c1d6bf-87c6-5fb4-90a3-ff1664332421]
Garland to push back on Trump's 'locked & loaded' FBI claim, deny DOJ control of NY case
Attorney General Merrick Garland will testify before lawmakers and address claims about the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
Published:6/4/2024 6:13:14 AM
|
[64c1d6bf-87c6-5fb4-90a3-ff1664332421]
Garland to push back on false claims FBI tried to assassinate Trump, DOJ was involved in NY case
Attorney General Merrick Garland will respond to false claims the FBI planned to kill former President Trump and false claims the DOJ was involved in Trump's New York case.
Published:6/4/2024 5:25:50 AM
|
[Markets]
"The Ninnies Of Biden-World Seem Not To Understand..."
"The Ninnies Of Biden-World Seem Not To Understand..."
Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
Which Movie Will It Be?
“It’s almost as if the principals (prosecutors and judge) were performing for their political audience - with a wink, a nod and a stage whisper (“watch this!”) as they ignore yet another fundamental element of American due process.”
- Jack DeVine on “X”
The ninnies of Bidenworld seem to not understand that by subjecting Mr. Trump to a kangaroo court they’ve made him the kind of outlaw that Americans revere above every other archetypal hero.
He’s the new American Robin Hood, the people’s outlaw - with “Joe Biden” relegated as the wicked Sir Guy of Gisbourne, master of foul play and servant of the evil regent Prince John (Barack Obama).
The galvanizing moment in this melodrama was not the verdict in Judge Juan Merchan’s kangaroo corral of a court, but the next day in the White House when “Joe Biden” was asked to comment on it as he shuffled away from the podium, halted, turned, and smirked silently at the cameras, a gesture that is sure to live in infamy.
The fun should really kick off when the judge gets to sentence Trump-the-Outlaw July 11, a few days before the Republican convention. Life in some New York state pen? A year on Rikers Island? House arrest? Who knows. But you can bet that just like Robin-of-Locksley, Donald-of-Mar-a-Lago will manage to slip out of his captors’ clutches and cleverly vanquish them.
In a sane world, of course, the US Supreme Court would be entreated to adjudicate this gross insult to due process as spelled out in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
But you might have noticed that this is not a sane world, at least not these days, and not a few supposedly sober analysts, such as Jonathan Turley of George Washington University, claim that that a SCOTUS review is a long-shot — which only confirms the reigning insanity since it’s hard to imagine a more compelling moment for the SCOTUS to carry out its fundamental duty: to elucidate the meaning of our Constitution and resolve disputes arising therefrom.
Now, it looks like what we’re seeing after a few days for the shock to wear off, is a mighty righteous rage arising among the faction designated as “Red” — that is, the anti-Woke, anti-Globalist, anti-neoMarxist, anti-Deep State blob, anti-Lawfare, anti-Democratic Party chunk of the adult US population. It amounts to a recognition that we are already in some kind of civil war, and that the tactics of “Joe Biden’s” party must and will be opposed by all means. The SCOTUS is the last resort of legal means for redress in this matter, and they would punt this duty at great peril to the country.
To clarify just what this matter is: “Joe Biden’s” White House and Department of Justice conspired with New York County (Manhattan) authorities to maliciously construct and execute a court case made of patently false charges against their principal political adversary, and with a cavalier disrespect to both state and federal law.
As such, the “Stormy Daniels Payoff Case,” as it’s known, is just the latest ploy in a long train of lawless gambits starting with RussiaGate in 2016 (the “Steele Dossier” and all) that have left hundreds of high appointed officials in the federal bureaucracy (plus many retired from it) liable to severe criminal charges ranging as far as sedition and treason. RussiaGate may have started its life as a typical campaign prank by doofuses in the Hillary Clinton organization, but it turned seriously sinister when it was adopted by the FBI and the CIA to execute a plan to harass and defenestrate the elected president, Mr. Trump.
With each subsequent prank, to distract from and cover-up their crimes, the same group of officials has committed more crimes, to the point that the federal government now behaves like a gigantic mafia, dedicated to nothing but crime of one kind or another. The Democratic Party has become this mob’s protective order; the old mainstream media its mouthpiece; and the people of this country increasingly its victims. Naturally, these criminals are now desperate to avoid having to account for their crimes, which is exactly and explicitly what Mr. Trump promises to do.
So, there it is: a criminal regime versus the people defended by their outlaw hero. Does the SCOTUS want to aid and abet this gang of criminals — led by the way, and just so you know, by Barack Obama and his Kalorama coterie, John Brennan, Mary McCord and her Lawfare coterie, Hillary and Bill Clinton and their henchmen, and scores of additional DC lawyers, fixers, and judges — or, will the SCOTUS avert an epic crisis of legitimacy by stepping in to quash the ridiculously fake New York case just concluded?
If they demur in some cowardly blur of excuses, then it’s onto the next truly nation-ending stage of this game. The “Joe Biden” regime would like nothing more than an outbreak of civil violence they can blame on “right-wing extremists.” In fact, they could and probably will gin that up themselves, just as they transformed the Jan-6-21 mass protest against widespread ballot fraud into a “MAGA insurrection.” You are also certainly aware of the sinister millions, mainly young men from faraway lands, who “Joe Biden” imported across the border the past three years. And you might imagine how they could be put to use against American citizens, along with the Democratic Party shock troops known as BLM and Antifa. Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the streets.
And, of course, even if the SCOTUS puts an end to this latest bit of Lawfare fuckery, the “Joe Biden” crew can always opt to just up and kill its opponent. Nothing is beneath them now. But when that happens, we’ll be in a very different kind of movie.
* * *
Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack
Tyler Durden
Mon, 06/03/2024 - 16:20
Published:6/3/2024 3:55:41 PM
|
[Markets]
How Much Money Is Lost To Cybercrime?
How Much Money Is Lost To Cybercrime?
In April, the FBI released its annual Internet Crime Report, evaluating all complaints logged via its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). According to the Bureau's analysis, losses connected to cybercrime complaints were $12.5 billion in 2023, up $2 billion year-over-year and more than triple the amount recorded in 2019 despite the number of complaints less than doubling compared to four years prior.
As Statista's Florian Zandt shows in the chart below, based on data provided in the report shows, reported cybercrime losses increased significantly from 2021 onwards.
You will find more infographics at Statista
While 2021 only saw a year-over-year increase of roughly $700 million lost even though complaints shot up, the jump in losses from 2021 to 2022 was decidedly more pronounced. This suggests criminals were able to illegally extract larger sums of money per breach.
Most funds were lost due to investment fraud and hacked business email addresses. These two attack vectors were connected to around 60 percent of all money reported stolen. Although these figures are already substantial, the actual numbers may be much higher due to the FBI only being able to analyze cases reported via its own platform.
The data also shows a clear bias in geographical distribution: 521,652 complaints were filed from the United States and 288,355 from the United Kingdom. Zooming in on U.S. cases, most complaints originated in California, Texas and Florida. The former also ranked first in terms of money lost with $2.1 billion or 17 percent of the reported worldwide total. Apart from the U.S. and the UK, the nations with the highest complaint prevalences were Canada (6,601), India (3,405) and Nigeria (1,779).
Tyler Durden
Sun, 06/02/2024 - 09:55
Published:6/2/2024 10:36:41 AM
|