Tag: joe biden

Democrats Exhibit Amnesia About Biden-Era Lawfare

A federal grand jury in Virginia indicted Comey last month for lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding by “willfully and knowingly” lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he testified that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” concerning the FBI’s 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of private email for confidential information.

A 2018 inspector general report suggests that the main factual dispute may be whether Comey authorized, or was merely informed of, the leaks.

Documents published by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley show that while serving as Barak Obama’s FBI director and then Trump’s first FBI director, Comey used the Steele dossier, which he knew to be unsubstantiated Clinton campaign disinformation, to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign, doctor an intelligence assessment to falsely claim the purpose of Russian interference in the 2016 election was to benefit Trump, and entrap Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Grassley also issued reports establishing that Comey gave Clinton special treatment during the investigation of her emails and intended to exonerate her even before her FBI interview.

This month, Letitia James was indicted for filing a fraudulent mortgage application that described an investment property she was purchasing in Norfolk, Virginia, as her second home. By doing so, she allegedly reduced her interest and fees by $18,933 over the life of the loan.

James ran for Attorney General in New York on the promise that she would “get Trump.” When she was unable to find grounds to pursue criminal charges, she made unprecedented use of a consumer fraud law to pursue Trump for allegedly defrauding Deutsche Bank by overstating the value of Mar-a-Lago. Judge Arthur Engoron implausibly found that Mar-a-Lago’s $18 million tax assessment was its true value. Though Deutsche Bank officials testified they were not defrauded, lost no money, and would happily again work with Trump, Engoron banned the Trump family from doing business in New York, and imposed a penalty that, with interest, topped $500 million.

James vigorously sought to execute the judgement and foreclose on Trump’s properties. An appellate court stepped in, reducing Trump’s appeal bond to $175 million, and later throwing out the financial penalty.

Both indictments were secured by former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, appointed to serve as interim U.S. attorney in Virginia when experienced prosecutor Erik Seibert declined to pursue the cases, and came just days after Trump posted a caustic text on Truth Social directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey and James.

Democrats have been more muted about last week’s indictment in Maryland of former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton for mishandling classified information.

I previously wrote about Democrats’ hypocrisy in objecting to investigations of their colleagues who engaged in lawfare against Trump and his supporters, though I cautioned the administration against prosecutions based on laws that are not traditionally enforced.

The facts suggest the three cases are indeed retribution. That does not void the indictments. Every lawyer is taught that the purpose of criminal justice is rehabilitation, retribution, and deterrence. Rather, the issue is whether these are selective prosecutions of laws that are not enforced against others. That is difficult to establish, particularly for these laws and by officials who hold a public trust.

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Sen. Tom Cotton Urges DHS Audit of High-Risk Biden-Era Visas After Arrest of Alleged Hamas Terrorist

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the Senate Republican Conference chair and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to audit every visa approved under the Biden administration for applicants from high-risk countries, warning that Biden’s vetting policy “allowed dangerous individuals tied to terrorist groups to enter the United States.”

In a letter sent Wednesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Cotton urged a full review of all visas granted since 2021 from what he called “high-risk regions,” following the indictment of Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi — a 33-year-old Gazan national living in Louisiana, accused of taking part in the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel before entering the United States on a fraudulent visa.

Cotton wrote in the letter that the case “highlighted the extreme danger posed by the previous administration’s policies,” referencing Justice Department filings that identify Al-Muhtadi as a Hamas operative tied to the assault.

He detailed how Al-Muhtadi “applied for a visa through the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, falsely denying his paramilitary training and terrorist affiliations.”

“Despite blatant evidence of these activities on his social media,” Cotton added, “the Biden administration approved his application, granting him legal permanent resident status and entry into the United States.”

The letter stated that the vetting process “overlooked easily accessible evidence of his terrorist ties.”

The Arkansas senator warned that the incident underscores a broader failure in the system.

“Since October 7, 2023, thousands of visa applications from Palestinians have been processed through Egypt, often without adequate review of digital footprints or terrorist watchlist cross-checks,” he wrote — cautioning that such lapses could mean other terrorists have already entered the country under Biden-era approvals.

Cotton called on DHS to “conduct an audit of all visas issued through high-risk countries since 2021, prioritizing potential affiliations with Hamas or other designated terrorist groups,” and to “implement enhanced social media monitoring for visa applicants from high-risk regions” along with “mandatory real-time FBI watchlist checks to ensure no terrorist slips through undetected.”

He concluded with a blunt warning: “The safety of Arkansans and all Americans depends on reversing the damage done by Biden’s open border policy.”

According to federal filings, investigators say geolocation data placed Al-Muhtadi’s phone near Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the October 7 attack, and his social media featured photos of him undergoing weapons training and wearing terrorist insignia.

Records show he arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on September 12, 2024, and later lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before relocating to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he was arrested.

He faces charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and making false statements in the immigration process, and remains in custody pending proceedings.

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Wall Street Journal Weeps for Murderers Trump Sent to Supermax

Shortly before he left office, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 convicted murderers. Those convicts, all on death row, were now facing life behind bars.

Two of those convicts, Norris Holder and Billie Allen, killed bank guard and former police officer Richard Heflin in a 1997 bank robbery. Other family members of murder victims were outraged and hurt by Biden’s move.

Alex Snell, the brother of Amanda Snell, was one of those people. Amanda, 20, was strangled by Jorge Avila-Torrez in 2009. “I’d rather see it go back to the way it was, where he was sentenced to death,” Snell said. “He should have gotten that penalty.”

President Biden said he commuted the sentences (save for three convicted of terrorism or hate crimes) because he had a change of heart on the death penalty, and the Wall Street Journal says he found it “needlessly cruel, as well as impossible to administer fairly.”

It seems the Wall Street Journal believes those commutations somehow absolve the convicted murderers from facing consequences for their actions, and they’re appalled that President Trump hasn’t made their lives behind bars easier.

Here’s more:

Among the last actions by former President Joe Biden before leaving the Oval Office was commuting the death sentences of 37 convicted murderers.

Hours after President Trump took over, he ordered the life sentences of these men be made, in effect, a living hell.

With that guidance, officials canceled plans to transfer most of the inmates to mainline prisons. Instead, Emil Bove III, the acting deputy attorney general at the time, ordered all but a handful requiring specialized medical treatment be housed in the U.S. Penitentiary at Florence, Colo., the harshest institution in the federal system.

Inmates at the Colorado prison—intended for the nation’s most violent—typically spend 23 hours a day alone in their cells. At a meeting in May with Attorney General Pam Bondi for families of loved ones killed by the 37 convicts, some officials said they wished conditions at the prison, known as ADX, were even worse.

Aaron Reitz, a former assistant attorney general, held a roundtable with victims’ families. “If you’re not going to be killed lawfully at the hands of the state, well, your prison sentence is going to be hard as hell,” Reitz said in an interview.

There is little sympathy for these convicts outside of the Wall Street Journal editorial room.

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SHOCK: Biden Judge Orders ICE Agent Arrests at Courthouses

Judicial tyranny continues.

A federal judge recently ordered ICE agent arrests at courthouses.

US District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, a Biden appointee, barred ICE agents from arresting illegal aliens at Cook County, Illinois, courthouses if they don’t have a warrant.

Judge Cummings said the ICE agents can be arrested if they violate his court order.

The judge barred ICE agents from making “collateral arrests” – a term that describes the arrest of illegal aliens who happen to be discovered during the arrest of another alien for whom they have a warrant to take into custody.

Breitbart reported:

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered that ICE officers are barred from arresting migrants at courthouses if they don’t have a warrant. He also ordered that federal law enforcement can be arrested if they violate his orders.

The judge’s order aimed to prevent what are called “collateral arrests” of people whom ICE officers discover are illegal on the spot. These are migrants that ICE agents come across by happenstance while looking for someone they have a warrant to apprehend.

Cummings stated that courthouses must be places where witnesses and suspects feel safe.

“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” he said in his order.

Judge Cummings also cited in his ruling arrests that have been made recently outside county courthouses where ICE has taken “collateral” migrants into custody in the Chicago area.

“One thing seems clear: ICE rousted American citizens from their apartments during the middle of the night and detained them — in zip ties no less — for far longer than the ‘brief’ period authorized by the operative regulation,” the judge wrote.

The DHS defended its practice of arresting illegal aliens at courthouses.

“We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law,” DHS said in a statement to CBS News. “Nothing in the Constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them.”

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FEMA politically discriminated against Americans under Biden: Report

Reports of FEMA disaster assistance teams in 2024 bypassing homes displaying signs supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump were true and were indicative of a pattern tracing back to Hurricane Ida in 2021, says an internal probe by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In addition, the 22-page analysis made available Tuesday says the Federal Emergency Management Agency violated the Privacy Act of 1974, treated individuals unfairly based on political beliefs, and these actions stemmed from systemic issues in FEMA policies, processes and practices.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said evidence is clear of “textbook political discrimination against Americans in crisis.”

“The federal government,” Noem said, “was withholding aid against Americans in crisis based on their political beliefs – this should horrify every American, regardless of political persuasion. For years, FEMA employees under the Biden administration intentionally delayed much-needed aid to Americans suffering from natural disasters on purely political grounds.

“They deliberately avoided houses displaying support for President Trump and the Second Amendment, illegally collected and stored information about survivors’ political beliefs, and failed to report their malicious behavior. We will not let this stand.”

Matt Taibbi was first to report the investigation’s conclusion on Monday. The Center Square on Monday was unsuccessful in obtaining a copy of the report before the Tuesday morning national release.

Evidence examined by the Privacy Office of Homeland Security included screenshots of FEMA’s tool to collect and maintain information for the purpose of disaster survivor assistance. The report says, “The entries within the tool clearly showed that canvassers included information related to political party affiliation, campaign signs, and other information that may be considered First Amendment-protected freedom of expression within the free-text notes section.”

And, it said, “In several instances, canvassers’ records indicate that canvassers skipped homes and left no disaster assistance flyers, citing the First Amendment-protected activity.”

A map of the United States includes instances in eight states between 2021 and 2024, with the testimony to Congress quote of former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell above it. She said, “I do not believe that this employee’s actions are indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA.”

Marn’i Washington, fired from her position as a disaster survivor assistance crew leader for FEMA, on the Nov. 11 edition of the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show had confirmed homes skipped. She said it happened at homes not only with signs for Trump but also for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

She said it happened in Florida and the Carolinas. Hurricane Milton was one of three hurricanes to hit Florida in 66 days, and another was Helene that ravaged Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee – the most deaths and mostly costly damage coming in North Carolina.

On the Homeland Security report’s map, two notations for North Carolina include instances in October and November last year. The first says, “The survivor had a sign that read NRA, we do our part,” and the second said, “Survivor stated that homes have been damaged, but there are Republicans on the grounds with guns, so please be careful.”

A dot for Florida from October says, “Trump sign, no contact per leadership.” Another dot for November said, “There was a political flyer so I didn’t leave a FEMA brochure.”

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COLBERT FACT-CHECKS KJP: Biden’s Former Spokesperson Gets Schooled on National TV After Calling His Ouster a ‘Betrayal’

It finally happened. Even Stephen Colbert, the late-night comedian who’s spent years carrying water for the Biden White House, has had enough.

During an awkward and brutally honest exchange, Colbert dunked on Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) after she tried to paint Joe Biden’s ouster as some grand “betrayal” by his own party.

But Colbert wasn’t buying it.

KJP immediately launched into her typical talking points about Biden being “engaging” and “putting the American people first,” but Colbert hit back with a dose of reality.

That’s when things went downhill for KJP fast. As she blamed critics for an “ugly assault” on Biden, Colbert cut her off.

Transcript via Vigilant Fox:

COLBERT: “I saw a guy who I had not seen backstage… It seemed like a dramatically different person. And at 81 years old, that’s not entirely unexpected. You can imagine why people got so worried.”

KJP: “No one is saying that he didn’t age. I’m talking about did he have… the mental acuity, was he able to govern? And the man that I saw nearly every day was someone who was engaging, understood policy, and was always putting the American people first.”

COLBERT: “I don’t think anybody questioned his heart or his policies. But it takes more than that to be the President of the United States. And in a moment of great pressure on stage, we saw someone shock us and worry us, and nothing could assuage that worry. So I don’t think it was necessarily a betrayal of Joe Biden as other people saying, ‘We don’t think we were shown the Joe Biden that you saw.’”

KJP: “I saw every day a really ugly assault on someone who had 50-plus years of experience and who, again, objectively had done a good job as President of the United States. And it was heartbreaking to see that type of behavior.”

COLBERT: “What happened was the debate performance. Everything is downstream of that.”

KJP: “And no one is saying that the debate performance wasn’t shocking, wasn’t a disappointment. No one is saying that.”

COLBERT: “Disappointment is such a light term.”

KJP: “I use your word.”

COLBERT (mocking): “It was harrowing. Look, listen, we’re never going to agree on this.”

KJP: “We’re not.”

COLBERT: “Other than the fact that I’m glad that you came here tonight and I’m telling you to wrap over there. Would you like to say one more thing before we go?”

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James O’Keefe Exposes MASSIVE $100 BILLION Federal Contracting Scam

An explosive new undercover investigation by O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) released Monday on X has blown the lid off a massive federal contracting scandal, a $100 billion scheme exploiting taxpayer-funded minority-preference programs under the Biden Administration.

In a shocking undercover video posted on X, OMG revealed how ATI Government Solutions, a federal contractor supposedly “Native American-owned,” admitted to exploiting the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program to grab over $100 million in no-bid government contracts, while outsourcing up to 80% of the work to other firms.

“I tell you pass-throughs are a great thing!”
“We only do 20%… The rest goes to subs.”
“And remember, there’s no competition.”

James O’Keefe, posing as representatives from a fake cybersecurity firm called “Sev-Zero Solutions,” met Cromwell under the guise of hiring her catering side business.

Within minutes, the ATI executive bragged about how the company leverages its Native American tribal affiliation with the Susanville Indian Rancheria to obtain exclusive federal contracts, then turns around and pays subcontractors to do almost all the work.

O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) reported:

Within two minutes of sitting down with Melayne at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, she volunteered the entire scheme – no prompting, no hesitation. She told us she was the Director of Contracts for ATI Government Solutions. Then she dropped the real bombshell:

“Because we’re Native American-owned, we’re heavily favored for government contracts.” “There’s no bidding war.” Said Cromwell

She explained how ATI uses its tribal status to lock down multi-million dollar no-bid contracts, then passes off the majority of the work to subcontractors-firms that would never qualify on their own. Meanwhile, ATI keeps the lion’s share of the cash. Cromwell revealed to our undercover journalist;

“So, a lot of our subcontractors bid on contracts that were perfect in their industry, but because they weren’t Native American, they wouldn’t win it,” she said. “So we bid on it for them, they become our sub, and it’s an automatic win because you’re Native American status. There’s no bidding war.”

Under the 8(a) system, meant to empower disadvantaged businesses, “pass-through” contractors such as ATI serve as paper fronts, taking much of the money off the top while doing little or none of the work. Cromwell admitted the company performs only 20% of its multi-million-dollar no-bid federal contracts, subcontracting out the remaining 80% – a textbook case of a “pass-through” scheme.

“Correct. Yeah. They’re doing most of the work. But you want to really stay on, make sure they’re on time.”

“So, we do about 20% of the work.”

“You don’t want to share that,” – Cromwell added.

In short, ATI secures the contracts, gets the money, acts as a passthrough and it’s the tax payer who gets screwed over.

On paper, ATI is owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria, a federally recognized native american tribal entity, in northern california.

Arian confirmed to us that if they were to appear as the owners of our company it would make it easier to obtain government contracts, and goes on to claim that we may need to relinquish 51% of the ownership to them.

OMG Undercover Journalist: “So really, it’s really just coming up with a number that you would want in order to appear to be the owner of our company. So we’ll discuss what percentage you would get when we come to the signing of the contract.”

Melayne confirms that ATI is abiding by this 51% tribal ownership…on paper.

“51% On paper. Correct. as long as it’s on paper. That you’re 51%, you’re good to go.” Said Cromwell.

ATI may be 51% tribally owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria ON PAPER, But Melayne revealed to us that ATI was founded in collaboration with the Rancheria by two caucasian DC executives; Firmadge Crutchfeld and Scott Deutschman. And that they manage all of ATI’s operations.

In 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration awarded a record-breaking $183 billion in federal contracts to “small businesses,” including those under “socially disadvantaged” categories like 8(a).

But as the OMG exposé shows, many of these firms are front companies exploiting racial-preference loopholes to funnel billions to private consultants and politically connected insiders.

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Patriot Act supporting senators are mad when they are the targets

When it was reported this week that former President Joe Biden’s FBI may have targeted the cellphones of eight Republican senators in the “Arctic Frost” investigation related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot, the Republicans that were supposedly surveilled were not happy about it.

One was Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who posted on X Wednesday, “We need to know why (ATT) and (Verizon) did not challenge the subpoena for the phone records of eight United States senators when the Biden FBI spied on us during an anti-Trump probe.”

“There needs to be a reckoning for this,” she declared.

On Thursday, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) explained to Blackburn why this might have happened, “It’s called the Patriot Act, FISA, and CISA.”

“Please vote no next time,” he insisted.

During her tenure in the House, Blackburn voted for the Patriot Act each time it came up for renewal since it was passed in 2001 and numerous other federal surveillance measures since that time too.

The Patriot Act was first hastily signed into law in the politically charged days and weeks after 9/11, significantly expanding the federal government’s spying and law enforcement powers. Section 215 allows the F.B.I. to obtain secret court orders and to collect any business records the agency deems vital to national security.

This Act supposedly designed to target potential terrorists has since been used to go after drug dealers, track website users, parents at school board meetings, and more.

Perhaps even spying on Republican senators.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has long been a vocal champion of the Patriot Act. He was also one of the Republicans reportedly surveilled — and he’s very mad about it.

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Graham roared to Attorney General Pam Bondi, “Can you tell me why my phone records were sought by the Jack Smith agents?” — Smith being the J6 investigation special counsel.

“Why did they ask to know who I called and what I was doing from January 4th to the 7th?” Graham wondered loudly and aggressively.

In May 2015, after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) attempted to block an extension of the Patriot Act with a ten-plus hour filibuster, Sen. Graham famously rolled his eyes over Paul’s efforts.

Paul warned that the Patriot Act undermined civil liberties. Then and now, Graham has always appeared to have full faith in the government handling power responsibly.

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More Americans Experienced Homelessness During Biden’s Term

The number of adults experiencing homelessness is on the rise in the United States.

As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 771,480 people were living in a state of homelessness in 2024, marking an 18 percent increase from the year before.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Two thirds of these were individuals, while one third were people in families.

Last year saw a particularly worrying rise in the number of families entering homelessness, up 39 percent from 2023, as individuals saw a 9.6 percent rise.

While it remains more common for men to experience homelessness than women in the U.S., at 459,568 men (60 percent) to 302,660 women (40 percent), the gap is narrowing.

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Jack Smith Referred to DOJ For Criminal Investigation and Disbarment

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has been criminally referred to the Justice Department for a misconduct investigation and possible disbarment.

After publicly stating she was going to take action, Senator Marsha Blackburn on Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi criminally referring Jack Smith to the DOJ for prosecution and disbarment.

Blackburn demanded that the DOJ take action after it was revealed that Jack Smith spied on several GOP Senators.

Joe Biden’s FBI – and later Jack Smith – spied on eight Republican Senators during the ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation into January 6.

Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson earlier this year released new records detailing the FBI and DOJ’s sweeping investigation that formed the basis of Jack Smith’s DC case against President Trump.

Grassley and Johnson previously blew the lid off another sham investigation orchestrated by Biden’s corrupt Department of Justice and compromised FBI.

According to the documents released earlier this year, the FBI and DOJ weaponized their power to target President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and their allies through a probe dubbed “Arctic Frost.”

“Operation Arctic Frost” was a taxpayer-funded witch hunt launched in April 2022 that seized government-issued cell phones belonging to Trump and Pence while conducting a barrage of interviews across the country.

Jack Smith tracked private phone calls of eight GOP Senators.

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