Tag: joe biden

TSA Watchlists Were Used as Tools of Political Warfare

The Trump administration receives well-justified criticism for using government power to punish political foes such as former FBI director James Comey, funder of left-wing causes George Soros, and law firms linked to the Democratic Party. But don’t forget that former President Joe Biden’s administration also weaponized the state against its enemies. It just did so quietly, behind the scenes, and with the approval of much of the media. The Biden administration not only leaned on tech companies to muzzle critics of the powers-that-be, but it also turned due-process-free watchlists into means of harassing people it didn’t like.

Weaponized Watchlists

On September 30, “the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the results of an internal investigation uncovering widespread abuses committed by Biden administration officials, who weaponized the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) against innocent American citizens,” according to a TSA press release.

The Biden administration is accused of adding people who “resisted mask mandates on airplanes nearly six months after the CDC relaxed its indoor mask mandate” to watchlists that subjected them to extra security. It also watchlisted not just participants in the January 6, 2021 riot, but also those merely suspected of traveling to the Washington, D.C. area in sympathy with the protesters. “This targeted campaign of harassment continued through June 2021, six months after the events in question, despite no clear or immediate threat to aviation security.” (Emphasis in original.)

With regard to the specifics of those watchlist inclusions, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) released documents acquired by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The committee held a September 30 hearing on the “weaponization of the Quiet Skies program,” a TSA watchlist scheme terminated after it was found to have been abused for political purposes.

It’s been reported that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii), now the Director of National Intelligence, was placed on the Quiet Skies watchlist. The Biden administration claimed her inclusion was, in part, because she attended a Vatican event organized by a suspicious European. But she and many others believe it was retaliation for her criticism of then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Journalist Matt Taibbi reports that Gabbard’s name was on the list alongside three unnamed Republican members of Congress who also offended the powers that be. But you didn’t have to have a high profile to get on a watchlist.

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CIA Director Ratcliffe declassifies intelligence on Biden’s 2015 visit to Ukraine

On Tuesday morning, CIA Director John Ratcliffe shared “intelligence regarding Ukraine after determining it is in the public interest.” The 8-page redacted document, dated Dec. 2015, regards the visit from then-Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine from Dec. 7-8 of that year.

Ukrainian officials in then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s administration “expressed bewilderment and disappointment” at Biden’s visit to Kiev.

“After the visit, these officials assessed that the Vice President of the United States has come to Kiev almost exclusively to give a generic public speech and has no intention of discussing substantive matters with Poroshenko or other officials within the Ukrainian government,” the document reads.

It goes on to say that ahead of the visit, Ukrainian officials “expected the U.S. Vice President to discuss personnel matters with Poroshenko” while he was on the ground and “had assumed that the U.S. Vice President would advocate in support or against specific officials within the Ukrainian government.”

Following the visit, which did not go as expected, “officials within the Poroshenko administration privately mused as the U.S. media scrutiny of the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corrupt business practices in Ukraine.”

This, the officials believed, was “evidence of a double-standard,” as Biden spoke out against corruption in Ukraine but was accused of being guilty of similar practices himself.

The speech given by Biden to the Ukrainian Rada, or Parliament, while in Kiev during that state visit, included a call for the firing of a prosecutor who was investigating Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, on whose board his son Hunter sat. Hunter Biden was paid $80,000 per month for his service.

“As the Prime Minister and the President heard me often say,” Biden told gathered officials, “I never tell another man or another nation or another woman what’s in their interest. But I can tell you, you cannot name me a single democracy in the world where the cancer of corruption is prevalent. You cannot name me one. They are thoroughly inconsistent. And it’s not enough to set up a new anti-corruption bureau and establish a special prosecutor fighting corruption.” 

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Joe Biden’s team blocked CIA from distributing report on son Hunter’s Ukraine business dealings

Then-Vice President Joe Biden’s team intervened in February 2016 to prevent the CIA from disseminating an intelligence report to policymakers about the perceptions senior Ukrainian officials held about his son’s business dealings, newly declassified memos show. 

The request that the intelligence community withhold the report from others in the U.S. government by Biden’s national security advisor was “extremely rare and unusual,” a senior CIA official told Just the News. 

“I just spoke with VP/NSA and he would strongly prefer the report not/not be disseminated,” the vice president’s Presidential Daily Brief briefer told the CIA. “Thanks for understanding.” 

The report, reviewed by Just the News, compiled the reactions of senior Ukrainian government officials to the December 2015 visit of Vice President Biden to Kyiv. 

In the aftermath of the country’s Maidan Revolution and the Russian seizure of Crimea, Biden had been appointed President Barack Obama’s point man to manage U.S. policy towards the fledgling, pro-Western government.  

The document shows that the Ukrainian officials in the government of then-President Petro Poroshenko, were disappointed with the vice president’s visit to their country for his lack of substantive discussions with their leader. Those same officials “privately mused” about the U.S. media’s scrutiny on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, the report shows. 

“These officials viewed the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corruption in Ukraine as evidence of a double-standard within the United States Government towards matters of corruption and political power,” the CIA relayed.

The intelligence report also shows that the Ukrainian officials “expressed bewilderment and disappointment” about the vice president’s visit because he did not engage in any of the expected discussions about substantive matters with Poroshenko or other senior officials.

You can read the declassified document below: 

File

Ukraine _Redacted_Final.pdf

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FBI: Jack Smith, Biden DOJ Tracked Phone Calls of GOP Senators, Congressman

Nearly ten Republican senators and a representative had their private communications allegedly tracked by former Special Counsel Jack Smith under the Biden administration, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed Monday.

Files obtained by Fox News show that Smith, in his official capacity at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as he investigated President Donald Trump and the events of January 6, 2021, was allegedly tracking the phone calls of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), Josh Hawley (MO), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bill Hagerty (TN), Dan Sullivan (AK), Tommy Tuberville (AL), and Republican Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).

The alarming document, revealing that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team had subpoenaed telephone providers for the lawmakers’ records in 2023, was “recently discovered” by Patel, according to Fox News.

Patel confirmed the legitimacy of the findings in an X post, writing, “We recently uncovered proof that phone records of U.S. lawmakers were seized for political purposes.”

“That abuse of power ends now,” the FBI director continued. “Under my leadership, the FBI will deliver truth and accountability, and never again be weaponized against the American people.”

An FBI official told the outlet that Smith and his team, which was opened in the bureau in 2022, were able to see which numbers the politicians contacted, the locations from where the calls originated, and the locations where they were received. 

Officials also explained that the records were investigated pursuant to an oversight request from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino personally directed in response. 

A source added that the calls were “likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election,” Fox News reported.

Bongino briefed the impacted lawmakers on Monday afternoon and told the publication it is a “disgrace” that he had to reveal those findings. 

“It is a disgrace that I have to stand on Capitol Hill and reveal this — that the FBI was once weaponized to track the private communications of U.S. lawmakers for political purposes,” Bongino said. “That era is over.”

He added, “Under our leadership, the FBI will never again be used as a political weapon against the American people.”

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Congressman targeted by Biden TSA wants law to end ‘weaponization’ against conservatives

Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., said the Biden administration abused federal security agencies to politically target him during his campaign, revealing in a new interview that he was flagged by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during his 2022 campaign for Arizona Attorney General while involved in an ongoing election-related lawsuit.

Hamadeh told the Just the News Not Noise television program that he was notified by Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul’s office earlier this week that he had been placed on a federal air travel watchlist in late 2022, which he believes was politically motivated. 

Hamadeh: “This wasn’t just a bureaucratic fluke”

Hamadeh said he and two other Republicans were singled out by the “Biden TSA” as part of a broader pattern of surveillance and targeting of conservative figures.“This wasn’t just a bureaucratic fluke,” Hamadeh said. “This was a deliberate abuse of federal power — placing candidates on watchlists, monitoring their travel, treating them like national security threats — all for daring to challenge the administration’s narrative.”

Hamadeh, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, said the timing of the “terrifying” TSA monitoring came weeks after a contested election in which he was actively involved in legal challenges. He added that media and Democratic leaders were describing him at the time as a “threat to democracy.”

The Arizona lawmaker said the situation is evidence of the “weaponization” of federal agencies during the Biden administration, naming other examples such as the alleged FBI surveillance of parents at school board meetings, Catholics attending mass, and individuals opposing pandemic-era mask mandates.

Hamadeh, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, lauded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for terminating the TSA’s “Quiet Skies” monitoring program, calling it a necessary step in restoring public trust. He credited Sen. Paul for making light of the program and said that Congress would take further action to make sure the same situation never occurs again.

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Armed Illegal Alien Freed Five Times Under Biden ARRESTED Outside Houston ICE Office

On October 2, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of Jose Andres Rodriguez-Torres, a criminal alien from Mexico, who was taken into custody outside an ICE Office after officers discovered he was armed with a knife and in possession of a crack pipe.

Rodriguez-Torres’ arrest is not an isolated incident—it is the culmination of years of repeated illegal entries and criminal conduct that have gone unchecked due to weak enforcement under the Biden Administration. 

This individual has crossed the border illegally five times, a felony offense, and despite a prior encounter with ICE following a burglary arrest in Seattle last year, he was released rather than deported. 

That decision allowed him to continue threatening communities until this latest incident.

According to ICE, Rodriguez-Torres approached the restricted employee parking lot at the Houston facility before officers confronted him. 

He admitted he was from Mexico, became tense, and dropped to the ground. Officers then observed a sheathed knife on his waist. 

A search revealed a glass pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin underscored the gravity of the situation: “A criminal illegal alien—released by the Biden Administration and previously removed four times—armed with a knife in a restricted parking lot outside of an ICE office in Houston. These are the types of threats and risks our officers face every single day as they work to remove the worst of the worst.” 

McLaughlin added that just the same day, ICE officers elsewhere faced two separate incidents where criminal illegal aliens used vehicles as weapons. 

“This violence against federal law enforcement MUST END,” she said.

The newly released immigration history of Rodriguez-Torres underscores how broken enforcement has become. 

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FBI had three informants reporting Biden corruption in Ukraine, but no record of real investigation

The FBI had three separate confidential sources who reported the Biden family was engaged in corruption in Ukraine. However, FBI Director Kash Patel says that there is no record that the bureau sought to thoroughly investigate those claims.  

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., released two new FBI FD-1023s—records of reporting from the bureau’s confidential human sources—that focus on allegations of Biden family corruption.

These records match closely to a previous memo Grassley released in 2023 containing similar claims. The senator wants to get to the bottom of why the FBI apparently failed to fully investigate those claims. 

“To date, the FBI has never answered Congress whether they investigated the text messages, audio files and financial records referenced in that 1023,” Grassley said in a hearing with Patel in September.  

More Biden whistleblowers came forward about Ukraine/Biden

“Whistleblowers have provided my office with two additional FBI 1023 documents. These documents memorialize statements from FBI sources,” Grassley continued. “These two new 1023 documents are from separate FBI confidential human sources during different years.”

Grassley asked Patel directly at the hearing about how the FBI handled these three related allegations from human sources and whether the bureau made any effort to corroborate or obtain any of the records cited by those sources that could serve as proof of their claims.

“Regarding those records, did the Wray FBI make any effort to determine whether they existed? Did the Wray FBI make any effort to obtain those records?” Grassley asked. 

“Not to my knowledge, Mr. Chairman,” Patel replied.

Both confidential human sources told the FBI about an alleged corruption scheme involving Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings and its founder Mykola Zlochevsky, who were under investigation by the Ukrainian government, the memos show.

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DHS Probe Uncovers Biden’s TSA Put Mask Refusers on Terror-Linked No-Fly List

An internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation has revealed that during the Biden administration, some American citizens who refused to comply with COVID-19 mask mandates were placed on federal no-fly lists.

The investigation documented that 19 Americans were flagged between September 30, 2021, and October 25, 2021. 

More than half of those individuals received no-fly designations, barring them from boarding domestic flights during that period.

The no-fly list is traditionally reserved for individuals suspected of terrorism or posing threats to national security. 

Its use against citizens resisting mask mandates raised questions inside and outside the agency.

The probe found that at least 11 of the individuals remained on federal watchlists until April 2022. 

That same month, a federal court struck down the federal mask mandate, effectively requiring the Biden administration to stop enforcing mask requirements on airplanes.

The revelations were first reported by Fox News, which obtained details of the DHS investigation. 

The disclosures triggered swift responses from agency officials and members of Congress.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a statement sharply criticizing the actions taken by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

“Biden’s TSA wildly abused their authority,” Noem said.

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Trump administration confirms another federal agency involved in weaponization: the TSA

Move over FBI and IRS,  a new federal agency is garnering attention for alleged weaponization against Americans.

The Homeland Security Department announced Tuesday that an internal investigation uncovered “widespread abuses” carried out by the Biden administration’s Transportation Security Administration to make air travel “weaponized” against certain Americans.

The revelation that U.S. citizens were kept from flying over their political views drew immediate condemnation from Congress.

“It’s not American …. It’s another example of weaponization of our government that took place under the Biden administration,” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., said. “It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

In a joint announcement with the TSA, Homeland Security said its investigative findings are being referred to the Justice Department.

In the announcement, acting agency TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, said the Biden-era officials “under the direction and leadership” of previous TSA Administrator David Pekoske had “systematically watch-listed and denied boarding to those who exercised their individual rights and resisted mask mandates on airplanes nearly six months after the CDC relaxed its indoor mask mandate.”

The TSA also said the Biden TSA used the Capitol riot of January 2021 “as an excuse to target several dozen U.S. citizens” and that “these Americans were watch-listed and harassed despite there being no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal behavior.” 

The TSA said that “this targeted campaign of harassment continued through June 2021, six months after the events in question, despite no clear or immediate threat to aviation security.”

“These Biden-era officials continued to target Americans even after career intelligence officials and even Biden’s TSA Chief Privacy Officer sounded the alarm over these abusive actions,” the TSA said. “The Biden-era TSA’s actions demonstrate clear political bias. For example, these officials chose NOT to flag individuals who attacked law enforcement, burned down cities, and destroyed property during the widespread and violent George Floyd protests in 2020. During this abuse of power, some TSA officials raised serious concerns about these privacy violations and political targeting. They were ignored.”

“Biden’s TSA Administrator Pekoske and his cronies abused their authority and weaponized the federal government against the very people they were charged with protecting,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on X on Tuesday. “Biden’s TSA wildly abused their authority, targeting Americans who posed no aviation security risk under the banner of political differences. President Trump promised to end the weaponization of government against the American people, and we are making good on that promise. I am referring this case to the Department of Justice and for Congressional investigation.”

Noem has directed TSA and DHS to refer the findings to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and to Congress for further investigation, to remove “five senior leaders” who had “betrayed the trust of the American people” from their leadership positions, and to reorganize TSA’s Intelligence & Analysis office to hold senior officials accountable and to provide more extensive oversight on TSA’s watch-listing powers. TSA on Tuesday said that the removals included the executive assistant administrator for operations support and the deputy assistant administrator for intelligence and analysis.

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Unearthed Biden note cards reveal he had bios, photo reminders on Hillary Clinton, Schumer

Unearthed note cards from the Biden era show the administration detailed the names and photos of high-profile Democrats, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as lesser-known individuals for then-President Joe Biden to ostensibly reference during live events, documents obtained by Fox News Digital show. 

Five different “palm cards,” which are hand-sized note cards frequently used by politicians for quick reminders or talking points during public events, especially while on the campaign trail, were uncovered amid an investigation of National Archive documents related to the Biden administration’s use of an autopen, and obtained by Fox News Digital.  

Four of the five cards obtained by Fox Digital are stamped with a disclaimer reading, “PRESIDENT HAS SEEN,” while a fifth card detailing an ABC News reporter’s question to Biden during a press conference did not include that stamp. 

It is unclear if Biden relied on each of the cards during the various public events. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for any comment and clarification on the use of the cards but did not immediately receive a reply. 

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