Tag Archives: Legal Insurrection

Why?

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Only American citizens are supposed to vote in federal elections. Why are the Democrats so reluctant to see this law enforced? Could it have something to do with the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants they let into the country during the Biden administration?

On Thursday, Legal Insurrection posted an article the Senate Democrats’ demands to pass a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The article reports:

Democrats are always telling on themselves, no matter what the issue is, and that’s certainly been the case with their militant opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations, which have taken place in problem blue cities and states across the country over the past year.

One “tell” in particular that helps make the GOP’s points in favor of passing the SAVE Act has come from a number of Democrats in recent months. Among them was California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who in August said that the ICE agents who showed up outside of an event he held were a “preview” of what was to come at polling places and “in front of voting booths,” that ICE would be sent there by President Trump to “intimidate people.”

American citizens (the people who should be going to the polls) are not intimidated by ICE agents–the only people who would be intimidated by ICE agents are illegal aliens who have no business being near the polling places!

The article notes:

But in perhaps the most glaring example of saying the “quiet part out loud,” the list of demands for DHS reform released by Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), which was sent to Republican House and Senate leadership Wednesday, includes a call for no funding to go towards immigration enforcement operations near polling places:

Democratic leaders laid out their demands for reform at the Department of Homeland Security in a letter to Republican leadership on Wednesday, as lawmakers race to reach a compromise before the agency’s funding runs out in less than 10 days.

…Democrats also want agents to identify themselves, use body-worn cameras, and stop wearing masks or face coverings while conducting enforcement operations, among other restrictions.

Democrats are also insisting that DHS funds not be used to conduct enforcement near “sensitive locations,” such as schools, medical facilities, places of worship, and polling places.

Are they admitting that they plan to cheat?

Why The Democrats Want Illegal Immigrants To Stay In America

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On Wednesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article with an explanation as to why the Democrat party is so against deporting people who are here illegally.

The article reports:

In a recent interview with Fox News, former ICE Acting Director Jonathan Fahey said that “Democrats fight each deportation as if it’s a Democratic vote.” Rarely have truer words been uttered.

The American Redistricting Project, a nonprofit group focused on “constitutional redistricting, and election transparency,” published its 2030 Apportionment Forecast on Tuesday — and what it revealed was remarkable.

Based on the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025, population estimate — released Tuesday morning — the ARP apportionment map shows California losing four congressional seats. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin would each lose one seat, for a total of 11 seats lost among blue states.

Meanwhile, the map shows red and purple states gaining those same 11 seats. Texas would pick up four new districts, Florida would gain two, and Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, and Utah would each gain one.

…Independent journalist Greg Price attached the ARP map to a post on X and noted:

Under this forecast, President Trump would have won the 2024 Electoral College 322-216. And even if Kamala had won PA, WI, and MI — President Trump still would have won 280-258.

This [is] the one and only reason Democrats are fighting so hard to stop illegals from being deported.

Their ability to continue winning elections is at stake without them and they’ll burn down the country to keep them here.

The average America does not share the goals of today’s Democrat party. A large number of Americans share the values of yesterday’s Democrat party. Many of the values of yesterday’s Democrat party have become the values of today’s Republican party–support the working man, equality (not equity), etc. President Kennedy lowered taxes, saying, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” I can’t picture a Democrat saying that today, and I doubt that JFK would be welcome in today’s Democrat party.

The article concludes:

Perhaps Americans also looking for some sanity and honesty from their public servants.

If I were a Minnesota resident right now, I’d be strongly considering selling my home — and it’s hard to believe many others aren’t doing the same.

State and local leaders are currently locked in a desperate fight with the federal government to stop them from deporting illegal aliens — even those who have committed serious crimes. Although any reasonable person would celebrate the removal of criminals from their city or state, Democrats in Minnesota, as well as the outside agitators who have converged upon the state in the last month, are fighting tooth and nail to keep them there.

Why? Because Jonathan Fahey was right when he said, “Democrats fight each deportation as if it’s a Democratic vote.” Because, at least in the blue states that don’t require photo identification at the ballot box, that’s a true statement.

Remembering Christmas 1984

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1984 was the year that Band Aid released ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’  On Thursday, Christmas, Legal Insurrection posted an article reminding us of the impact and meaning of the song.

The article notes:

The whole thing was put together by Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the Irish rock group the Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox. They somehow managed to write the song, invite lots of other musicians to sing and play it, and then get it to market in record time.

Participants included Boy George, Bono, Sting, George Michael, Phil Collins, members of Kool & the Gang, Duran Duran, and dozens of others. MTV played its part by putting the video into heavy rotation and the record sold millions of copies. In other words, celebrities used talent and capitalism to help solve a problem. It was a different time.

The song is great. To this day, it’s one of those songs that I turn way up if it comes on the radio in the car.

The article quotes from a CNN special and American Songwriter:

We then see another clip from the recording session showing Bono listening to one of the verses with Geldof. He comments, “It’s a hymn, really. Far out, Bob.”

The segment then returns to present-day Geldof, who explains what he was trying to convey with that line.

“The war, the horror of the famine, just be aware of it,” he notes. “There’s nothing sentimental about what I’m saying or trying to say. I’m being very f—ing blunt.”

The article at Legal Insurrection observes:

If celebrities really want to help with social solutions, they would be better off doing something like this instead of lazily echoing the Bernie Sanders message of taxing the rich.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

The Price We Pay For Setting Criminals Free

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On Saturday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is  from El Salvador and is in the country illegally.

The article reports:

A 23-year-old Reston, Virginia, man was arraigned on a murder charge Thursday after authorities say he killed a man on Wednesday and led police on a two-hour manhunt.

Two elementary schools were placed on secure-the-building status as police urgently searched for Marvin Morales-Ortez.

He killed a man he lived with, 40-year-old Marvin Ernesto Morales, police said. No information on the relationship between the two was released other than they shared the same residence.

Morales-Ortez was released from jail the day before the shooting. According to a criminal complaint, he was charged with maliciously wounding someone who lived in the home on Sept. 12. He was taken into custody on multiple charges.

That case went before a judge on Tuesday. But the prosecutor’s office said the victim didn’t show up to court to testify against Morales-Ortez, so charges were dropped.

The judge ordered Morales-Ortez released from custody.

He has a history of mental health issues, court records say. The county’s Community Services Board issued an emergency custody order shortly after his release from jail. An ECO allows police to arrest someone who poses an immediate threat to themselves or someone else. Police can take them in and get them services.

The article notes:

We need to start prosecuting the people who are responsible for releasing criminals who then kill.

Morales-Ortez was in America illegally. He should have been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported. The article notes that an ICE detainer request was ignored. He had already been accused of a crime. Had Morales-Ortez been kept in jail under an Emergency Custody Order (ECO), the man he lived with would still be alive. Cooperation with ICE or getting the Emergency Custody Order quickly would have saved a life.

Know The Facts Before You Support A Cause

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Our college campuses are full of people stating and protesting for a Palestinian state. Somehow they miss the subtlety of the fact that Gaza was turned over to the Arabs in 2005, removing all Jewish settlers from the area. Gaza, in fact, became a Palestinian state in 2005. Their actions before and during October 7th indicate that they are not yet ready to become a peaceful state.

AI provides some highlights in the history of Gaza:

To understand when Gaza began firing rockets at Israel, consider the following key events:

First Major Incidents (2001): Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel began in the early 2000s, notably escalating in 2001.

Second Intifada (2000-2005): The Second Intifada saw increased violence, including rocket attacks as a form of resistance.

Hamas Takeover (2007): After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, rocket attacks intensified significantly.

Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009): A major military conflict that highlighted the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.

Frequent Escalations (2010s): Throughout the 2010s, there were numerous escalations with periodic rocket fire, especially during conflicts in 2012 and 2014.

Recent Conflicts (2021): The May 2021 conflict saw a significant increase in rocket fire from Gaza, marking one of the most intense escalations in recent years.

These are the actions of the people who want their own country. Would America tolerate a country like that on its own border?

On Thursday, Legal Insurrection reported the following:

The 19-year-old Israeli hostage, Noa Marciano, was murdered by a doctor in Gaza’s Shifa hospital, her father Avi Marciano disclosed in a social media post.

Noa, who Palestinian terrorists abducted from a kibbutz on October 7, 2023, was taken to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital after sustaining minor ‘non-life-threatening’ injuries. Weeks after her abduction, and with Israeli troops advancing in the area, a Palestinian doctor “injected air into her vein,” Noa’s father said.

…Noa’s murder by Shifa’s medical staff was recorded on camera, showing a doctor injecting air into her veins while she pleaded for mercy. Avi Marciano “learned of his daughter’s death in Hamas captivity through a video of her last moments shared with him on Telegram,” the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. The “footage of a medical professional lethally injecting air into her veins after she was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza,” the newspaper added.

Noa, a resident of the central Israeli city of Modi’in, held the rank of Corporal and served as an observation soldier in Israel’s Border Defense Force’s 414 Unit.

Days after Noa’s murder, the Israeli military managed to recover her body in a raid on the Hamas-controlled hospital. Her father’s revelations are consistent with the Israeli military’s assessment made last summer. In early July 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that the Shifa hospital “was used by Hamas for murder(ing)” her.

The people who murdered her need to be arrested and tried for murder. No culture where this behavior is acceptable should be allowed to become a country!

Dealing With The Entire Problem

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On Wednesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about America’s seizure of a tanker on the coasts of Venezuela. The article explains some of the reasons behind the taking of the tanker.

The article reports:

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations. This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely—and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.

The article quotes Axios:

Zoom in: The U.S. has sanctioned Venezuela’s oil company for years, but this vessel was seized because it was on the U.S. Treasury Department’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list for allegedly violating other sanctions, providing the justification for it to be seized.

    • The vessel is known as a VLCC, or Very Large Crude Carrier, capable of transporting as much as 320,000 deadweight tons of crude, two sources with direct knowledge said.
    • The exact details of the seizure, first reported by Bloomberg, are unclear and administration officials could not be reached for comment.

The article concludes:

Then there’s Cuba, the home of the oil on the tanker.

As Marc Caputo at Axios pointed out, Cuba is an ally of Venezuela and a U.S. adversary.

The system in place is corrupt because of course:

Havana sells Venezuelan crude on the black market, chiefly to Asian markets that ultimately feed China.

    • The crude oil is handled by a grandson of Raul Castro, the former leader of Cuba and brother of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, the insiders say.
    • In addition to splitting the profits with Venezuela, Cuba supplies intelligence services and agents who protect Maduro.
    • “This is a twofer: we’re going after Maduro’s bank account and the Cubans that keep him in power,” one of the sources said.

According to the National Archives:

While the Monroe Doctrine’s message was designed to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere, Roosevelt would strengthen its meaning to justify sending the United States into other countries of the Western Hemisphere. As a result, U.S. Marines were sent into Santo Domingo in 1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, ostensibly to keep the Europeans out. Other Latin American nations viewed these interventions with misgiving, and relations between the “great Colossus of the North” and its southern neighbors remained strained for many years.

In 1962, the Monroe Doctrine was invoked symbolically when the Soviet Union began to build missile-launching sites in Cuba. With the support of the Organization of American States, President John F. Kennedy threw a naval and air quarantine around the island. After several tense days, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the sites. Subsequently, the United States dismantled several of its obsolete air and missile bases in Turkey.

The Monroe Doctrine needs to be enforced, both for America’s safety and for the protection of other free nations in our hemisphere.

We Really Can Select Better Candidates

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Graham Platner is the Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine. On Monday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about some of his recent statements.

The article reports:

…his campaign manager fled the campaign to “spend more time with family” after it was revealed that the political hopeful had Nazi symbolism as body art.

Mainers should consider this a rare moment of truth in political advertising. Platner recently urged his supporters to publicly harass members of Maine’s congressional delegation who oppose Medicare for All.

During a town hall event in Windham, Maine, Platner stated that to advance progressive policies, his supporters must be willing to “impose costs” on lawmakers who don’t support the initiative. Free Beacon contributor Jessica Costescu has the details:

“We need to be able to turn people out to flood their offices. Frankly, I want people to follow them around and don’t let them have a public dinner without getting yelled at. Because that’s power. That’s real power.”

Platner justified those tactics as a way of building “secondary power.” He said they’re a proven form of political pressure and that “American history tells us that that’s exactly the power that we have.”

“We also have to build secondary power. Real power of organization, the power to turn people out, the power to shut things down, frankly, the power to impose costs,” Platner said. “If we can’t impose costs, then they’ll never listen to us, because they won’t care.”

This is a false argument promising free stuff that working Americans have to pay for.

If we can get the government out of healthcare, we can go back to the days when healthcare was actually affordable. As an example (the 1970 number is from personal experience in Rhode Island), in 1970 it cost $600 to have a baby (without health insurance), that would be about $5,009.94 in today’s dollars. Today, according momlovesbest.com the cost is $4,884 – $10,681 with health insurance and $9,013 – $19,775 without health insurance. That is well past the rate of inflation. Where is the extra money paid going? We have always had hospitals. We have always had doctors. What we haven’t always had is a huge bureaucracy controlling medicine. That’s the expense to get rid of.

Where The Money Actually Went

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On Thursday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the tax dollars that were earmarked to solve the homelessness crisis.

The article quotes Fox News:

A new study just exposed the corruption behind America’s homelessness crisis

For years, Americans have been told that “compassion” for the homeless meant writing ever-larger checks – more money, more programs and far less accountability.

Now, at last, we have some answers for why homelessness has exploded even amid a tripling of public spending.

A groundbreaking investigation, “Infiltrated” – backed by more than 50 pages of documentation from the Capital Research Center in cooperation with Discovery Institute – pulls back the curtain on a vast system of corruption. It reveals how billions in taxpayer funds intended to lift people out of homelessness have instead bankrolled radical activism and anti-American political agendas, betraying both the taxpayers who fund it and the homeless they were meant to help.

…The report offers some very specific examples:

Major philanthropic giants – Ford, Robert Wood Johnson and Gates Foundations – poured billions into Housing First and “equity” initiatives to promote ideology under the guise of helping the homeless.

Meanwhile, coalitions like Funders Together to End Homelessness funneled vast sums toward upstream political causes – including the promotion of reparations and anti-policing movements… all under the moral camouflage of addressing homelessness.

The article at Legal Insurrection concludes:

Ending homelessness is going to require more common sense and tough love. The left’s supposedly compassionate approach will only encourage more of it. We need treatment centers for addicts and the mentally ill. The few who are truly just down on their luck should be given opportunities for work and housing.

Above all, public camping, such as on sidewalks, must be outlawed and the laws must be enforced. There is no other way to end this.

Finally, we need a national audit of all funds being spent on ending this problem. The left should not be allowed to use these funds to benefit politically.

The more we learn about some foundations and NGO’s, the more I wonder if any of these organizations are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing.

It Pays To Have A Businessman In The White House

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We are in the second week of the government shutdown that began October 1st. I am still predicting that it will end soon, but it really doesn’t look that way. So who is being hurt by the shutdown, and what can be done about it?

On Tuesday, Legal Insurrection reported:

President Donald Trump announced he will use tariff revenue to cover the Women & Infants, and Children Food Program (WIC) during the Schumer Shutdown.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X:

The Democrats are so cruel in their continual votes to shut down the government that they forced the WIC program for the most vulnerable women and children to run out this week.

Thankfully, President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer resources from Section 232 tariff revenue to this critical program.

The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games.

I believe that the shutdown is a losing issue for Democrats. During the next few days, they will attempt to flip the narrative and blame the shutdown on the Republicans. If that doesn’t work, the shutdown will end.

The article notes:

CNN mentioned that the tariffs land in a “general fund managed by the Treasury Department.”

Here Is A Partial List

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The government shutdown continues. The fake news is attempting to blame the Republicans (even though they are the ones who voted to keep the government open). And life continues pretty much as usual for most Americans. So what is the purpose of this exercise? What are the Democrats fighting for?

On Saturday, Legal Insurrection reported:

The main topic of the shutdown debate has been healthcare funding for illegal aliens, but there are some other items that Democrats are demanding, and they will amaze you. These demands are mainly coming from AOC and the socialist wing of the party.

Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana has a way with words, and he recently listed these demands as only he can.

The article quotes The Tampa Free Press:

The list of projects Kennedy claimed Democrats are insisting on restoring includes:

    • $3.6 million for cooking and dance workshops for male prostitutes in Haiti.
    • Over $4.2 million for LGBTQ projects in the Western Balkans and Uganda.
    • $6 million to subsidize Palestinian media outlets.
    • $3 million for circumcision and vasectomies in Zambia.
    • More than $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal.
    • $500,000 to purchase electric buses in Rwanda.
    • $300,000 to sponsor a pride parade in Lesotho.

One of the comments on the Legal Insurrection article pointed out how this actually works. Rather than the money actually going to the country listed for the designated project, it goes to an NGO that supposedly will do whatever the money is slated for. Actually, much of the money allocated will be kicked back to the campaign coffers of whoever directed the money to the NGO. That is one of many reasons the Democrats are fighting so hard to get this money restored.

Helping With The Drug War

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On Monday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the recent seizure of over a ton of cocaine.

The article reports:

The Dominican Republic and U.S. Navy managed “to recover 13 bales containing the 377 packages, wrapped in adhesive tape and with different logos.”

The Dominican Republic government announced that the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the Navy of the Dominican Republic (ARD) seized over a ton of cocaine on a boat targeted by the U.S. Navy.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been destroying boats from Venezuela suspected of carrying drugs to America.

The administration has struck three boats. The Dominican Republic did not confirm which boat had the cocaine, but it looks like it could be the third one that Trump announced on Saturday.

The Dominican Republic said the government worked with the United States Southern Command (Southcom) and the Southern Interagency Joint Task Force (JIATF-South) when it detected a speedboat that intelligence reports said carried narcotics.

The reports also claimed the boat was headed “to Dominican territory, with the intention of using the country as a bridge to take it to US territory.”

The Dominican Republic and America joined forces for the first time in history to combat narcoterrorism:

After the destruction of the boat, Navy divers recovered the cocaine. It is becoming more risky to transport drugs across the Caribbean. Hopefully the sinking of these boats will discourage some of the drug smugglers. Combined with the closing of the southern border, these actions should begin to limit the amount of drugs flowing into America.

A Very Good Question

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On Saturday, Legal Insurrection posted the following headline:

If Illegals Aren’t Receiving Federal Medicaid Benefits, Why Are Blue States Suing to Protect Their Data?

The article reports:

Democrats have consistently maintained that while some illegal immigrants receive state-level Medicaid benefits, they do not receive federal Medicaid benefits. If that’s true, then why are Democratic attorneys general from blue states suing the federal government to prevent Medicaid data from being used for immigration enforcement? Are they genuinely concerned about potential violations of privacy laws, or more likely, are they attempting to protect those undocumented immigrants who may, in fact, be enrolled in federal Medicaid programs?

Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, 20 blue states have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that the Trump administration “violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials last month.”

Among the plaintiffs in the case are Illinois, New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, along with fifteen other states. Defendants include Health and Human Services Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The article quotes an article at Hot Air:

HotAir’s David Strom states it plainly:

Democrats are playing a verbal shell game, pointing to federal law to say that Medicaid dollars can’t legally go to illegal aliens, so there is no money to be saved by cutting those funds off. At the same time, they are suing to hide the legal status of recipients to prevent them from facing ICE deportations–in other words, they are illegally spending Medicaid dollars for illegals and want to hide them from the feds.

The narratives don’t have to be consistent, right?

If you were to sit down and analyze what Democrats say to make their arguments on various issues, you would see narrative fails like this all the time. But because the issues are discussed in different contexts, the contradictions don’t stand out to many people.

Viewed from another perspective, if Medicaid benefits for undocumented immigrants are truly only a state issue, then why did this become a matter for the Senate Parliamentarian during consideration of a major federal spending bill? And why was it included in the Senate’s vote-a-rama on Monday, as I discussed here?

As Strom concludes, “The story is always changing to fit the desired result.”

It doesn’t have to make sense. Because they’re Democrats.

Whatever happens with this lawsuit, deportations of illegal criminals will save American taxpayers money.

As Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once stated, “It’s just obvious you can’t have free immigration and a welfare state.”

New York City’s Future Depends On The Mayoral Election

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On Saturday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the recent Democrat primary election in New York City. New York City at various times has been a wonderful city to visit. I went to school there back in the age of dinosaurs, and I really enjoyed the art, the museums, the concerts, and the great places to eat. It was a wonderful place in the 1960’s and the late 1990’s. Right now the city is headed in a really scary direction.

New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has won the Democrat primary in the Mayor’s race. He is a socialist calling for a global intifada.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines intifada as follows:

A protracted grassroots campaign of protest and sometimes violent resistance against perceived oppression or military occupation, especially either of two uprisings among Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the first beginning in 1987 and the second in 2000, in protest against Israeli occupation of these territories.

Is that really what New Yorkers want?

The election was held using ranked-choice voting, which may be part of the problem.

The article notes that former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has decided to stay in the race. Eric Adams has also decided to stay in the race. Obviously, both of these men staying in the race will split the opposition against Zohran Mamdani. Curtis Sliwa is running for Mayor on the Republican ticket, but New York City has not had a Republican Mayor since Rudy Giuliani was elected in 1994.

The article at Legal Insurrection concludes:

While it’s hard to predict with any degree of certainty how this ultimately will play out, the first post-mayoral primary poll is out and shows Cuomo and Mamdani both with equal levels of support, and Adams trailing badly:

As speculation swirls over whether former [governor] Cuomo will continue his campaign as an independent after conceding the Democratic primary to Mamdani, a new poll shows the two candidates in a statistical tie heading into November’s general election.

The polling, conducted independently by the Honan Strategy Group 48 hours after Mamdani’s stunning victory, showed both Mamdani and Cuomo garnering 39% support among likely general election voters in a five-way race between them, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, independent candidate Jim Walden and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who trailed at 13%.

…In the scenario that Cuomo does not appear on the ballot, pollsters found that Mamdani would lead Adams by 15 points.

But if Adams were to drop out, Cuomo appears to pick up the support of likely Adams voters and gains a slight edge, leading Mamdani by 4 points — just outside the poll’s margin of error of ±3.4%.

Adams officially kicked off his general election campaign Thursday.

Meanwhile–posted on Facebook by a friend:

Who Gets To Wear A Mask?

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On Thursday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the recent practice by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) agents of wearing masks. The are not protecting themselves from Covid–they are protecting themselves from doxing. 

The article reports:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other Democratic figures are calling for the exposure of ICE agents, demanding that their masks be removed so they can be identified. Members of ICE wear masks because they are facing death threats against them and their families. Democrats are putting their lives at risk over this.

Of course, Democrats have never called for members of Antifa or the anti-Israel campus radicals to be unmasked. Curious, isn’t it?

From The Daily Wire:

Jeffries seemed unconcerned with the real reason that ICE agents had opted to cover their faces, and instead claimed that their efforts to enforce federal immigration law were “engaged in … aggressive overreach” and suggested the masks were simply an effort to avoid being held accountable for that.

“Every single ICE agent who’s engaged in this aggressive overreach and are trying to hide their identities from the American people will be unsuccessful in doing that,” Jeffries said. “This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We’re not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be identified.”

The Democrats in Congress are siding with violent protestors who broke the law and desiring to put the the people who are asked to enforce the law in danger. How does that make any sense?

When did the Democrat party become a party that advocates lawlessness?

A Welcome Change In Policy

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On Wednesday, Legal Insurrection reported that the HHS has discontinued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations that children, teenagers, and pregnant women receive routine COVID-19 vaccinations. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine with the unprecedented demand that Novavax conduct a new clinical trial of its shot after approval,

The article reports:

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., may be pulling ahead in the race to be the most active agency head during President Donald J. Trump’s second term.

Last week, Kennedy appeared before both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and gave a masterclass in how to answer inane Democratic narrative-based questioning. He also ordered a review of abortion pill safety data, worried that the real statistics indicated more adverse effects than originally advertised.

Now, the HHS has discontinued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations that children, teenagers, and pregnant women receive routine COVID-19 vaccinations.

The article notes:

This marks a significant shift in federal health policy, moving away from the universal vaccination guidance that has been in place since September 2023. The new rules also promote a new framework for the testing of annual vaccines.

According to a report published Tuesday morning by The Associated Press, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would recommend annual booster shots for adults over the age of 65 in addition to younger adults and children whose pre-existing conditions or health concerns put them at greater risk of hospitalization or death from contracting COVID-19.

An article published on Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine provides a framework for developing and testing annual vaccines that might eventually be offered to generally healthy people who don’t fall into the currently recommended age and risk categories.

“For all healthy persons — those with no risk factors for severe Covid-19 — between the ages of 6 months and 64 years, the FDA anticipates the need for randomized, controlled trial data evaluating clinical outcomes before Biologics License Applications can be granted,” the article read. “Insofar as possible, when approving a Covid-19 vaccine for high-risk groups, the FDA will encourage manufacturers to conduct randomized, controlled trials in the population of healthy adults as part of their postmarketing commitment.”

These are welcome changes. Let’s go back to the day when parents decided what shots they or their children would receive.

Creating A Gaza Strip In Texas

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Anyone who has read the Koran has encountered verses that instruct Muslims to kill the infidels (non-Muslims). The Koran instructs its followers to take control of the lands they enter and place the inhabitants of those lands under Sharia Law. Coexistence is not part of the platform.

On Monday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about EPIC City, a city being constructed near Dallas, Texas, to house the Muslim community. There will be Mosques, Muslim schools, and an infrastructure that will make it possible for the Muslims who live there never to have to mingle with non-Muslims.

The article reports:

There is no construction taking place.

The state of Texas has launched about a half dozen investigations into this project.

That includes criminal investigations.

And, the US Department of justice is also investigating.

This matter, and similar matters, are taken very seriously, and actions are being taken to address all concerns.

…The EPIC City is the brainchild of the East Plano Islamic Center. From KERA News:

The 402-acre development would be in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine, and would include a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college.

In an interview in December, Yasir Qadhi, a resident scholar at the Plano mosque, said the idea for EPIC City came as the Muslim population continues to grow in the region.

“We need more space, and there are people coming from across the country,” Qadhi said. “Dallas is now known to be a hub of people of our faith, coming not just to the city, but specifically to our mosque.”

The first 450 plots sold out within days of its announcements on the mosque’s website, Qadhi said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) demanded that the DOJ investigate the city for possible First and Fourteenth Amendment violations by preventing those of other faiths from living there.

Community Capital Partners claimed the community would be for “people of every background, faith, and culture” who “can live together in harmony.”

The company admitted, though, that “Islam will be at the center of the development.”

This is not like Baptists building a community. Baptists do not murder non-Baptists. This has the potential to become something like what the Gaza Strip devolved into. Muslims need to be encouraged to assimilate. If they choose not to assimilate, they might consider living elsewhere. There is nothing wrong with keeping the traditions of the place you lived before you came to America. However, if you live here, you need to swear allegiance to our Constitution and follow our customs. If you are not willing to do that, please move to someplace that has rules you like.

Why The Palestinians Cannot Have Their Own State

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On Thursday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about a recent poll taken in the “West Bank.” The poll is disturbing to say the least.

The article reports:

Most Palestinians in West Bank support mass-murder, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israelis by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, a latest poll shows.

“59% of Palestinians polled in the “West Bank” still think that Hamas’ made the “correct decision” to torture, rape, burn alive, murder, and kidnap hundreds of hostages—even including children,” the media watchdog Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) observed, citing the poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

Having learned nothing from the October 7 massacre and its aftermath, nearly 80 percent of all Palestinians were opposed to the dismantling of Hamas as a terrorist fighting force, poll numbers show. “77% of Palestinians overall (and 85% of Palestinians in the PA-controlled “West Bank”!) “oppose the disarmament of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in order to stop the war on Gaza,” the media watchdog added.

…The poll results should not come as a surprise if one recalls how thousands of Palestinians flocked to greet Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 as they rode back on their pick-up trucks after massacring and raping Israeli men, women and children —  brandishing their weapons and parading their captives.

The macabre display was not limited to Hamas-ruled Gaza; the Palestinian Authority-run West Bank witnessed hideous celebrations on the streets and in schools over the mass-murder of around 1,200 Israelis.

The article concludes:

The poll also showed that nearly half of Gaza’s residents would prefer to leave the Hamas-infested enclave. The mainstream media was outraged when President Donald Trump in February suggested relocating large number of Gazans to neighboring Arab states for the post-war reconsecration of the enclave to take place.

“Almost half of Gazans may be willing to apply to Israel to help them leave to other countries, according to a survey released Tuesday,” The Times of Israel reported. “The poll (…) showed that for the first time since the Gaza war was sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, more Gazans thought Israel rather than Hamas would emerge victorious, though a plurality thought the war would end in a stalemate.”

Why would you form a nation of people who have so little regard for human life and the rules of civilization?

This Seems A Little Uneven

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Recently I posted an article about a Minneapolis man who vandalized at least six Teslas. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office decided not to seek criminal charges against the man and instead chose to “seek diversion.” (Article here)

However, on Friday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about how the County Attorney’s Office handled a similar case.

The article reports:

On Monday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced that it would not seek criminal charges against Dylan Adams, 33, a fiscal policy analyst for Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, who allegedly keyed six Teslas and caused more than $20,000 in damage. According to HCAO, because Adams was a first-time offender, he would instead be placed into a diversion program. He would pay for the cost of the repairs and still be able to keep his job.

At the time of Adams’ arrest, FOX 9 reported that police considered each of the six incidents a felony, noting that the damage to each Tesla exceeded $1,000, meeting the threshold for felony vandalism in every case. (I wrote about this story here.)

…County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s decision to let Adams escape criminal charges sparked shock and indignation among fair-minded Americans.

But when news broke on the very same day that she had charged a 19-year-old woman with a felony for keying a coworker’s car, that indignation turned to outrage. Understandably, the Soros-backed prosecutor now finds herself at the center of a firestorm.

…Like Adams, this young woman has no previous criminal record. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported:

She was charged with first-degree felony property damage on Monday after she allegedly keyed her coworker’s car at the White Castle in Brooklyn Park. The damage to the car was estimated at $7,000. She is due to make her first court appearance in two weeks.

Attorney Mary Moriarty is an elected official. As much as I think she is a totally biased attorney who is not correctly doing the job she was elected to, that decision is up to the voters. Her current term ends in January 2027. It is up to the voters to decide if she will serve another term.

The Center Of Fraud

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On Saturday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the location of a large part of the fraud found in unemployment claims.

The article reports:

On Thursday, the Department of Government Efficiency revealed that three deep-blue states—California, New York, and Massachusetts—were responsible for $305 million, or 80%, of the $382 million in fraudulent unemployment payments issued since 2020.

DOGE also reported that 68% of unemployment benefits paid to parolees flagged by Customs and Border Protection as being on the terrorist watchlist or having criminal records were issued in California.

The DOGE team found that $59 million in unemployment benefits was paid to 24,500 people listed as over 115 years old. Another $254 million went to 28,000 people between the ages of 1 and 5, while $69 million was distributed to 9,700 people with birthdates more than 15 years in the future.

It is interesting that California, New York, and Massachusetts were responsible for 80 percent of the fraud. Slightly less than one-third of Americans live in California, Texas, Florida or New York. Having a large population makes it more difficult to track every case and makes fraud easier.

The article also notes:

DOGE also reported this week that since 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol (under the Biden administration) has paroled over 6,300 individuals flagged on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist or with criminal records into the country with “minimal screening.” Though their paroles have now been revoked, all received Social Security numbers and could access federal benefits. Among them:

    • 905 received Medicaid, including 4 on the terrorist watchlist ($276K paid out)
    • 41 collected Unemployment Insurance ($42K total)
    • 22 received federal student loans ($280K)
    • 409 got tax refunds in 2024 ($751K)
    • An undisclosed number received SNAP (food stamps)

I believe in helping people, but I also believe that charity begins at home and ideally does not involve the government. If I want to help my neighbor, good for me. However, for the government to take what I have earned and give it to someone who didn’t earn it is not a viable business plan for a nation. As Margaret Thatcher once stated, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Where Your Taxpayer Dollars Go

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On Thursday, Legal Insurrection posted an article based on information from The College Fix.

The article reports:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College in Louisiana $600,000 to study menstrual cycles in “transgender men,” according to a new database compiled by the American Principles Project.

The database, “Funding Insanity: Federal Spending on Gender Ideology under Biden-Harris,” states the school “will Study Menstrual Cycles in ‘Transgender Men And People With Masculine Gender Identities, Intersex, And Non-Binary Persons.’”

“The first occurrence of menstruation occurs at approximately 12 years of age and ends with menopause at roughly 51 years of age,” the grant description states. “A woman will have a monthly menstrual cycle for about 40 years of her life, averaging to about 450 periods over the course of her lifetime.”

“It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate,” it states. “At any given moment about 26% of the world’s population is menstruating.”

So what? Why do I care about men pretending to be women menstruating?

The article concludes:

Reached by The Fix, an APP spokesman said the grant and others listed in the database are “the tip of the iceberg.”

“We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our project looked only at grants and contracts that specifically pertained to gender ideology in some way. But there is far more spending out there relating to DEI, critical race theory, and other left-wing ideologies that we did not capture here,” Paul Dupont told The Fix via email.

“There is a great deal of work that still needs to be done to identify and hopefully eliminate this graft. DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] is going to have some busy weeks and months ahead,” Dupont said.

Let’s do more research on things like cancer and less on this foolishness.

This May Change Quickly

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On Saturday, Manhattan-based District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a sweeping emergency injunction essentially removing the authority of Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessett over the Treasury Department. The injunction blocks the Secretary and any political appointees from accessing records within the Treasury Department. The injunction also blocks any ‘special appointee’ of President Trump from having access records within the Treasury Department and demands that all information previously extracted be destroyed. What the judge is essentially saying is that the Treasury Secretary is not allow to look at the Treasury records nor is he or the President allowed to hire anyone to look at those records. This is an amazing combination of chutzpah, arrogance, ignorance of the U.S. Constitution, and stupid. I expect the ruling to be overturned quickly.

On Saturday, Legal Insurrection reported:

It was an unusual procedural context. I’ve reviewed the court’s electronic docket, and it appears to have been ex parte. There’s no indication of notice to the government and opportunity to be heard before the Judge ruled. The procedure was a Proposed Order To Show Cause including a Temporary Restraining Order. It’s the type of procedure used in only the most extreme emergencies (the OSC is not unusual, but including an ex parte TRO is unusual).

What was the emergency that couldn’t wait until the next day for the government to have a chance to be heard?

It was a Friday night move to deny access that, by the papers submitted, had been going on for over two weeks. The 60 page Complaint, and 40 Page Memorandum (plus a short Affirmation) obviously took a long time to prepare, arguing against an emergency so dire and time sensitive on a Friday night the court couldn’t even wait until the next morning for the government to be heard. It also reeks of judge shopping, because plaintiffs would have known who was the emergency duty judge so by going in on a Friday night they evaded the normal random assignment system for this purpose.

Whatever the ultimate merits, depriving the Secretary of Treasury of the ability to run the Department of Treasury as he deems proper is not something that should have been decided this way, even temporarily. I understand that litigants play these games, but it’s a bad look that damages faith in the judiciary when a court allows it.

The short version of the complaint and claims is that Secretary Bessent violated various procedural requirements and that there is a threat that sensitive private information could be exposed. Considering that the Chinese government thoroughly hacked the Treasury computer systems under Biden, it’s odd that the mere possibility that DOGE might mishandle the information required a Friday night court intervention. I think there are serious ‘standing’ issues with the states bringing the case as well as the harm being speculative.

The article also notes:

I can’t really assess the underlying merits on such short notice, other than it seems like what it is, a political objection in search of a legal theory. The Executive Branch gets to run the Executive Branch, and this seems like an overstep by a different branch of government.

This seems to be a repeat of 2017, where the Resistance had good luck with District Court Judges, less luck with Appeals Court Judges, and very little luck with Supreme Court Justices. But that’s besides the point, this is all about slowing down the Trump agenda, and wasting months or years before a final resolution is reached. Democrats don’t have to win in the end to achieve Democrats’ goals.

It is telling that there was less fuss when the Chinese hacked into the system.

When The Punishment Doesn’t Fit The Crime

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On Saturday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about Asif Rahman, a former CIA officer, who has been arrested and has pleaded guilty to sharing classified documents about Israel’s plans to launch a missile strike on Iran.

The article reports:

A former CIA analyst arrested in November and charged with leaking highly classified records showing Israeli plans to launch a retaliatory strike on Iran pleaded guilty Friday in a federal court in Virginia.

Asif Rahman, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of transmission of national defense information, according to court records.

Rahman faces up to 10 years in prison for the first count and up to three years for the second count. His sentencing was set for May 15.

Rahman admitted to accessing and printing out two documents regarding Israel’s retaliatory strike plans on Oct. 17 and transporting them to his residence, where he later uploaded images of them and provided them to “multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them,” according to the plea agreement.

He later took various steps to try and conceal his involvement in the leak, even as authorities were able to track him down remarkably quickly given he was the only individual found to have printed out the documents, according to logs reviewed by investigators.

On Friday, Ynet news noted:

Rahman, a Yale University graduate, faces up to 20 years in prison under the Espionage Act. However, a plea deal under negotiation could limit his sentence to six and a half years. Federal prosecutors reportedly agreed to the reduced penalty after Rahman took responsibility for his actions and expressed a desire to resolve the case.

Rahman’s sentencing is scheduled for May 15. Prosecutors indicated they might recommend further leniency if Rahman continues cooperating with authorities.

I don’t care if he took responsibility for his actions, there needs to be a much longer prison sentence.

The Biggest Lie Of 2024

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On December 31st, Legal Insurrection posted an article about what they considered the biggest lie of 2024.

The article reported:

All politicians lie from time to time, but the Democrats have elevated it to an art form. They understand that if a lie is repeated often enough, it gains traction, and most people will eventually believe it. They’ve also learned that the most effective lies are the ones that are the most difficult to disprove, such as their insistence in 2016 that President-elect Donald Trump was an agent of Russia.

The Russian collusion narrative was a stunning success for the Democrats, creating endless challenges for candidate and eventually President Trump. Buoyed by its effectiveness, party operatives felt emboldened, pushing them to concoct even bigger and bolder lies.

When former Vice President Joe Biden entered the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, the party quickly rallied behind him, convinced he was their best chance to defeat Trump. It was evident, however, that Biden had changed during his time out of the spotlight. He had slowed down, struggled to speak without a teleprompter, slurred his words, and frequently lost his train of thought. While Republicans and foreigners recognized the early signs of cognitive decline, Biden’s handlers worked tirelessly to cover it up.

Unfortunately, Americans are the ones paying the price for that lie. The staff surrounding President Biden included a number of people who were in the Obama administration. I don’t think that is a coincidence. The last four years were President Obama’s third term. We got to see the soul of the Obama Democrat Party–bad economic policy, bad foreign policy, bad energy policy, and suffering everyday Americans. In 2024, the American voters decided that they were done with bad polices and changed course.

The article concludes:

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) sums up the Democrats’ hypocrisy perfectly in the tweet below:

They blamed it on a “Stutter.”
They blamed it on “Russian Disinfo.”
They blamed it on “Cheap-Fakes.”
They hid him at every opportunity.
They scripted every public event.
They denied the Hur Report findings.
They sent him on vacation for 570 days.
They brazenly lied to you FOR… pic.twitter.com/ovnQtFsX8t

— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) December 30, 2024

I am looking forward to a great 2025.

What Have We Been Teaching Our Children?

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On Tuesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the reaction to the killing of the CEO or UnitedHealthcare.

The article includes the following chart:

The article reports:

  • Most voters (68%) think the actions of the killer against Thompson were unacceptable, while 17% found them acceptable, an Emerson College poll out this week found.
  • Young voters were far more split: 41% found the killer’s actions acceptable, while 40% found them unacceptable, per the poll. About 24% found them “somewhat acceptable” and 17% “completely acceptable.” ….
  • Even before Mangione was arrested, posters hailed him as a folk hero and posted jokes and memes celebrating the suspect and his purported cause, Axios’ Ivana Saric reported.
  • TikTok, a top social media app for young people, was awash with comedy over the killing.
  • Online storefronts also began selling merchandise, including sweatshirts, wine tumblers and hats emblazoned with words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” — industry parlance found on shell casings at the crime scene….
  • 22% of Democrats found the killer’s actions acceptable, while 59% found them unacceptable. Among Republicans, 12% found the actions acceptable while 16% of independents said the same.
  • Men (19%) found the killer’s actions slightly more acceptable than women (14%).

This is frightening.

The article quotes an interview with William A. Jacobson, who wrote the article:

And so I think that’s what you’re seeing is a destruction of the values in the younger generation via the education system on the rule of law, of the notion that you just don’t get to kill people you don’t like. And so I think that’s a problem, I think, that this should be the reaction from the younger generation to this assassination, this premeditated assassination, which has resulted in a very rare first degree murder charge in New York State, because it’s an act, was an act considered an act of terrorism, which pushes it up from second degree murder to first degree murder. You’re seeing that reaction is something that is very frightening for our society, and I think you may see play out in other cases that people think it’s okay to kill somebody you disagree with or you think has a bad capitalist job.

If we continue to teach our young adults that capitalism is evil, where will the next generation of entrepreneurs come from?

 

In Today’s America, Privacy Is An Illusion

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On Tuesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article explaining how the government spies on Americans without the inconvenience of getting a warrant.

The article reports:

A report from the House Judiciary Committee and Government Weaponization Subcommittee exposed the FBI for abusing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to spy on Americans’ bank accounts without a warrant.

“Documents show that federal law enforcement increasingly works hand-in-glove with financial institutions, obtaining virtually unchecked access to private financial data and testing out new methods and new technology to continue the financial surveillance of American citizens,” according to the report.

The article notes:

However, the law prohibits federal law enforcement from asking about a bank’s customer information without a legal process.

“All Americans should be disturbed by how their financial data is collected, made accessible to, and searched by federal and state officials, including law enforcement and regulatory agencies,” the committees added. “With the rise in e-commerce and the widespread adoption of cash alternatives like credit cards or peer-to-peer payment services, the future leaves very little financial activity beyond the purview of modern financial institutions or the government’s prying eyes.”

Here’s a mic drop (emphasis mine): “This is because, as a condition of participating in the modern economy, Americans are forced to disclose details of their private lives to a financial industry that has been too eager to pass this information along to federal law enforcement.”

Yup. Our financial institutions had no problem cooperating with the FBI. It seems a few even helped formulate ideas to spy on us.

The article concludes:

The institutions and FinCEN have been working together to develop new ways to spy on Americans with the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group (BSAAG). The new plans include requiring “Americans to have a digital identification to access financial services, testing artificial intelligence to surveil Americans’ financial activity, and working towards even closer coordination between financial institutions and federal law enforcement.”

“As promoted by the BSAAG, this surveillance will be catalyzed by even greater government entanglement with financial institutions as they begin to integrate new technology to more effectively track their customers’ financial habits,” concluded the committees. “Absent renewed safeguards, the federal government and financial institutions will continue to siphon off Americans’ sensitive financial data, place it into the hands of bureaucrats, and erode any remaining semblance of financial privacy in the United States.”

After January 6th, 2021, Bank of America was asked to hand over records of anyone who used a Bank of America credit or debit card in the Washington, D.C., area between January 5th and January 7th of 2021. Those records were used as one method of identifying people who were at the Trump rally or at the Capitol building. There was no warrant involved.