Tag Archives: Townhall

Privacy?

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On Saturday, Townhall posted an article about a subpoena issued by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to Citibank.

The article reports:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) issued a subpoena to Citibank over allegations that the company provided private information of customers involved in the January 6 Capitol Hill protests to the weaponized Department of Justice.

The subpoena came after Jordan declared the bank was not cooperating with the Committee’s requests to turn over crucial documentation.

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained evidence showing that at least one major financial institution provided the FBI with private financial data without legal process,” Jordan wrote to Sunil Garg, CEO of Citibank North America. “Bank of America (BoA) provided the FBI — voluntarily and without any legal process — with a list of individuals who made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with a BoA credit or debit card between January 5 and January 7, 2021.”

Jordan’s letter also stated that individuals who previously bought a firearm with a BoA product were moved to the top of that list— regardless of the time or place of the firearm purchase.

The Committee alleges that the bank shared individuals’ private information regarding their accounts with the FBI despite having no criminal past.

Keep in mind that the purchases were tracked because people used their credit cards. How much easier would it be to track the purchases of all Americans if we were using digital currency?

The article concludes:

“These documents suggest that the executive branch was brainstorming informal methods— outside of legal process—for obtaining private customer information from financial institutions,” Jordan’s letter continued.

Jordan has also sought information from JPMorgan, PNC, U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo, and Trust Financial Corporation.

“Given this concerning testimony, the Committee has written to other major financial institutions, including Citibank, to determine whether those entities were involved in similar conduct,” he said.

The Ohio congressman hinted at future legislation that would hold financial institutions responsible if they participate in such activity.

I know someone whose PayPal account was closed because she purchased a hamburger with her credit card in Washington on January 6th. She attended the rally, but went back to her hotel afterwards. Sharing credit card records of people who have not committed a crime should be illegal if it is not already. If it is illegal, those who broke the law need to be held accountable.

Losing The Freedom To Feed Your Family

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On Friday, Townhall posted an article about an Amish farmer in Virginia who has personally experienced government overreach.

The article reports:

The firestorm of Big Government saber-rattling ignited in mid-June when an inspector with the Virginia Department of Agriculture (VDAC), without warning, paid the Fisher family a visit. To date, Fisher has no idea what could’ve prompted VDAC’s impromptu inspection on June 14, except “maybe they just finally found us through word of mouth,” the farmer speculated.

What was clear: The state sought to penalize Fisher for selling meat that was not processed by a USDA-inspected facility (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Fisher processes—an industry euphemism for butchering—his farm-raised meat on-site and sells it directly to his customers, feeding about 500 consumers and their families, who are part of a buying club. As members enrolled in the Golden Valley Farms program, they’re buying into the herd of 100% grass-fed golden Guernsey cows.

“They own part of the business. They own some of the herd,” Fisher explained. “My thinking was […] We can butcher their cows, process it, and sell it to them. I told the state all of this, but they said, ‘No, there’s no way around that. You can’t do that.’ They asked permission to get in here” to search the farm, which Fisher denied. “And, they told me, ‘We’ll be back,’ and left.”

The next day, on June 15, the VDAC inspector did, in fact, return, this time with a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy to serve Fisher a search warrant. “They went through everything, house, every building, in the barn. They just raided through everything, put their nose in everything, and wanted to know every detail of everything. They went out back, trying to find all the failure they can find on a farm, which, of course, some of their stuff, which they think is wrong, is just normal stuff on a farm,” Fisher stated.

The article also notes:

“Anybody can go and raise animals for their own family to eat. That’s where I got to the point: He [the VDAC inspector] crossed the line, so I’m going to cross the line,” Fisher stated. “He crossed the line by telling me I cannot feed my own family with this meat. So, I decided I’m going to cross the line, I’m going to sell it. And that’s why I didn’t honor the state.”

This makes me wonder why the state did not even want his own family eating the animals they raised. Is the state going to start inspecting people’s vegetable gardens and taking their produce? This is ridiculous.

Putting The Cart Before The Horse

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On Monday, Townhall reported that the charges brought against President Trump in Georgia have been released before the Grand Jury is done interviewing witnesses. A two-page report was posted on the Fulton County, Georgia, website before someone realized the mistake and quickly took it down. How can the charges be released before the Grand Jury is done?

The article reports:

According to the document that was reportedly (and briefly) posted to the county’s website, it appears Trump will face a total of 39 felony counts on the following charges that the docket lists with dates ranging from November 4, 2020 through September 17, 2021:

…While officials in Fulton County have been tight-lipped on the situation so far, Monday’s events raised more questions about how the grand jury was considering charges against the 45th president — especially if charges were ready to go before the panel had finished hearing testimony from witnesses.

Trump primary opponent Vivek Ramaswamy chimed in on the matter Monday afternoon, calling the indictment “disastrous” and “downright pathetic.”

In his Street Law 101 article posted at substack, Robert DuChemin (my favorite Florida lawyer) states:

As to the forthcoming Georgia case, whatever it is, it should be easy to get dismissed because the chairman of the grand jury, some ugly wokie chick, went on national TV claiming that she told the prosecutor to bring them anything he had and they would return a decision recommending prosecution of President Trump. Not only does this give the state unclean hands because it is a felony for anybody on the jury to discuss what went on but it also demonstrates her prejudice prior to being presented with any of the facts. I do not see how Georgia can overcome such a blatant abuse of the law. That case should be easily dismissed.

Generally the state or county waits for the Grand Jury to finish before posting their findings on the county website. The lack of professionalism on the part of those out to get President Trump is amazing.

How Much Evidence Will It Take Before Someone Is Held Accountable?

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On Wednesday, Townhall reported that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has released records of overseas deposits into Hunter Biden’s back accounts during the time that Joe Biden was Vice-President.

The article reports:

“During Joe Biden’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden sold him as ‘the brand’ to reap millions from oligarchs in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. It appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself. And Hunter Biden seems to have delivered. This is made clear by meals at Café Milano where then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son,” Comer released in a statement. “It’s clear Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings and allowed himself to be ‘the brand’ sold to enrich the Biden family while he was Vice President of the United States. The House Oversight Committee will continue to follow the money trail and obtain witness testimony to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised or corrupt, and our national security is threatened.”

…According to the memo released by Comer, the Biden family received over $20 million in foreign transactions and the payments were distributed to multiple members. The payments were hidden through shell companies and funneled through Hunter Biden’s business partners, including Devon Archer. Archer and Biden earned $6.5 million from Burisma alone.

The article concludes:

“When President Biden ran as a presidential candidate, he assured the American people his family received no money from China. President Biden recently claimed the Committee’s bank records regarding his family’s receipt of funds from China are ‘not true,'” a second Committee memo states. “The White House refuses to correct President Biden’s dishonest statements. The lack of transparency surrounding the Biden family’s foreign business deals raises serious national security concerns.” 

There is no happy ending to this story. Impeaching President Biden will not work–even with overwhelming evidence, the Senate will NOT impeach. Even if the Senate were to impeach, we would then have President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile we have a President who not only is mentally compromised but is probably being blackmailed by half the countries in the world. At some point this charade has to end.

Some Wisdom From A Judge

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On Monday, Townhall posted an article about a Judge’s decision in one of the cases against President Trump.

The article reports:

In an order filed Monday morning in the classified documents case against President Donald Trump, Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon questioned “the legal propriety” of prosecutors working for Special Counsel Jack Smith to use “an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate.” She also struck down the sealed filings of two prosecutors. 

“The Special Counsel’s motion for leave to file under seal [ECF No. 95] is DENIED. The Clerk is directed to STRIKE from the docket sealed entries 95 and 96. Waltine Nauta shall file a response to the Motion for a Garcia hearing [ECF No. 97] on or before August 17, 2023. Among other topics as raised in the Motion, the response shall address the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings on matters pertinent to the instant indicted matter in this district. The Special Counsel shall respond to that discussion in a Reply in Support of the Motion [ECF No. 97], due on or before August 22, 2023. The remaining Defendants may, but are not required to, file briefs of their own related to the grand jury issue referenced herein, but any such briefs are due by August 17, 2023, and may be submitted in combined or individual fashion,” Cannon wrote. 

The use of the government bureaucracy to undermine the presidential candidacy of a political opponent is probably not new, but it has definitely been in play since 2016. The first instance I remember is the Russia hoax that we supposed to prevent President Trump from winning the election and then cripple his presidency. It failed to achieve the first goal, but was somewhat successful in achieving the second goal.

I truly believe that the only way to be done with this foolishness is to put President Trump back in the White House and let him drain the swamp. Unfortunately during his first term, there were numerous swamp creatures within his administration. Many of those creatures have now revealed themselves and can be dealt with. If we want our country back, we need to elect a President who supports the people–not the swamp.

 

Hoping That Americans Have Short Memories

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On Thursday, Townhall posted an article that illustrates the media’s hope that Americans have short memories.

This is the headline:

Reporters Are Still Pushing the False Claim Obama Had No Scandals

Let’s take a short walk down memory lane. The first thing that I saw in the Obama administration that gave me concern was the way the New Black Panthers case was handled. There was YouTube video of the New Black Panthers standing outside a polling place in Philadelphia dressed in black, holding billy clubs and looking intimidating. However, the people involved were never charged with voter intimidation.

On July 30, 2012, I reported:

The article in The Washington Examiner cites the writing of United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton:

The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case, which would appear to contradict Assistant Attorney General Perez’s testimony that political leadership was not involved in that decision. Surely the public has an interest in documents that cast doubt on the accuracy of government officials’ representations regarding the possible politicization of agency decision-making.
…
In sum, the Court concludes that three of the four fee entitlement factors weigh in favor of awarding fees to Judicial Watch. Therefore, Judicial Watch is both eligible and entitled to fees and costs, and the Court must now consider the reasonableness of Judicial Watch’s requested award.

Judicial Watch has been on the job for a long time. They demand transparency from both Republican and Democrat administrations. Their website is a very good source of information.

The Townhall article names some of the other scandals:

While there are too many scandals to list for one story, among the most egregious were the Fast and Furious scandal, the Solyndra scandal, the IRS targeting conservative non-profits, and the Taliban Five prisoner swap. A full list of scandals can be found here.

The Obama administration was simply a practice run for all of the current corruption we see in the White House.

This Seems Illogical To Me

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On Saturday, Townhall reported that he Biden administration has refused to give Secret Service protection to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. This is ironic at best because the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., was the event that triggered providing Secret Service protection to presidential candidates. Meanwhile, there were a number of government vehicles and security agents that accompanied Hunter Biden to court last week.

The article reports:

“Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me,” RJK Jr. wrote on Twitter.

He added that the “typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14 days. After 88 days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.”

…In response from the Biden Administration, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.”

Biden’s challenger said his request included a 67-page report from the “world’s leading protection firm, detailing unique and well-established security and safety risks aside from commonplace death threats.”

RFK Jr’s father was assassinated in 1968 at a Los Angeles hotel. Five years earlier, his uncle, President John Kennedy, in 1963 was also assassinated.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been a bit of a thorn in the side of the Biden administration. He has previously testified before Congress regarding the censorship that the Biden administration routinely practices.

We Have The Evidence, Will We Prosecute The Crime?

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As President Trump achieves double digits in the number of indictments on spurious charges, the major media has chosen to ignore the overwhelming evidence presented to Congress regarding influence peddling by the Biden family syndicate. On Friday, Townhall posted an article about a document recently released to Senator Grassley and House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY).

The article reports:

After attempts from the Biden administration to restrict access to the FBI-generated FD-1023 form at the center of allegations that then-Vice President Joe Biden was engaged in a criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released the full document on Thursday afternoon to finally give the American people the full picture created by the unclassified document.

The document authorized for release to Grassley and House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has few redactions and provides the most information on these allegations against Biden to date. After releasing the FBI document, Grassley asked again: “What did FBI do to investigate serious claims from FBIs own trusted source??”

The article includes a transcription of the text of the FD-1023. Please follow the link to read the transcript.

The article represents proof of not only corruption on the part of the Biden family, but evidence of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation failing to do their job of enforcing the law equally.

The Democrat talking point on all of this information is that it has been debunked. It has not–in fact more and more corroborating evidence is revealed every day.

To add to the mix, on Thursday The Daily Wire reported the following:

A senior FBI official allegedly informed Twitter that the abandoned laptop believed to have belonged to Hunter Biden was real on the same day the New York Post broke news about the device’s contents in a story that Twitter went on to censor, according to newly-released testimony.

Laura Dehmlow, the section chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), spoke with the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government this week, House Judiciary Republicans announced on Thursday.

Our government and our media are not working in the interests of the American people.

Protecting Our Children

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On Tuesday, Townhall reported the following:

On Saturday, a federal appeals panel said a Tennessee law restricting irreversible, experimental transgender care for children could be enforced. 

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio granted an emergency appeal from Tennessee to allow the legislation to go into effect. Previously, a judge struck blocked components of the law, which Townhall covered.

“The case is far from over, but this is a big win,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “The court of appeals lifted the injunction, meaning the law can be fully enforced, and recognized that Tennessee is likely to win the constitutional argument and the case.”

Reportedly, the ruling is preliminary and will be in effect until the appeals court conducts a full review of the appeal. The case should be resolved by Sept. 30.

Gender reassignment therapy is a money-maker for the medical industry. A person who changes their gender as a young person will be on medication for the rest of their life to maintain that change. There will also be medical complications from that change.

In June 2015, PBS reported:

The physical changes that hormones bring about are irreversible, making the decision more weighty than taking puberty blockers. Some of the known side effects of hormones include things that might sound familiar: acne and changes in mood. Patients are also warned that they may be at higher risk for heart disease or diabetes later in life. The risk of blood clots increases for those who start estrogen. And the risk for cancer is an unknown, but it is included in the warnings doctors give their patients.

Another potential dilemma facing transgender children, their families and their doctors is this: Taking cross hormones can reduce fertility. And there isn’t enough research to find out of it is reversible or not. So when children make the decision to start taking hormones, they have to consider whether they ever want to have biological children.

These are not decisions young teenagers are equipped to make. The drugs and medical procedures need to be postponed until a person is mature enough to comprehend the risks of what they are doing.

Quotes From Senator Kennedy

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On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article that featured Senator John Kennedy’s comments on the Biden family scandal.

Here are some of the wonderful quotes:

Noting that “it’s almost always the cover-up and not the crime” that proves most damaging, Sen. Kennedy added he is “repeatedly amazed at how many smart people there are in Washington, D.C. who have no sense.”

…”I do know this — and I think the American people can see it — the Washington managerial elite, the establishment if you will, is working harder than an ugly stripper to cover up whatever happened,” said Kennedy. “And that’s all that Congress is asking for, is the facts.”

…”To the point that they have no sense,” Kennedy continued, “the elite in Washington think that the American people don’t see that they’re covering up and that they’re being obstructionist. Maybe it’s a reflection of the contempt they have for the American people, but any fair-minded person can see that our efforts to get to just the facts are being obstructed,” said Sen. Kennedy.

“It started with Hunter Biden’s laptop,” Kennedy explained of the D.C. establishment’s demonstrated track record of working to cover for Hunter Biden. “They tried to convince the American people it wasn’t real and it was,” he reminded. “And I think many people in the federal government knew almost from the inception that it was real, and so a lot of folks lied to the American people.”

No one says it quite like Senator Kennedy.

When Your Children Write On The Sidewalk

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On Friday, Townhall posted an article about a recent incident at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. As the Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders currently lives in the Governor’s Mansion.

The article reports:

Joyless leftists, as they are prone to do, got all triggered when Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ kids used chalk to draw a cross surrounded by colorful stained glass-like shapes on the driveway at the governor’s mansion this week.

Gov. Sanders had shared a photo of her kids and their artwork to social media, which naturally upset the usual suspects.

Quickly, the hall monitors at Americans United for the Separation of Church and State issued a demand letter: remove the chalk rendering of a cross.

The group claimed that its presence at the official home of Arkansas’ executive was a violation of the Constitution.

…Never mind, apparently, that “separation of church and state” is not found in the Constitution, nor does having a kids’ chalk depiction of a rather universal religious symbol rise to the level of establishing a state religion.

In what should come as a surprise to no one, Gov. Sanders is not backing down, bending to the will of the no-God-in-government crowd at Americans United, or agreeing to relegate her family’s beliefs to only private expressions.

In an official letter of her own obtained by Townhall on Friday, Sanders responded to Americans United.

“I have received your letter and my answer is no,” Sanders wrote. “I will not erase the beautiful cross my kids drew in chalk on the driveway of the Governor’s Mansion or remove my post on social media, and I will not now or ever hide that I am a Christian, saved by Christ.”

Sanders continued, explaining that Americans United is “wrong to claim that our Constitution prevents public officials, let alone their families, from making earnest expressions of religious faith. Our founding documents are riddled with religious language – stating plainly that the very rights you claim to defend are ‘endowed by our Creator,'” Sanders reminded. “You are asking me to ignore that truth and hide a crucial part of my identity and the identity of my kids. That, I will not do,” she reiterated.

I can’t imagine anyone getting upset at a children’s drawing of a cross on the driveway. Frankly, looking at the picture, I am amazed at the beauty of the drawing. My kids and grandkids only drew stick figures and strangely shaped hearts. Haven’t the kill-joys got better things to do that attack kids’ drawings on driveways?

Does This Surprise Anyone?

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On Tuesday, Townhall reported that the California wild fire that was blamed on climate change was actually the result of arson.

The article reports:

Last summer, a large wildfire that came to be known as the Oak Fire scorched its way across California’s Mariposa County and threatened Yosemite National Park. First reported on July 22, 2022, the Oak Fire burned more than 19,000 acres of land, cost more than $90 million, and evacuations forced the displacement of thousands of Californians and visitors in the fire’s path as it rapidly expanded.

“Experts say dry air, strong winds, parched trees and grass and soaring temperatures caused the Oak fire to expand rapidly through the rugged foothills in recent days. The area has experienced nearly two weeks of triple digit temperatures and low humidity,” The Guardian reported of the Oak Fire as it spread. “All this comes at a time when the state is seeing increasingly destructive and deadly blazes and the climate crisis creates conditions ripe for destruction.”

Taxpayer funded (in part) PBS emphasized that the Oak Fire was one of the “devastating consequences” of the “global climate crisis.”

Not so fast.

The article quotes the Washington Free Beacon:

Authorities busted a Democratic donor for allegedly starting a “ginormous inferno” in Yosemite National Park. Democratic politicians had insisted climate change was to blame for the blaze, which destroyed more than 100 homes and injured several firefighters in July 2022. 

Edward Fredrick Wackerman (his actual name) of Mariposa, Calif., faces a number of charges including aggravated arson following his arrest on Friday.

By the numbers: The arson suspect has donated $1,775 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2020, government records show, including a $1,000 donation to Tim Ryan’s failed U.S. Senate campaign in 2022 and $400 to the Lincoln Project, a disgraced liberal super PAC.

The article notes that all of the restrictions being put on Californians in the name of climate change would not have stopped the Democrat donor who used a match to make it appear that climate change was a major threat. People who have no regard for the property or the welfare of their fellow Americans are a bigger threat.

Come, Mister Tally Man, Tally Me Banana

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We have officially reached banana republic status.

Townhall reported the following today:

According to The Washington Post’s reporting on court papers filed Tuesday morning, Hunter Biden has reached a “tentative agreement” to “plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and admit to the facts of a gun charge under terms that would likely keep him out of jail.”

This sweetheart deal for Hunter Biden would still require validation by a federal judge at such time Hunter appears in court to enter his plea.

According to the Washington Post:

The court papers indicate the younger Biden has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018. The combined tax liability is roughly $1.2 million over those years, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe details of the agreement that are not yet public. Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of probation for those counts, these people said. Biden’s representatives have said he previously paid back the IRS what he owed.

Additionally, Biden plans to admit to illegally possessing a weapon following his 2018 purchase of a handgun. As part of that admission, he expects to be entered in a diversion program, a less punitive form of sentence typically applied to people with substance abuse problems. In all, prosecutors would recommend two years of probation and diversion conditions. If Biden successfully meets the conditions of the diversion program, the gun charge would be removed from his record at the end of that period, the people said.

Has anyone questioned where Hunter Biden got the money that the $1.2 million taxes were owed on? Does anyone doubt that they money would never have been paid were it not for the public pressure surrounding this case?

The Hill reported today:

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) vowed on Tuesday to continue investigating Hunter Biden, despite his “sweetheart plea deal” reached with federal prosecutors.

“These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation,” Comer said in a statement. “We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed.”

 

Will There Be Consequences?

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We have watched for a number of years as the Department of Justice reacted differently to crimes according to the political alignment of the person who committed them. Unfortunately, we may be about to see that happen again.

On Tuesday, Townhall reported the following:

The Republican Majority on the House Oversight Committee announced it would be taking further action against the Biden FBI on Tuesday after the agency again refused to provide unclassified documents responsive to a committee subpoena regarding an alleged criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

In a statement, Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had informed his committee “that it will not provide the unclassified documents subpoenaed by the Committee,” defying the House’s oversight powers on a matter of significant interest to members of Congress and the American people.

“The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable,” Comer continued. “While I have a call scheduled with FBI Director Wray tomorrow to discuss his response further, the Committee has been clear in its intent to protect Congressional oversight authorities and will now be taking steps to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena,” he explained.

The article concludes:

As Katie reported previously on the FBI’s refusal to turn over the unclassified documents related to the whistleblower allegations that the agency had knowledge of this alleged criminal scheme between Biden during his time as VP and an unknown foreign national:

The document in question allegedly shows then Vice President Joe Biden taking bribe money in exchange for changes in U.S. foreign policy. Earlier this month a whistleblower, who is now protected under federal law, came forward with the bribery allegation in testimony to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley. 

The FBI missed a deadline to turn over the document two weeks ago and sent a letter justifying their belief Congress isn’t entitled to the information. 

“I can’t speak to the specific document. We are committed to working collaboratively with both committees but we also have to balance sources and methods and ongoing investigations,” Wray recently said during testimony on Capitol Hill. “I really can’t get into the specifics here.”

The only thing that I can conclude here is that Christopher Wray thinks that the consequences of not handing over the document will be less severe than the consequences of handing over the document. That simply adds fuel to the idea that the document is important. It also adds fuel to the idea that we are watching carefully orchestrated theater that will eventually remove President Biden from the 2024 presidential race.

Do You Feel That Someone Is Watching You?

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On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about the number of warrantless searches on American citizens.

The article reports:

In the fiscal year for the U.S. government that ended in November 2021, the FBI conducted more than 278,000 warrantless searches on U.S. citizens.

The information was unsealed in a FISA court ruling this past week.

So on average, during just that one year, the FBI was carrying out as many as 762 warrantless searches per day. That’s 32 improper searches per hour. That breaks down to a new warrantless search every 2 minutes.

These numbers do not include proper searches that used warrants and carried out the usual function of the bureau.

It also does not include the 3,400,000 times the FBI searched citizens’ data without warrants. That’s 9,315 per day, 388 per hour, and 6.5 per minute.

So in 2021–every two minutes—the FBI conducted a physical search and 13 data searches—illegally—for the entire year.

The same agency we now know tipped off that Hillary Clinton was colluding with Russia to frame Donald Trump and did nothing about it…

The same agency that lied to the FISA court to extend search warrants to surveil people that were later vindicated and cleared…

The same agency that allowed agents to conduct extra-marital relationships (an action that violates the FBI code of conduct) and feverishly work to remove a lawfully elected President…

The same agency that has held the Hunter Biden laptop in its possession has chosen to do zero in enforcement….

The same agency that knew that one political party was attempting to smear, frame, and remove an incoming President and briefed then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice-President Joe Biden as to the plans…

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. Unfortunately there is more.

Our Constitution protects us from unlawful searches:

Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The people engaged in this unlawful surveillance need to be arrested.

Dancing Before The Senate

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On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article that illustrates the problem with investigating the possible corruption of the Biden family business (I’m still not sure exactly what that business was).

The article reports:

Testifying in front of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray was asked why the Bureau has failed to turn over a key document that allegedly shows President Joe Biden taking bribes from a foreign actor during his time as vice president.

“I can’t speak to the specific document. We are committed to working collaboratively with both committees but we also have to balance sources and methods and ongoing investigations,” Wray said under questioning from Republican Senator Bill Hagerty. “I really can’t get into the specifics here.”

When is an answer not an answer? I think the quote above answers that question.

The article concludes:

“It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee. We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations. The FBI has failed to do both,” Comer released in a statement Wednesday about the FBI’s lack of compliance. “The FBI’s position is ‘trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.’ That is unacceptable. We plan to follow up with the FBI and expect compliance with the subpoena.”

Keep in mind that the ousting of President Biden is a planned activity. It will happen when the Democrats and the compliant media want it to happen. The investigation is not scripted, but the Democrat, Department of Justice, and FBI response are carefully planned to proceed with a plan already in place.

Upholding The U.S. Constitution

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There are a lot of state right now that are attempting to limit the rights of American citizens to own guns. Any law that ‘infringes’ on that right is unconstitutional.

The Second Amendment states:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

On Friday, Townhall reported that a federal judge put an end to one of the attempts to limit the freedom of Americans.

The article reports:

Molon labe. The nation is facing serious domestic and foreign policy crises, making the environment ripe for liberals to pass anti-gun legislation without anyone knowing. The fight to keep our Second Amendment rights is an ongoing struggle. It’s also grounded mainly in lawyer’s work, moving gradually. It took a decade for the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments about whether we have the right to carry guns in public for self-defense. Yes, we can declare we already had that right, but the high court never addressed it until New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen in 2022. If you look through past dockets, many gun rights cases like Bruen where a writ of certiorari was denied; Wollard v. Gallagher (2013) and Drake v. Jerejian (2014) are prime examples. 

We live in a society where the pace of change is meant to be slow for our protection. So, now that Bruen has decided on this remaining question regarding gun rights expect another lengthy court battle over carry rights, may issue-shall issue protocols, and pushback from blue states who will not go willingly with the Supreme Court’s decision. To start, we have a federal judge in Virginia striking down the age limit for purchasing handguns, which has been set at 21 for years

The article concludes:

Judge Payne is right; our constitutional right to own firearms does not “vest at age 21.” After the Parkland shooting in Florida in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, some states, like Florida and Vermont, passed anti-gun laws that increased the age to purchase all firearms to 21. It’s always been 18 to buy a long gun and 21 for a handgun. At least some class of firearm would be afforded to those upon turning the age of 18. It’s not shocking the Justice Department is going to appeal the ruling. While a small victory, it should remind us that as we deal with Joe Biden’s incompetence, high inflation, a proxy war in Ukraine spiraling out of control, a looming real estate crisis, a shaky banking system, and the debt ceiling now becoming a ticking time bomb—the fight to keep our guns and expand those rights remains critical and difficult.

This is a fight that we must continue to fight and that we must win.

One Former CIA Officer Had Integrity

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On Friday, Townhall posted an article related to the former security professionals who signed the letter alleging that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. It seems that not everyone who was asked to sign the letter did.

The article reports:

But now Fox News Contributor Dan Hoffman, a former CIA station chief who revealed in an op-ed this week for the first time that he had received the letter and was asked to sign it, is explaining why he didn’t add his name when he was asked to do so by former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell.

“I got the letter October 18, 2020,” Hoffman said Friday on Fox News Channel’s America Reports. He noted that, “at first glance, it seemed natural” to blame Putin for the existence of, and revelations from, Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell. “But, at the same time, there was no evidence, and the letter noted there was no evidence” backing up the conclusion, Hoffman added. “We needed to do the forensics,” he said, in order to assert a conclusion.

Hoffman added that, when he received the letter and was asked to sign it, there was no opportunity to edit its contents or “debate” its merits. Instead, the letter was already in its final form and being passed around seeking endorsements.

In making his decision not to add his name, Hoffman said he believed “it was not up to us to speculate” without evidence showing a connection to Russia. “So, I didn’t sign the letter — I typically don’t put my name to other people’s words,” Hoffman added, “and I didn’t respond.”

It is unfortunate that Mr. Hoffman’s decision was the exception rather than t he rule. I suspect that intelligence officers are trained to evaluate evidence before making decisions. Evidently this was not done in the case of this letter. Note that Mr. Hoffman mentions that there was no opportunity to either edit the letter or debate its merits.

President Biden Has Announced He Is Running For Re-election

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Why would an 80-year-old man run for President? He has obviously lost some of his mental abilities, and he is not likely to regain them. On Tuesday, Townhall posted a fact check of President Biden’s announcement that he was running for President in 2024. The announcement was in video form–it was not live, which in itself is curious.

In the video, the President noted:

“The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer,” the 80-year-old stated. “I know what I want the answer to be. This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection.”

The article notes:

As Katie pointed out, vaccine-obsessed Biden, the so-called leader of the free world, issued a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers, ordering that all employees were required to get vaxxed against the coronavirus or be subject to disciplinary action, which included termination. Likewise, in an affront to individual autonomy and those bravely fighting for America’s freedom, Biden imposed a military-wide vaccine mandate, causing thousands of U.S. military personnel to have been discharged or sidelined for refusing the jab. Biden’s administration also sought to enforce a draconian vaccine-or-test mandate on private businesses through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but the move was deemed illegal.

The article also notes:

Attacking GOP leadership, Biden claimed, “But you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away,” which the octogenarian alleged included “cutting Social Security that you’ve paid for your entire life.”

Townhall previously debunked this oft-repeated claim that Biden regurgitates in office and on the 2024 campaign trail. The majority of conservative lawmakers aren’t on board with sunsetting Social Security and Medicare as Republican top brass has repeatedly declared that mainstream GOP members have no intention of ending these generations-old federal entitlements.

…Moments after the false Social Security claim, Biden alleged that “MAGA extremists” across America are “banning books.”

Please follow the link to the article for further details. I really can’t believe that anyone believes President Biden is capable of being President until 2028. I do wonder exactly what the Democrats are setting up.

It’s Hard To Define Something That Has No Definition

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On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing where Steve Dettelbach, the man President Biden chose to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), was questioned on the definition of assault weapon.

The article reports:

Steve Dettelbach, the man President Biden chose to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), followed in the footsteps of other Biden administration officials who have been stumped by seemingly straightforward questions from lawmakers, questions that deal with subjects within what is supposed to be their purview.

On Tuesday, Director Dettelbach was asked by Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-TX) to give a brief, 15-second definition of the term “assault weapon,” the thing President Biden and Democrats have demanded must be banned within the United States in order to reduce the frequency of crimes committed by individuals with guns. Dettelbach, however, came up completely empty during his testimony in the House Appropriations Committee’s hearing focused on the ATF’s FY2024 budget.

This is how the political appointee danced around the question:

“I’ll go shorter than that because I, honestly, if Congress wishes to take that up, I think Congress would have to do the work, but we would be there to provide technical assistance,” Dettelbach told Ellzey. Huh? So, the man in charge of ATF doesn’t even have a guess when it comes to defining a firearm type that is mentioned and demonized almost daily by the White House?

“I, unlike you, am not a firearms expert, to the same extent as you maybe, but we have people at ATF who can talk about velocity of firearms, what damage different kinds of firearms cause, so that whatever determination you chose to make would be an informed one,” Dettelbach added, confirming that President Biden had put forward another entirely unqualified person to lead a powerful wing of federal bureaucracy.

Actually, I could have saved him the embarrassment–to the Democrats and the people who want to end the right enshrined in the Second Amendment–an assault weapon is any gun that is scary looking. My definition is as valid as his definition.

The Strange World Of The Liberal Left

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I am hoping for an honest presidential election in 2024. That may be a baseless hope, but I am hoping. We have come to a fork in the road–do Americans want to be governed by people who truly represent them or by people who only represent themselves? Are we going to vote for the man who wants us to be free or the man who wants to control us? Right now, California Governor Gavin Newsom is running around the country claiming that California represents freedom and Florida represents tyranny. That’s a very interesting campaign approach considering that California is losing population and Florida is gaining population.

Gavin Newsom became Governor of California in 2019. On April 11, Townhall reported that California has fallen in population for the third consecutive year, after having previously experienced nothing but population growth for its entire existence. According to the same article, Florida has gained more than 700,000 new residents since 2020. So Gavin Newsom, who is running for President, is giving Ron DeSantis advice on how to run his state?!

The article at Townhall reports:

If Biden eventually defies conventional wisdom and pulls the plug on 2024, Newsom conspicuously covets the Democratic nomination.  As a bonus, if he were to win the presidency, he’d get to join the many Californians who are flooding away from his state.  Like many other leftists, it appears as though he’s rooting rather openly for Trump to be the GOP nominee.  Notice that the clip of Newsom above was shared by a Trump fan, as the Trumpworld/Leftist alliance against DeSantis continues to take shape.  The original poster actually argued that Newsom isn’t rooting for Trump to be the Republican candidate, but was giving “honest advice” here.  And if there’s one thing Gavin Newsom is known for, it’s his unfailingly truthful and good-faith guidance to help Republicans be more politically successful.  If someone believes that, or expects others to believe that, I’m not even sure what to say.

It is going to be a very interesting election season. I am just hoping that the outcome of the presidential race has not already determined by someone sitting in a basement with a computer.

 

It’s Finally Over!

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On Monday, Townhall reported that after the Easter Egg Roll, President Biden signed the bill ending the Covid national emergency.

The article reports:

“On Monday, April 10, 2023, the President signed into law: H.J.Res. 7, which terminates the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the White House released in a memo.

…Originally Biden planned to officially end the emergency in May after saying months ago the pandemic was over. Republicans on Capitol Hill forced his hand to do it now by authoring H.J. Res. 7.

The article notes:

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is still fighting in federal court to reimplement mask mandates on public transportation and maintain the government’s pandemic power.  

On April 18, 2022 U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down President Joe Biden’s mask mandate for air and rail transportation. The Department of Justice quickly appealed the decision after a request from the Centers for Disease Control. 

Nearly a year later, federal attorneys are still working to force masking on transportation.

DOJ continues this fight despite President Joe Biden declaring the pandemic is over and after a recent admission from White House COVID Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha that masks don’t work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The Washington swamp does not release power easily.

The Current Investigation Into The Events Of January 6th

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On Thursday, Townhall reported the following:

Law enforcement agencies had at least 40 undercover FBI informants participating in surveillance work among defendants during the January 6 Capitol Hill protests.

Roger Roots, the lawyer for defendant American Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, filed a motion to reveal all undercover informants related to the January 6 case.

According to the filed document, several undercover law enforcement officers were at the Capitol that day, with at least 40 undercover informants or agents walking among them, which Roots claims were instigating trouble.

…On Tuesday, the government admitted that eight FBI confidential agents were embedded among the Proud Boys on January 6. Roots allege that the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) agency had about 19 informants active at the time. In addition, at least 13 undercover plain-clothes DC Metro police agents were among the Proud Boys.

“When added to the 8 FBI CHSs now acknowledged by the prosecutors, this means that there were at least 40 undercover informants or agents doing surveillance among defendants on January 6,” Roots said, adding that the defense would have been “much more aggressive” in the initial trial if they would have known “the scope and scale” of January 6 undercover government scheme.

How many undercover agents does it take to incite a riot?

Laws Have Consequences

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On Tuesday,  Stephen Moore posted an article at Townhall about the current employment situation in America.

The article notes:

A policy question these days that has befuddled federal lawmakers is why so many millions of people have not returned to the workplace in the post-COVID-19 era. The labor force participation rate among employable adults is near a record low today. There are at least 2 million to 4 million employable adults who could and should be working but aren’t.

Very few people with even minimal skills can credibly say they can’t find a job. Employers report some 10 million job openings. Small business owners say their biggest problem is finding competent workers. There are many explanations for why so many people aren’t working — fear of COVID-19, the skills mismatch, more people taking early retirement, and so on. But a major factor is that the federal government is back to doing what it did in the 1970s and 1980s. The welfare state today is paying people not to work — even a single hour.

That problem went away in the 1990s after many states, such as Wisconsin and Michigan, began reforming their welfare systems with work requirements. Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and the Republican Congress in 1996 passed a historic bipartisan welfare reform bill that President Bill Clinton signed into law.

The article reports on the results of the passage of that law:

Few laws in the last half-century have had such stunning success. Here is a quick summary of the impact, as reported by Brookings Institution welfare expert Ron Haskins:

No. 1: Caseloads declined by 60%, and the number of welfare recipients fell to its lowest level since 1969.

No. 2: Between 60% and 70% of those leaving welfare got a job.

No. 3: The child poverty rate fell every year between 1994 and 2000 because parents were working.

No. 4: The federal government saved more than $50 billion (almost $100 billion in today’s dollars).

During the Covid pandemic, the work requirements were removed.

The article concludes:

America is a rich nation, and we should absolutely have a safety net so that those who fall on tough times, lose a job or become disabled — and that happens to almost all of us at some point in our lives — do not go hungry or homeless or suffer from deprivation.

But welfare is supposed to be temporary and a hand-up, not a handout. The goal of welfare was to end poverty, not perpetuate it.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) said that restoring work for welfare requirements is “a top priority” of his panel. It should be a top priority for our country. Let’s make work, not welfare, pay.

Let’s put the work requirement back into welfare.

Let Children Be Children

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I was a tomboy as a child–I played softball, I climbed trees, I roller skated, I was always moving. I am sure many of the women who are reading this could say the same thing. Thank God no one ever tried to convince us that we were boys. I wonder if it’s safe to be a tomboy today.

On Friday, Townhall reported the following:

At this point, nothing should be shocking regarding the Biden Administration, not even when it means pushing young kids to undergo life-alternating procedures. 

Assistant Secretary of Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Rachel Levine promises that medically changing children’s gender will be fully “normalized” soon.

And if that isn’t twisted enough, Levine continued to say that “gender-affirming” treatment of transgender kids is supported “at the highest levels” of President Joe Biden’s administration.

“I can say that the children, their families, and you all as their providers have support at the highest levels of the federal government,” Levine said while speaking at the Pediatric Grand Rounds session in Hartford. “President Biden supports you … Vice President [Kamala] Harris supports you. Across the administration, the departments support you,” Levine said, adding that she talks “about this topic everywhere I go.”

The woke Biden official claimed that critics who aim to end the progressive push of transgenderism on minors are “ideologically and politically motivated,” calling them “unconscionable.”

The article notes:

Levine claimed that “gender-affirming” care is necessary and that hormone and puberty blockers are safe and effective, although research supporting this idea is extremely weak. 

However, critics are pushing back against the Left’s radical push to indoctrinate children. 

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), a House Doctors Caucus physician member, told Fox News that it is “reprehensible for a government official — let alone the assistant U.S. secretary of HHS — to promote the genital mutilation of minors as becoming a standard practice.”

The inmates are running the asylum.