Most popular

    National Security

    Home National Security

    Trump FBI Nominee Targeted By Iranian Hackers

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ramón Colón-López and the chief of staff to Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Kash Patel, arrive at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 14, 2021. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

    President-elect Donald Trump’s FBI director pick, Kash Patel, was the target of an Iranian hacking plot.

    Sources close to the matter informed CNN that the hackers successfully accessed some of Patel’s communications.

    Hackers reportedly accessed some of Patel’s communications, according to one source. Patel, a former chief of staff to the defense secretary during Trump’s first term, has been a vocal critic of Iran and an advocate for aggressive measures against the regime.

    While refraining from addressing the specifics of the incident, Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer framed Patel’s leadership as integral to the incoming administration’s security policies.

    “Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director,” Pfeiffer told the network.

    Patel is only the latest to be targeted in the foreign hacking plot. Iranian and Chinese actors have reportedly ramped up efforts to infiltrate the communications of those close to the President-elect.

    Last month, the FBI informed Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney and nominee for deputy attorney general, that Chinese hackers had tapped his cellphone, sources confirmed. 

    Panel Reports Another Assassination Attempt ‘Likely’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0

    An independent panel investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump released its findings this week.

    The report which was released to the public on Thursday predicted that without significant reform measures, another potshot assassination attempt like the one on former President Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this year “can and will happen again.”

    According to the panel, its investigation revealed “deep flaws in the Secret Service, including some that appear to be systemic or cultural,” including: “a lack of clarity, in practice, regarding who has overall security ownership of a protectee’s site on the day of an event,” and “a troubling lack of critical thinking by Secret Service personnel,” among other issues.

    24_1017_opa-Independent-Review-Panel-Final-Report-and-Accompanying-MaterialsDownload

    In a letter presenting their findings to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the panel wrote, “The United States Secret Service aspires to be the best protective service of high-ranking government officials in the world. This is a zero-fail mission, for any failure endangers not only the life of the protectee, but also the fundamentals of our government itself. Today, however, the Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission. The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved.”

    “Thousands of men and women have dedicated their lives to the Secret Service, and we remain grateful to them for their bravery, selflessness, and willingness to serve in a vital role,” they continued. “But the Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission. Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”

    Report: Senator Accuses Secret Service Of Hiding Information To Ensure Trump’s Safety

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1

    Is the Secret Service hiding something?

    Sen. Josh Hawley sent letters to U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders on Wednesday detailing a new whistleblower claim that Secret Service leadership is trying to hide the level of protection given to former President Donald Trump.

    The letter to USSS Director Ronald Rowe and DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari alleges a whistleblower’s claims that government auditors are being denied access to certain Trump campaign events in an effort to hide these apparent protection shortfalls for the former president.

    “You of course have publicly stated that former President Trump is receiving ‘the highest level of Secret Service protection’ and that ‘he’s getting everything.’ This new whistleblower information troublingly contradicts your public statements,” Hawley wrote in his letter to Rowe.

    In his letter to Cuffari, Hawley said the new whistleblower allegations say “Secret Service headquarters blocked several of your auditors from accessing recent Trump campaign events.”

    “The Secret Service whistleblower alleges that the denial was in order to hide the fact that the former president is not receiving a consistent level of protective assets for all of his engagements,” Hawley wrote. “[Y]ou should be aware of these allegations, which indicate that the Secret Service is not in fact cooperating with your auditors and is instead painting a false picture.”

    Since the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, Hawley has been collecting whistleblower claims to expose potential USSS deficits and errors.

    Hawley released a wide-ranging whistleblower report detailing various allegations against the agency.

    Hawley found a “compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding,” the report read.

    I Am Donald J. Trump. FEAR NOT! There are those who will do whatever it takes to stop us, but I will never stop fighting for you. I will never surrender! Your support means everything to me. Together, through our UNITY, we will Make America Great Again!

    Report: Appeals Court Upholds Jan. 6 Trespassing Misdemeanor

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld a Jan. 6 rioter’s misdemeanor trespassing conviction in connection with the 2021 Capitol riot.

    Couy Griffin, a founder of “Cowboys for Trump” and former New Mexico county commissioner, challenged his 2022 conviction for entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

    The law bars “knowingly” entering a restricted zone, described as areas “posted, cordoned off or otherwise restricted,” and later defines “otherwise restricted” as an area where Secret Service protectees will be visiting.

    According to The Hill, Griffin claimed that he could not have “knowingly entered” the restricted zone without knowing the reason for the restriction was to safeguard a person under the Secret Service’s protection — on Jan. 6, then-Vice President Pence during his time at the Capitol.

    A District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed 2-1 that breaching a restricted area alone suffices as a violation of the law, even without knowing why the restriction is in place.

    “A contrary interpretation would impair the Secret Service’s ability to protect its charges,” Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote in the majority opinion. “It would require Secret Service agents preventing members of the public from encroaching on a temporary security zone to confirm that each intruder knows that a person under Secret Service protection is or is expected to be there. Neither the text nor the context of the statute supports that reading.”

    Griffin also argued that many of the rioters ahead of him trampled fencing and signage that would have designated restricted areas, but the panel held that Capitol grounds were “adequately ‘posted, cordoned off or otherwise restricted’ when Griffin clambered over a stone wall and jumped inside.’”

    Judge Gregory Katsas wrote in a dissenting opinion that both elements of the law — knowledge of an area being restricted and the reason why — must be satisfied to successfully convict for entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

    “My colleagues try to split the difference,” Katsas wrote. “They agree the defendant must know that the relevant area satisfies the first part of the statutory definition — i.e., that the area was ‘posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted’ at the time of the trespass. But there is no textual or contextual basis for projecting the knowledge requirement only halfway through the definition.”

    A decision in favor of Griffin could have upended the cases against hundreds of fellow rioters facing the same charge.

    More than 1,400 Jan. 6 rioters faced the count as a misdemeanor.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    President Trump is the only one who stood up for working families, and the DC elite want him destroyed. Kamala is raising over $1 Billion to crush his campaign. Will you chip in $3 before the day ends? — JD Vance

    Denver Mayor Could Face Removal, Jail Time Over Deportation Stance

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

    Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently said he was prepared to break with President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans and Republicans are warning he will absolutely suffer the consequences.

    Johnston said during a recent interview that he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – including the use of military force.

    During a Sunday morning interview on Face The Nation, Paul told anchor Margaret Brennan that Johnston’s plan is a “form of insurrection” that could see him removed from office.

    BRENNAN: The stated Trump plan is to use the military or military assets, deputize the National Guard, and have them act as immigration agents. Do you believe that is lawful?

    PAUL: You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapist, all of these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say all points bulletin all in. But you don’t do it with the army because it’s illegal. And we’ve we’ve had a distrust of putting the army into our streets because the police have a difficult job. But the police understand the Fourth Amendment. They have to go to judges. They have to get warrants. It has to be specific. And so I’m for removing these people. But I would do it through the normal process of domestic policing.

    Now, I would say that the mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which there’s a long standing, standing history of the supremacy of federal law, he’s going to resist that. It will go all the way to the Supreme Court. And I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not that would be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law. But he will lose. And people need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history and really, I think will face legal ramifications if he doesn’t obey the federal law.

    The president-elect’s pick to be the next border czar responded that he’s willing to put the Denver Mayor in jail for outright flouting Trump’s policies.

    “You are absolutely breaking the law,” Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S. and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”

    Homan pointed to a statute that says it’s a “felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities.”

    Homan said they have to secure this country and save lives. 

    “President Trump has been clear, we want to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. I find it hard to believe that any governor would say they don’t want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods,” he said.

    Trump Assassination Attempt 911 Calls Released

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0

    Months after a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, Butler County officials have released 911 calls from that day.

    One redacted call came from the wife of a 74-year-old shooting victim from Moon Township, telling police her husband was shot at the rally, but she does not know what hospital he was transported to. James Copenhaver, a 74-year-old man from Moon Township, was shot and critically wounded at the rally.

    “Paramedics serviced him. I called Butler Hospital. He’s not there. They told me to call 911,” the woman can be heard telling a dispatcher.

    The dispatcher tells her to stay on the line and not hang up.

    “I won’t,” she says.

    Other 911 calls released by Butler County give more insight into the moment gunman Thomas Crooks fired approximately eight times, nicking Trump in the ear, killing Corey Comperatore, and injuring Copenhaver and another man named David Dutch.

    “We’re at the Butler Farm Show. We need assistance now,” says another.

    “We’re at the Trump assembly, and there’s a guy shooting,” another caller can be heard telling dispatchers.

    Listen to the chilling audio below:

    The calls reveal a chaotic scene after shots rang out at the rally, with attendees unaware whether the shooter was an active threat to those attending the event.

    Investigation revealed that Crooks had accessed the roof of a nearby building by climbing HVAC equipment and piping on the side of the building, which was outside the official perimeters of the rally but less than 200 yards from where Trump was speaking on stage.

    A local officer with Butler County identified where the shots were coming from, located the shooter, and fired one round at Crooks with his rifle, “which caused the shooter to recoil and briefly fall out of sight,” Adams Township Police Department Sgt. Edward Lenz testified in September.

    A Secret Service counter sniper then fired the fatal shot that neutralized Crooks on the roof of the AGR building, where he was perched with a direct line of sight to Trump.

    It’s Time To DRAIN THE SWAMP! Stop Supporting Career Politicians – Elect Dave McCormick! WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Help us win back the Senate.
    © Great America News Desk 2022