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    Biden’s Dangerously Weak and Naive Meeting with China’s Chairman Xi – ‘Strategic Insanity’

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    1
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    ANALYSIS – Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse with Joe Biden, he goes and has a chummy sideline meeting with China’s communist leader-for-life, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

    While his partisan spinmeisters in the media dutifully reported the White House line that Biden was firm with Xi, the three-and-a-half-hour private meeting was muddled, absurdly naïve and dangerous.

    At the summit, Biden stated that the U.S. aims to manage competition with China “responsibly” and that there is no need for a new Cold War. 

    Biden also strongly and foolishly reaffirmed China’s ‘One China’ policy regarding Taiwan, adding (against warnings from NATO and his own national security officials) that he didn’t foresee any Chinese military action against Taiwan any time soon.

    Fox News reported Biden said during a press conference ahead of the G20 summit in Bali:

    “[Xi] was clear and I was clear that we’ll defend American interests and values, promote universal human rights and stand up for the international order and work in lockstep with our allies and partners…”

    “We’re going to compete vigorously but I’m not looking for conflict. I’m looking to manage this competition responsibly,” Biden said. “And I want to make sure that every country abides by the international rules of the road. We discussed that.”

    Biden’s messaging was clear in one area though.

    He believes climate change is more of a threat than a revisionist, expansionist, power-hungry, communist dictatorship with an economy almost the size of the U.S.

    And Biden is willing to risk America’s sovereignty, independence, security and freedom to get China’s faux help with his extreme climate agenda.

    GOP Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was rightfully livid over Biden’s meeting and statements.

    Rubio said in a statement:

    President Biden’s claim that ‘there need not be a new Cold War’ between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party proves that this administration dangerously misunderstands the CCP, which openly pushes for conflict with the United States and its allies…

    Last week, while Xi appeared in a military uniform and called on the People’s Liberation Army [PLA] to prepare for war, Biden’s Department of Defense pulled an entire squadron of American fighter jets out of the Indo-Pacific. Not only is the United States unprepared to defend Taiwan against a PLA invasion, President Biden is now downplaying its likelihood.

    This meeting should have held the CCP accountable for its rampant human rights abuses, ongoing theft of American intellectual property, and its refusal to investigate the origins of COVID-19.

    Rubio added: “Instead, President Biden demonstrated that he is willing to sacrifice everything — including our national security and the security of our allies — for the sake of pursuing ill-fated climate talks with our nation’s greatest adversary.”

    Former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen told Fox News on Monday that Biden’s diplomacy with China is “strategic insanity” that may only help the autocratic communist state accumulate power and global influence.

    Fox News adds that “Biden reportedly has been pressuring China to essentially join him in his Green New Deal-style vision of non-petroleum power sources, which Thiessen said is one of the key areas the United States can apply pressure to Beijing if they invade their peaceable neighbor Taiwan.”

    “The last thing we want China to do, quite frankly, is to start weaning itself off of oil,” Thiessen said.

    “If they follow Biden’s advice and wean themselves off of oil and start embracing clean energy, we lose that leverage,” Thiessen said.

    “So, you know, it’s not only a sign of weakness, it’s strategic insanity.”

    As I recently reported, Xi has been increasingly adamant that so-called ‘reunification’ with Taiwan can no longer wait and China will use force if necessary to control the independent democratic nation.

    Top U.S. commanders and senior intelligence officials have warned that China could take forceful action against Taiwan as early as next year, and increasingly likely by 2025 or 2027, at the latest.

    Meanwhile, Biden is playing footsies with Xi, hoping China will join his radical green global agenda.

    Because that is all he, and his leftist puppeteers, care about. GAND

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    As Crime Soars, GOP House Hopes to Block DC’s New ‘Soft on Crime’ Bill

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    0

    ANALYSIS – As crazy as it may seem, even as violent crime continues unabated and illegal aliens flood into our nation’s capital, the extreme left (aka ‘progressive’) local D.C. government is trying to pass a revised criminal code that would lower penalties for a number of violent criminal offenses.

    While the D.C. criminal code is outdated and in major need of revision, making existing laws even more lenient is a recipe for disaster.

    This is why the new GOP-led House is moving to quash D.C.’s latest leftist crime-enabling law by using Congress’ constitutional authority over the District.

    Murders, carjackings and armed robberies have been in the news almost daily recently, and while the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) claimed that murders decreased in 2022 vs. 2021, the numbers are up for debate and still extremely high.

    As a special police officer and security contractor in D.C., I have personally seen the rise in violent crime over the past three years, in part fueled by the BLM riots of 2020.

    More than 200 murders were reported last year. This is the second year in a row the number has topped 200.

    Meanwhile, other violent crimes, such as armed robbery and carjacking, appear on the rise.

    Taking your car by force in D.C., increased by 46% in April 2022 when compared to April 2021.

    Armed robberies with a firearm were up 23% by October, having climbed well over 1,000 by that month last year.

    And 2023 is off to a worse start.

    According to a January NBC Washington headline: “2023 Off to Violent Start for DC, With Crime Up and Some Residents Worried.”

    This, in a city which already has one of the highest crime rates in the country. 

    Washington, D.C. has had the highest violent crime rate of any city in the U.S., at 1,000 crimes per 100,000 residents, based on 2020 data.

    Similarly, it had the highest property crime rate in 2020, at 3,493 crimes per 100,000 residents.

    Despite all this, in Nov. 2022, the leftist D.C. Council approved the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA).

    This proposed law reduces penalties for violent crimes, including carjackings, robberies and homicides.

    To her credit, the more centrist Democrat mayor, Muriel Bowser, vetoed the bill in January, but the far-left council overrode Bowser’s veto less than two weeks later.

    This is why the GOP-led House has decided to act.

    The Daily Caller reports:

    Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde and Tennesee Sen. Bill Hagerty will introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to block the Washington, D.C., Council’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, which would lower penalties for a number of violent criminal offenses, according to legislation first obtained by the Daily Caller.

    Clyde will introduce the House version Thursday. Hagerty will introduce the Senate companion next week, sources with knowledge confirmed to the Caller.

    Congress can exercise authority over D.C. local affairs, according to the District Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17), and Congress reviews all D.C. legislation before it can become law. Congress can change or even overturn D.C. legislation and can impose new laws on the district.

    As Congressman Clyde said:

    The D.C. Council’s radical rewrite of the criminal code threatens the well-being of both Washingtonians and visitors — making our nation’s capital city a safe haven for violent criminals. In response to this dangerous and severely misguided measure, it’s now up to Congress to save our nation’s capital from itself.

    The House GOP effort will still have a tough road to follow. It will need bipartisan support to pass in the Senate.

    A simple majority is needed, but Democrats control the upper chamber by two seats if you include VP Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote.

    After passing the Senate, it would still need Joe Biden’s signature.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: Big Culture War Victory!

    By
    Amanda Head
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    1

    Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Are Liberals Using Tax Exempt Groups To Promote Terrorism?

    By
    Donny Ferguson
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    5
    Image via Pixabay free images

    A top congressional chairman is leaning on the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of several left-wing or Islamist organizations for actively supporting deadly Islamist terrorist activity.

    The U.S. House Ways and Means announced in a statement that Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) is calling on the IRS to “revoke the tax-exempt status of multiple organizations previously referred by the Ways and Means Committee for failing to operate within their stated tax-exempt purpose.

    “The letter coincide(ed) with the anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel and targets organizations with links to designated foreign terrorist groups, as well as organizations linked to violence and unrest in the United States,” the Committee reports.

    “Chairman Smith previously demanded then-IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel revoke the tax-exempt status of eight organizations with ties to Hamas and terror-linked organizations, as well as entities fueling antisemitic protests on U.S. college campuses and violence in the U.S.

    In the letter to the IRS, Chairman Smith wrote: “We write to request that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) prioritize examinations into the tax-exempt status of tax-exempt organizations previously referred to the IRS for revocation during the 118th Congress. In light of the anniversary of the October 2023 violent attack on Israel, along with recent acts of political violence and the continued disruptive activities of previously identified organizations that have been sowing chaos in the United States and have links to designated foreign terrorist groups, it is imperative that action is taken to ensure tax-exempt groups are operating within their tax-exempt purpose.”

    Smith’s letter continues, “From the international funding sources and activities of tax-exempt entities in the U.S., and the role of certain organizations in fostering antisemitism on college campuses, the Committee has remained steadfast in ensuring that all tax-exempt organizations are abiding by their exempt status.  In September 2024, the Committee on Ways and Means (“the Committee”) sent seven letters to the IRS requesting that the IRS investigate and revoke the tax-exempt status of the referenced organizations, while also highlighting the tax-exempt organizations’ ties to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, support of illegal activity in America, and failure to operate for stated exempt purposes.  Some of the organizations, such as Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, and Islamic Relief USA, are suspected of having terrorist ties to groups like Hamas, using those ties to actively support and funnel resources in support of terrorism. Other groups like the Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, and Tides Foundation instead fiscally sponsor projects that disrupt college campuses, incite violence and intimidation, and illegal riot across the United States—prominent projects include Students for Justice in Palestine and Samidoun. Together, this evidence strongly supported referring the groups to the IRS for revocation of their tax-exempt status.”

    The committee notes “organizations for which Chairman Smith is renewing referral for revocation of tax-exempt status include: Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, Islamic Relief USA, Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, Tides Foundation, Peoples Media Project (also known as The Palestine Chronicle), and The People’s Forum.”

    The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk. 

    We’ve secured major victories for America’s future PLEASE help us secure one more! Congressman Jeff Crank needs YOUR Help to deafeat the woke Left. Your voice powers our movement. Complete the Survey TONIGHT!

    Hunter Biden Hired Russian Prostitutes from Overseas ‘Sex Trafficking Ring’

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    1
    President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

    ANALYSIS – Hunter knew how to party. The problem is a lot of his fun may have been highly illegal. And we aren’t just talking about run of the mill illegal drugs or prostitutes but hiring Russian hookers from an ‘Eastern European Sex Trafficking Ring.’ 

    And at times he used tens of thousands of dollars in cash funneled through a China-based company to pay for them.

    When ‘Hunter goes wild’ it’s on an epic, global scale. And it appears his dad, Joe Biden knew about it, and at times may have helped pay for it.

    Hunter also shamelessly deducted some hooker payments on his taxes, according to IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler, who ran a five-year investigation into Hunter’s alleged tax crimes.

    As part of the ongoing banking investigation into Hunter’s financial transactions, which appear to have been monitored by Wells Fargo bank as late as 2019, numerous Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) were generated and sent to the Treasury Department.

    While not proof of wrongdoing, SARs are red flags that provoke added scrutiny. 

    According to previously reported documents, including SARs, texts and video, Hunter spent a mind-blowing $30,000 on escorts in just five months, many secured via traffickers from overseas, and most transported across state lines in this country.

    This would violate the Mann Act’s prohibition on interstate prostitution.

    In addition to payments laundered through offshore business accounts, Hunter spent thousands of dollars from his joint personal account he had with his ex-wife Kathleen, who divorced him in 2017.

    But the latest SAR being reported flagged even larger amounts potentially spent on illegal drugs and prostitutes. The Daily Mail reported that $1,162,732 was sent to Hunter’s China-based company Owasco from business partner and Biden family friend Rob Walker.

    Walker was also a former Clinton administration official.

    The Hunter payments appear to be part of larger sums paid from a group of 25 individuals linked to the suspected sex trafficking ring. In total this group was responsible for almost $7million in suspicious transactions.

    Investigators also noted that some of the checks from Hunter’s business account may have been falsified to hide his payments to hookers.

    Hunter reportedly wrote checks disguised as medical services to escorts supplied by Ekaterina Moreva in New York, whose website UberGFE.com offered a ‘girlfriend experience’ with escorts as young as 20.

    The Daily Mail reported:

    ‘This investigation observed that Biden and related business accounts received unknown sources of funds, which funded cash withdrawals, outgoing transfers, and outgoing checks that appeared to be needlessly split into smaller amounts for no clear economic purpose.

    ‘The overall activity appeared related to prostitution or drugs. The review also found that several customers suspected of participating in a sex trafficking ring associated with Biden continued to have what appeared to be an unusual movement of funds in their accounts.’

    The British outlet added that “Wells Fargo investigators traced payments to suspected members of the prostitution ring back to a Hong Kong company.”

    The Mail continued:

    One suspected member Hunter sent money to was Ekaterina Pitula, the 39-year-old Russian owner of an Irvine, California, retail store Victoria Rossi, the SAR said.

    In 2019, Investigators spotted 25 cash deposits by Pitula totaling $18,728 in her personal and business accounts, which were then wired to a Chinese account of a company called HECNY International Ltd, to another woman’s account in Russia, and to a man in Ukraine.

    But the bigger issue is that Joe Biden appears to have helped his son pay for some of these potentially trafficked Russian sex workers. Some of Hunter’s hooker payments came just hours after he received thousands of dollars from his dad.

    https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1672069005723435010

    The Washington Examiner showed texts from January 2019 noting that Joe Biden sent Hunter $5,000 just before he got into a dispute with a prostitute he claimed he paid $10,000.

    In a letter to the Department of Justice (DoJ) on September 8 from Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, he writes: “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability continues to investigate whether the Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) is upholding the rights of victims who were sexually exploited by Robert Hunter Biden (Hunter Biden).”

    Comer added: “These women may be victims under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and may also be afforded mandatory restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act.”

    This entire sordid Hunter affair brings to memory former Democrat New York Governor Eliot Spitzer who resigned from office in 2008 after reports were published about his penchant for high priced call girls, some whom he paid to travel across state lines.

    But Hunter takes everything to a whole new level.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Did Trump Threaten to Execute Gen. Mark Milley for Treason?

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    4
    Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Michael J. McCord provide testimony at a Senate Armed Services Committee budget hearing, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., March 28, 2023. (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)

    ANALYSIS – Words matter. In a post on his Truth Social platform last Friday, former President Donald Trump suggested that outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley deserved to be executed after speaking with China’s top general during Trump’s final months in office. 

    Trump said Milley’s “treasonous act” was “so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”

    Clearly, Trump wasn’t threatening to do so but saying that Milley’s actions could have been punished by death in a prior era.

    I condemned Milley’s actions at the time because they seemed to give the Chinese Communist regime a promise that they would be given a warning prior to any attack under Trump.

    While Milley claims his actions were a normal part of his duties, I disagree. 

    They appeared to be more a normal part of the mission that he took upon himself, which was to counter Trump when Milley believed the president had crossed some line only Milley could see.

    Some argue that Milley’s actions were not only disloyal to the president but also borderline ‘treasonous.’

    Milley contends that he was behaving appropriately to avert an accidental war. He responded to Trump’s comments on CBS:

    He also assured viewers that he had adequate safety measures for himself and his family.

    The two backchannel calls to China’s top general, Li Zuocheng, that Milley made, and at the center of all this, were revealed in the 2021 book “Peril.”  

    As CNN reported:

    In October 2020, as intelligence suggested China believed the US was going to attack them, Milley sought to calm Li by reassuring him that the US was not considering a strike, according to the book. Milley called again two days after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol to tell Li that the US is “100 percent steady” even though “things may look unsteady.”

    How much of this reporting in the book was accurate, is hard to say. But Trump sees things very differently. 

    Trump said that Milley “turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States.”

    And Trump may be right. For Milley to do that could be seen as highly inappropriate, if not exactly ‘treasonous.’

    Still, Trump, a former president, and current front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, is way out of line. No American political leader should be using that kind of language against any American military official or political leader.

    In today’s volatile climate, it is extremely dangerous.

    Yet few in the GOP will condemn Trump’s statements. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is one of those willing to take aim at the Republican frontrunner. Politico quoted Hutchinson as saying:

    To suggest that Gen. Milley should be executed is inexcusable and dangerous. While some will excuse this latest outrage as Trump just being Trump, the fact is that his statement endangers people and is an insult to those who serve in the military.

    Perennial Trump critic, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, had stronger words, calling Trump an “absolute child” for the “reprehensible” remarks. 

    But it is part of a disturbing pattern by both sides to use dangerously inflammatory rhetoric at the highest levels against the other side.

    Democrats raised the political temperature considerably against Trump, calling for, or at least condoning the calls for, his beheading and death on many occasions. 

    The demonization of Trump by the left and Democrat Party was more than I had ever seen in over thirty years in and around U.S. politics. 

    It was, and still is, outrageous.

    But Trump isn’t helping things with his own dangerous rhetoric.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Legal Theorists Try To Attack Trump. Their Argument May Be Dead On Arrival.

    By
    Norman Leahy
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    4
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A novel legal theory from two conservative legal scholars published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review that a section of the 14th Amendment makes Donald Trump ineligible to run for president may be getting a court hearing in Florida.

    As Ballot Access news editor emeritus Richard Winger notes:

    On August 24, a Florida voter, Lawrence Caplan, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from being placed on 2024 ballots as a presidential candidate. Caplan v Trump, s.d., 0:23cv-61618.

    Caplan, who appears to be representing himself in the case, writes:

    Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which provides for the disqualification of an individual who commits insurrection against our government has remained on the books for some one hundred and fifty plus years without ever facing question as to its legitimacy. While one can certainly argue that it has not been thoroughly tested, that fact is only because we have not faced an insurrection against our federal government such as the one while we faced on January 6, 2021. It should also be noted that President Trump has since made statements to the effect that should he be elected, he would advocate the total elimination of the US Constitution and the creation of a new charter more in line with his personal values.

    Winger believes Caplan’s suit is “misguided:”

    The Fourteenth Amendment “insurrection clause” bars individuals from being sworn in to certain offices, but it does not bar them from seeking the office. When the Fourteenth Amendment was passed, there was no mechanism to prevent any voter from voting for any candidate.

    Caplan appears to be taking the law review article’s authors, William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulson, at their word:

    “No official should shrink from these duties. It would be wrong — indeed, arguably itself a breach of one’s constitutional oath of office — to abandon one’s responsibilities of faithful interpretation, application, and enforcement of Section Three,” Bode and Paulsen write.

    Alternatively, ordinary citizens could file challenges on the same grounds with state election officials themselves.

    And other such suits may emerge over the coming weeks. I’m not convinced any federal judge will be willing to read Section 3 like Baude and Paulson say it should be. It’s not because the Section’s words aren’t clear – they are.

    My concerns are akin to those of Cato’s Walter Olsen, who writes:

    …no one should assume that just because Baude and Paulsen have made a powerful intellectual case for their originalist reading, that the Supreme Court will declare itself convinced and disqualify Trump. Justice Antonin Scalia memorably described himself as a “faint‐​hearted originalist,” which captures something important about the thinking of almost every Justice—if overruling a wrongly decided old case threatens to disrupt settled expectations to the point of spreading chaos and grief through society, most of them will refrain. Stare decisis, and a general preference for continuity in law, still matters.

    Exactly. While some judges may nurse images of themselves as bold crusaders for justice, most jurists aren’t eager to upset established practice and precedent on a whim. Though, to be fair to the times when such upsets have occurred – Brown v. Board of Education, for example, or Griswold v. Connecticut – have been warranted, necessary, and beneficial.

    Does that apply in the Caplan case? A court will decide. But as I’ve long said about Trump, the only court he cares about is public opinion. If voters reject him, that will carry more weight and sanction than any court could ever deliver.

    The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk. It first appeared in American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

    New Documents Reveal Biden FBI’s Panicked Attempt To Cover Up Spying On Christians

    By
    Donny Ferguson
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    4

    A lawsuit from a non-profit public interest law firm has uncovered documents showing the Biden administration’s rushed efforts to cover up a Federal Bureau of Investigations operation that spied on Catholic churches, even as Catholics were targeted by pro-abortion terrorists.

    Judicial Watch, working with CatholicVote Civic Action, received 131 heavily redacted pages of records from the FBI “showing top officials rushing to craft a public response to the leaked FBI intelligence memo that revealed its targeting of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on church issues,” JW reports.

    “After seven months of delay and more to come, Joe Biden’s FBI remains committed to one thing: covering up their un-American spying on Catholic citizens,” said former Congressman Huelskamp, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to CatholicVote. “By fully withholding more than 200 pages of public documents, the Biden administration is more interested in hiding the truth than ending this unconstitutional witch hunt of Catholics and other faithful Americans.”

    “The FBI launched a vicious spy effort against Catholics and sought to spy on parishioners as they sat in church pews,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These records show top FBI officials were panicked in response about their domestic spying abuse leaking out.”

    Judicial Watch received the records “in response to an April 2023 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit it filed along with CatholicVoteCivic Action against the FBI and the Department of Justice after their failure to respond to March 2023 requests for records about an FBI intelligence memo targeting “radical traditionalist” Catholics (CatholicVote Civic Action and Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01166)).”

    In February 2023, an FBI intelligence document was leaked that revealed FBI infiltrated and spied on several Catholic churches as part of a fruitless operation that claimed traditional Catholics and pro-life Americans were a terrorist threat – even as the liberal pro-abortion terrorist group “Jane’s Revenge” carried out a nationwide campaign of terrorism and arson attacks.

    According to JW, the newly obtained records include a February 8, 2023, email with the subject line “Media Request: FBI Richmond Document cites SPLC” from the FBI’s National Press Office alerting FBI officials regarding media inquiries:

    We have inquiries from the Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal (Heritage Foundation) about an article written by [redacted]. It references a January intelligence product from the Richmond Field office. After speaking with SC Goodwater, I am alerting all of you so we can get a copy of the actual document and hear any recommendations on how to respond. I am attaching a cut and paste of the [redacted] article.

    JW reports Miriam Coakley of the Office of General Counsel then forwarded the email on to other FBI officials, noting, “Adding InTo [Insider Threat Office], SecD [Security Division] and OPR [Office of Professional Responsibility]. The date of the leaked domain perspective appears to be 23 Jan. 2023.”

    “Further along the chain, an official in the Office of Public Affairs forwards the chain to more people, saying, ‘Adding Pamela Bryon from the DI. [Deputy Asst. Director of Intelligence Pamela Byron.] Any info on how this product came about would be appreciated,’” JW repors.

    In a heavily redacted reply, Byron responds:

    As mentioned on FBINET, the type of product leaked is a Domain Perspective (DP) – the purpose of DPs is to offer information and/or highlight how a shift or new development in an AOR (domain) related to an environmental variable could impact the threat. Environmental variables include demographic shifts, technology development, economic conditions, special events, social/cultural conditions, etc. In particular, the analysis in DPs (as in FBI products in general) is focused on the activity of identified or potential threat actors, not on the environmental variables themselves, and how those threat actors react to shifts in the environment and the subsequent impact on the threat posed by those actors.

    In that context, there are a couple of things to note with this situation: [redacted].

    We stand by to assist with any other questions.

    Additional records secured by JW include a February 9 email with the subject line “Coordination of Draft statement regarding leaked RH intel document” from Office of Public Affairs official Douglas Goodwater to top FBI officials, including FBI Chief of Staff Johathan Lenzner, Asst. Dir. for Intelligence Tonya Ugoretz, Asst. Dir. for Counterterrorism Robert Wells and others:

    Draft/pre decision, Coordination for media statement – DI/CTD/OGC [Directorate of Intelligence/Counterterrorism Division/Office of General Counsel]

    Potential statement for review/edits-: [Redacted].

    Asst. Director for Public Affairs Catherine Milhoan then responds:

    All, we have received two new inquiries in addition to the three last night and are making the decision to respond in the next hour. We want to get our statement out before this picks up any steam.

    DI/CTD/OCG,

    Please review the draft and let us know if you have any edits or concerns.

    JW then notes:

    Stanley Meador, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Richmond Field Office, replies, “Looks good. One small suggestion in yellow. I would send it out. It is migrating onto Fox. https://www.foxnews.com/media/purported-fbi-document-suggests-agency-targeting-catholics-attend-latin-mass.”

    On February 10, 2023, FBI Chief of Staff Jonathan Lenzner emails FBI colleagues with the subject “intel piece that has been withdrawn,” saying, “I don’t know if we are there yet, [redacted].”

    Lenzner then follows up on February 13, writing, “Looks like at least one religious organization is speaking out publicly: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/catholic-league-condemns-fbi-internal-memo-targeting-catholics.”

    Ryan T. Young, the Executive Assistant Director of the Intelligence Branch replies to Lenzner, “Not a good look … Real frustrating when it is self-inflicted. I’ll be back in town Wednesday. We can look into next best steps.”

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: Sources Reveal When to Expect DeSantis’ 2024 Announcement

    By
    Amanda Head
    -
    1

    America is waiting…

    When will Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially throw his hat into the ring for the 2024 Republican nomination? Sources close to the governor are spilling the beans…

    Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Yes, Biden Took Highly Classified Documents Home as VP

    By
    Paul Crespo
    -
    5
    President Joe Biden walks with Chief of Staff Ron Klain along the Colonnade of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, to the White House Situation Room. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

    ANALYSIS – Say it Isn’t So, Joe – In what must be one of the most ironic twists of news, in a world full of twisted news, Joe Biden appears to have taken home highly classified intelligence memos and documents during his time as Vice President.

    Or, worse, took them to a private, unsecured DC office he used occasionally after leaving the White House.

    CNN reported that Rep. James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said he plans to “press the National Archives for information about the classified documents removed by Joe Biden during his time as VP. He said he would send a letter to the Archives — which his committee oversees — within the next 48 hours.”

    “President Biden has been very critical of President Trump mistakenly taking classified documents to the residence or wherever and now it seems he may have done the same,” Comer added. “How ironic.”

    This comes as an Attorney General-appointed special counsel investigates, among other things, former president Trump’s treasure trove of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

    So, while still bad, Trump’s reckless disregard for sensitive intelligence now seems less unique, or outrageous.

    Especially considering Trump was a political neophyte, and Biden has been in national politics his entire adult life.

    To be fair, a key difference between the two cases is Team Trump’s long delay in recovering and returning the classified documents in Trump’s possession.

    Biden’s personal attorneys reportedly found the documents in a closet when packing files in November while emptying out an office that Biden used at the notorious Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. for his nonexistent relationship with the University of Pennsylvania (U Penn).

    There he was paid handsomely (nearly $1 million over two years) as an honorary professor from 2017 to 2019, but never taught a class or saw a student.

    Instead, according to the New York Post, “Biden gave roughly a dozen lectures and talks but never taught a full semester’s course. Nor did he conduct any research or have any administrative responsibilities.” 

    This reality hasn’t kept Biden from claiming he was a “full professor” at U Penn for years.

    In response to the public disclosure, almost three months after the documents were found, the White House evaded commenting by using the Justice Department ‘ongoing investigation’ trope.

    CNN reported that nearly a dozen classified documents were found at Biden’s former office.

    The news outlet added:

    It is unclear why they were taken to Biden’s private office. The classified materials included some top-secret files with the “sensitive compartmented information” designation, also known as SCI, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources. Federal officeholders are required by law to relinquish official documents and classified records when their government service ends.

    In response to specific questions about why the Biden team did not disclose the discovery of classified documents in November at Biden’s private office, Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said that they are “limited in what we can say” now because the Justice Department is looking into the matter, and “further details” may be shared in the future.

    Typically, despite some of the documents being clearly labeled SCI, CNN chose to report that “two people familiar with the call say, none of which are ‘particularly sensitive’ and ‘not of high interest to the intelligence community.’”

    Yet, the designation of SCI on some of the documents says otherwise.

    Newsflash to the hacks at CNN, by definition SCI information is ‘sensitive’ as in Sensitive Compartmented Information.

    It is also always of high interest to the intelligence community since SCI always concerns or is derived from sensitive intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes. 

    All SCI must be handled within formal access control systems established by the Director of National Intelligence. 

    While SCI is not a classification; SCI clearance has sometimes been called “above Top Secret.”

    In practice though, information at any classification level (Confidential, Secret or Top Secret) may also be considered SCI and protected accordingly.

    However, as noted above at least some of the Biden documents were Top Secret/SCI, which is fairly high.

    The U.S. government requires SCI be processed, stored, used, read, or discussed in an extremely secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).

    Rep. Mike Turner, the new GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines requesting an “immediate review and damage assessment” of the classified documents Biden had left in an old private office closet. 

    So, despite the laughable mental gymnastics CNN is performing to minimize Biden’s reckless actions in taking home some highly classified intelligence – in that regard, his doing so makes him no different than Trump. 

    Just more hypocritical. 

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

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