Opinion

Home Opinion Page 39

‘Wow’ – Reporter Calls Out White House Official on Biden Being ‘Corrupt’

7
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing on Friday, July 30, 2021, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)

ANALYSIS – It wasn’t a good moment for National Security Communications Director John Kirby. The former Navy admiral and prior Pentagon spokesman was left dumbfounded when a New York Post reporter challenged him on the numerous scandals and investigations swirling around Joe Biden.

Citing a Harvard/Harris poll in May that found 53% of Americans believe Biden was involved in “an illegal influence peddling scheme” with his son, Hunter Biden, the reporter, Steven Nelson, was direct with Kirby.

He asked: “So what do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the president is himself corrupt?”

“Wow,” was Kirby’s initial response as press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to stop Kirby from answering it. “No, we got to wrap this up,” Jean-Pierre interjected after being heard muttering “Jesus” under her breath.

The exchange took place during the daily White House press briefing as Kirby was taking questions on foreign policy-related issues.

But Nelson had a lot more to say to Kirby in the lead up to the question.

“There is one committee trying to get an FBI file alleging that President Biden took bribes. There’s another IRS whistleblower who’s alleging there’s a cover-up in the investigation,” he explained. “There’s, of course, evidence that the president interacted with his relative’s associates from China, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine.”

There is, of course, also plenty more implicating Joe Biden and the entire Biden family in widespread corruption dating to Joe Biden’s time as Barack Obama’s VP.

While Biden’s White House minions flail about to avoid touching the toxic topic, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has said the FBI has confirmed the existence of a document alleging that Biden was involved in a $5 million “criminal bribery scheme” as vice president.

As I wrote about earlier, the committee subpoenaed the Bureau for the document based on a confidential human source (CHS), but FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to provide the report by the Wednesday deadline.

According to a whistleblower who approached Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa), the document in the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) possession would reveal “a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose,” reported CBS News.

Comer has stated he will be pursuing ‘contempt of congress’ charges against Wray for refusing to provide the document.

Meanwhile, despite Jean-Pierre’s attempt to shut Kirby up about the allegations, he did eventually say:

The president has spoken to this and there’s nothing to these claims. And as for the whistleblower issue that you talked about and in the document — I believe the FBI has spoken to that, and you’re going to have to go to them on that. 

A panicked Jean-Pierre rushed to close the briefing and end any more questions, saying: All right, let’s go…Let’s go. Let’s go.”

Running away from the issue, and curt official denials without anything concrete to back them up, are starting to wear thin with the American people. 

And this recent poll is likely just the tip of the iceberg headed for the Biden ship of state.

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

Wave of Chinese Spy Craft or UFOs Over the US?

0
President Joe Biden delivers remarks in National Statuary Hall on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, January 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

The U.S. military has now sh*t down four high-altitude aerial objects over the United States or Canada within a week.

One object was the massive Chinese spy balloon downed off the coast of South Carolina Feb. 4 after it completed its eight-day journey conducting surveillance of sensitive military and nuclear sites across the entire United States.

The three other objects remain unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) – the new term for UFOs.

The Chinese spy balloon and UAPs are raising concerns over major gaps in North American security.

On Sunday U.S. military jet fighters shot down its fourth high-altitude aerial object, an octagonal entity over Lake Huron, Michigan.

Prior to that, on Friday, a second object was shot down over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska. And a third object was destroyed over Canada’s Yukon on Saturday, with investigators still hunting for the wreckage.

The U.S. military used AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range heat-seeking, supersonic missiles to bring down all four airborne objects.

One Sidewinder reportedly missed its target and landed harmlessly in Lake Huron.

Fox News reported:

First shot missed. Second shot hit,” Milley told reporters. “We go to great lengths to make sure that the airspace is clear and the backdrop is clear up to the max effective range of the missile. And in this case, the missiles land, or the missile landed, harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron.”

While the weapons are primarily manufactured for U.S. forces, the missile is also sold in large quantities to a range of American allies, including South Korea, the UAE and Indonesia.

Canada, which is part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) uses Sidewinders as well, but has not yet received its order of these latest, more capable, AIM-9X missiles.

One ex Canadian Air Force general stated that the older Sidewinders still fitted on Canadian CF-18s could not take down these objects at that high an altitude.

Canada’s Global News reported:

Retired Canadian general Tom Lawson, who flew CF-18s before serving as Norad deputy commander and then chief of the defence staff, said Canada’s CF-18s currently use an older version of the AIM-9 Sidewinder.

“When I was flying CF-18s, I did not have a weapon that would shoot down something over 40,000 feet if it was moving too slowly,” he said. “My radar wouldn’t have locked onto it. My heat-seeking missile, my AIM-9, would not have locked onto this thing.”


Meanwhile, the downing of China’s alleged spy balloon by the stealth F-22 Raptor jet fighter marked the first time the 5th generation jet has shot down an airborne target, and may be the first time an AIM-9X was fired in anger since it debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq almost a decade ago.

It was also likely the first time the missile was ever fired at the mind-boggling height of 60,000 ft, which is also near the top reported operational ceiling of 65,000 ft for the F-22.

The rapid-fire series of shoot-downs over Alaska, Canada and Michigan beginning February 10, after the initial balloon downing near South Carolina on Feb 4, has raised pressure on the Biden administration to explain the nature of the high-altitude craft and whether they pose a threat to national security.

From mid-October to December 2022, the National UFO Reporting Center catalogued some 1,255 new sightings of UAPs.

One U.S. official attributed the rise in the sightings to boosted surveillance capabilities by the military and not a rush of new foreign objects flying over American airspace.

However, later on Sunday, the U.S. Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said it still wasn’t clear how the objects were remaining aloft or being propelled through the air, or where they originated.

He also said he had not ruled any explanation out – including extraterrestrial life.

Since then, the U.S. government has announced that it suspects that three unidentified flying objects downed since last Friday were benign commercial or research craft and not linked to China’s alleged surveillance balloon program.

The comments may ease concerns that China is conducting an even more aggressive surveillance effort against the United States than initially believed.

They should also dampen fears of a UFO invasion.

However, these sightings and downing of UAPs over North American airspace still appear to be generating far more questions than answers.

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

Amanda Head: We Are Winning!

0

The latest polls show why liberalism sucks…

It’s unavoidable and now more Americans are sick and tired of Biden’s leadership has resulted in nothing but an epic failure.

Let Amanda break down the latest situation below:

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

‘Top Gun’ Blowback – Pentagon Won’t Help Hollywood if They Submit to China

1
Austin Green, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – In an unexpected, but long overdue move, the Pentagon has stated it will no longer work with directors if their movies will be censored by Beijing. This follows directly on the heels of Vietnam banning the movie ‘Barbie’ over its inclusion of a China-friendly map of the South China Sea.

That movie’s producers apparently caved to Chinese pressure and included the map showing China essentially owning the South China Sea, which it does not, despite its claims. And Vietnam wasn’t happy.

But, as I previously wrote, this Chinese censorship problem really exploded with last year’s release of Tom Cruise’s blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.” 

And now the Pentagon, thanks to GOP Senator Ted Cruz, has made it clear it now bans any military assistance to directors who plan to comply (or will likely comply) with censorship demands from the Chinese regime in order to distribute their movie in China.

In trailers for the ‘Maverick’ film shown in 2019, the flags of Taiwan and Japan had been removed from Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s flight jacket worn by Cruise in the 1986 original “Top Gun” movie.

The flags were part of a Far East Cruise patch commemorating the 1963-64 deployment by the USS Galveston off Japan and Taiwan. In the preview clip for the movie in 2019, those two historically accurate flags were replaced by generic nonsensical symbols.

This shameless kowtowing was an apparent attempt to appease Chinese investor Tencent. But after serious blowback in the U.S. — and after Tencent reportedly dropped its investment in the film – the flags were restored in the final version of the film.

In another example, Chinese government censors actually pushed the producers of “Spider-man: No Way Home” to remove the Statue of Liberty, according to Puck. This, likely due to its association with the Tiananmen Square protests.

Thankfully, the studio did not comply, and that movie wasn’t shown in China.

The Defense Department updated its rules for working with movie studios after Cruz (R-Texas) inserted language, known as the SCRIPT Act. into the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill.

Cruz has strongly condemned Beijing’s censorship of Hollywood films.

“What does it say to the world when Maverick is scared of the Chinese communists?” he said at the time.

tweet

The latest Top Gun movie also reportedly showed us a peek at what might be the SR-72 – the super-secret experimental hypersonic spy plane under development by Lockheed Martin. It was called the ‘Darkstar’ in the film.

Providing more context, Politico reported:

According to a new Defense Department document obtained by POLITICO, filmmakers who want the U.S. military to help with their projects must now pledge that they won’t let Beijing alter those films.

The DOD “will not provide production assistance when there is demonstrable evidence that the production has complied or is likely to comply with a demand from the Government of the People’s Republic of China … to censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People’s Republic of China,” the document reads.

Hollywood and the Defense Department have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for decades. The Pentagon has allowed filmmakers to shoot their projects on military bases, Navy ships, or other locations, and weighs in on filmmaking processes. The military benefits from positive portrayals of service members, and moviemakers benefit from authentic settings and technical expertise.

But as China’s ruling Communist Party has developed increasingly advanced censorship and surveillance tools, countless American companies — including Hollywood studios — have sought to comply with Beijing’s demands while attempting to dodge stateside pushback.

However, from now on, producers of films greenlighted by the Defense Department must notify the Pentagon “in writing of such a censorship demand, including the terms of such demand, and whether the project has complied or is likely to comply with a demand for such censorship.”

But not just that. DoD will also weigh any “verifiable information” from people not involved in the production who indicate that producers could comply with a censorship demand.

So, hopefully Hollywood will stop caving to China’s blackmail, or risk losing access to their much-loved Pentagon collaboration.

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

Biden Buddies at DOJ Refused to Help Fellow US Attorney on Hunter Case

2
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 – FBI agent bombshell – Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, now a Special Counsel, was the lead prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden for alleged tax offenses. 

He is accused of slow-rolling the investigation, and he contrived a sweetheart plea deal that would have essentially given Hunter nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

That deal blew up in June, as I have written previously, TWICE, thanks to both GOP pressure and an astute judge who questioned the shady deal.

Now it turns out, his fellow U.S. Attorneys for D.C. and the Central District of California at the Department of Justice (DoJ), also refused to work with Weiss in his investigation of the First Son. 

This, according to an FBI agent who recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee.

It is bad timing for Hunter, coming as a Delaware grand jury has finally indicted Biden Jr. on felony gun charges, right before the statute of limitations, like those on two years of tax evasion, ran out (as was previously intended?).

It also shows that the Hunter buck stopped with Merrick Garland, the Biden Attorney General, not Weiss.

The FBI agent corroborated IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley’s earlier testimony about how the Hunter investigation was mishandled at DoJ.

Based on transcripts of his testimony, the agent reportedly stated that Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for D.C., and E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, “refused to work” with Weiss on charges against Hunter Biden in their jurisdictions.

When asked specifically about Graves, the agent said: “I remember learning at some point in the investigation that Mr. Weiss would have to go through his other processes because the U.S. Attorney’s Offices had, I guess, in that sense, using that terminology, wasn’t going to partner.”

Both these federal prosecutors were proven partisan Democrats. One was a Biden loyalist.

Graves was appointed D.C. U.S. Attorney by Joe Biden in November 2021. Previously he worked for Biden’s presidential campaign and donated to it repeatedly as well.

Estrada was appointed U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District in September 2022. Previously he had made donations to Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic Senate campaign.

This is serious stuff.

It could also show that Weiss lied to, or at least misled, Congress when he said in written testimony to Senator Lindsey Graham July 10 that “I’ve never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”

The blatant ‘obstruction’ by these partisan Democrat hack prosecutors should cause concern and raise questions about the integrity of the Justice Department under Biden.

It is also adding more damaging evidence of Biden’s corruption as the Hunter prosecution continues, and the House launches its impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden.

But it says a lot more. By refusing to press charges in their respective jurisdictions, these Biden buddies passed the buck to their boss, not Weiss.

And who is their boss – Merrick Garland, Biden’s Attorney General.

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

IRS Whistleblower Testimony Could Derail Hunter Biden Plea Deal

4
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)

Stating that judges must take all testimony into account before deciding to accept a plea deal, one congressional leader is calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to release testimony from two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers alleging President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment by the agency and is being protected from the true consequences of his crimes.

Biden has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges, as well as federal firearms charges, as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.  He awaits a July 26 plea hearing.

But U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) is now calling on U Garland and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss to submit to court allegations from Gary Shapley, previously the supervisor of the investigation at the IRS, and a second anonymous whistleblower alleging that investigators were pressured to go easy on Biden, ignore some crimes.

“Over the course of a single week in June, the existence of a plea agreement in this matter became public, a plea hearing was scheduled, and the Committee submitted whistleblower testimony to the full House,” said Smith in a letter to Garland and Weiss.

“Given the abruptness of the plea agreement announcement shortly after it became public that whistleblowers made disclosures to Congress, the seriousness of the whistleblower allegations, and the fact that multiple congressional investigations into the matter are ongoing, we ask that you file this letter and the attached information in the docket…,” said Smith.

“Placing the attached materials into the record is critical because the testimony provided by the two IRS whistleblowers brings new and compelling facts to light, and because it is essential for the Judge in this matter to have relevant information before her when evaluating the plea agreement,” wrote Smith.

“In his letter, Smith also highlights precedent where judges have rejected plea agreements for a variety of reasons, including situations where the judge finds that such deals were inadequate or deficient given the crimes committed or the motivation of the accused, or the plea deal was not in the best interest of the country,” a statement from the Committee reads.

Smith points out that plea agreements can be thrown out if it can be shown the plea agreement was reached improperly.

“In one state court proceeding, a judge rejected a plea agreement because ‘[i]t is contrary to justice. Justice in this society cannot be seen as being able to buy oneself out of a felony conviction.’ The Judge also went on to say, ‘[m]any in our community steal much less and go to prison or to jail…They steal much less and they don’t get a deferred judgment because they don’t have any money,’” wrote Smith.

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

Biden Admin. Spied On Bank Accounts Of Trump Supporters

1
Image via Pixabay free images.

Americans who purchased Bibles, sporting goods or products associated with former President Donald Trump were flagged for surveillance by a federal government spy program, U.S. House investigators reveal.

After the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, FBI officials told banks that Americans who support President Trump or express religious views may be suspected terrorists, and demanded banks report customers whose transactions indicated they may be political conservatives.

Such blanket surveillance is prohibited by the United States Constitution, which requires the federal government to secure a warrant, based on probable cause, specifically naming the person targeted.

“New documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveal that the federal government flagged terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP” for financial institutions if Americans used those phrases when completing transactions,” the U.S. House Judiciary Committee revealed in a statement.

“Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela’s or Dick’s Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” the Committee stated.

In response, the Committee is demanding senior government officials appear for questioning.

“In light of these revelations, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has requested transcribed interviews from Peter Sullivan, Senior Private Sector Partner for Outreach in the Strategic Partner Engagement Section of the FBI, and Noah Bishoff, former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),” the Committee reveals.

Jordan’s letter to Noah Bishoff reads, in part: 

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement. These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators.’ According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.

“In addition, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents showing that FinCEN distributed slides, prepared by a financial institution, explaining how other financial institutions can use MCC codes to detect customers whose transactions may reflect ‘potential active shooters, [and] who may include dangerous International Terrorists / Domestic Terrorists / Homegrown Violent Extremists (“Lone Wolves”).’ For example, the slides instruct financial institutions to query for transactions using certain MCC codes such as ‘3484: Small Arms,’ ‘5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies,’ and the keywords ‘Cabela’s,’ and ‘Dick’s Sporting Goods,’ among several others. Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus—and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights—FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties.

“As the former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division, you engaged regularly with financial institutions following the events of January 6, 2021, including the distribution of material about how financial institutions could use private customer information to assist federal law enforcement. As such, your testimony will aid our oversight. In particular, your testimony will help to inform the Committee and Select Subcommittee about federal law enforcement’s mass accumulation and use of Americans’ private information without legal process; FinCEN’s protocols, if any, to safeguard Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights in the receipt and use of such information; and FinCEN’s general engagement with the private sector on law-enforcement matters.”

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

Is Musk Creating an Alternative Right Media Ecosphere?

4

ANALYSIS – Most conservatives and even some liberal free speech advocates applauded Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, a Big Tech hotbed of leftist narratives and anti-conservative censorship.

Many leftists, outraged that they could no longer simply cancel opposing conservative views, squealed and threatened to leave Twitter.

Of course, they made their threats on Twitter, then waited on Twitter to see the reactions on Twitter.

However, since his tumultuous takeover, Musk has worried some supporters by apparently quickly engaging in the same capricious censorship he so strongly decried.

Going after critics, including the college kid who tracks his plane using publicly available open-source information.

Most recently Musk put his Twitter CEO-ship on the line by asking Twitter users to vote online about whether he should remain ‘Chief Twit.’

Not surprisingly, considering residual leftism left at Twitter, Musk lost that poll and may soon step down and appoint someone else to run the Twitter show.

Still, despite the turmoil and concerns brought on by Musk’s Twitter takeover, many see this dramatic move as an even more dramatic shift in the media ecosphere.

A momentous move to the right and against the dominant liberal media megaphone.

Axios writes: “Elon Musk and allies are building a new anti-left media ecosystem almost overnight.”

It continues:

Why it matters: It’s as if the New York Times editorial page suddenly flipped to the right.

With the reins in Musk’s hands, the right is gaining power in online spaces the left once dominated, Axios’ Erica Pandey reports.

Axios adds: “Look who’s driving the news on Twitter…”

And notes:

Anti-mainstream-media journalists — like Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi — are driving the narrative, getting the clicks and earning new followers on Musk’s Twitter. They’re thriving in an environment where alternative, anti-left and anti-establishment media has taken center stage.

To the folks at Axios, “Musk’s moves at Twitter are part of a larger — growing — anti-left, alternative media ecosystem.”

To buttress their case, they point to Joe Rogan’s populist podcast, which has a heavily conservative fan base and was the most listened-to show of the second half of 2022, according to Edison Research.

Not to be outdone, Axios notes, Ben Shapiro’s more intellectual conservative podcast is now No. 7 — and rising.

As a conservative, I can only hope this is the beginning of a major shift from the leftist-dominated media landscape to a far more balanced one where conservative points of view are given the respect they deserve.

Let’s see where this all leads as we head into the 2024 election.

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

Amanda Head: Dodgers Host Christian Faith Event!

0

We had to see this for ourselves! Los Angeles Dodgers hosted a Christian faith event at the ballpark…

See how the night went:

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

Amanda Head: Wokeness Failed In Movie Theaters- Repeatedly!

2

Go woke, go broke…

Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

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