Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times
Federal prosecutors have made the rare move of seeking dismissal of a three-year-old drug indictment following testimony from a former Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor who said drugs in Chicago are “typically trafficked by Latino people.”
The comments seemed to stun defense attorneys and catch the attention of U.S. District Judge John Blakey, who on Friday agreed to toss charges pending since 2019 against Leonel Hernandez-Rodriguez, Feliberto Flores-Ramos, Charlie Dotson and Francisco Carranza-Rosales.
The unusual move came more than a month after Keith Billiot, who is now retired but worked as a supervisory special agent for the DEA, testified about his role in the case during a March evidentiary hearing. He later walked back his comment following intense cross-examination, telling the judge race was “irrelevant” to the DEA’s work.
Billiot explained during the hearing what had led him to believe Flores-Ramos and Dotson had been involved in a drug deal Jan. 31, 2019. After naming other factors, including the behavior of the suspects, Billiot went further, according to a court transcript.
“In the city of Chicago for the five-and-a-half years that I worked here, typically — not always, but typically it is people of Latino descent are the ones that are supplying people of African American descent or Caucasians, or whatever,” Billiot said, according to the transcript. “But it’s the — the fact of the matter is that the drugs come up from Mexico or come in from Colombia but they come through Latino countries into the cities throughout the U.S. and therefore they’re typically trafficked by Latino people. So all of that, when you put all of that together, it indicated a narcotics transaction to me.”
Defense attorneys in the case — Thomas Anthony Durkin, Gal Pissetzky, Michael Leonard and Robert Rascia — all moved to strike Billiot’s testimony. Blakey said he’d strike the comment about race and added, “I’m going to permit vigorous cross examination on the issue, so fire away.”
Billiot could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch, said that, “after reviewing the matter internally, we decided that moving to dismiss the indictment was the best course of action in this case.”
A criminal complaint in the case said law enforcement saw Flores-Ramos leave a home in the 6500 block of South Kenneth the afternoon of Jan. 31, 2019, holding his hand against the left side of his jacket in a way that suggested he was hiding something.
It said Flores-Ramos then got in a Dodge Caliber and traveled to 63rd and Kilbourn while investigators followed. The Dodge parked behind a white Buick sedan, Flores-Ramos got out and climbed into the Buick’s passenger seat with his hand still pressed against his jacket, according to the complaint.
Dotson was allegedly in the Buick’s driver’s seat.
Investigators soon drove toward the Buick and parked next to it, records show. After ordering Dotson and Flores-Ramos out of the car, authorities said they spotted an open bag filled with what turned out to be $34,000 cash on the front passenger floorboard. The feds also said a closed backpack in the back seat later turned out to contain a kilogram of cocaine.
The other defendants were found at the home on South Kenneth, where the feds say they also found eight kilograms of cocaine and $600,000 cash in a dishwasher.
Flores-Ramos admitted after his arrest that he’d gone to sell cocaine to Dotson, according to the complaint.
Still, during the March hearing, Billiot found himself defending his comments about the ethnicity of typical drug suppliers in Chicago. He noted he’d also pointed out other key factors in the investigation.
“So it was not the mere fact — and to be quite honest with you, I’m offended by the whole racism thing,” Billiot told Durkin. “It was not the fact that a Latino person met with a Black person. Absolutely not. Is that clear enough, sir, please? Can we get beyond that please?”
“I started with the probable cause that we developed upon your client and went all the way through the chain of events, sir,” Billiot continued. “That’s including the car, the car is running, the lights are off. Why would that be, sir? So I painted the picture of the entire probable cause that we saw, all the — the things that we saw. We didn’t generate those things. The client — the defendants here did but I simply testified as to what we saw. There is no racism involved in this.”
Blakey also questioned him about the comment, asking whether the ethnicity of the defendants played any role in his decision-making.
“It’s irrelevant,” Billiot eventually told the judge. “Someone’s ethnicity — the clearest way for me to say this is someone’s ethnicity is irrelevant to us in all respects.”
But Billiot pushed back once more against Durkin, telling the defense attorney, “this inference of racism is so phony.”
“You know nothing about me,” Billiot said. “Nothing. For you to infer that I’m a racist, I’m the godfather of an African-American child. She is — she is the daughter of a police officer and soldier who is one of my closest friends.
“There is nothing racist about what we do or how we do it. Nothing.”
Skip The Scoop | Seek Understanding
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 26, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 978 – We’ve Got Them on the Run … Fauci Knew in Nov 2019 and Audit Train is Coming to PA. Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Darren Beattie, Peter Navarro, Michael Walsh, Mike Miller, Ben Bergquam.
Why Did So Many Victorians Try to Speak with the Dead?
It’s a good time to be dead—at least, if you want to keep in touch with the living. Almost a third of Americans say they have communicated with someone who has died, and they collectively spend more than two billion dollars a year for psychic services on platforms old and new. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, television: whatever the medium, there’s a medium. Like clairvoyants in centuries past, those of today also fill auditoriums, lecture halls, and retreats. Historic camps such as Lily Dale, in New York, and Cassadaga, in Florida, are booming, with tens of thousands of people visiting every year to attend séances, worship, healing services, and readings. And many people turn up not every year but every week: there are more than a hundred Spiritualist churches in the United States, more than three hundred in the United Kingdom, and hundreds of others in more than thirty countries around the world. Such institutions hardly represent the full extent of Spiritualism’s popularity, since the movement does not emphasize doctrines, dogmas, or creeds, and plenty of people hold spiritualist beliefs within other faith traditions or stand entirely outside organized religion.
The surging numbers are reminiscent of the late nineteenth century, when somewhere between four million and eleven million people identified as Spiritualists in the United States alone. Some of the leaders back then were hucksters, and some of the believers were easy marks, but the movement cannot be dismissed merely as a collision of the cunning and the credulous. Early Spiritualism attracted some of the great scientists of the day, including the physicists Marie and Pierre Curie, the evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, and the psychologist William James, all of whom believed that modern scientific methods, far from standing in opposition to the spiritual realm, could finally prove its existence.
So culturally prevalent was Spiritualism at the time that even skeptics and dabblers felt compelled to explore it. Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, and Queen Victoria all attended séances, and although plenty of people declined to attend so much as a single table-turning, the movement was hard to avoid; in the span of four decades, according to one estimate, a new book about Spiritualism was published roughly once a week. These included scientific-seeming tomes purporting to offer evidence of the afterlife, as well as wildly popular memoirs such as “Evenings at Home in Spiritual Séance” and “Shadow Land; or, Light from the Other Side.” Meanwhile, more than a hundred American Spiritualist periodicals were in regular circulation, advertising public lectures and private séances in nearly eight hundred cities and towns across the country.
A recent spate of histories of the Spiritualist craze and biographies of some of its central characters have attempted to locate the movement’s origins in various cultural, political, and technological aspects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These accounts vary in both plausibility and persuasiveness, yet all of them are interesting—partly because of what they tell us about the Victorian era, but also because of what they suggest about the resurgence of Spiritualism today.
Dr. Scott Atlas: Lockdowns Not Only a ‘Heinous Abuse’ of Power, They Also Failed to Protect the Elderly | Video: 59 Seconds
“Stay-at-home.” “Distance learning.” “Essential travel only.” In the fight against COVID-19, widespread restrictions on human activity became a norm in 2020.
But now it’s clear from the data that lockdowns not only had devastating effects on much of society, but they also failed to protect the most vulnerable, says former White House COVID advisor Dr. Scott Atlas. “There’s a big reason why lockdowns were never recommended in prior pandemics.”
Watch the full episode on Epoch TV.
The post Dr. Scott Atlas: Lockdowns Not Only a ‘Heinous Abuse’ of Power, They Also Failed to Protect the Elderly appeared first on NTD.
‘Ignore The CDC’: Johns Hopkins Professor Says Half Of Americans Have ‘Natural Immunity’ | Audio: 9 Minutes 41 Seconds
‘We’ve got to start respecting people who choose not to get the vaccine’.
Illinois Dem Offered Activist Taxpayer-Funded Job in Alleged Bid to Clear Primary Field, Court Docs Show
Democratic congresswoman Marie Newman (Ill.) promised a six-figure, taxpayer-funded job to a local activist that he says was a bribe to keep him out of a tight primary race—an apparent violation of federal law.
Columbia College Chicago adjunct professor and Palestinian activist Iymen Chehade sued Newman in January for breach of contract. Included in the lawsuit is a December 2018 agreement signed by Newman that promised Chehade a senior role in the Democrat’s congressional office should she be elected. According to the complaint, which was first reported by CBS Chicago and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Newman offered the contract “in an effort to induce Chehade not to run against her in the primary.”
Newman has not disputed the authenticity of her contract with Chehade—a campaign spokesperson instead shared a statement with the Washington Free Beacon arguing the activist did not receive the job because he “misrepresented his qualifications” and “was ill-suited for a senior role in a congressional office.” The spokesperson also called Chehade’s claims “fictitious and frankly ludicrous.”
The contract could spell serious trouble for Newman, a progressive media darling who narrowly defeated pro-life Democrat Dan Lipinski in the March 2020 primary. Federal law prohibits congressional candidates from offering employment for political purposes. Should Chehade’s allegation prove true, Newman’s proposition would “absolutely” violate the statute, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust executive director Kendra Arnold told the Free Beacon.
According to the contract, Newman agreed to employ Chehade as both chief foreign policy adviser and either district director or legislative director. The role would have paid Chehade between $135,000 and $140,000 and did not require him to “maintain specific hours at the office,” the agreement states. Newman also promised Chehade “complete discretion about the selection and employment termination of staff members under his supervision” and pledged to “use her best efforts to provide Chehade a private office within the congressional suite.”
. . .
May 25, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 53 Minutes 11 Seconds
Hawley’s Amendments to Hold China Accountable; Alabama Gov. Signs Law Banning Vaccine Passports. The Washington, D.C., attorney general is suing Amazon, the Floyd family meets with President Joe Biden at the White House one year after George Floyd’s death, and the United States is calling for a second investigation into the origins of the pandemic.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 12 Seconds
Episode 973 – Misdirection Play … Mike Lindell’s Royal Flush. Guests are: Mike Lindell, Dr. Shiva.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 14 Seconds
Episode 974 – The Other Lab in Wuhan … Smoking Gun on the CCP Virus and Samaire Armstrong Returns.Guests are: Cpt. Maureen Bannon, Col. Lawrence Sellin, Nigel Farage, Samaire Armstrong.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 975 – The Hamas Caucus … GOP Candidates Speak Out Against Left’s Anti-Semitism. “This isn’t, quote unquote, Democrats,” he said. “These are dyed-in-the-wool Marxists who are trying to destroy this country.” Guests are: Cpt. Maureen Bannon, Boris Epshteyn, Eric Greitens, Josh Mandel, Jeff Bartos, Wayne Allyn Root.
When We Think Of An Insurrection, Think The Main Stream Media & Their Partners On The ‘Left’ | Video: 1 Minute 48 Seconds
As a January 6 commission looms on the horizon, never forget who the real violent mobs are and who encourages them. For the main stream media, violence is the answer if it promotes their ideology and furthers their corporate owners’ interests.
Here Is The Most Feared Man To Both The Left and Right Political Establishment | Vernon Jones | Video: 10 Minutes
‘The Real White Supremacy is in the Democrat Party.” ~ Vernon Jones
Vernon Jones has left the Democrat Party and joined the Republican Party because of the hope President Donald Trump gave to all people, including minorities. He is now running for Governor of Georgia.
35 Republican Congressmen Vote Yes On Formation Of January 6th Commission
Here’s the list and how you can contact them…and some of the responses to their vote on social media.
Today the U.S. House voted for the formation of a ‘January 6th Commission’ to investigate the march on the U.S. Capitol. That march ended with the shooting and murder of former air force member Ashli Babbit who was shot by a Capitol Police officer.
Here’s the list of GOP congressmen who voted in favor of forming a 911 style commission to investigate the January 6th protests at the capitol. The ones in bold also voted for the January 2020 impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. . . .
The post 35 Republican Congressmen Vote Yes On Formation Of January 6th Commission appeared first on .
Romney First GOP Senator to Say He Would Back Current Jan. 6 Commission Bill
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Monday said he was willing to support a Democrat-led bill that was passed by the House to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Romney answered that he “would support the bill” when asked by reporters how he would vote if Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) starts a debate on the House bill, according to multiple congressional reporters. He is the first Republican in the Senate to do so. The Utah senator’s comments come on the same day that Schumer vowed to bring the bill for a vote on the Senate floor. “I will bring to the Senate floor the legislation passed by the House to create an independent commission to investigate and report on the January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Schumer said in a statement on Twitter. Currently, Democrats are short on the 60 votes required to defeat a likely filibuster from Republicans, who have expressed opposition to the bill in its current form.
DOCS: BLM Activist Admits Bringing Megaphone To ‘Instigate’ Trump Supporters Inside Capitol Building
Black Lives Matter Activist John Sullivan admitted to bringing a megaphone inside the Capitol building on January 6 to “instigate” Trump supporters and incite violence, documents show.
“Sullivan allegedly posted on Twitter support for armed revolution and has also said he attended a number of Black Lives Matter protests last year, posted numerous anti-police and anti-Trump statements. Sullivan says he portrayed himself as a journalist who was just documenting the incident but he was also actively participating… even broke a window,” reported Red Voice Media.
“I brought my megaphone to instigate shit. I was like, guys we’re going inside, we’re fucking shit up…. I’m gonna make these Trump supporters f—all this shit up…. But I mean you’ll see,” Sullivan said on speakerphone, according to newly released documents. “I have it all, I have everything, everything on camera, everything I just told you, and I mean everything. Trust me when I say my footage is worth like a million of dollars, millions of dollars. I’m holding on to that shit.”
According to the court documents, Sullivan admitted to law enforcement that he had no press credentials despite his previous claims of being a journalist, and that the investigation “has not revealed any connection between the defendant and any journalistic organizations prior to the events of January 6, 2021.”
“I mean, didn’t I kind of make up a background though, on the fly a little bit. I think I made up, uh—what did I say I was? Oh, yeah, I was just a journalist, but I use that all the time. ‘Yeah, I’m just a journalist. I’m here recording. I got my camera on my shoulder.’ Literally, I have my big-ass camera on my shoulder right here and I have my gimbal, so it kind of looks like it. ‘Yeah, I’m just here recording the situation. Yeah. Livestreaming. Look, I have—I have people on my live stream.’ That’s why I pulled it back out,” said Sullivan in a video posted on January 6.
In a livestream posted in December, Sullivan admitted that he doesn’t “consider” himself a journalist. “But as far as like reporting stuff like I am now, I’m an activist too, so like it kinda plays hand in hand. But as far as like being a journalist, it would be cool to be one, I don’t have anything against it,” said Sullivan.
This comes after National File reported that Sullivan, who stormed the Capitol on January 6 disguised in pro-Trump gear and captured video of the Capitol Police shooting of Ashli Babbitt, had $90,000 seized by the federal government.
At the time of Sullivan’s arrest, National File reported, “Despite claiming he only entered the building in a journalistic capacity, the indictment against Sullivan declares otherwise. The 18-page affidavit claims Sullivan allegedly incited violence by exclaiming ‘we gotta get this shit burned’ and ‘it’s our house motherfuckers.’”
Sullivan was previously recorded during an anti-Trump riot in Washington, D.C. In the video, Sullivan pointed at the White House, and said,“We… about to burn this s— down… We gotta rip Trump right out of that office right there.” Sullivan added, “We ain’t about…waiting until the next election. It’s time for revolution.”
Judicial Watch Sues DC for Records about the U.S. Capitol Police Shooting Death of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced that it filed a District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the DC government for police and medical examiner records concerning the U.S. Capitol Police shooting death of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, including the police and medical examiner investigations (Judicial Watch v. The District of Columbia (No. 2021 CA 001710 B)).
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia after the District of Columbia failed to respond to an April 8, 2021, FOIA request submitted to the Metropolitan Police Department and to an administrative appeal concerning an April 8, 2021 FOIA request to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The request to the police department asks for:
All records, including but not limited to investigative reports, photographs, witness statements, dispatch logs, schematics, ballistics, video footage, and MPD officials’ electronic communications, concerning the January 6, 2021, death of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol Building and its related investigation.
The request to the Chief Medical Examiner asks for:
All records, including but not limited to autopsy reports, toxicology reports, notes, photographs, and OCME officials’ electronic communications, related to the death on Jan. 6, 2021, of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol Building and its related investigation.
Babbitt was shot and killed by an unidentified law enforcement officer as she attempted to climb through a broken interior window in the Capitol Building, located outside the Speaker’s Lobby off the House Floor during the January 6 disturbance. She was unarmed. At the time of the shooting, several officers reportedly can be seen in videos, standing in the crowd of protestors in which Babbitt was present.
“The normal course of action in a police-related shooting is to quickly inform the public of the details – but the lack of transparency in the killing of veteran Ashli Babbitt in the U.S. Capitol is unprecedented and obviously political,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “That Judicial Watch must file a lawsuit for basic information after five months of stonewalling is a scandal.”
Judicial Watch has several lawsuits regarding January 6.
Judicial Watch recently sued the Pentagon and the U.S. Park Police for information on deployment of troops and warnings about the January 6 U.S. Capitol disturbance.
In March 2021, Judicial Watch filed suit against the U.S. Department of Defense for records about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s January 8, 2021, telephone call with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.
Pressure from a March 2021 Judicial Watch lawsuit helped lead to the disclosure that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes.
In February 2021, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Capitol Police for emails and video related to the January 6 riot.
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The post Judicial Watch Sues DC for Records about the U.S. Capitol Police Shooting Death of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 appeared first on Judicial Watch.
AOC Says She’s in ‘Therapy’ After Capitol Riot: Lawmakers Effectively ‘Served in War’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she is in therapy as a result of the January 6 Capitol riot, or what she described as an “all-out, attempted coup,” pointing figures at the Trump administration and contending it “had a lot of us, especially Latino communities, in a very reactive mode.”
The mob made me do it: U.S. Capitol rioters claim Jan. 6 crowd at fault
Christopher Grider said he came to Washington on Jan. 6 with no intention of rioting. But he got caught up in the mob of angry supporters of then-President Donald Trump as they surged into the U.S. Capitol, breaking through police barriers and smashing through doors.
It wasn’t his fault, he said, that he ended up inside the building with a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag around his neck as lawmakers ran for their lives.
Grider, 39, a winery owner and former school teacher in Texas is among at least a dozen Capitol riot defendants identified by The Associated Press who have claimed their presence in the building was a result of being “caught up” in the hysteria of the crowd or that they were pushed inside by sheer force.
For some, blaming the mob is part of an attempt to restore reputations tarnished by their presence at an event of such infamy. Others may try to broach the issue at trial or at least during sentencing in bids for leniency.
Social scientists have long observed how individuals can act in ways they never would on their own when they are in crowds of like-minded people who are whipped into a frenzy.
The insurrectionists descended on the nation’s capital that day to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Many attended a rally by Trump, who was refusing to concede even though there was no evidence to suggest the election had been rigged and his own administration said it wasn’t.
Hundreds of Trump supporters broke through police barricades and overwhelmed officers, violently shoving their way into the building to chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and “Stop the Steal.” Some came prepared with pepper spray, baseball bats and other weapons. More than 400 people have been charged; it’s the largest prosecution in the Justice Department’s history.
Grider, accused of helping to break a glass door to the House chamber, never planned to storm the building, his lawyer has said in filings and comments to reporters after Grider, was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
“He would never have anticipated finding himself in the situation, but for the president and the rally and the way everything went down,” Brent Mayr told the Houston Chronicle. “We’ve heard ‘mob mentality’ — and he describes it to a T.” Mayr more recently declined to comment further.
Judges typically don’t let defendants assert at trial that outside influences, be it drugs or peer pressure, made them act as they did. Most judges would reject efforts by rioters’ lawyers to use any iteration of a blame-the-crowd defense, legal experts say.
“Even though I’m a criminal defense attorney, it sounds like a desperation move,” said Miami lawyer Joel Hirschhorn, insisting that would-be rioters who traveled long distances to Washington had to understand what they might be getting into. “It’s sort of like, ‘The devil made me do it.’ Come on.” . . .
Jim Acosta Mocks Trump As ‘Mussolini Of Mar-A-Lago,’ Claims GOP Fears Jan. 6 Commission
CNN’s Jim Acosta claimed Saturday that Republicans feared a potential Jan. 6 Commission, saying that the party’s leadership was running scared and referring to former President Donald Trump as “Mussolini of Mar-a-Lago.”
Acosta argued that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, both of whom were critical of Trump in the days after the Capitol riot, had both said they would not support the commission to investigate what had happened — and suggested that decision was being driven by fear of one key question.
The question Acosta said Republicans did not want to answer was whether or not members of the party had been in contact with the rioters who ultimately breached the Capitol.
GOP Rep. Meijer: Republicans ‘Playing into’ Pelosi’s Hands by Rejecting 1/6 Commission
Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Republicans are “playing into” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hands by rejecting legislation to create a commission to investigate the January 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.
Disgusting: Politifact Hack Putterman Gaslights Public – Argues Video of Capitol Police Giving Protesters OK to Enter Capitol Is Not What It Seems
Consider the following article by The Gateway Pundit. It is compelling information that could dismantle the powerful political narrative around the events of Jan. 6th at the US Capitol.
The narrative Politifact prefers is their own. It is the same narrative that politicians are using to punish the powerless people of the United States, exactly something that journalism in America was designed to expose.
That is until “Journalism” schools became propaganda machines and turned it all around against the citizens, and further weaponized their political powers to shut down political opposition.
This week, led by radical far-left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with the push by DC to grant politicians more unique powers for themselves to investigate their political opponents, it is especially telling to see Politifact partner with DC and establish itself as the gatekeeper to the truth.
TGP covered the story of a video that had gone viral, which showed evidence that the DC narrative of Jan. 6th, being pushed by numerous media outlets over the last 4 months, was not accurate:
New Video Shows U.S. Capitol Police Gave Protesters OK to Enter on Jan. 6
Then later this past week The Gateway Pundit posted several more video clips of police allowing protesters into the US Capitol on January 6.
But, Samantha Putterman, of Politifact, with the lowest of possible journalist integrity, reported on the same video writing, “Clip of Capitol police speaking with rioters doesn’t prove mob was given OK to enter building.”
That is what is called an “opinion.” And she is entitled to her opinion, but who gave this very young woman the right to dictate the freedoms of other Americans? That is a mighty responsibility and one she clearly does not respect. Note that Putterman can not cite any evidence to support her claim. In fact, she is reckless with her power and authority over what Americans are allowed to read.
Putterman wrote:
“Bloggers and social media users are describing the 44-second clip as evidence that pro-Trump rioters were given permission to enter the U.S. Capitol that day, and that the violence depicted in several other photos and videos is the work of Democrats.”
Notice the demeaning language. “Bloggers,” as if anyone else writing about the video, has lower journalistic standards than Putterman and Politifact themselves. Putterman has designated the people in the video as “pro-Trump rioters” without interviewing one person about who they voted for, without looking up anyone’s voter registration, and by labeling the, albeit confusing footage, as with inflammatory language, calling it “riot.”
Putterman can not site anyone she spoke to who was at the event.
That is very convenient for Politifact, who also, according to Putternman’s article, share a special and unique relationship with Facebook to control the content, to misdirect readers, and control the narrative.
“The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.).” Putterman wrote.
Politifact has a great deal of power to deny Americans our Civil Liberties by claiming to be “fact checkers” when in fact, it is clear that they are fundraising on pushing a political agenda. Look at their page. The first thing readers are greeted with is a place to donate.
Consider the name “Politifact,” does that sound like they had politics on their minds?
What is the Poynter Institute that owns Politifact? According to sources: “The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization.” And they have partners called “Media Wise.”
Media Wise is described at Poytner.com as:
“Our mission at MediaWise is to empower people of all ages to be more critical consumers of content online. We teach people key digital literacy skills to spot misinformation and disinformation so they can make decisions based on facts, not fiction. We believe that when facts prevail, democracy wins.”
Media Wise has “Ambassadors,” and they happen to be employees of far-left leading media groups . . . .
Antifa Activist Who Sold Footage Of January 6 To CNN, NBC, Had $90,000 Seized By Feds
John Sullivan, the Antifa and BLM activist who stormed the Capitol on January 6 while disguised in Trump 2020 gear and captured video of the Capitol Police shooting of Ashli Babbitt has had $90,000 – ostensibly the funds he was paid by mainstream media outlets for his viral footage from the day – seized by the federal government.
Sullivan, who posted videos watermarked with Jayden X on social media, claims he stormed the U.S. Capitol – disguised as a supporter of President Donald Trump – in an effort to “document” the civil unrest. “I wanted to be able to tell a part of history,” Sullivan claimed in January. Speaking to the media, he seemingly acknowledged that Black Lives Matter and Antifa were present during the civil unrest, but claimed that “It’s just recording, solely, and not being active in it.” It was later reported that Sullivan sold his footage of the civil unrest to both CNN and NBC for $35,000 apiece.
Yesterday night, Reuters reported that “U.S. authorities have confiscated roughly $90,000” from Sullivan. “Prosecutors have filed additional criminal charges against the man, John Earle Sullivan, a self-described political activist who is accused of entering the Capitol building and participating in the riot,” Reuters reported. Reuters notes that Sullivan boasted, “my footage is worth like a million of dollars, millions of dollars” and “Sullivan sold that footage to several news outlets for a total of $90,000, according to the seizure warrant. The news outlets were redacted from the warrant.”
At the time of Sullivan’s arrest, National File reported, “Despite claiming he only entered the building in a journalistic capacity, the indictment against Sullivan declares otherwise. The 18-page affidavit claims Sullivan allegedly incited violence by exclaiming ‘we gotta get this shit burned’ and ‘it’s our house motherfuckers.’”
Sullivan was previously recorded during an anti-Trump riot in Washington, D.C. In the video, Sullivan pointed at the White House, and said,“We… about to burn this s— down… We gotta rip Trump right out of that office right there.” Sullivan added, “We ain’t about…waiting until the next election. It’s time for revolution.”
Messages from a Discord server run by Sullivan have since been leaked, and, as reported by National File, they reveal that Sullivan sought to disguise himself as a Trump supporter, apparently to record footage and stoke the flames of civil unrest. “In the days immediately following the January 6 protest, one user in Sullivan’s Discord server wrote, ‘I had to wear a Trump hat and shirtm [sic]’ to be able to infiltrate the crowd unnoticed.” Another activist disagreed, and suggested, “Putting on a Trump hat does not make him blend in. It makes him look like a well known activist who was attempting to instigate ‘antifa violence’ narrative.”
The Left is Obsessed with January 6
On January 6, 2021, a massive outpouring of supporters of President Donald Trump descended on Washington D.C. for a rally. The president invited his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” at the U.S. Capitol. It did not matter that he did not call for violence, Congress impeached him anyway.
The crowd’s mission was not to burn down the U.S. Capitol or harm members of Congress. For the overwhelming majority of those in attendance, their goal was not to commit violence, but to persuade either Vice President Mike Pence or a majority of the members of Congress to oppose the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results.
Instead of the day being focused on claims of voter fraud and election irregularities, the entire media narrative turned into the “attack on the U.S. Capitol.” The images of some in the crowd battling U.S. Capitol Police officers were aired constantly, as were the photos of some flag waving Trump supporters in the building posing for pictures on the U.S. Senate floor or in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
No violent actions can be condoned and all who engaged in criminal behavior should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In the aftermath of this security breach, the FBI arrested hundreds of people for various offenses and is continuing to investigate.
While these individuals are being arrested and prosecuted, scores of violent criminals involved in approximately 275 Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots last summer have escaped justice. It seems there is more of an FBI focus on bringing Trump supporters to justice than those criminals who burned, looted, and robbed during a summer of discontent in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
May 24, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 48 Minutes 08 Seconds
Florida Bans Big Tech Censorship With New Law; National Guard Leaving U.S. Capitol. The White House demands an investigation into the Ryanair flight that was diverted to Belarus, the United States advises Americans to avoid travel to Japan ahead of the Olympics, and the CDC reviews reports of heart inflammation in young people vaccinated against COVID-19.
It’s Not Hypocrisy, The COVID Narrative is a Lie – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Provides Another Example
Everything about the COVID mitigation narrative is based on control and manipulation. The COVID “narrative” is a fraud, a systemic and purposeful fraud, perpetrated by a group of manipulative politic interest groups who needed a vector to exploit the American social fabric…. to trigger specific “fundamental change” that could benefit their longer term political interests. […]
MICHIGAN – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer apologized Sunday after apparently violating state-mandated social distancing guidelines at an East Lansing bar and grill.
The post It’s Not Hypocrisy, The COVID Narrative is a Lie – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Provides Another Example appeared first on The Last Refuge.
De Blasio, Cuomo announce more prizes in bid to increase vaccinations
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday touted new prizes to incentivize New Yorkers to get COVID-19 vaccines — as the governor warned that the inoculation rate across the state is dropping “dramatically.”
“We’ve got more to do, unquestionably,” the mayor said at his daily press briefing, noting that half of Big Apple adults still aren’t fully vaccinated.
To boost the figures, de Blasio said Gotham will be offering 10 annual Crunch gym memberships and 50 tickets to the Governor’s Ball to a lucky few randomly picked from those either getting their shots or booking an appointment for one at a city-run site this week.
“Every week, we will announce a new contest,’’ de Blasio said. “This just continues to show there are so many ways to get people focused and excited about getting vaccinated.” . . .
Alabama governor signs bill to prohibit vaccine passports
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Monday signed a bill banning private businesses and public institutions from requiring COVID-19 “vaccine passports.”
As the Montgomery Advertiser reports, the bill passed the Alabama state House 76 to 16 a week ago.
The legislation states that public entities such as schools “may not issue vaccine or immunization passports, vaccine or immunization passes, or any other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying the immunization status of an individual, or otherwise require the publication or sharing of immunization records or similar health information for an individual.”
It does not, however, affect vaccine requirements already in place in schools, the newspaper notes.
The bill only applies to vaccines that were approved as of Jan. 1 and may have to be revisited in future legislative sessions.
Big Brother: Millions Secretly Tracked to Monitor Movements After COVID Vaccine
The British government has been reported to have secretly surveilled the movements of millions of citizens to track changes in behaviour following the administration of coronavirus vaccines.
A report from the SPI-B committee of government scientists has revealed that the government tracked up to ten per cent of the British public’s phones in February, all without permission or notification to the public.
Britain will be free from the Covid pandemic if the current vaccines work as expected, expert says
Britain’s Covid crisis will be ‘OVER’ within a few weeks if vaccines work as expected against Indian variant, top scientist says amid calls for No10 to ‘roll back’ lockdown-easing roadmap if cases keep rising nationally
- PHE analysis concluded two-dose jabs offered similar level of protection against Indian variant as Kent one
- Oxford’s Professor Andrew Pollard said the pandemic could be ‘over’ if jabs stop Covid hospitalisations
- Ministers say England is on track for June 21’s ‘freedom day’, despite fears Indian variant could stop plans
- But some scientists are not convinced by No10’s ever-growing optimism regarding the mutant strain
- Up to 70% of all cases in the North West are now being caused by the Indian variant, official data shows
If You’ve Had COVID, Please Don’t Get Vaccinated
In their race to vaccinate the entire U.S. adult population, health officials are urging everyone to get a COVID shot, regardless of whether or not they’ve already been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and spending billions of dollars in taxpayer funded propaganda to convince people to get the vaccine.
This is an important distinction, however, with at least one scientist warning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that “clear and present danger” exists for those who have had COVID-19 and subsequently get vaccinated.
That scientist — Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, a cardiac surgeon and patient advocate — warned the FDA that prescreening for SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins may reduce the risk of injuries and deaths following vaccination, as the vaccine may trigger an adverse immune response in those who have already been infected with the virus.1
Unfortunately, health agencies continue to assert that everyone should get vaccinated, even if they’ve already acquired natural immunity via previous infection.
CDC: Get Vaccinated Even if You’ve Had COVID
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits that it’s rare to get sick again if you’ve already had COVID-19. Despite this, they say those who have recovered from COVID-19 should still get vaccinated:2
“You should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19. That’s because experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, it is possible — although rare — that you could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 again.”
Your immune system is designed to work in response to exposure to an infectious agent. Upon recovery, you’re typically immune to that infectious agent. This is why, for instance, proof of prior diagnosis with chickenpox, measles and mumps is allowed instead of vaccination to enter most U.S. public schools3 — once you’ve had the disease and recovered, you’re immune.
If you’ve had COVID-19, you have some level of immunity against the virus. It’s unknown how long it lasts, just as it’s unknown how long protection from the vaccine lasts. According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden:4
“If you have had COVID-19, you have some protection against reinfection. This means that you are less likely to become infected and seriously ill, and less likely to infect others if you are exposed to the virus again.
Over time, the protection that you get after an infection wanes and there is an increased risk of getting infected again. At present, we estimate that the protection after having had COVID-19 lasts at least six months from the time of infection.”
People With Prior COVID Have More Vaccination Side Effects
An international survey of 2,002 people who had received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine found that people who had previously had COVID-19 experienced “significantly increased incidence and severity” of side effects after the COVID-19 vaccine.5 Those who had previously had COVID-19 had a greater risk of experiencing any side effect, along with the following, specifically:
| Fever | Breathlessness |
| Flu-like illness | Fatigue |
| Local reactions | Severe side effects leading to hospital care |
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were linked to a higher incidence of side effects compared to the viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines, but the mRNA side effects tended to be milder, local reactions. Systemic reactions, such as anaphylaxis, flu-like illness and breathlessness, were more likely to occur with the viral vector COVID-19 vaccines.
According to the researchers, the findings should prompt health officials to reevaluate their vaccination recommendations for people who’ve had COVID-19:6
“People with prior COVID-19 exposure were largely excluded from the vaccine trials and, as a result, the safety and reactogenicity of the vaccines in this population have not been previously fully evaluated. For the first time, this study demonstrates a significant association between prior COVID19 infection and a significantly higher incidence and severity of self-reported side effects after vaccination for COVID-19.
Consistently, compared to the first dose of the vaccine, we found an increased incidence and severity of self-reported side effects after the second dose, when recipients had been previously exposed to viral antigen.
In view of the rapidly accumulating data demonstrating that COVID-19 survivors generally have adequate natural immunity for at least 6 months, it may be appropriate to re-evaluate the recommendation for immediate vaccination of this group.”
Surgeon Warns of Immunological Dangers, Blood Clots . . .
Immediately Delay Vaccination for These Key Groups . . .
No Proof of Efficacy in People Who’ve Had COVID-19 . . .
CDC Allows Misinformation to Continue . . .
The Big Lie — Natural Infection Isn’t Adequate . . .
World’s Supply of Chips Is in Danger Unless Taiwan Gets Vaccines
Back in February, as the world was beating a path to Taiwan’s door for help to tackle a shortage of semiconductors, the health minister got into a scrap with China over Covid-19 vaccines.
Beijing, he suggested, had used political pressure to derail Taiwan’s plan to purchase five million doses directly from Germany’s BioNTech SE, rather than via a Chinese company which held the rights to develop and market the BioNTech-Pfizer Inc. vaccine across China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying retorted that Taipei “should stop hyping up political issues under the pretext of vaccine issues.”
Three months later, Taiwan is paying the price for a lack of vaccines, with a surge in virus cases that threatens to trigger a lockdown. Having successfully sidestepped the first Covid wave, the government now faces a health emergency — only about 1% of its population is vaccinated so far — with the potential to disrupt the chip industry that dominates the local economy, and which is critical to an already-squeezed global supply. . .
(READ) CDC: Reports of heart inflammation in teens after Covid-19 vaccine
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is grappling with another public relations challenge after the disclosure that heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, has hit some teens and young people after Covid-19 vaccination. The news of potential heart-related concerns with the Pfizer and Moderna RNA vaccines comes on the heels of blood clot worries linked to […]
Most who are fully vaccinated can skip COVID tests, CDC says
But Dr. Michael Mina of Harvard University, a leading advocate of widespread, rapid testing, said that with more than 60% of Americans not fully vaccinated, screening of those without symptoms still has a role.
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials’ new, more relaxed recommendations on masks have all but eclipsed another major change in guidance from the government: Fully vaccinated Americans can largely skip getting tested for the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that most people who have received the full course of shots and have no COVID-19 symptoms don’t need to be screened for the virus, even if exposed to someone infected.
The change represents a new phase in the epidemic after nearly a year in which testing was the primary weapon against the virus. Vaccines are now central to the response and have driven down hospitalizations and deaths dramatically.
Experts say the CDC guidance reflects a new reality in which nearly half of Americans have received at least one shot and close to 40% are fully vaccinated.
“At this point we really should be asking ourselves whether the benefits of testing outweigh the costs — which are lots of disruptions, lots of confusion and very little clinical or public health benefit,” said Dr. A. David Paltiel of Yale’s School of Public Health, who championed widespread testing at colleges last year.
While vaccinated people can still catch the virus, they face little risk of serious illness from it. And positive test results can lead to what many experts now say are unnecessary worry and interruptions at work, home and school, such as quarantines and shutdowns.
Other health specialists say the CDC’s abrupt changes on the need for masks and testing have sent the message that COVID-19 is no longer a major threat, even as the U.S. reports daily case counts of nearly 30,000.
“The average Joe Public is interpreting what the CDC is saying as ‘This is done. It’s over,’” said Dr. Michael Mina of Harvard University, a leading advocate of widespread, rapid testing.
With more than 60% of Americans not fully vaccinated, he thinks screening of those without symptoms still has a role, particularly among front-line workers who have to deal with the public.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the updated guidelines are based on studies showing the robust effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing disease in various age groups and settings. Even when vaccinated people do contract COVID-19, their infections tend to be milder, shorter and less likely to spread to others.
As a result, the CDC says vaccinated people can generally be excluded from routine workplace screening for COVID-19.
That change could eliminate testing headaches like the one recently reported by the New York Yankees, when one player and several staffers tested positive on a highly sensitive COVID-19 test, despite being vaccinated.
Baseball officials are discussing whether to drop or reduce testing of people who have no symptoms.
But widespread attempts to waive testing for vaccinated people could face the same dilemma seen with the CDC’s new guidelines on masks: There’s no easy way to determine who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t.
Employers can legally require vaccinations for most workers, though few have tested that power, since the vaccines don’t yet have full regulatory approval. Even asking employees to disclose their vaccination status is viewed as intrusive by many employment-law specialists.
For now, testing appears to be continuing unchanged in places that adopted the practice, from offices to meatpacking plants to sports teams.
Pork producer Smithfield Foods said it continues to conduct a combination of mandatory and optional testing for employees, depending on conditions at work sites. Amazon said it will still offer regular, voluntary testing.
The NBA has indicated it plans to keep its testing system in place for now. The league has been praised for using rigorous testing to create COVID-19-free “bubbles” around players, coaches and staff.
On a national level, the supply of COVID-19 tests now vastly surpasses demand. U.S. officials receive reports of about 1 million tests per day, down from a peak of over 2 million in mid-January, though many rapid tests done at home and workplaces go uncounted.
Consumers can buy 15-minute, over-the-counter tests at pharmacies and other stores. That’s on top of increased capacity from U.S. laboratories and hospitals, which ramped up testing after last year’s crushing demand.
The U.S. will be capable of conducting 500 million monthly tests in June, according to researchers at Arizona State University.
As recently as this winter, many health experts were calling for a huge testing effort to safely reopen schools, offices and other businesses. But that was before it was known how effective the vaccine would be in the real world, how quickly it could be distributed and whether it would protect against variants.
“The vaccines overperformed, which is the best news possible,” said Dr. Jeffrey Engel of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. “So now you can begin to peel back some of these other layers of mitigation like mask use and screening.”
Congress set aside $46 billion in the last pandemic relief package to boost testing, particularly in schools. But with all Americans 12 and older now eligible for shots, many middle and high school students will be fully vaccinated when they return to classrooms in the fall.
And many school systems have already rejected routine testing for elementary students, since children rarely become seriously ill and a positive test can trigger disruptive quarantines.
Some states have even returned federal testing funds, preferring simpler measures such as mask wearing and social distancing.
Many school officials, Engel said, “just see screening programs as a huge burden that’s not going to help.”
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this story from New York
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
COMMON SENSE: Rand Paul Says He’s Not Getting COVID Vax Because He Already Had COVID
During an appearance on WABC radio, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) – who was the first known U.S. Senator to contract the China-originated virus – revealed that he will not be taking one of the controversial COVID-19 vaccines, because he already had the disease and, thus, already has natural antibodies meant to fight it.
“Until they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers, or being hospitalized or getting very sick, I just made my own personal decision that I’m not getting vaccinated because I’ve already had the disease and I have natural immunity,” said Paul.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the wave of often-politicized science and advice surrounding it, this was the common way to treat vaccines and their associated illnesses. For example, if a child contracts chicken pox and recovers naturally, doctors advise against taking the chicken pox vaccine. When it comes to the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine, the CDC notes that there is no harm in receiving a dose of the vaccine if one is already immune to one or more of the viruses, however, it does not explicitly advise it.
However, the CDC claims that experts have no idea how long COVID-19 immunity from surviving the virus may last, despite a lack of reports of those who already had the illness contracting it again. Similarly, the pharmaceutical companies responsible for the creation of two of the popular COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States – Moderna and Pfizer – say that their mRNA vaccines will not offer permanent immunity, and have already publicly recommended both six month booster shots and annual inoculations.
Recently, Paul made headlines for his public feud with Anthony Fauci, who recently admitted that he only wears face masks indoors for optical reasons months after Paul accused him of engaging in “theater”. Paul grilled Fauci about his decision to fund “gain of function” research using bats and coronaviruses at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and later suggested Fauci could be “culpable” for the entire COVID-19 pandemic through the funding of this research.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 24, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 04 Seconds
Episode 970 – Worst Meltdown Since Chernobyl. Guests are: John Fredericks, Matt Braynard, Mark Finchem.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 24, 2021 | Video: 47 Minutes 54 Seconds
Episode 971 – Enemy Within … Fauci’s CCP Researchers Inside the US and Marxism in the Military. Guests are: Jack Francis, General Joseph Arbuckle, Jim Hoft, Dr. Lawrence Sellin.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 24, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 972 – The Cesspool State … Georgia’s New Moniker and Dr. Fauci’s Fate. “We’re going to find the truth,” said Favorito. “And we’re not going to stop until we know what the results really were.” Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Dr. Peter Navarro, Garland Favorito.
CDC investigating heart problems in teenagers and young adults after Moderna or Pfizer vaccine
CDC investigates dozens of reports of heart inflammation in teenagers and young adults that occur four days after their second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines
- CDC looking into reports that a small number of teens and young adults vaccinated against the coronavirus that may have experienced heart problems
- Condition, known as myocarditis, results in an inflammation of the heart muscle which can occur following certain infections
- Problems have been occurring four days after the second dose has been given
- Dozens of cases have been reported to the agency in recent week
- It is not yet clear which vaccine might be responsible, Moderna or Pfizer
- The agency’s vaccine safety group was sparse in details, saying only that there were ‘relatively few’ cases and levels were similar to normal
- Group also said that the conditions may be entirely unrelated to vaccination