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 12, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 942 – Out of Sand in the Sahara Desert … Biden’s Energy Crisis and Liz Cheney’s Sour Grapes. Dan Turner, founder of Power the Future, says the energy crisis is “at the feet of Joe Biden.” Guests are: Darren Beatie, Daniel Turner, Boris Epshteyn, Sloan Racmuth, Natalie Winters.
NBC News: Election Security Experts Say U.S. Voting Systems Do Connect To The Internet & Warn Serious Vulnerability That Can Affect Future Elections
According to NBC News reporting, election security experts were able to use a “Google for servers” application that allowed them to access thirty U.S. voting systems. This finding invalidates oft-repeated claims that U.S. voting systems were NOT connected to the internet and thus not vulnerable to tampering and fraud. The report also notes that if hackers gain access to these election systems they can also place code that can affect future elections.[…]
The post NBC News: Election Security Experts Say U.S. Voting Systems Do Connect To The Internet & Warn Serious Vulnerability That Can Affect Future Elections appeared first on .
We Were Lied To Again | Voting Machines Are Connected To The Internet | NBC News
Now that the mainstream media feels safe, whether true or not, that President Trump can’t possibly claim his presidential office this term, lo and behold, their security experts tell us they knew all along that voting machines were connected to the internet.
From NBC News Article, – “‘Online and vulnerable’: Experts find nearly three dozen U.S. voting systems connected to internet”
“We kept hearing from election officials that voting machines were never on the internet,” he said. “And we knew that wasn’t true. And so we set out to try and find the voting machines to see if we could find them on the internet, and especially the back-end systems that voting machines in the precinct were connecting to to report their results. . .
. . .The three largest voting manufacturing companies — Election Systems &Software, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic — have acknowledged they all put modems in some of their tabulators and scanners. The reason? So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet.”
Easy to Vote, Hard to Cheat: An Election Integrity Approach all Americans can Support
. . . The challenge with restoring voter confidence in our election process is complicated, but not impossible to solve. Engaging eligible voters and maintaining voter registration rolls in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) is a good first step to flagging simple errors in voter registration.
This is an essential measure for lower-income voters who tend to move often and need to know where their new polling place is located. Standardizing processes and frequently checking registration records will ensure all voters have an opportunity to correct problems with their registrations in plenty of time before an election.
Improving transparency, moreover, can help reassure voters of their state’s election integrity. An overwhelming majority of Americans want to seelive-streaming technologyused on Election Day so everyone can watch ballot counting. This proposal is hardly a new idea as theU.S. House and Senate have been live-streamingtheir voting activities since 1979.
And the same standard of requiring proper identification for registering to vote and voting in person must be applied to absentee, mail-in voting. Absentee ballots should include simple identifying information to help prevent someone other than the registered voter from casting a mailed ballot. For those who cannot afford a government-issued ID, states can make them free and easily obtainable—just like Georgia has done. . .
Senator Marsha Blackburn Calls for New Cybersecurity Measures
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for increased cybersecurity measures in a recent interview with Fox News.
Senator Blackburn’s remarks come in response to the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, which has greatly impacted gas prices and accessibility levels across several states.
“One of the things that is disappointing to me, whether it is a hack on a federal agency, or this attack on our critical infrastructure— we still have individuals who have thought, well this doesn’t happen that often so we don’t need to be that worried about it,” Blackburn expressed in the interview.
A ransomware gang known as “Darkside” targeted the pipeline, which brings oil from Texas to northeastern locations throughout the United States. The group has carried out multiple attacks across the United States and Europe. The attack has shut down production completely. In response, gas prices have risen across the southern and eastern parts of the country. Further, officials say the attack could lead to shortages of gas in multiple states.
“Because when a cyberattack happens, what we know is you cannot lose time. Time is precious when it comes to assessing the situation, getting your arms around it, and being able to remediate that situation,” Blackburn added.
In previous proposed legislation, Blackburn has advocated for certain enhanced cybersecurity measures. Specifically, last year, as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act, a pilot program was created to expand the abilities of the National Guard to provide technical assistance in response to cyberattacks.
Additionally, Blackburn and Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced legislation last week that would create a pilot Civilian Cybersecurity Reserve program to assist the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with cybersecurity-trained civilian personnel.
“This would ensure we’ve got the hands on deck that we are going to need to address some of these vulnerabilities,” said Blackburn.
– – –
Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to cooperreports@gmail.com.
The post Senator Marsha Blackburn Calls for New Cybersecurity Measures appeared first on The Georgia Star News.
BREAKING: Trump Backs UK Government’s New Voter ID Requirement
President Trump has backed the UK government’s forthcoming Electoral Integrity Bill, which would mandate voter ID, saying the US should follow suit.
The Electoral Integrity Bill was confirmed as part of the UK government’s forthcoming agenda within Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech. The speech serves a similar purpose to the State of the Union, where the head of state addresses the government. The speech is written and prepared by the UK government, not the Queen, and sets out their legislative agenda for the next Parliamentary session.
The plans regarding what types of voter ID would be acceptable were set out in detail by Chloe Smith MP, a minister in the UK’s Cabinet Office, at the end of last month, confirming that it would not be limited to driver’s licenses or passports, but include a wide-range of identification. Any voter who did not have identification would be able to apply for a free “voter card” from their local authority. Under current legislation, British voters simply have to provide their name and address at the polling location, with no verification as to if they are that person in particular.
“This is exactly what we should do in the United States, unlike the Democrats who want to abolish Voter ID laws,” President Trump said in a statement. “All States should pass Voter ID laws along with many other fair and comprehensive election reforms, like eliminating mass mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, so we never again have an election rigged and stolen from us,” he continued, adding that “the people are demanding real reform!”
Mainstream Media Warned Us About Voting Machines, But Then Rebuked Their Own Findings For Political Reasons | NBC Investigative Report | Video: 2 Minutes 51 Seconds
NBC Investigative Reports has known all along that the many voting machines, in particular in the battleground states, are connected to the internet and advised to rid our systems of ALL voting machines and use paper ballots before Election 2020. And the rest is history . . .
Virginia, Florida Governors Declare States of Emergency Over Colonial Pipeline Hack
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared in their respective counties states of emergency in response to the recent hack of the Colonial Pipeline. Gas stations in multiple states across the country began running dry and gasoline prices rose on Tuesday, after a fifth day of shutdown of the fuel pipeline following the attack by hackers. Motorists have been panic buying since the May 7 ransomware attack, which effectively restricted access to computer systems while demanding payments to release them. The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued temporary waivers of certain fuel standards to increase the supply of gasoline in areas whose reformulated gasoline has been impacted by the shutdown. In particular, it waived the federal Reid vapor pressure requirements for fuel sold in Reformulated Gasoline areas of District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The waiver will continue through May 18. . .
Japan Passes Digital Law As Virus Underscores Tech Struggles
Japan’s parliament approved a law to set up a new Digital Agency as the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including stumbles in its vaccine rollout, underscored the country’s need to catch up on technology.
The bill, which passed in the upper house Wednesday following approval in the more powerful lower house last month, establishes an agency aimed at bringing greater digitalization to ministries and administrative bodies. The Digital Agency, to be launched in September with an initial staff of 500, will also plan a nationwide shift of local government processes into the cloud and try to help facilitate digitalization in the private sector.
From delayed cash handouts at the beginning of the pandemic last year to the low uptake of remote work and problems with online booking systems for vaccination appointments, the virus has highlighted Japan’s difficulty in taking advantage of more efficient ways of working.
Many Japanese in recent days have struggled to access websites at local authorities to book appointments for coronavirus vaccinations, contributing to a slow rollout that has irked the public and ranked among the slowest in developed nations.
NTD News Banned By Youtube & Vimeo For Broadcasting A United States Senate Hearing – December 16, 2020 Broadcast | Video: 50 Minutes 17 Seconds
NTD was demonetized and many of their videos were deleted by YouTube and Vimeo for straight reporting of the news and informing the public of election challenges and issues. This broadcast was made on December 16, 2020 and deleted by YouTube and Vimeo. As Election 2020 challenges and audits continue to this day, the information in this broadcast is more relevant than ever. And Big Tech, the Mainstream Media and the Democrat and Republican Establishment do not want you to know this information.
Sidney Powell admits it was all a lie
This is not about Powell or even about Trump anymore. It’s about the complete abdication of integrity by leaders on the right — Republican officeholders, conservative opinion leaders and right-wing TV.
The Big Lie is starting to unravel. One of Donald Trump’s disinformation stars, Sidney Powell, is backing down. But while we’re considering the matter of truth and lies, let’s recall when conservatives cared about truth (or seemed to).
In the 1990s, Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu was a phenomenon. Of Mayan descent, she offered harrowing testimony about the conduct of the Guatemalan military during that country’s civil war. Her 1983 as-told-to memoir, “I Rigoberta Menchu,” was a sensation. In 1992, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
When it came to light that Menchu had distorted key aspects of her autobiography, right and left responded very differently. David Stoll, an anthropologist, learned through archival research and interviews with more than 120 people that some of her tales were false. A younger brother she said had died of starvation never existed. Another brother, whom she claimed had been tortured to death in front of her parents, died in completely different circumstances. A New York Times investigation confirmed Stoll’s findings.
May 11, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 50 Minutes 40 Seconds
The Colonial Pipeline is still down after being hit with a cyber attack, Georgia takes action as gas stations in several southern states face shortages, and five Republican governors are pulling out of federal unemployment benefits.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 11, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 25 Seconds
Episode 937 – The Rule of Law vs. The Rule of Men … How the Populist Movement Can Win.“We’re not going to repeat the mistakes of a Paul Ryan as speaker,” Cortes said. “We are not going to go back to the days of the Republican establishment no matter how much the donor class” and the corporate class might want us to. Guests are: Claudia Tenney, Steve Cortes.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 11, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 29 Seconds
Episode 938 – The Real Big Lies … Marjorie Taylor Greene Takes on the Uniparty. “The 7 billion Deplorables around the world are catching on and fed up with the Pope and this Vatican,” Yore said. “And nobody is paying attention to Pope Francis, and also Tony Fauci.” Guests are: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Natalie Winters, Liz Yore, Patrick Coffin.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 11, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 939 – Dr. Fauci’s Big Lie … The Walls Close in on Fauci and Wuhan. “The buried lead if you look at the diction and the syntax as to how they describe these grants…they describe them as not just going to Peter Daszak, but to Shi Zhenli,” Winters said. Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Peter Navarro, Natalie Winter, Dr. Lisa Babbage.
Bill Gates Tells Another Big Lie About Vaccine Production
Bill Gates has been adamant since the beginning of the pandemic that the only way to end it is by vaccinating the global population. In an April 2020 blog post, he stated, “We need to manufacture and distribute at least 7 billion doses of the vaccine” … “or possibly 14 billion, if it’s a multidose vaccine.” He also said, “I suspect the COVID-19 vaccine will become part of the routine newborn immunization schedule.”1
Coincidentally, Gates also personally supported and participated in Event 201,2 which simulated a worldwide pandemic triggered by a novel coronavirus.3 The primary response to the simulated pandemic, which turned into reality just months later? Developing and distributing patentable antiviral medications and a new wave of vaccines.
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are here, however, Gates isn’t too keen on the idea of lifting the patent protection on them, which would open the doors for generic versions to be manufactured, increasing supplies and lowering costs — and ultimately getting more vaccines to middle- and low-income nations.
That was Gates’ stated goal, after all, so it’s ironic, then, that Gates told Britain’s Sky News that lifting patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines would not be useful4 — a statement that Krystal Ball, host of The Hill’s “Rising With Krystal and Saagar” morning show calls an outright lie driven by one word — greed.5
Bill Gates Lied About Vaccine Patents
About 75% of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in high-income countries, according to Ball, while more than 100 countries haven’t administered even one dose.6
While there are many reasons to think carefully before getting the vaccine — the criminal past of vaccine manufacturers, no long-term safety testing or informed consent, and under-reporting of adverse reactions and death, for starters — going from Gates’ goal of vaccinating the world, the lack of vaccine availability in most of it is glaring.
The U.S. just lifted an embargo on raw materials needed to help make COVID-19 vaccines in India at the end of April 2021,7 which would increase vaccination rates. Then there were Gates’ own comments about whether he thought lifting patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines would be helpful, to which he responded no:8
“The thing that’s holding things back, in this case, is not intellectual property. It’s not like there’s some idle vaccine factory, with regulatory approval, that makes magically safe vaccines. You’ve got to do the trial on these things. And every manufacturing process needs to be looked at in a very careful way.
There’s only so many vaccine factories in the world, and people are very serious about the safety of vaccines. Moving a vaccine, say, from a [Johnson & Johnson] factory into a factory in India, it’s novel, it’s only because of our grants and expertise that can happen at all.”
An Associated Press (AP) investigation, however, found three factories on three continents that have the capacity to produce hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines “if only they had the blueprints and technical know-how.”9 One such factory in Bangladesh, with “gleaming new equipment imported from Germany” and “immaculate hallways lined with hermetically sealed rooms,” is operating at only 25% capacity.10
In Canada, pharmaceutical company Biolyse has a similar story and is actively trying to get the recipe to make COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson so they can start production and provide millions of doses to the global south. They even asked the Canadian government to give them emergency authorization to produce the patented products, with no success. Speaking to The Guardian, vice president John Fulton said:11
“We’ve been passed over. We’ve got this production capacity and it’s not being put to use. If we had started this last year, we could have shipped millions of doses by now. This is supposed to be like a wartime effort, everyone in it together. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.” . . .
From The Desk Of Donald J. Trump
8:52pm May 10, 2021
The major Michigan Election Fraud case has just filed a bombshell pleading claiming votes were intentionally switched from President Trump to Joe Biden. The number of votes is MASSIVE and determinative. This will prove true in numerous other States. All Republicans must UNIFY and not let this happen. If a thief robs a jewelry store of all of its diamonds (the 2020 Presidential Election), the diamonds must be returned. The Fake News media refuses to cover the greatest Election Fraud in the history of our Country. They have lost all credibility, but ultimately, they will have no choice!
Arizona Governor Signs Law Designating Gun Stores as Essential Firms
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has signed into law legislation that designates gun stores as essential businesses allowed to remain open during an emergency—a move that will further protect gun stores, manufacturers, and trade associations from lawsuits. The new law, Senate Bill 1382, introduced by Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers, applies to any store selling guns or ammunition, or their components, and mirrors federal law that was passed on a bipartisan basis. Ducey’s office said in a release that the measure will protect the Second Amendment rights of Arizonans by “safeguarding against frivolous lawsuits that have no connection to unlawful use of firearms.” “With efforts currently underway in Washington to erode Second Amendment rights, Arizona is taking action to protect those rights,” Ducey said in a statement. . .
Sen. Grassley: Biden officials withheld info on national security risks posed by border crisis
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking Biden administration officials to reveal more information about national security risks posed by the border crisis.
In a recent letter to immigration and border officials, Sen. Grassley recounted what he says happened at a classified briefing. According to Grassley, Biden border officials “provided less information” to members of Congress than they had to staff. Additionally, says Grassley, the briefers promised to provide material responsive to questions asked at the session, but they have filed to do so.
“When the committee asks for a full member-level briefing, we expect your agencies to be open and transparent with as much detail as possible. On April 19, 2021, that standard wasn’t met,” says Grassley in the letter. . .
GOP Chair Dr. Kelli Ward: Election Should Not Have Been Certified If Maricopa County Election Routers Were Shared with Law Enforcement
Arizona GOP Chair Dr. Kelli Ward released a video update on Monday morning on America’s Audit. Dr. Ward went on to explain “the big router lie” by the Maricopa County officials.
Maricopa County had 2.1 million votes in 2020 and therefore required a large system to handle them and therefore the county would need hardware routers for the election. The routers would never be used for data storage because they could not support the amount of information.
Maricopa County insisted last week they could turn over the routers because they are shared with law enforcement.
Dr. Kelli Ward explained in this video that if an election is to be certified its routers should not and could not be shared with law enforcement. This is not allowed. . .
Facts Matter (May 10): Arizona Senate Tells Maricopa Officials to Turn Over Routers or Face Subpoenas
Farmers in the Midwest are suing the Biden administration, saying that they weren’t allowed to participate in a federal loan program due to the fact that they are white. In Oklahoma, the governor has signed a new law that prohibits the teaching of critical race theory in all of Oklahoma’s public schools. However, in Washington State, they’ve taken a different approach. The Washington governor signed into law a bill that requires mandatory critical race training in all public schools. As the audit continues in Arizona, Maricopa County officials are facing a possible subpoena for not turning over routers and machine passwords. Facts Matter is an Epoch Times show available on YouTube. Follow us on Parler, Gab, and Telegram Follow Roman on Instagram: @epoch.times.roman
The Far Right Is Ready to Claim a Slice of Real Power in Sweden
The populists who’ve been battling to shut down immigration into Europe may be heading for a significant breakthrough in Sweden.
The far-right Sweden Democrat party may well have the votes to help the conservative opposition secure a majority after next year’s elections, and the evidence is mounting that traditional right-wing politicians will be tempted to cut a deal to give the anti-immigrant group a say in government.
The populist party’s emergence has tracked the Nordic country’s influx of immigrants and difficulties integrating them. A worsening in gang-related violence in recent years has also pushed more voters to the right, and parties across the political spectrum have taken a tougher stand on migrants in the wake of Europe’s refugee crisis in 2015.
“The old arguments for not talking to us no longer exist,” Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson said in an interview, adding the conservatives agree with him “at least on the direction.” “It’s difficult to call us ugly names and at the same time copy our politics.”
FCC Commissioner Slams Top Baltimore Prosecutor’s ‘Chilling’ Request for Investigation Into Fox-Affiliate Over Bias, Tucker Carlson Show
by Thomas Catenacci
The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission criticized the Democratic Baltimore City State Attorney’s recent request for an investigation into a local Fox affiliate as an attack on free speech.
Brendan Carr, the top Republican on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), condemned Baltimore City State Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s request, saying it was part of a broader effort by Democrats to censor news coverage and political speech they don’t like. Carr demanded that the commission dismiss Mosby’s complaint by the end of the day “with prejudice.”
“The State’s Attorney’s Office, led by Democrat Marilyn Mosby, has launched a chilling and direct attack on free speech and journalistic freedom,” Carr said in a statement on Monday. “The complaint her office filed with the FCC asks the Commission to censor a newsroom simply because journalists are doing their constitutionally protected jobs and shining a light on the work of the State’s Attorney.”
“Invoking the power of the state to silence journalists for unfavorable coverage strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment,” he continued.
Last week, Mosby asked the FCC to investigate local Fox affiliate WBFF-TV over their alleged distortion of the news and bias against her in a letter to Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Mosby alleged that the outlet’s coverage of her was more negative than other outlets’ coverage and that it presented a physical threat to her, making it a violation of FCC rules.
“The coverage by the WBFF represents acts that are not merely against the public interest; they also represent acts that are inflammatory against the safety of an elected official,” Mosby’s Communications Director Zy Richardson wrote in the letter.
Richardson said that WBFF’s ties to Fox News – the two are owned by the same parent company, but don’t share editorial staff – is another reason the FCC should open an investigation. She specifically mentioned Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, which she said consistently presents “white supremacy views.”
But, Carr noted that Mosby’s request was particularly disturbing given that much of WBFF’s coverage, which Mosby alleged was biased, was about an ongoing federal grand jury investigation into her office’s potentially illegal financial dealings.
He added that WBFF has recently won four Regional Edward R. Murrow awards for journalism excellence. One of the stories to receive an award was about Mosby.
“The State’s Attorney’s Office complaint alleges that there is ‘troubling, abhorrent, and outright dangerous’ conduct going on here,” Carr said. “They are correct in this respect—it is the conduct of the State’s Attorney’s Office that is troubling, abhorrent, and outright dangerous.”
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) echoed Carr’s statement Monday. The organization sent a letter to the FCC, asking it to reject Mosby’s request.
“Local journalists across the country have a Constitutionally guaranteed obligation to serve their communities by seeking and reporting the truth, often by reporting on the public activities of public officials,” RTDNA Executive Director Dan Shelley said in a statement.
The FCC and Mosby’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
– – –
Thomas Catenacci is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo ” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr” by Gage Skidmore CC 2.0.
The post FCC Commissioner Slams Top Baltimore Prosecutor’s ‘Chilling’ Request for Investigation Into Fox-Affiliate Over Bias, Tucker Carlson Show appeared first on The Georgia Star News.
Pentagon’s new anti-extremism chief supports radical leftist views, critics charge
The Pentagon’s point man for quashing extremism in the ranks has drawn scrutiny from critics who charge that the newly appointed official himself has expressed extremist views on American social issues.
The official, Bishop Garrison, recently became a senior advisor to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, heading up the Pentagon’s “diversity and inclusion” efforts. Garrison last month also was placed in charge of Austin’s freshly formed Countering Extremism Working Group [CEWG].
The effort as described in an April 9 memo skews heavily toward bureaucratic staples such as a steering committee, subcommittees, weekly meetings, studies, and monthly progress reviews. The group will report up a chain of command, through the Defense Department’s Workforce Management Group to the Deputy Workforce Council. But, while the project on paper seems mired in the typical trappings of officialdom, observers have raised questions about what the group will do under Garrison.
In a collection of posts dating from 2019, a Twitter account under Garrison’s name vilified Donald Trump and his supporters as racist, and championed the discredited 1619 Project. When former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the 1619 Project — which aims to reframe American history within a racist construct — Garrison tweeted that Pompeo’s views were “dangerous.”
Italian woman mistakenly given SIX doses of the Pfizer vaccine in one go
Italian woman is mistakenly given SIX doses of the Pfizer vaccine in one go – but suffers NO ill effects.
- A 23-year-old student was kept in hospital for 24 hours after being given six doses of the Pfizer vaccine in error on Sunday
- The woman suffered no side effects and was discharged on Monday though doctors said they would continue to monitor her as a precaution
- Pfizer vials contain six doses which need to be extracted individually and diluted
- A nurse mistakenly injected the woman with a full vial and immediately alerted an attending doctor
Adjusted Model Estimates 40 Percent More COVID Deaths
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the virus has killed about 579,000 people. But another model now estimates that number to be nearly 40 percent higher.
The post Adjusted Model Estimates 40 Percent More COVID Deaths appeared first on NTD.
This Is What Democrats Call Peaceful Protests | Veteran Beaten and Hospitalized in Portland, Oregon | Video: 2 Minutes 47 Seconds
“Armed protesters in Portland blocked traffic, smashed car windows, slashed tires, and attacked a man, leaving him hospitalized on May 6. The attacks happened in the riot-plagued city in broad daylight.”
The post Veteran Attacked in Portland, Hospitalized appeared first on NTD.
Casual sex WILL be allowed from May 17 after Government gives green light for people to meet inside
The return of casual sex: Boris Johnson gives the green light for overnight stays for first time this year, with rules on kissing and hugging relaxed from May 17.
- Britons have been unable to have overnight stays in England since January
- But Boris Johnson tonight gave the green light for households to meet indoors
- Up to six people from two different households can meet from Monday, May 17
- And social distancing measures will be lifted to allow friends to hug and kiss
- However, social distancing measures will remain in place between strangers
Vatican warns US bishops over get-tough Communion proposals
There is division among the bishops, with some pressing for President Joe Biden and other Catholic public figures to be excluded from Communion over their abortion stance, and other bishops warning that such a move would be politically polarizing.
The head of the Vatican’s doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights.
The strong words of caution came in a letter from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB will convene for a national meeting June 16, with plans to vote on drafting a document on the Communion issue
There is division among the bishops, with some pressing for Biden and other Catholic public figures to be excluded from Communion over their abortion stance, and other bishops warning that such a move would be politically polarizing.
Ladaria, in his letter, said any new policy “requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions.”
Even then, Ladaria advised, the bishops should seek unanimous support within their ranks for any national policy, lest it become “a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.”
NASA criticizes China over handling of rocket re-entry after debris crashes in Indian Ocean
ASA is criticized China for failing to meet “responsible standards” for allowing a spent, out-of-control rocket to crash to Earth.
The debris from the rocket landed Sunday in the Indian Ocean – but not before essentially putting world on red-alert about where it might crash to Earth.
“Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Sunday, according to CNN. “China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”
FBI names pipeline cyberattackers as company promises return
Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said Monday it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers. . . In this case, the FBI moved with unusual speed to pinpoint blame, saying the criminal syndicate whose ransomware was used in the attack is named DarkSide. The group’s members are Russian speakers, and the syndicate’s malware is coded not to attack networks using Russian-language keyboards.
Biden HHS Rolls Back Religious Conscience Protections for Doctors
The Biden administration adopted a new rule Monday that could force Catholic hospitals, religious doctors, and other objectors to perform sex changes.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced it will expand its definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation, citing the Supreme Court’s controversial 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which protected employees from discrimination on the basis of being gay or transgender.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “That’s why today HHS announced it will act on related reports of discrimination.”
The new guidance from the Biden administration rolls back Trump administration guidelines that used biology to determine sex discrimination in an effort to protect the conscience rights of medical providers. Religious liberty groups took aim at the Biden administration’s new policy, saying it would coerce religious practitioners to violate their consciences.
“Coercing doctors to carry out highly controversial and unproven ‘treatments’ like administering puberty-blocking hormones to children and performing irreversible sex changes—against their best medical judgment and conscience—is the latest effort by the Biden administration to force anyone who dissents from its radical ideology into compliance,” said Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, policy adviser for the Catholic Association.
Elise Stefanik: ‘Running for Chair Because We Need a Unified GOP Leadership Team’
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said Monday she is running for Republican Conference Chair because the Republican Party must have “a unified voice from our leadership team.”
Biden’s Latest Jobs Whopper
President Joe Biden’s empty boasts about his economic plan are going to make Americans long for the understatement of Donald Trump. They may already be longing for Trump-era policies on job creation
FDA Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for Children 12 to 15
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, a crucial step in the nation’s steady recovery from the pandemic and a boon to millions of American families eager for a return to normalcy.
The authorization caps weeks of anticipation among parents, who have been grappling with how to conduct their lives when only the adults in a household are immunized. It removes an obstacle to school reopenings by reducing the threat of transmission in classrooms, and affords more of the nearly 17 million children in this age group opportunities to attend summer camps, sleepovers and Little League games.
“This is great news,” said Dr. Kristin Oliver, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. “It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to start protecting children in this age group.” The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is already available to anyone over 16.
The F.D.A.’s go-ahead is not the final hurdle. An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to meet shortly to review the data and make recommendations for the vaccine’s use in 12- to 15-year-olds.
May 10, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 51 Minutes
FBI Reveals Who’s Behind Colonial Pipeline Attack; Georgia Bans ‘Defund the Police’ Efforts. The FBI says hacker group DarkSide is behind the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, fraudulent unemployment claims created thousands of identity theft victims last quarter, and the Health and Human Services secretary is reportedly raising concern over President Joe Biden’s increased cap on refugees entering the country.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 10, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 48 Seconds
Episode 934 – That Means Fraud … New Evidence of Compromised 2020 Election. “We’ve got to get away from this left-right paradigm,” he said. “We’ve got corrupt Republicans, we’ve got corrupt Democrats. They all like their power.” Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Prof. David Clements, Matthew DePerno, Jan Bryant.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 10, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 24 Seconds
Episode 935 – The Manchurian Director … Bill Burns is Xi’s Man in the CIA. “All these guys who they said are conspiracy theorists…have all been proved right,” Kassam said. “It’s all happening. They are arresting Christian preachers on the streets of Western nations.” Guests are: Bernie Kerik, Frank Gaffney, Sam Faddis.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 10, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 24 Seconds
Episode 936 – Is the Media Blackout of the Fauci and CCP Virus Cover Up Coming to an End? “This was just treated as a conspiracy theory a year ago, I was smeared,” she said of the Wuhan lab theory. “It has taken such a long time for people to even begin to comprehend that this might not have a natural origin.” Guests are: Sharri Markson, Dr. Peter Navarro, Marvil Rodney.