US Capitol
Judicial Watch: U.S. Capitol Police Tell Federal Court January 6 Disturbance Videos Are Not Public Records
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today the U.S. Capitol Police seeks to shut down a public records lawsuit for January 6 disturbance video and emails by arguing to a federal court that the requested are “not public records.”
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in February 2021 under the common law right of access to public records after the Capitol Police refused to provide any records in response to a January 21, 2021, request for:
- Email communications between the U.S. Capitol Police Executive Team and the Capitol Police Board concerning the security of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The timeframe of this request is from January 1, 2021 through January 10, 2021.
- Email communications of the Capitol Police Board with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concerning the security of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The timeframe of this request is from January 1, 2021 through January 10, 2021.
- All video footage from within the Capitol between 12 pm and 9 pm on January 6, 2021.
Regarding withholding the videos, the Capitol Police told the court:
The USCP’s camera security system, including footage recorded by it within the Capitol and sought by [Judicial Watch], is solely for national security and law enforcement purposes.
Access to video footage from the USCP’s camera security system is limited to narrow circumstances and strictly controlled by USCP policy.
The USCP has not made any public disclosures of video footage from January 6 from its camera security system.
There are currently pending criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals involved in the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
There are currently pending congressional investigations into the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In its motion, the Capitol Police also argues the case should be closed because, among other assertions, even if the records Judicial Watch asks for are “public records,” the USCP’s interests in confidentiality “outweigh any public interest in those materials.”
It also claims not to have access to many of the emails sought by Judicial Watch.
“To cut to the chase, the US Capitol Police is hiding a reported 14,000 hours of January 6 video from the American people to help Nancy Pelosi’s abusive targeting of Trump supporters and other political opponents,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Any other police department in America would be investigated and defunded for such abusive secrecy. The Pelosi Congress is in cover-up mode regarding January 6.”
Judicial Watch is conducting an extensive investigation into the January 6 events in Washington, DC.
Earlier this month, Judicial Watch uncovered documents from Washington, DC’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) related to Air Force veteran and San Diego native Ashli Babbitt. These documents reveal that OCME submitted a request for permission to cremate Babbitt only two days after taking custody of her body and that due to the “high profile nature” of Babbitt’s case, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Francisco Diaz requested that a secure electronic file with limited access be created for Babbitt’s records. Additionally, Babbitt’s fingerprints were emailed to a person supposedly working for the DC government, which resulted in Microsoft “undeliverable” messages written in Chinese characters being returned.
In July, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DOJ for records of communication between the FBI and several financial institutions about the reported transfer of financial transactions made by people in DC, Maryland and Virginia on January 5 and January 6, 2021. The FBI refused to confirm or deny any such records exist. Also in July, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for information relating to the tracking and collecting of Americans’ social media posts through its Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP).
In May, Judicial Watch sued both the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense for records regarding the deployment of armed forces around the Capitol complex in Washington, D.C., in January and February of 2021.
In March, Judicial Watch sued the District of Columbia for the autopsy of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and related records. Pressure from this lawsuit helped lead to the disclosure that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes. Also in March, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit 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. . . .
She Was Declared a Witch at Salem. These Middle Schoolers Want to Clear Her Name.
More than three centuries after being tarnished by the hysteria of the Salem witch trials, a Massachusetts woman convicted of witchcraft could finally receive a pardon from the state because of the lobbying efforts of an unlikely constituency: an eighth-grade civics class.
The woman, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who lived in what is now North Andover, Mass., was one of 28 members of her extended family who faced allegations of witchcraft in 1692, according to historians. She was born around 1670 and may have been mentally disabled.
She was sentenced to death in 1693 after she confessed to being a witch, only to be granted a reprieve by the governor of Massachusetts at the time. She died in 1747, at the age of about 77.
But in contrast with a vast majority of other people who were wrongfully convicted and carried the stigma associated with the witch trials long after their deaths, Johnson had no known descendants to try to clear her name.
That’s why a group of middle school students from North Andover decided last year to take up her cause, pressing their state senator to introduce legislation that they helped craft and that would exonerate Johnson, who never married and had no children.
“To right a wrong, it’s worth doing,” Carrie LaPierre, the teacher of the eighth-grade civics class at North Andover Middle School, said on Thursday.
As part of their civics education, Ms. LaPierre said, the students are taught about acceptance.
“It’s something we talk a lot about: identity and stereotypes and respecting people who are different than you,” she said.
At least 172 people from Salem and surrounding towns, which include what is now North Andover, were accused of witchcraft in 1692 as part of a Puritanical inquisition that was rooted in paranoia and xenophobia, according to historians. . . .
Minnesota GOP Head Resigns After Sex Trafficking Allegations Against Top Donor
Minneapolis (AP) — The embattled leader of the Minnesota Republican Party has been forced to resign following accusations that she ran a “morally bankrupt” operation that was rife with verbal abuse, intimidation and sexual misconduct.
Jennifer Carnahan initially resisted calls to resign, saying she had no knowledge of sex-trafficking allegations against a prominent donor and a local college Republican chapter leader. She said a “mob mentality came out in this way to defame, tarnish and attempt to ruin my personal and professional reputation.”
Late Thursday, the party’s 15-member board voted 8-7 to give Carnahan three months salary, about $38,000. Carnahan cast the deciding vote on her severance.
The board also approved investigations into the party’s finances and human resources protocols.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as chairwoman for the Republican Party of Minnesota,” Carnahan said in a statement after the vote. “However, I signed up for this party to help us elect Republicans and I want to ensure that we can continue to do that.” . . . .
‘Unfit to Lead’: Biden Supporters Enraged After Afghanistan Debacle
As Afghanistan continues its descent into chaos, prominent media figures are beginning to have doubts after supporting President Joe Biden (or at least strongly opposing Trump) during the 2020 election.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Meghan McCain, former co-host of The View, said she felt “physically ill” over what has happened in Afghanistan and declared that President Biden is “unfit to lead.” Though Meghan McCain has not yet said for whom she cast her vote in the 2020 election, she virulently opposed former President Donald Trump on the basis of character, often spoke fondly of Biden throughout the election cycle, said she felt “relieved” upon Biden’s victory, and supported Trump’s impeachment.
“I have been physically ill, more depressed than I have been since the beginning stages of the pandemic and filled nothing short of pure rage and anger since the calamity of a ‘pull out’ which will be seen as one of the greatest foreign policy catastrophes of my lifetime,” McCain said in her Instagram post on Thursday. . . .
Naval Academy expels 18 midshipmen after finding they cheated on physics exam
Nearly 20 midshipmen were separated after a Naval Academy investigation found they cheated on a December 2020 physics exam.
Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck initiated an investigation into the General Physics I final after being made aware that midshipmen possibly used outside sources, including visiting websites, during their online exam, according to a press release from the academy. Midshipmen also used an anonymous chat platform to discuss the exam after.
The academy announced the investigation in December.
There were 653 midshipmen who took the General Physics I exam, mostly in their second year at the academy, according to the release. Of the 653, 105 midshipmen were investigated and went through the academy’s honor system. . . .
So Much For ‘Amnesty’: Taliban Going Door-to-Door Executing U.S. Allies
There’s a price to be paid for stupidity and incompetence in government. And Afghans who helped the U.S. during the occupation are paying it.
Two days ago, the Taliban promised a general “amnesty” for all those who collaborated with the U.S. military and the Afghan national government. The only people who believed that besides Biden administration officials were liberals and 5-year-old children.
In truth, the Taliban’s idea of “amnesty” is quite different from how you or I would define the term. A report from the Norwegian Center for Global Analyses — an organization that provides intelligence to the UN — paints a much more accurate picture of how the Taliban defines “amnesty.”
“There are a high number of individuals that are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear,” Christian Nellemann, who leads the Norwegian Center, told the BBC. “It is in writing that, unless they give themselves in, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of those individuals.” . . . .
Philadelphia Mayor Rejects Calls for National Guard Amid Surge in Murders
Philadelphia’s mayor will not try to bring in the National Guard to help deal with rising crime in the city.
“The National Guard is traditionally not an urban police department. We used the National Guard in the civil unrest period to secure areas that needed to be secured from looting and burning, and it freed up the police to do other things,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters during a press conference this week.
“But to send in the National Guard and a troop carrier into a neighborhood in Philadelphia, to me, is not respectful to that neighborhood, number one. Number two, they are not capable or trained to do urban policing, or do policing of any kind,” he added.
Kenney, a Democrat, would have to ask Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, another Democrat, to order the Guard to Philadelphia, unless Wolf made the order without Kenney’s support.
Wolf, who activated the Guard to help deal with potential unrest in April as jurors prepared to announce the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, could not be reached.
Murders have spiked in Philadelphia this year, part of a crime wave that stretches back in many major U.S. cities to early 2020.
The 340 homicides recorded through Aug. 18 is a jump of 20 percent from the same time period, according to city data. . . .
Miami, Tampa school boards impose mask mandates, in defiance of state law
The Florida board of education threatened this week to penalize local school board members and officials in Broward and Alachua counties following their decisions to require students to don face masks at school.
The threats, however, did not appear to deter the Miami-Dade schools district, or the Hillsborough County district, which includes Tampa and Palm Beach County, from mandating similar masking rules this week.
“Over the week, I’ve spoken with employees and their relatives, begging me to do the right thing,” said Miami-Dade public school Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Earlier this month, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered Florida school districts to give parents the power to opt out of masking requirements for their children. He is also making available private school voucher applications for parents whose children feel “bullied” or otherwise victimized by mask mandates.
The Hillsborough County Public School board had an emotional meeting Wednesday, during which it was decided, by a vote of 5-2, that mask opt-outs would be limited to students with medical exemptions.
The meeting featured masked parents, some of them evidently health care workers, arguing with unmasked parents, some of whom wore “Freedom Fighter” T-shirts.
The Miami-Dade and Hillsborough districts are both arguing that their mandates comply with state health regulations and DeSantis’s order. But the state board of education does not see it that way. . . .
Joe Biden Hopes You’ll Forget His Afghan Incompetence by August 31. No, Seriously. That’s Their Strategy.
Joe Biden, the most popular president in the history of history, is scheduled to give a “press” conference at 1:00 on Friday. Whether or not reporters are allowed to ask questions or whether Joe Biden will turn his back and walk away while people yell at him for a third time is anyone’s guess. To the untrained eye, it looks like gross incompetence at best. Or the fact that there is something seriously wrong with President Puddingbrain at worst. Turns out, it is actually brilliantly crafted strategy! According to Reuters, the White House plan is to keep avoiding the press and lying to the American people, figuring we’ll forget about it in a few weeks.
Yes. Joe Biden choking on an interview they set up with a patsy? Where he doesn’t know what day it is, snaps when asked about people falling off of airplanes, and LITERALLY knocks on wood that no one has been killed while he was speaking? Meh. The White House is hoping we all forget about it by August 31. We’ll take the “what if this was Donald Trump” as implied.
They expect the Afghanistan story to recede from the headlines, replaced by the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the economic recovery and other issues, people familiar with the matter said.
Got it. So, to distract from the war in Afghanistan, Biden is going to declare war against Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott. Hoping the American people will focus more on that and NOT Joe Biden’s incompetence.
Let’s take a look at what’s being reported this morning as news breaks that the White House is hoping you’ll forget.
A source tells me, “Situation [in Afghanistan] is rapidly deteriorating… We’ve had Americans get beaten throughout the night.” One of them, an American woman, was beaten “twice” even though she was carrying a U.S. passport.
Yesterday @PentagonPresSec said Americans are not being impeded as they travel to the Kabul airport, no Americans harmed. The Taliban agreed to let them evacuate. What I am hearing suggests otherwise. Americans have been injured and stopped from boarding planes.
Joe Biden and/or the people who control Joe Biden are hoping you’ll forget this in two weeks. It’s their strategy. That, and to try to hide Biden from the public as best they can until you do.
But, at least as of this writing, Biden is scheduled to give a “press” conference Friday afternoon. Three-to-one he doesn’t take questions. Two-to-one if he does, they find a hack to make sure the first question is about Ron DeSantis. It’s a push that if he does take questions, he winds up lashing out at a reporter. Most likely a female one. . . .
Dr. Malone, The Inventor Of The mRNA Technology, Explains Why The Covid ‘Vaccine’ Does Not Prevent The Spread Of The Virus | Video: 2 Minutes 14 Seconds
“What we’re told is we have to all get vaccinated to reach herd immunity. That’s the logic. The problem is that is a fallacy. . . What would herd immunity mean? It would mean that we have what is called sterilizing immunity, in some way. If we get infected, we don’t spread it to somebody else. That means we’re not producing virus and shedding virus. Just today the World Health Organization made an announcement, clear and unequivocal, you gotta start using masks because none of these ‘vaccines’ are preventing infection. They’re preventing disease. They’re not preventing transmission.” – Dr. Robert Malone, Inventor of mRNA Vaccine Technology