Author: J.P. Knowles

Over a dozen Republican lawmakers, including Texas Rep. Lance Gooden and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, announced legislation Tuesday that would block TSA from allowing migrants from using certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest warrants as alternate forms of identification at airports.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske disclosed to Gooden’s office that several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents, including an ICE Form I-200, a “Warrant for Arrest of Alien” and an ICE form I-205, a “Warrant of Removal/Deportation,” would be acceptable alternate forms of identification for illegal immigrants to present to airport security.

The ICE documents are considered administrative removal warrants signed by ICE officials who believe satisfactory evidence the person should be removed from the country. An ICE officer must make such an arrest in a public location.

“An illegal immigrant who commits a crime should be arrested and brought before a judge,” Gooden said in a statement Tuesday. “The Biden Administration is instead putting our national security and American families at risk by allowing them to fly on U.S. airlines.”

TSA says it vets the DHS documents through databases available to airport security, including the National Transportation Vetting Center (NTVC) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) One Mobile application, according to Pekoske’s earlier letter to Gooden.

From Jan. 1, 2021, to Oct. 31, 2021, the NTVC processed 45,577 non-citizens and non-U.S. nationals trying to use their DHS documents, 44,947 of which had their documents verified through the NTVC, according to the letter.

The letter also stated that TSA used CBP One 60,000 times during that same time period.

“Illegal immigrants should not be able to board flights using warrants for their arrest or deportation, and it is ridiculous that the Biden Administration is allowing this to happen,” Rubio said in the joint press release with Gooden. “Rep. Gooden and I are working on legislation that will put a stop to this insane practice and secure air travel in this country.”

Emails recently obtained by Judicial Watch show how U.S. officials reacted to reports that the Chinese government was requiring anal swab tests to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The emails and reports were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State.

“It took six months and a federal lawsuit to confirm that our embassy in Beijing was concerned about the Chinese government’s invasive anal swab and other COVID testing of our diplomatic personnel – at that as many as two people were asked to submit to a test,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

He added: “Our diplomatic personnel were harassed in a reprehensible way by the Chinese government, and the Biden administration seems to have done little in response – except to cover it up.”

A State Department spokesperson said that some U.S. personnel had been “subjected” to the anal swabs “in error.”

“The State Department never agreed to this method of testing and protested directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) when we learned that some U.S. Mission personnel were subjected to it,” the spokesperson said. “We have received assurances from the MFA that this testing was conducted in error and that diplomatic personnel are exempt from this requirement.”

On Jan. 25, an official at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing sent an email about COVID-19 testing procedures, noting that China was conducting tests of its citizens “that are not in line with our diplomatic rights or our general agreement with the host government.” The official went on to ask if anyone had been asked to submit to the anal swab test.

“There’s no good way to ask this, but has any health authority asked you or your spouse to conduct an anal swab test? The embassy obviously does not authorize or permit this type of testing on diplomats but others have been asked so I need to verify everyone’s experience,” the official wrote.

The official added: “Sorry for the strange questions, but I was directed by embassy management to survey our people and ensure we are not being asked to participate in the more invasive testing procedures.”

The U.S. government agreed to swabs of the nose and throat and nothing more, according to the email.

One response to the email read: “No, I have had no unusual requests. I received a nasal and throat swab when I arrived in Shanghai and just a throat swab before departing.”

In a separate email chain with the subject line “Test,” a sender wrote, “..…..please call me at your convenient time …….This is not good!”

Another recipient responded, “This is becoming so nondiplomatic status testing. Disgusting. I hope the GSO [general services officer] and VIP Beijing visits can do something about this. I am so disgusted right now.”

On Jan. 27, a sender wrote, “At this point, if they will insist the anal test, we would like to just go back to the States.”

One recipient said someone was being asked to do an anal swab test.

China denied requiring anal swab testing of U.S. diplomats following U.S. complaints.

An embassy official sent an email inquiring about reports that travelers flying into Shanghai were required to take certain tests, including an anal swab if over 5 people on their flight test positive for COVID-19. “I hadn’t heard this rule before,” the official wrote.

A recipient responded, “VIP – please check with FAO again on this. Seems to be a CDC rule and given our history with close contacts and following hotel separations, want to make sure the MFA/FAO understand this is not acceptable for our people regardless of the reason.”

The recipient responded that close contact required a hotel quarantine and an additional nose or throat swab.

The State Department replied, “Just checked with my contact from the PEK [Beijing International Capital Airport] customs. The airport only does nasal and throat swabs. However, according to Chinese social media, international travelers are required to get anal tests during centralized quarantine. It could happen on Day 3, Day 7, Day 14, or Day 21. Some people were tested once and some were twice.

While enjoying a round of golf, former President Donald Trump said he would the 47th president amid speculation he will launch a bid against President Joe Biden in 2024, according to a video posted Wednesday.

“First on the tee, 45th president of the United States,” a man says while filming Trump tee up a golf ball while playing a round at one of the former president’s golf courses.

“45th and 47th,” Trump immediately responded.

“47th, yes, I love that,” the cameraman said while others on the course applauded.

Trump has hinted several times at a possible run in 2024. During a May interview, Trump said he was “absolutely enthused” and looked “forward to doing an announcement at the right time.”

“It’s very early, but I think people are going to be very, very happy … when I make a certain announcement,” Trump said. “For campaign finance reasons, you really can’t do it too early because it becomes a whole different thing. Otherwise, I’d give you an answer that I think you’d be very happy with. So we are looking at this very, very seriously.”

Trump also insinuated that he would be running — and winning — after he said he would not be dining with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife the “next time I’m in the White House.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) said Monday that it had “substantial reason” to suggest that Republican Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn misused official resources and solicited and accepted inappropriate gifts from his subordinates.

Investigators said that Lamborn’s staff was expected to do personal errands for him and his family during work hours. His aides even said that they were required to help Lamborn’s son get a job in government.

Other staffers said they were frequently required to run errands and cater to Lamborn’s wife, Jeanie. “If mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy,” she said, according to anonymous staffers.

Following the detailed investigation, the OCE officially recommended that the House Ethics Committee look further into the allegations against Lamborn.

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” Reps. Ted Deutch of Florida and Jackie Walorski of Indiana, the chair and ranking member of the committee, said in a joint statement.

While the committee can report “substantial evidence of a violation of any law,” it’s primarily an advisory role. However, it can also move the case before the whole House, which could vote to impose a fine, censure, or more severe penalties.

The OCE report follows a federal lawsuit that Brandon Pope, a former Lamborn staffer, filed last spring. Pope alleged that Lamborn blatantly disregarded COVID-19 precautions and created a physically unsafe environment for his staff.

The suit also alleged that Lamborn allowed his son to live in the Capitol basement.

Cassandra Sebastian, Lamborn’s communications director, said that the investigation was “overzealous” and that his own office was “biased” against him.

“It is extremely disappointing that two disgruntled former staffers have weaponized the ethics process for political and personal purposes,” Sebastian said. “Congressman Lamborn intends to cooperate fully with the bipartisan House Committee on Ethics, just as he did with all reasonable requests of the OCE. He remains certain the committee will ultimately reach the appropriate decision by dismissing the OCE’s referral and he expects to be fully exonerated.”

Lamborn has been in office since 2007, representing Colorado’s 5th congressional district, and intends to run for reelection in November.

A new Trafalgar Group poll does not bode well for the reputation of President Joe Biden’s medical adviser and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s.

According to the poll released Thursday, a narrow majority of Americans, 53.7%, believe Fauci should not resign from his role leading America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, a majority of Independents along with a majority of Republicans agreed that he should resign.

A huge majority of Democrats, 82.5%, said Fauci should not resign his position to allow for new leadership. Among Independents, 58.9% said he should resign, with 76.6% of Republicans saying the same.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Convention of States Action, was conducted from Jan. 12 to Jan. 14 and reached 1,081 respondents. It had a margin of error of 2.98%. Trafalgar Group has an A- pollster grade from FiveThirtyEight.

Even as his favorability ratings have fallen since the beginning of the pandemic, Fauci has continued to act as the spokesperson for the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response during the past year.

Just a day before the Trafalgar poll was conducted, Fauci was raked over the coals by Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul concerning his attempts to suppress the lab-leak theory of the COVID-19 origin. At the same Senate hearing, he was caught on a hot mic calling Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall a “moron.”

Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriend and former playmate, Sondra Theodore of Playboy claimed that she once walked in on the founder of Playboy having a sexual encounter with her dog.

“I walked in on him with my dog and I said, ‘What are you doing?’” Theodore recounted in the upcoming A&E Documentary “Secrets of Playboy.”

“I was shocked,” she added. “He made it seem like it was just a one-time thing, and that he was just goofing off. But I never left him alone with my dog again.”

The former Playboy model also called Hefner a “predator” and said she was “groomed” by him beginning when she was 19 and he was 50. Theodore was in the house in the 70s.

“He was a predator,” the former playmate said. “I watched him, I watched his game. And I watched a lot of girls go through the Playboy Mansion gates looking farm-fresh, and leaving looking tired and haggard.”

“He groomed me and twisted my mind into thinking his way was normal,” she added. “He introduced me to drugs. I’d never had a drink or a drug before going up to the Playboy Mansion. And my first night there I was handed champagne and the drugs came later, and I was underage.”

Dozens of former Playmates were interviewed for the documentary, including former “Girls Next Door” star Holly Madison who was in the Playboy Mansion with Hefner as one of his lovers, from 2001-2008.

Former Playboy bunny mother PJ Masten also claimed that Hefner forced porn actress and “Deep Throat” star Linda Lovelace to perform “oral sex” on a German shepherd.

“All the guys were laughing when Linda got out of the limousine,” Masten shared. “She was drunk and drugged … They got her so messed up that they made her give the German shepherd oral sex. You wanna talk about depravity? This is despicable.”

Former Playmate Brande Roderick spoke out against claims against the mogul. She was in the magazine in the late 90s.

“Well, you’re talking to someone who was there in the ‘70s,” Roderick shared. “For me, it was not like that whatsoever. In fact, there was one night at one party where security came to Hef and said, ‘There’s somebody doing cocaine in the bathroom.’ A certain celebrity, which I won’t mention the name, of course.”

“He had them kicked out and never allowed at the mansion again,” she continued. “He was very much against drugs. Maybe in the ’70s they were having fun. What she’s explaining, it sounds like she’s talking about men that go to the parties. I didn’t hear her say Hef was doing those things.”

Hefner’s son, Cooper Hefner, also defended his father saying they were “salacious stories.”

“Some may not approve of the life my Dad chose, but my father was not a liar,” Cooper said. “However unconventional, he was sincere in his approach and lived honestly. He was generous in nature and cared deeply for people. These salacious stories are a case study of regret becoming revenge.”

Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for sanctions to be imposed on Russia as they continue to build a military presence along the Ukrainian border, Sec. of State Antony Blinken has resisted his request.

“When it comes to sanctions, the purpose of those sanctions is to deter Russian aggression. If they are triggered, now you lose the deterrent effect,” Blinken explained Sunday. Blinken reiterated that everything the U.S. is doing now, including working with Europe in a “united way” is intended to “deter and dissuade” Russia from taking aggressive action as the West continues to pursue diplomacy.

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst disagreed with Blinken’s stance on sanctions, saying, “When it comes to pushing back against Russia, we need to show strength and not be in a position of doctrine of appeasement, which seems to be how President Biden has worked his administration.”

“So, we do need to go ahead and impose sanctions on Russia now.” Ernst continued. “We need to show them that we mean business and we will be there for Ukraine should they invade. Once an invasion happens, lives are lost. You can’t go back from that. So those sanctions need to be put in place now,” she concluded.

Russia has an estimated 100,000 troops stationed along the eastern border of Ukraine following the country’s pursuit of membership in NATO, something Russian President Vladimir Putin has called “unacceptable.” Putin has also voiced concern over U.S. missile sites being placed close to Russia’s borders.

“We are doing a lot right now,” Blinken maintained. “Besides the United States taking the lead in bringing countries throughout Europe and even beyond together, in putting together massive consequences for Russia if it takes renewed aggressive action, in Ukraine, as I mentioned, we’re providing and last year alone provided more military assistance to Ukraine than at any year in the past. We have been going against those inside Ukraine trying to destabilize the government. So we’re taking concrete action,” he concluded.

A truck transporting 100 monkeys was involved in an accident with a dump truck Friday afternoon, allowing three monkeys to escape into Montour County, Pennsylvania.

The cynomolgus monkeys, worth $10,000 each, were being taken to a lab in Florida when the crash happened at about 3:20 p.m., 150 miles north of Philadelphia. No one was injured in the accident. Troopers and state wildlife officials responded as the search for the monkeys intensified into the evening hours and temperatures dropped below freezing.

As of Saturday morning, only one of the escaped monkeys was still unaccounted for. Pennsylvania State Troopers Andrea Pelachick and Lauren Lesher urged the public not to “attempt to look for or capture the animal,” and asked that anyone who locates the missing monkey “call 911 immediately.”

Cynomolgus monkeys are best known for being the first preclinical test animal for the development of the polio vaccine, according to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. Since the COVID outbreak, cynomolgus monkeys have been in high demand as scientists use them to test coronavirus vaccines before clinical trials begin on humans. The shortage of these monkeys has a growing number of American scientists calling on the government to ensure a constant supply of the animals.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is currently still searching for the remaining monkey.

A supposed pastor and his wife have been arrested after first responders discovered eight disabled adults were being held against their will, in the basement of the couples rental property in Griffin, Georgia.

Curtis Keith Bankston, 55, and his wife Sophia Simm-Bankston, 56, had been running a “group home” for 14 months out of their home under the guise of being a church called the One Step of Faith 2nd Chance.

The Griffin Fire Department responded to a Jan. 13 call about someone having a seizure at a church on the 100 block of Valley Road.

First responders were forced to enter through a window to reach the patient in the basement because all the doors had been dead-bolted shut.

Authorities discovered eight people between the ages of 25-65 in the basement. All eight have mental or physical disabilities, or both, according to authorities.

The financials, medications, and benefits of the victims were all handled by the Bankston’s and investigators determined that medication and care were sometimes withheld by the Bankstons.

The couple has been charged with multiple counts of false imprisonment with possible additional charges pending.

The eight individuals have been relocated by the Georgia DHS.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Democrats are shifting their focus towards passing a government funding bill and legislation aimed at increasing our competitiveness with China after their Build Back Better and voting bills failed to pass in the Senate.

Top appropriations members are meeting in hopes of passing a broader funding agreement before the Feb. 18 deadline. Legislators have already been forced to pass two continuing resolutions instead of a longer bill, essentially keeping the majority of the funding levels the same as they were during former President Donald Trump’s final year in office.

A China competitiveness bill passed through the Senate on a bipartisan basis in June 2021 but has since stalled in the House.

Pelosi also said in the Dear Colleague letter that the Foreign Affairs Committee was advancing a “robust” sanctions bill against Russian officials and financial institutions and at the same time reinforces Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against a potential invasion as well as a bipartisan bill to ensure veterans exposed to toxic substances in burn pits are granted adequate medical care.

The letter came two days after Senate Republicans filibustered Democrats’ signature voting bills once again, with the party-line vote following a marathon day that involved substantial debate. Following the vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer moved to change the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to pass the voting bills, but Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona joined Republicans in opposing the measure, ultimately killing the legislation.

“While the vote was not successful in the Senate, the visibility given to the debate under the leadership of Leader Chuck Schumer and the patriotic presentations by the Senate Democrats strengthens our hand as we go forward,” Pelosi said.

The letter also follows the failure of President Joe Biden’s domestic spending package, however, talks could resume in hopes of passing a fraction of it this year. The package stalled after Manchin said he could not support it given its size and current inflation levels, leading to several tense days of back-and-forth between him and the White House.