Category: Opinion

Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admitted during Congressional testimony Tuesday that he had spoken with various reporters concerning tell-all books about former President Trump’s administration.

Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked Milley if he had spoken to the authors of three different books, including the one co-authored by The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward. Milley confirmed that he had, adding that he was not sure that he had been accurately represented as he had not read the books.

“Gen. Milley, yes or no to this: Did you talk to Bob Woodward or Robert Costa for their book ‘Peril’?” Blackburn asked.

“Woodward yes, Costa no,” Milley answered.

Milley has been called to resign amid accusations of treason after an excerpt from the book “Peril” (co-written by Bob Woodward and Bob Costa) alleged that Milley had two phone conversations with his Chinese counterpart, one before and one after the election reassuring him that in spite of appearing to be unstable, the United States government was stable and would not be attacking the Chinese.

According to the book, Milley had access to intelligence indicating the Chinese believed former president Donald Trump might attack them before leaving office. Milley allegedly assured the Chinese official that he would give them an advanced warning in the event of a U.S. attack.

Blackburn then ask Milley if he had spoken to reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker for their book “I Alone Can Fix It,” or Michael Bender for his book “Frankly We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story Of How Trump Lost.”

Milley answered yes to both.

Milley testified Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee along with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie on the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and head of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, are scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday morning where they are expected to be thoroughly interrogated by lawmakers on both sides concerning the Biden administration’s mismanaged military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The hearing comes nearly a month after the Biden administration’s Aug. 31 withdrawal of all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan after having a military presence there for 20 years since following the horrific attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.

They are expected to be questioned on a number of actions leading up to the withdrawal, including their involvement in the plans for evacuating Americans and Afghan allies from the country as well as the Aug. 26 suicide bombing outside of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport that took the lives of 13 U.S. service members, injured 18 service members and killed more than 150 Afghans.

As the Biden administration began the withdrawal of military assets, the capital city of Kabul was taken over by the Taliban, and the country was under siege, by mid-August, the Taliban controlled two-thirds of Afghanistan contradicting U.S. intelligence speculation that the country might fall under Taliban control in 90 days, The country had fallen under Taliban control by the time the U.S. withdrawal was completed on Aug.31.

Austin, Milley, and McKenzie will most likely be questioned about the disastrous U.S. drone strike on Aug.29 which was meant to target members of ISIS-K but instead resulted in the deaths of an aid worker and his family, seven of which were children. U.S. officials initially reported the strike had successfully targeted ISIS-k but later admitted the mistake.

Since the withdrawal, Austin and other top military officials have conceded that without troops on the ground in Afghanistan it will “no question” be “more difficult” to identify and counter-terror threats from Afghanistan.

Austin said officials are “committed to making sure that threats are not allowed to develop … that could create significant challenges for us in the homeland.”

Col. Dave Butler, Milley’s spokesperson, defended Milley saying that the calls are “vital” for “reducing tensions” and “avoiding unintended consequences or conflict,” insisting the calls had been coordinated with high-level defense officials.

Butler added: “General Milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the Constitution.”

Milley has been called by some to resign however, President Biden said that he has full confidence in Milley.

Earlier this week, country music singer John Rich and Fox Business were excited to announce the launch of a new show, “The Pursuit! with John Rich,” as part of the channel’s new “FBN Prime” programming.

Rich explained that the show’s goal is to inspire and unite Americans behind the rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence, particularly the freedom to pursue happiness.

“I interview people of a wide-ranging background. I mean, it’s all different kinds of people, different perspectives, different opinions. A lot of the people are very opposite of me and what they think about things, but the thing we have in common is work ethic, entrepreneurial attitude, and a real respect and love for the right to pursue happiness,” Rich told Fox News.

“We’re the only country in the world that’s ever given its citizens the right to pursue happiness, not the right to be happy, but the right to pursue it,” he continued. “I ask every guest on the show, ‘How has the right to pursue happiness changed your life?’ That’s the final question. And everybody has their version.”

Fox Nation, the company’s internet streaming service, was the first to broadcast the show. On Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST, Fox Business will broadcast all-new episodes of the show. Visitors to the show have included former NASCAR driver Richard Petty, radio personality Dave Ramsey, and country music legend Charlie Daniels, who died on July 6, 2020, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

“I really think the viewers are going to be inspired by what they hear, because everybody out there in this country, they all have some grand idea in their mind of a thing they would like to accomplish, something they’d like to see themselves do some day or have some day,” Rich said.

“They don’t necessarily know how to get there and it’s tough. It’s tough on everybody. Anybody that tries to chase down something big, it’s going to be a tough road,” Rich continued. “But when they see these stories and hear these experiences that the people I’m interviewing lay out on television, I hope it inspires them to get up the next morning and go after whatever their American dream is.”

Rich, an outspoken conservative, has publicly criticized the decline in conservative values in country music.

“There are many conservative country music singers that just won’t say anything to push back against the ideologies that aim to erase what they care about. Why? You know why. I hope soon we see them start to speak up. The country music industry is out of touch with the audience,” Rich tweeted on June 10.

On May 21, Rich targeted the “soy and wokeness” that has infected the United States. “If the Greatest Generation would’ve had the same attitude as today’s ‘leaders’ we’d all be speaking German or living under the flag of Japan. Patton/MacArthur weren’t fueled by soy and wokeness. It was fierce patriotism and the willingness to die for America that saved the world,” he tweeted.

Four Dunmore, PA. teenagers have been charged with planning to attack a Pennsylvania high school in 2024, on the 25th anniversary of the massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School, according to authorities.

According to investigators, a 15-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy have been charged as adults and two teenagers have been charged as juveniles, in the plan to attack Dunmore High School, on April 20, 2024. Investigators said one girl’s mother told police that her daughter was “obsessed with Columbine,”

“While the investigation is ongoing, I want to assure the parents, students and staff at Dunmore High School that we do not believe there is any active threat at this time,” District Attorney Mark Powell said in a statement. “We are relieved that this plot was uncovered before anyone was hurt and urge anyone who has information about potential threats of school violence to contact police immediately.”

According to a criminal complaint, a molotov cocktail, components for bombs, instructions on how to make bombs, and handwritten lists of guns and the prices for ammunition and tactical gear were found at the girl’s home.

The Times-Tribune reported that the girl’s mother and defense attorney Corey Eagen declined to comment, the other teen charged as an adult did not have a lawyer during Friday’s arraignment. Powell made no comment on the juvenile charges.

The mother of one of the teens charged as a juvenile found text messages on her child’s cell phone July 6 of a group conversation discussing plans to “shoot up the school,” investigators said in the complaint. The teen told investigators that he thought it was just a joke until he saw 20 to 30 Molotov cocktails under the girl’s porch.

Dunmore schools Superintendent John Marichak said that he was stunned by the plot but was satisfied with the arrests. A statement on the district’s website said authorities told officials that there was “no current danger to students or staff.”

Principal Timothy Hopkins, one of the officials the teens had targeted, said he knows the two teens charged as adults and described them as quiet children who weren’t troublemakers, adding that he had no idea why they would target him, other than his position as principal.

“It’s a little bit disturbing to find out something like that was being plotted,” he said.

The two teens that were charged as adults were taken to the Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center following their Sept. 16 arraignment for charges of weapons of mass destruction, terroristic threat, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and possession of explosive material. The girl faced an additional charge of risking catastrophe due to the threat the explosive devices posed to family members and neighbors.

Preliminary hearings are set for Oct. 4

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has asked President Joe Biden to issue an emergency declaration for his state due to the escalating border crisis.

In a letter to the president, Abbott mentioned Val Verde County in particular where Haitian migrants have set up an encampment in Del Rio under the International Bridge. The governor said that as of Saturday there were nearly 16,000 migrants in Del Rio.

“Families, including infants and children, need food, water and medical supplies that the local government cannot supply,” Abbott wrote. “Thousands of families are immobilized in 100-degree heat as their numbers continue to swell as they wait to be processed by the approximately 64 federal agents in the area. Individuals are camping in squalid conditions and bathing in muddy river water, causing great health concerns.”

Abbott pointed out that Del Rio’s population is only 35,000 people, and that this city is not equipped to handle very many migrants.

In addition, Abbott said, the coronavirus pandemic dangerously complicates the situation, as he “has been provided no clear information about whether these individuals have received a COVID-19 vaccination or have been tested for the virus, or if they are exposing Texans and Americans to COVID.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was on the ground in Texas Monday to address the situation in Del Rio and the Department of Homeland Security is taking various steps, including ramping up efforts to return migrants to Haiti and other countries.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio said on Monday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and that he believed that his symptoms would probably have been much worse if he had not been vaccinated.

“While I’m currently experiencing mild symptoms, I’m grateful to have the protection of a safe and effective vaccine – and I know without it, this illness could be much, much worse,” said Ryan, who is currently running for Senate in Ohio.

Ryan, 48, said that he has self-quarantined and will cast his congressional votes from home. According to his office, he tested negative for the virus three times in less than two weeks before receiving a positive result.

Ten other fully vaccinated members of Congress have tested positive for COVID-19: Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Troy Nehls of Texas, Democratic Reps.Sharice Davids of Kansas, Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and Darren Soto of Florida, as well as Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.

Masks are required on the House of Representatives side of the Capitol complex, with a $500 penalty for those who break the rule on the House floor. Most legislators have complied with the safety guideline, however, seven House Republicans have been fined for refusing to wear masks. Many House Republicans, as well as their staff, have reportedly ignored the mask mandate in other parts of the building. The Senate does not have a mask mandate at this time.

After Republicans on Capitol Hill killed Democratic police reform bill Wednesday, President Joe Biden vowed to take executive action to enact police reform “in the coming weeks.”

Biden released a statement Wednesday admitting that there is no longer a way ahead for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that Sen. Cory Booker and Democratic California Rep. Karen Bass introduced earlier this year which passed through the House but failed to gain enough Republican support in the Senate.

“The murder of George Floyd This a stain on the soul of America. It spurred the nation to collectively demand justice, and we will be remembered for how we responded to the call,” Biden’s Wednesday statement began. “Regrettably, Senate Republicans rejected enacting modest reforms, which even the previous president had supported, while refusing to take action on key issues that many in law enforcement were willing to address.”

Biden said that he is still hoping to sign police reform legislation, but said the moment “demands action.”

“The White House will continue to consult with the civil rights and law enforcement communities, as well as victims’ families to define a path forward, including through potential further executive actions I can take to advance our efforts to live up to the American ideal of equal justice under law,” he said.

At the beginning of his push for police reform in April, Biden hosted the families of George Floyd and Eric Garner at the White House.

Even as Biden has called for reforms, he has criticized the radical wing of his party that called for the defunding of police in the wake of Floyd’s death last year. Leaked audio of a phone call between Biden and reform activists in December revealed him blaming Democratic losses in Congress in part due to the anti-police rhetoric.

That’s how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we’re talking about defunding the police. We’re not. We’re talking about holding them accountable,” Biden said, according to the audio.

Democratic Missouri Rep Cori Bush stated on the steps of the Capitol back in August that “defunding the police has to happen” and that she would pay for private security.

During Monday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested that migrants who illegally enter the United States do not need to present proof of vaccination at the border in the same way that foreign nationals reportedly do when they fly into the country because they are “not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time.”

Watch how Psaki responded to Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy in the clip below.

Biden W.H.: Unlike Europeans, illegal immigrants don’t need to prove vaccination status because they “are not intending to stay here” pic.twitter.com/sgJYVYo54d

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 20, 2021

Doocy later asked Psaki, “Where’s the vice president on any of this, isn’t she supposed to be addressing the root causes of migration?”

“Absolutely, and she has been addressing the root causes of migration by working with countries in the region to ensure they have the assistance they need to reduce the number of people who are coming and trying to make those journeys across the border,” Psaki responded. “We’ve actually seen some reductions in some of those numbers. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a very challenging situation in Del Rio, we’re working to implement our policies and we’re working to ensure we are also addressing root causes.”

https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1440010828967784452

On Saturday, the ‘Justice for J6’ march in Washington, D.C., came to a calm conclusion after the Capitol Police increased security in preparation for the event.

The gathering, which was held near the Capitol to protest the imprisonment of prisoners jailed for their role in the Capitol incident, drew barely 100 to 200 people, according to reports. Organizers had anticipated approximately 700 participants, which is still a long cry from the tens of thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol building in January.

https://twitter.com/RichieMcGinniss/status/1439261398211743744

https://twitter.com/DelWilber/status/1439251343932280842

An estimated 3,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on January 6 just as a joint session of Congress was convening to certify the results of the presidential election. The incident shocked the entire nation.

After the Capitol riot, the Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement agencies were criticized for being unprepared for the size of the protest and for being slow to respond, allowing the situation to spiral out of control. The Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement agencies have since apologized. They appeared to be attempting to rectify the situation this weekend.

The temporary fencing around the Capitol that had been built during the riot was reinstated in preparation for Saturday’s demonstration. Around the Capitol, close to the demonstration site, security cameras were mounted, according to reports from the Department of Defense, which had been handed to the Capitol Police. Prior to the event, other congressional offices were also closed for the day.

The protest was organized by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign staffer who delivered a statement and called for a round of applause for law enforcement officers.

https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1439253127107129352

At least 610 people are facing federal charges as a result of their alleged participation in the Capitol riots. Many of the cases follow a formulaic pattern, involving some mix of trespassing and disorderly conduct charges, as well as charges of “Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building,” among other things. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. has enlisted the assistance of prosecutors from across the country to trial crimes involving the Capitol riots in 2011.

In the months before the pandemic, scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including British zoologist Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance, planned to release “enhanced airborne coronaviruses into Chinese bat populations” in order to immunize them against the virus. Also seeking money from the United States are scientists working to “create chimeric viruses,” which are viruses that have been “genetically enhanced to infect humans more easily.”

In a report published by The Telegraph, it was alleged that the plans from the Chinese scientists were reported in grant proposals dating back to 2018, which a former United States official confirmed to be true.

“New documents show that just 18 months before the first Covid-19 cases appeared, researchers had submitted plans to release skin-penetrating nanoparticles containing ‘novel chimeric spike proteins’ of bat coronaviruses into cave bats in Yunnan, China,” The Telegraph reported. “Papers, confirmed as genuine by a former member of the Trump administration, show they were hoping to introduce ‘human-specific cleavage sites’ to bat coronaviruses which would make it easier for the virus to enter human cells.”

Daszak was alleged to have filed the offer and requested $14 million for the research from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the United States.

In a statement, DARPA said, “It is clear that the proposed project led by Peter Daszak could have put local communities at risk.” DARPA declined to validate the research.

According to the findings, Daszak’s team had failed to evaluate how dangerous the job was — and in particular, they had failed to consider the possible danger of distributing a vaccination via the air.

Daszak was behind a letter published in The Lancet that lead to putting an end to the rumors that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory. It should be noted that the Wuhan Institute of Virology is affiliated with nearly all of the scientists who signed the Lancet letter (WIV).

“There is clearly a gain in function,” stated Angus Dalgleish, Professor of Oncology at St George’s University of London, who added that the effort involved “engineering the cleavage site and polishing the new viruses to enhance human cell infectibility in more than one cell line.”

“For more than a year I tried repeatedly to ask questions of Peter Daszak with no response,” Viscount Ridley, a member of the House of Lords said. “Now it turns out he had authored this vital piece of information about virus work in Wuhan but refused to share it with the world. I am furious. So should the world be. Peter Daszak and the EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) proposed injecting deadly chimeric bat coronaviruses collected by the Wuhan Institute of Virology into humanized and ‘batified’ mice, and much, much more.”

According to a COVID-19 researcher from the World Health Organization, “the scary part” about what the scientists were trying to achieve was that they were “making infectious chimeric MERS viruses,” according to The Telegraph.

“These viruses have a fatality rate over 30 percent, which is at least an order of magnitude more deadly than Sars-CoV-2,” the scientist, who wished to stay anonymous, told The Telegraph. “If one of their receptor replacements made MERS spread similarly while maintaining its lethality, this pandemic would be nearly apocalyptic.”