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DAILY FOLIOS AND CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES
Now the Real Work — the Hard Work —
Begins for the GOP House
There was a significant Republican House victory but not a “red wave.”
BY DOV FISCHER
OK. Yippee! The Democrats have been kicked out of their House majority, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can tend to Paul full time. We must condemn the assault and battery on him that was vicious and evil, and Nancy should be with him. If the definition of a “conservative” is “a liberal who has been mugged,” then perhaps, as with so many others of their ilk and bent, the Pelosis now will appreciate the GOP message on crime, on leniency to violent recidivist criminals, on defunding the police, on the right to bear arms, and on no-bail policies. Again, the attack on Paul was appalling, nothing to joke about. And he needs Nancy there — not only to help nurse him back to full health but also to keep an eye on him when he goes out for a night of social drinking or just to drive the ol’ electric car.
When Nancy leaves the speakership, she should not forget to return the gavel. As a reciprocal parting gift, GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy should give her a box of reams of 24-pound letter-size paper to practice tearing. Or maybe make that lighter-weight 20-pound paper. She may rip, but she ain’t ripped.
Enough about Pelosi. She now is history — aged but not “for the Ages.” If they build a monument to her in San Francisco, or name a transgender clinic for her there, eventually her ideological progeny will tear it down anyway.
For Republicans, the results may not have been the landslide for which they had hoped, but that was greatly because the GOP already had defied historic odds two years earlier by doing so well in 2020. Simply put, there were fewer purple House seats to flip in the 2022 midterms. But how can it be a Republican disappointment when Nancy Pelosi no longer will be able to launch annual impeachments and Jan. 6 investigations against Donald Trump, when Jerrold Nadler no longer will chair the House Committee on the Judiciary, when Adam Schiff no longer will chair the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, when Maxine no longer will chair the House Financial Services Committee, and when the Squad of Ocasio, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and cohort no longer will matter?
Thus, there was a significant Republican House victory but not a “red wave.” And now there is real work — hard work — to be done. Otherwise, all will be lost as has happened in the past.
If the Republicans waste the next two years trying — as they have done before — to build bridges to nowhere in Alaska, (i) failing to curtail budget waste; (ii) failing to reopen American energy resources ranging from hydrofracturing to oil-and-gas exploration to pipeline expansions like Keystone XL to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; (iii) failing to set priorities in education away from teaching transgenderism and 1619 Fake History and shifting pedagogical focus to inculcating reading, writing, mathematics, information technology and computer programming skills, real American history, and true science; (iv) failing to secure our southern border; (v) failing to end racial preferences in hiring and in funding social programs; (vi) failing to end social engineering; (vii) failing to curtail the irresponsible inflationary policies of printing paper money to create the illusion of more money for everyone; and (viii) failing to impeach and convict Alejandro Mayorkas…
Well, if the GOP House fails in launching this agenda and more, it will forfeit its right to take it all in 2024.
This will not be the time to impeach Joe Biden or Giggling Kamala. Republicans need them; they are critical elements in the GOP effort to retake the White House in two years. Leave Biden as the standard-bearer. Keep Klown Kamala the Konvenient Kameleon around for the laughs. People who truly, honestly are American patriots dare not evict Biden if that will mean leaving this great country in the hands of an utter incompetent, whose public persona evokes images of a mix between Hodor and Joaquin Phoenix’s The Joker. Yes, investigate Hunter Biden throughout the next two years, and let the public learn how all the corruption, from Ukraine Burisma money to China money, leads directly to Joe, but leave Joe in the White House. He not only is the Democrats’ symbol of Political Correctness but also will become the Republicans’ standard-bearer, too, the symbol of Political Corruptness.
The one to impeach — and then to convict — is Alejandro Mayorkas, the brazen liar who, at best, has failed miserably in protecting our southern border in his role as secretary of Homeland Security — and, at worst, has not “failed” but in truth deliberately and calculatedly has engineered and acquiesced to the chaos and anarchy there in order to import millions of illegal immigrants so as to change the demographics of the electorate, as has happened in California and, a bit less so, in Nevada and Arizona.
It now will be a time not for basking on laurels but for tasking very hardy work. Republicans must begin sending one bill after another to Joe Biden’s desk. Yes, he will veto them, and Republicans will not have the votes to override. Or Republicans in the Senate may get shot down by Senate Democrats wielding filibuster rules that they come to celebrate. That all is fine. That is perfect. Put Joe Manchin and his cohort on record. It will demonstrate daily to Americans in the clearest of terms where the parties stand and how they differ on the issues of the day:
• The sharp divide between those who want fentanyl smuggling contained and illegal immigration in the millions brought under the control of law versus those who want massive chaos and lawbreaking at the southern border;
• The sharp divide between those who want kids taught necessary core educational subjects versus those who want impressionable children confused continually by their classroom teachers into believing they repose in the wrong bodies and need to have their gender-distinguishing organs mutilated without their parents finding out;
• The sharp divide between those who want American fossil fuels unshackled again and America to return to her role as a net exporter of clean energy versus those who prefer that we and the rest of the world rely on Arab Muslim sheikhdoms and Russia and Iran for their dirty oil and cartel-inflated prices while simultaneously depleting our country’s emergency Strategic Petroleum Preserve to offset minimally the disastrous effects of the Left’s “green energy” extremes;
• The sharp divide between those who want to fund law enforcement generously and to crack down severely on criminals and lawlessness versus those who want to defund the police, end bail, and promote Black Lives Matter and Antifa street riots and inner-city insurrection;
• The sharp divide between those who want every American to be appreciated by dint of his character, knowledge, and skills versus those who aim to divide us by race and gender, yet who alternatively deny that women can be defined as women;
• The sharp divide between those who want the Supreme Court to remain at nine justices, the United States Senate to remain at 50 states, the Electoral College to remain as conceived by the Constitution, and — for that matter — those who want to protect the Constitution itself and its Bill of Rights versus those who would stack the court with 15 justices, would stack the Senate with Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as two pseudo-states, and would suspend significant components of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights;
• The sharp divide between those who want to preserve the nondenominational but deeply intense religious character and traditions of an America whose currency declares “In G-d We Trust” and whose legislature begins daily with a prayer versus those who would change our national identity toward a G-dless atheism that loses all moral compass in a mad dash toward an immorality that extols “anything goes.”
By putting bill after bill on Biden’s desk regardless of whether he vetoes, or at least forcing Senate votes regardless of filibuster rules that can quash GOP legislative initiatives, Republicans not only will honor their promises to the public and advance their sworn agenda but also will earn the right to govern in 2024 and beyond. Otherwise — read my lips — they will experience the same decline and rejection that happened to them when they departed from the successful decade of Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” and chose slowly to decline into RINO mush.
P.S. And thank you, Libertarian Party of Georgia, for once again denying the Republican conservative the 50.01 percent majority that could have secured a win for smaller government and less government interference in our lives, instead forcing a runoff to save the Democrat “progressives’” plans.
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HASTE MAKES WASTE.
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Europe Proves a Rush to Green Energy Demands Too High a Price | Opinion
BY TONY COELHO AND MARTIN FROST , FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
After years of being beholden to foreign production, American ingenuity and new technological advancements accelerated the American energy renaissance. This seminal moment catapulted America into a position of dominance—with positive ripple effects reverberating both domestically and abroad.
World affairs, namely an illegal Russian invasion into Ukraine, compounded by limited domestic natural gas resources, have upended the entire European continent's energy security, markets, and balance of power.
It's a cautionary tale for America and other nations. It has forced many to take a hard look at the energy policies they have in place to ensure their citizens have access to affordable, reliable energy—while simultaneously protecting them from unstable and/or hostile regimes like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
For many years, Germany strove to set an example on responsible energy transition. Had Russia not intervened, Germany had planned to shut down coal-fired power plants by the end of the year and transition from Russian gas to renewables. Given the current state of affairs, Germany is now forced to reverse course and return to coal, as Russia has cut off the country's gas supplies. In fact, Germany's energy crisis has gotten so dire that officials are telling citizens to prepare for blackouts and to "wear two sweaters" to withstand the winter.
Germany is not alone in this plight. The United Kingdom is headed toward an unprecedented crisis, with energy bills expected to increase 80 percent this winter due to the lack of natural gas. The country had banned fracking in 2019 and had been relying on imports of natural gas from Russia. Now it is reversing policy to increase domestic supply and further the country's energy security.
Countries without oil or natural gas reserves, such as those in Eastern Europe, have been focused on building their import infrastructure to receive more American liquid natural gas, even paying a premium to wean themselves off Russian gas.
The question European countries are grappling with is whether they can survive without Russian gas? And more so, can they hold Russia accountable for its war crimes while being dependent on its gas reserves?
While we encourage the exploration of alternative solutions, all these factors call into question the zeal to transition to renewable energy in a rushed, harried fashion. They demonstrate that such decisions could have lasting foreign policy impacts both domestically and abroad.
READ MORE
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US Funds Arabs Who Want to Destroy Israel
by Bassam Tawil, GATEWAY
What is disturbing is that a large portion of this incitement is coming from Arabs whose governments signed peace treaties or other agreements with Israel: Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians.
What is even more disturbing is that the hate against Israel is coming from Arabs who continue to benefit from unconditional US financial aid.
The Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, continues to spearhead the Arab campaign of incitement and delegitimization against Israel. In addition to the incendiary rhetoric, the Palestinian Authority does not hide its vehement opposition to any kind of peace with Israel.
In its latest tirade against Israel, Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction claimed that the Israeli counter-terrorism measures, designed to save the lives of Jews and Arabs alike, are acts of “terrorism and war crimes.” According to the logic of the Palestinian Authority, a terror attack against Israel is legitimate and the perpetrator is a hero and martyr, but an Israeli action to stop terrorism is illegitimate.
This is the same Palestinian Authority that maintains good relations with the Biden administration, which recently decided to upgrade US relations with Abbas and his associates….
[T]he allegation that Israel is committing “war crimes” can be seen as a direct call to Palestinians to engage in violence against Israelis. The “war crimes” libel is also intended for Western audiences as part of the campaign to delegitimize Israel and pave the way for prosecuting its leaders before international courts.
It is worth noting that since April 2021, the US has provided more than half a billion dollars in assistance for the Palestinians.
If the US thinks that showering money and concessions on the Palestinian leaders will lessen the tension, you heard it here first: this approach definitely will not work. All that will happen is that the hostilities will increase so that the bribes will increase. Giving hard, concrete gifts in exchange for soft promises is inevitably doomed from the start.
The reason for referring Zaidan to be investigated was because had announced that he was willing to lecture at an Israeli university. He is also suspected of having expressed support for establishing relations between Egyptian and Israeli intellectuals.
Egypt has enjoyed the benefit of more than $51 billion in US taxpayer-funded military aid since the signing of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty in 1979.
Again, it is worth noting that this incitement against Israel is being spread despite the ongoing massive US financial aid to Jordan.
One way to counter this campaign of hate and to encourage peace is for the US to make its aid conditional on ending (or at least reducing) the rhetoric of hate. So far, however, it is clear that the US has no intention of demanding anything in return for its money.
For the time being, then, many Arabs will continue to receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the US while continuing actively to seek the destruction of Israel and being financially rewarded for it.
Some Israeli journalists who travelled to Qatar to report on the soccer World Cup were harassed and verbally abused by Arabs from several countries. What is disturbing is that a large portion of this incitement is coming from Arabs whose governments signed peace treaties or other agreements with Israel: Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians — and who continue to benefit from unconditional US financial aid.
Some Israeli journalists who travelled to Qatar to report on the soccer World Cup were harassed and verbally abused by Arabs from several countries. The journalists were told that Israel has no right to exist and that most Arabs are opposed to any form of normalization with Israelis.
The hostile reception that the Israeli Jewish journalists received in Qatar — a wealthy emirate that has for many years embraced radical Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood organization — did not surprise those who are familiar with the ongoing massive incitement against Israel in some of the Arab countries.
What is disturbing is that a large portion of this incitement is coming from Arabs whose governments signed peace treaties or other agreements with Israel: Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians. The two Arab countries have peace treaties with Israel, while the Palestinian Authority signed in 1993 the Oslo Accord with Israel.
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This from a friend and fellow memo reader: The Twitter revelations clarify how the 'Democrat Communist Party' is operating in conjunction with the corrupt Biden administration, the U.S. government 'deep state' and the corrupt press!! So when will Liberals wake up .... ever?? J.
And my response : The Democrat Party suffers from narcolepsy!
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An 8-year-old girl went to her grandfather, who was working in the yard, and asked him, "Grampa, what is couple sex?"
The grandfather was surprised that she would ask such a question but decided that if
she was old enough to know to ask the question, then she was old enough to get a straight answer.
Steeling himself to leave nothing out he proceeded to tell her all about human reproduction and the joys and responsibilities of intercourse.
When he finished explaining, the little girl was looking at him with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide in amazement.
Seeing the look on her face, the grandfather asked her, "Why did you ask this question, honey?"
The little girl replied, "Grandma says that dinner will be ready in just a couple secs ...
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The Biden administration withholds documents Congress deserves to receive.
No one really knows who is running the Biden Administration. It should be evident to anyone with 20-20 vision Biden is not in charge. I have been of the view Obama holdovers are more in control of what Biden does than even his wife and immediate staff but what do I know.
I do feel the American people have lost faith in their government and yet, do not know what they can do about it. The GOP lost a "lay up" opportunity to be bold but they stopped short of offering a menu of solutions and thus the potential red tide never came ashore in force.
As Musk pulls the blanket off Twitter it is evident a vast conspiracy occurred encompassing the mass media, the private social media billionaires and select agencies, including the IRS, DNC, FBI and Justice Department who engaged in nefarious activities to prevent a democratic election to take place. Another reason why Americans have become his heartened and frustrated.
There is something very rotten happening and the stench will only spread assuming the truth is allowed to be uncovered.
In all my years I have lived through Watergate, The McCarthy Investigations, The Lamar Caudle corruption during the Truman Years, the Rosenberg Trials and a drunken powerful Senator bathing in a fountain with a bimbo among other episodes like a stained blue dress etc. But, I have never witnessed a demented president and a corrupt family selling America for personal gain and then proceeding to stonewall those seeking the truth.
The current administration is due for a complete fumigation and the current Democrat Party must be dissembled before faith in government can be restored. The only blessing is the fact that the current Atty General was blocked from becoming a Justice.
And:
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Reversal of Long-Standing Policy Keeps Key Documents on Hunter Biden’s Business From Congress
By Mark Tapscott
Congressional investigators are being denied access to 148 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed with the Department of the Treasury by banks concerning the financial dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and brother, Jim, according to expected incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“Most Americans have never heard the term ‘Suspicious Activity Reports.’ These are actual reports that financial institutions file with the Treasury Department when they see suspicious activity,” Jordan told Epoch TV’s Joshua Phillip in an interview on “Newsmakers.”
“Typically, it’s money laundering type of activity, so most Americans don’t get these. Or if they do, there is a good reason for it. But there are 150 of them on Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, the president’s brother, and that to me is a big concern.”
Only two of the 150 have been made public, and the Biden administration through the Department of the Treasury is refusing to make the other 148 SARs available to congressional investigators, according to Jordan.
“It used to be before the Biden administration, if the committee wanted to see that information, whether it was Democrats on the committee or Republicans on the committee, they could have access to it … until the Biden administration,” he said.
“So the Biden administration hasn’t complied with any of the correspondence, any of the letters and requests that came from [expected incoming House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.)]. They have changed the policy on SARs for the ability of committees to review that information.
“So we’ll see if we get access. Maybe we’re going to have to go to the banks to get that information and not through the Treasury Department.”
A Treasury Department spokesman didn’t respond by press time to The Epoch Times’ request for an explanation of the Biden administration’s 2021 decision to end a long-standing process whereby SARs and other reports are provided under the Bank Secrecy Act whenever requested by a congressional committee with appropriate jurisdiction.
Following the administration’s decision, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) introduced and the House subsequently approved H.R. 7734, the “Timely Delivery of Bank Secrecy Act Reports Act.” The Waters bill was approved by the House on July 26 on a 349–70 vote, with majorities of both parties supporting the measure.
The Waters measure would require the Treasury Department to provide copies of SARs to requesting congressional officials within 30 days and requires financial institutions to turn over requested copies upon receipt of a congressional subpoena.
The Waters legislation was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), but no action has been taken on it since being referred to the Ohio Democrat’s panel.
Biden administration officials have offered several cumbersome alternative processes that would only allow congressional aides to go to reading rooms at the Treasury Department to view SARs, but they wouldn’t be allowed to make copies of the documents.
The bill report on the Waters measure explained why House officials rejected the Biden administration’s suggested alternatives:
“Unfortunately, Treasury and [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)] have recently severely restricted congressional access to Suspicious Activity Reports by requiring congressional staff to review all material in a reading room at Treasury, prohibiting the copying of materials for purposes of highlighting, ongoing reference, or margin notation, and restricting information collection to note taking.
“As an alternative, Treasury and FinCEN have offered to bring the material to the requesting committee and then take the material back to Treasury when the review is completed.
“The restrictions that they have imposed upon congressional access to SARs and related materials are unworkable given the complexity and amount of information contained in such materials, and severely impairs Congress’ responsibility to carry on its oversight work in a timely and effective fashion.”
Despite the overwhelming House vote for the Waters measure that would have effectively restored congressional access on a par with what it was prior to Biden taking office, the Treasury Department continues to withhold access to SARs, except as decided on a case-by-case basis.
In a Sept. 2 letter, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jonathan Davidson told Comer, “We believe that producing BSA information in this manner is a reasonable and responsive approach that also fulfills the department’s obligation to protect the confidential nature of the material.
“In this way, the Department preserves the integrity of law enforcement investigations, protects privacy, and helps ensure that the BSA remains highly effective in addressing illicit financial activity.”
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Biden's Education Department to 'immediately and permanently' disband national 'Parents Council' following parental rights groups' lawsuit
By CANDACE HATHAWAY
According to court documents filed Monday, the United States Department of Education agreed to disband its new National Parents and Families Engagement Council following a lawsuit filed against the council by multiple parental rights groups, Fox News Digital reported.
The Education Department launched the controversial council in June 2022 to provide "a channel for parents and families to constructively participate in their children's education," according to a now-deleted page from the department's website.
The council's goal was to hold meetings to discuss "the different ways schools are providing academic, mental health and social and emotional support, and how families can best constructively engage with schools."
Organizations on the council included Al Sharpton's National Action Network and Black Lives Matter supports such as Mocha Moms Inc., United Parent Leaders Action Network, and UnidosUS.
Parental rights groups, including Fight for School, Parents Defending Education, and America First Legal, filed a joint lawsuit against the Education Department in July and accused the council of being politically biased and violating several provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Don't miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now.
The groups alleged that the council members disproportionately supported the Biden administration and that nearly 80% of their leaders donated to Democrats.
"To have a fair balance of viewpoints and competent deliberation on students' needs, there must be fairly equal representation from both sides of the political spectrum," the lawsuit read. "That is not the case here, as the Council consists of groups that are already supportive of this administration."
Court documents filed Monday revealed that the Education Department agreed to "immediately and permanently" dissolve the council, and consequently, the parental rights groups agreed to dismiss their lawsuit without prejudice.
Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily told Fox News Digital that she was pleased with the decision.
"We are gratified that Secretary Cardona's Potemkin village 'Parents Council' will be disbanded, because families should never be used merely as props to advance progressive policies," Neily stated. "Parental engagement is essential for students to succeed; accordingly, it is critical that ALL voices and perspectives be integrated into any feedback mechanism that the Biden Administration operates — and that the Department of Education respect the rule of law."
Following the agreement, the Education Department released a statement addressing the council's termination.
"On June 14, the Department announced the creation of the National Parents and Families Engagement Council," the Education Department stated. "Several organizations subsequently sued, alleging that the Department violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) when it established the Council. The Department disagrees but has decided to not move forward with the National Parents and Families Engagement Council. The Department will continue connecting with individual parents and families across the country, including through townhalls, and providing parents and families with a wide array of tools and resources to use to support our students."
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From his own mouth:
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What Joe Biden Said About the Family Business in 2020
Media outlets aren’t the only ones who suppressed information.
BY James Freeman
There’s so much recent news about all the people who embraced a political falsehood in 2020 that sometimes it’s hard to remember the deceptive statements by the person at the very center of the story.
On Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn., much of Team NBC was ready to help Joe Biden get through the final presidential campaign debate without having to take seriously the revelations about foreign money flowing to Mr. Biden’s family.
In the moments before the debate, the network’s White House correspondent Hallie Jackson said:
Watch for President Trump to go after former Vice President Joe Biden`s son, Hunter Biden, and unverified emails about his business dealings, a story that many intelligence experts say has all the hallmarks for a foreign interference campaign.
The experts were full of it. But on that night in 2020, NBC’s Chuck Todd did his part for the team by casting what we now know to be a legitimate concern as some sort of weird fascination:
Well this is Donald Trump`s last chance to change the trajectory of this race... The question is will he change his behavior from the first debate. The first debate did real damage to his campaign. He has to have a good debate performance tonight. I don`t know if he can. If he`s obsessed with Hunter Biden, I don`t know if you can have a good debate performance if he does that.
Despite the Toddian warning, Mr. Trump went ahead and raised the issue and Mr. Biden responded. Here’s the ensuing exchange, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates transcript:
BIDEN: Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this, he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics — four– five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani.
TRUMP: You mean, the laptop is now another Russia, Russia, Russia hoax? You gotta be–
BIDEN: That’s exactly what — That’s exactly what–
TRUMP: Is this where you’re going? This is where he’s going. The laptop is Russia, Russia, Russia?
To her credit debate moderator Kristen Welker of NBC ended up abandoning the team’s message discipline and committing a Beltway faux pas by asking:
Vice President Biden, there have been questions about the work your son has done in China, and for a Ukrainian energy company when you were Vice President. In retrospect, was anything about those relationships inappropriate or unethical?
“Nothing was unethical,” claimed Mr. Biden. He then proceeded to claim that only Donald Trump made money in China, saying:
My son has not made money in terms of this thing about — what are you talking about — China. I have not had it. The only guy that made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have since published business and financial records showing millions of dollars flowing from Chinese companies and affiliates to Biden-related entities.
On that night in 2020 Joe Biden also addressed the lucrative relationship his son had with a Ukrainian natural gas company despite having no background in Ukraine or natural gas:
Everybody investigated that, no one said anything he did was wrong in Ukraine.
Considering Mr. Biden’s peddling of the bogus claim that the laptop material was nothing but garbage from Russia, cultural critic Noam Dworman observes:
He figuratively wagged his finger at the camera and said, “I never had sex with that woman.” That kind of deception used to matter to the press. It doesn’t anymore.
Another thing that used to matter to the press is the First Amendment, which is supposed to prevent the government from dictating to Americans what can and cannot be published. Republican Attorneys General Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana have been suing the federal government for allegedly colluding with social media companies to censor speech. Mr. Schmitt said in a series of tweets on Friday:
In MO and LA’s deposition of FBI agent Elvis Chan on Tuesday, we found that the FBI plays a big role in working with social media companies to censor speech - from weekly meetings with social media companies ahead of the 2020 election to asks for account takedowns.
Chan, the FBI’s [Foreign Influence Task Force] and senior [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] officials had meetings with social media companies in the lead-up to the 2020 election, in which Chan personally told the social media companies that there could potentially be a Russian “hack and leak” operation shortly before the election.
Those meetings were initially quarterly, then monthly, then weekly heading into the 2020 election.
Chan stated that the FBI regularly sent social media companies lists of URLs and social media accounts that should be taken down because they were disinformation from “malign foreign influence operations.” The FBI then inquired whether the platforms have taken down the content.
Of course the bureau’s activity was not limited to Twitter. Brianna Herlihy reports for Fox News:
In their complaint, the GOP AGs noted an Aug. 26 podcast episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” in which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that “the FBI basically came to us” and told Facebook to be “on high alert” relating to “a lot of Russian propaganda.” Zuckerberg added that the FBI said “there’s about to be some kind of dump… that’s similar to that, so just be vigilant.”
As noted in the complaint, Zuckerberg stated, “If the FBI… if they come to us and tell us we need to be on guard about something, then I want to take that seriously.” Zuckerberg said he could not recall if the FBI specifically flagged the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation, but said that the story “basically fit the pattern” that the FBI had identified.
“On information and belief, the FBI’s reference to a ‘dump’ of information was a specific reference to the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was already in the FBI’s possession,” the complaint said.
“The FBI regularly engages with private sector entities to provide information specific to identified foreign malign influence actors’ subversive, undeclared, covert, or criminal activities,” the FBI said in a statement. “It is not based on the content of any particular message or narrative. Private sector entities independently make decisions about what, if any, action they take on their platforms and for their customers after the FBI has notified them.”
Is there any controversial material that an unreformed FBI couldn’t vaguely claim is being promoted by “foreign malign influence actors”?
Speaking of needed changes at the FBI, Mr. Biden’s 2020 deceptions suggest that reform will have to come from Congress, and perhaps with a veto-proof majority.
James Freeman is the co-author of “The Cost: Trump, China and American Revival.”
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ONCE AGAIN, THE REAL BIDEN SHOWS HIS YELLOW STRIPES:
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Biden is turning on Israel to satisfy progressives
The president knows he needs the Israel-hating left in 2024, and is acting accordingly.
By Eric Levine
Angry that Israel’s free and fair election resulted in a victory for Benjamin Netanyahu rather than the Biden administration’s preferred candidate, Yair Lapid, the administration has adopted a policy towards Israel characterized by petulance, insults and slights. While this policy undermines both the U.S.-Israel relationship and America’s national security interests, it serves to advance President Joe Biden’s ambitions as he prepares to run for reelection in 2024 and stave off a primary challenge from the progressive left.
The toxicity of this approach is demonstrated by three notable examples: The recently announced FBI investigation into the death of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh; the keynote address delivered by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the left-wing lobby J Street’s annual conference; and the Biden administration’s craven attempt to revive the disastrous 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Shireen Abu Akleh
On May 11, 2022, Abu Akleh was shot and killed during a firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank village of Jenin, a well-known hotbed of terrorism. After the incident, the Israeli government undertook an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding her death.
The results were shared with U.S. State Department officials, who issued the following statement on July 4, 2022: “After an extremely detailed forensic analysis, independent, third-party examiners, as part of a process overseen by the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC), could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion.”
The statement added, “In addition to the forensic and ballistic analysis, the USSC was granted full access to both Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Authority (PA) investigations over the last several weeks. By summarizing both investigations, the USSC concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, which followed a series of terrorist attacks in Israel.” (Emphasis added.)
Shockingly, despite a thorough investigation to which the U.S. was given unfettered access and the USSC’s conclusion that the death was “the result of tragic circumstances,” the Department of Justice announced it was unleashing the FBI to conduct an investigation inside Israel. As everyone expected, both outgoing Prime Minister Lapid and the incoming Netanyahu announced they would not cooperate with the FBI’s investigation.
To understand how extraordinary the FBI investigation is, one need only know that journalists are being killed around the world at an alarming rate. The UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists reports that 1,572 were killed from 1993-2021. None were killed in Israel. In 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that 18 journalists have died in the line of duty thus far. One was killed in Israel.
Why did the Department of Justice announce the FBI investigation notwithstanding the USSC’s conclusions, as well as the certainty that Israel would never agree to such a violation of its national sovereignty?
One need look no further than a speech given by far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) following Abu Akleh’s death: “I think it’s really important for us to have eyes on what happened with Shireen Abu Akleh in Palestine, she was killed by Israeli forces—a venerated journalist, a US citizen. … We can’t allow this stuff to be happening with our resources. … Our tax dollars are a part of this. We can’t even get healthcare in the U.S., and we’re funding this. … There has to be some sort of line that we draw.”
Although the nexus between Abu Akleh’s death and America’s ability to provide affordable healthcare to Americans remains a mystery, AOC’s message was clear: Progressives are demanding that the Biden administration put distance between the United States and Israel. As part of his 2024 reelection strategy, Biden appears happy to oblige.
J Street
Biden’s calculated and cynical effort to put his political ambitions above America’s national security interests and the U.S.-Israel relationship led him to approve Antony Blinken’s high-profile appearance as the keynote speaker at J Street’s annual conference.
J Street is the progressives’ answer to the more centrist AIPAC. However, unlike AIPAC, whose primary mission is to advance America’s national security interests by embracing and strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance, J Street’s Mission Statement makes clear that the creation of a Palestinian state is its raison d’etre: “J Street organizes pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans to promote U.S. policies that embody our deeply held Jewish and democratic values and that help secure the State of Israel as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. We believe that only a negotiated resolution agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians can meet the legitimate needs and national aspirations of both peoples.” (Emphasis added.)
In other words, until there is a Palestinian state, Israel’s right to exist as a “legitimate” homeland for the Jewish people remains an open question.
Aside from the delusion that J Street has any right or power to confer “legitimacy” on Israel’s right to exist, J Street is based on the fantasy that the Palestinians are actually interested in a two-state solution. But as we learned in 1948, 2000, 2005 and 2008—when the Jews said “yes” to a two-state solution and the Arab states, Yasser Arafat, Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas respectively said “no” and declared war on Israel instead—the Palestinians have no interest in a state of their own unless it includes the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel. That goal aligns with the progressives’ vision of a “two-state solution”: A Palestinian state living next to a Palestinian-dominated Israel.
One need only look at the roster of J Street’s supporters and speakers to know that the Biden political machine is putting the president’s narrow personal agenda ahead of America’s national security interests.
J Street’s leading donor is progressive darling George Soros. No more need be said about that. As for speakers, Matt Duss—Bernie Sanders’ chief foreign policy advisor—is another headliner. In addition to questioning Israel’s right to exist, Duss believes that Israeli Jews are attempting to “replace” Palestinians in “Palestine.”
“In the Israeli-Palestinian contest, the great replacement theory is expressed as opposition to the Palestinian right of return, which treats Palestinians as a ‘demographic threat,’” he said.
However, the “right of return” as defined by the Palestinian leadership is not based on demographics, but on the idea that the Jews have usurped Palestinian land. Therefore, the Jews must “return” not just Jerusalem, but Haifa, Tel Aviv and Eilat as well. The “right of return” and Israel’s existence are simply incompatible.
It is a disgrace that our secretary of state is taking the stage with these enemies of the Jewish state. For Biden, however, it’s a convenient way to cozy up to his progressive base in anticipation of 2024.
The Iran Nuclear Deal
The Obama-inspired Iran nuclear deal remains the crown jewel in the effort to create daylight between the United States and Israel. There has never been an honest explanation of how America benefits from a deal that gives the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism a legal path to a nuclear weapon, a ballistic missile system to deliver it and billions of dollars in sanctions relief that will be used to fund its military, terrorist network and hegemonic goals in the region.
Yet this administration continues to beg the ayatollahs to reenter the deal no matter how weak and humiliated the president appears as a result. Desperate to shore up his progressive base, Biden likely believes it would damage him politically if he walked away from the deal, because it would give the appearance that he had given in to Israel and was cozying up to the evil Zionist entity—an outcome the progressives will not tolerate.
It seems more likely than ever that Joe Biden will run for reelection. As a result, look for the U.S.-Israel relationship to become more fraught as Biden tries to consolidate his progressive support. Netanyahu’s reelection is just a convenient excuse for the Biden campaign to champion the Palestinian cause at the expense of a coherent and sensible foreign policy that serves America’s interests.
Eric Levine is a founding member of the New York City law firm Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis P.C. He is an essayist, political commentator and Republican fundraiser with an emphasis on the United States Senate.
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