Mexico sends 26 cartel members to U.S. in deal with Trump administration– www.cbsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border.
Those handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of “Los Cuinis,” a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation, or CJNG. Another defendant, Roberto Salazar, is wanted in connection to the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. Other prominent figures have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups.
“These transfers are not only a strategic measure to ensure public safety, but also reflect a firm determination to prevent these criminals from continuing to operate from within prisons and to break up their networks of influence,” Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said in a news conference on Wednesday.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum also said earlier Wednesday that the transfers were “sovereign decisions,” but the move comes as the Mexican leader faces mounting pressure by the Trump administration to crack down on cartels and fentanyl production.
Late last month, Mr. Trump spoke with Sheinbaum and agreed to put off threatened 30% tariffs for another 90 days to allow for negotiations.
The transfers are a milestone for the Trump administration, which has made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key Justice Department priority. It’s the second time in months that Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs onto American streets.
“These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores — under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “We are grateful to Mexico’s National Security team for their collaboration in this matter.”
In February, Mr. Trump signed an executive order designating CJNG, Sinaloa and six other cartels — Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos — as foreign terrorist organizations.
The cartel figures were put on planes to the U.S. after the Justice Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against any of the defendants or against any cartel leaders and members sent to the U.S. in February. That transfer was of 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.
“This transfer is yet another example of what is possible when two governments stand united against violence and impunity,” U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a statement. “These fugitives will now face justice in U.S. courts, and the citizens of both of our nations will be safer from these common enemies.”
Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico’s cartels. But she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico’s sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by Mr. Trump and others of intervention by the U.S. military.
Last week, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News that Mr. Trump directed the military to target drug cartels in Latin America. Sheinbaum responded Friday by saying there would be “no invasion of Mexico.”
Also included in the group expelled Tuesday was Servando Gómez Martinez, also known as “La Tuta,” a former school teacher who became one of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords as head of the Knights Templar cartel. He was captured in 2015 and sentenced to 55 years in a Mexican prison in June 2019.
Mexican federal police escort who they identify as Servando “La Tuta” Gómez, leader of the Knights Templar cartel, as he sits inside a helicopter at a Federal hanger in Mexico City, Feb. 27, 2015.
Eduardo Verdugo / AP
Gomez led the quasi-religious criminal group that once exercised absolute control over Michoacan and he liked to appear in interviews and videos. The cartel orchestrated politics, controlled commerce, dictated rules and preached a code of ethics around devotion to God and family, even as it murdered and plundered.
Abigael González Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. Abigael González Valencia was arrested in February 2015 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and had been fighting extradition to the United States since then. The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to “El Mencho’s” arrest or conviction.
Alongside his two brothers, Abigael González Valencia led “Los Cuinis,” which financed the founding and growth of the CJNG, one of the most powerful and dangerous cartels in Mexico. CJNG traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.
One of his brothers, José González Valencia, was sentenced in Washington’s federal court in June to 30 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking. Jose González Valencia was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name.
Cambodian and Thai officials meet in Malaysia to iron out ceasefire details– abcnews.go.com Source Link Excerpt:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thai and Cambodia n officials met in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee talks since a tense ceasefire was brokered last week after five days of deadly armed border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people.
The four-day General Border Committee meetings were initially due to be hosted by Cambodia, but both sides later agreed to a neutral venue in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has mediated the halt in hostilities last month.
The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from President Donald Trump, who had warned the two warring nations that the U.S. would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36% to 19% on Aug. 1 following the truce.
Monday’s talks focused on ironing out details to avoid further clashes. Discussions of the decades-long competing territorial claims over the pockets of land near the shared border are not on the agenda.
Trump reaffirms support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara – Vanguard News Source Link Excerpt:
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying a Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory was the sole solution to the disputed region, Reuters quoted state news agency MAP on Saturday.
According to MAP, in a felicitation message to HM King Mohammed VI in commemoration of the Throne Day of the Kingdom of Morocco, President Trump reiterates US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, adding that support for Moroccan autonomy proposal is the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute.
New US plan for Gaza starting to emerge despite sanitised tour for Trump peace envoy | World News– news.sky.com Source Link Excerpt:
We’ve seen this many times before.
Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel’s closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course, then nothing changes.
We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we’ve seen and heard so far has offered little hope.
The pressure on Donald Trump to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gazais mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage.
Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide.
EXTORTION: Crooked Chuck Schumer Holding Trump’s Judicial Nominees Hostage for a Billion in Foreign Aid– gellerreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
Schumer reportedly asked the White House to unfreeze about $1 billion of foreign aid and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in exchange for allowing the confirmation process for additional Trump nominees to move faster.
Donald Trump: Senator Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is demanding over One Billion Dollars in order to approve a small number of our highly qualified nominees, who should right now be helping to run our Country. This demand is egregious and unprecedented, and would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if it were accepted. It is political extortion, by any other name. Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL! Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country. Have a great RECESS and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!
Schumer reportedly asked the White House to unfreeze about $1 billion of foreign aid and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in exchange for allowing the confirmation process for additional Trump nominees to move faster.
China Limits Critical Mineral Supplies to Western Defense Manufacturers– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
Our amazing Leslie Eastman has been reporting on this subject since January:
Defense manufacturers must “stop buying rare-earth magnets that contain China-sourced minerals by 2027.”
Well…it looks like China will make that happen before 2027.
The Wall Street Journalreported that China is now limiting the flow of critical minerals to Western defense manufacturers:
Earlier this year, as U.S.-China trade tensions soared, Beijing tightened the controls it places on the export of rare earths. While Beijing allowed them to start flowing after the Trump administration agreed in June to a series of trade concessions, China has maintained a lock on critical minerals for defense purposes. China supplies around 90% of the world’s rare earths and dominates the production of many other critical minerals.
As a result, one drone-parts manufacturer that supplies the U.S. military was forced to delay orders by up to two months while it searched for a non-Chinese source of magnets, which are assembled from rare earths.
Certain materials needed by the defense industry now go for five or more times what was typical before China’s recent mineral restrictions, according to industry traders. One company said it was recently offered samarium—an element needed to make magnets that can withstand the extreme temperatures of a jet-fighter engine—for 60 times the standard price. That is already driving the cost of defense systems higher, say suppliers and defense executives.
Trump Confirms 2 US Nuke Subs Sent to Counter ‘Highly Provocative’ Russia Ahead of Special Envoy Visit – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters on Sunday that two nuclear submarines he ordered to “face Russia” are now “in the region” ahead of U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s planned visit to Moscow, this week.
Trump previously said on Truth Social he ordered the subs “to be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to what he considered “highly provocative statements” from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about potential war with the United States.
It should be noted that Medvedev is one Putin’s mouthpieces, so it’s a safe assumption that anything he says has the Russian dictator’s approval.
When asked if there’s anything Russia can do to ward off his latest announced tariffs on Russian products imported to the U.S., Trump replied, “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
The president added:
Well, there’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, they’re wily characters, and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we’ll see what happens.
A tremendous number of Russian soldiers have been killed. And likewise Ukraine, a lower number, but still thousands and thousands of people. And now we’re adding towns where they’re being hit by missiles. So it’s a lot of people being killed in that ridiculous war.
We stopped a lot of countries from war, India and Pakistan, we stopped a lot of countries. And we’re going to get that one stopped too. Somehow. We’re going to get that one stopped. That’s a really horrible war.
Trump Must Resist CCP’s Attempts to Sabotage US’s Panama Deal– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
In March, the American financial powerhouse BlackRock announced that a group of investors it led had reached a deal with Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings to secure U.S. control over two strategically located ports operated by Hutchison at the Panama Canal. In response, China has been attempting to undermine this agreement. Beijing’s latest stance is to withhold its approval unless a Chinese state-owned enterprise is included as a partner in the deal.
The Panama Canal is a crucial gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is vital to the economic and strategic interests of the United States. Approximately 70 percent of the goods that pass through the canal either originate from or are destined for U.S. markets, making the U.S. the largest user of the canal.
China views the Panama Canal as a strategic asset for expanding its economic and geopolitical influence in Latin America. In recent years, Beijing has significantly increased its investments in Panama through its “One Belt, One Road” global infrastructure initiative, making it the second-largest user of the canal. This growing presence has raised national security concerns in the United States. Sen. Ted Cruz has pointed out that the two ports operated by CK Hutchison Holdings could serve as “ready observation posts” for China to monitor U.S. military and commercial activities passing through the canal.
In the event of military conflict between the U.S. and China, such as a dispute over Taiwan, there are fears th
South Korea begins removing border propaganda speakers in conciliatory gesture toward North– www.independent.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
The speakers had previously been used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda across the border, but the South’s new liberal government halted the broadcasts in June in a conciliatory gesture as it looks to rebuild trust and revive dialogue with Pyongyang, which has largely cut off cooperation with the South in recent years.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the physical removal of the loudspeakers from the border was another “practical measure” aimed at easing tensions between the war-divided Koreas and that it does not affect the South’s military readiness.
Lee Kyung-ho, a spokesperson for the ministry, didn’t share specific details on how the removed loudspeakers will be stored or whether they could be quickly redeployed to the border if tensions flare again between the Koreas. There were no discussions between the two militaries ahead of the South’s decision to remove the speakers, Lee said during a briefing.
North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn’t immediately comment on the South Korean step.
GOP Rep. Betrays Trump With Baffling Push To Stop Texas From Redistricting– trendingpoliticsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
On the eve of an audacious plan by Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional districts — possibly assuring the U.S. House GOP another five seats in next year’s election — another Republican lawmaker has struck back with legislation that critics online are calling a betrayal of President Donald Trump.
Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) filed legislation on Monday that, if passed, would prevent all 50 states from redrawing congressional district lines before the 2030 census. The bill comes as Texas Republicans prepare to designate new borders that would create five districts that Trump won by 10 or more points last year.
Kiley said he is seeking to “stop a damaging redistricting war” from kicking off between red and blue states. But critics claim he is only taking up the issue to save his own seat in California.
Citing efforts last year by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to usurp authority from an independent commission, Kiley explained that even his state’s liberal voters disagreed with Newsom when it became clear that he was attempting to eliminate the number of Republican congressmen in California’s federal delegation.
“We Are At War…The Gloves Are Off”- Tyrannical New York Governor Kathy Hochul Vows Revenge as Texas Seeks to Redistrict (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com Source Link Excerpt:
screenshot
Tyrannical New York Governor Kathy Hochul is fuming over the Texas State Legislature’s decision to engage in mid-decade redistricting to add more Republicans and is determined to counter by any means necessary, regardless of what the law in her state allows.
During a press conference in Albany on Monday, where some of the Texas fleebaggers are residing, Hochul called for the New York Redistricting Commission to be completely disbanded so the state legislature can ram through a heavily gerrymandered map in contrast to the somewhat fair current ones.
“I’m tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back,” she said. “With all due respect to the good government groups, politics is a political process, and to think we are going to do this with a purity test and make sure it is completely fair to everyone involved…The reason we are able to draw the lines as Democrats is because the majority of people in this state elected us to be leaders.”
“And when we say we cannot use this power to its fullest, we are abdicating the responsibility that we all have. (If) Republicans take over the legislature, they can have at it, but until then, we’re in charge, and we’re sick and tired of being pushed around when other states don’t have the same aspirations that we always have had.”
‘Weak and ineffective’: Just 23% of Dems view their party positively: AP-NORC poll | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
35 percent of Democrats used negative terms to describe their party with words like “weak,” “tepid,” “apathetic,” “ineffective,” and “broken.”
A significant portion of Democrats have been dissatisfied with their political party, according to a new Associated Press-NORC poll.
The recent poll highlights growing dissatisfaction among Democrats with their own party following a major electoral defeat last November, which saw Donald Trump return to the presidency and Republicans take control of the White House, Senate, and the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party has since faced internal division over its direction, ideological divisions, as well as leadership.
The poll, conducted between July 10 and 14 among 1,437 adults, revealed that 35 percent of Democrats used negative terms to describe their party with words like “weak,” “tepid,” “apathetic,” “ineffective,” and “broken.” In contrast, only 23 percent offered positive descriptors. Among Republicans, 41 percent used positive language to describe their own party, while 19 percent were critical.
Cincinnati official who said mob attack victims ‘begged’ for beating doubles down; woman punched in face records tearful clip– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Cincinnati city council member who made headlines last week for saying mob attack victims “begged” for the beating they received sat down for a video interview in which she doubled down on her perspective, refused to resign, and invoked race as a factor in the attack.
‘You never start a fight with a white person. But if they hit you first, that becomes a reason for all of the frustration and hurt and terror … of generations, historical generational pain, to be released. And I believe that’s what happened.’
WLWT-TV said the woman shared her video with the station and asked to be identified only by her first name — Holly — and thanked “everyone for all of the love and support. It is very humbling that you have sent your prayers, your blessings. It’s definitely what’s keeping me going, and you have just brought back faith in humanity, so God bless you all. And thank you. I appreciate everything that you’re doing for me and my family. It’s been very, very hard, and I’m still recovering. I still have very bad brain trauma and it’s — thank you. Thank you, everyone.”
Boeing workers who build fighter jets go on strike – Chicago Tribune– www.chicagotribune.com Source Link Excerpt:
Boeing workers who build fighter jets went on strike Monday at midnight Central Daylight Time.
About 3,200 workers at Boeing facilities in St. Louis; St. Charles, Missouri; and Mascoutah, Illinois, voted to reject a modified four-year labor agreement with Boeing, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union said Sunday.
In a post on X, the union said: “3,200 highly-skilled IAM Union members at Boeing went on strike at midnight because enough is enough.”
The vote followed members’ rejection last week of an earlier proposal from the troubled aerospace giant, which had included a 20% wage increase over four years.
“IAM District 837 members build the aircraft and defense systems that keep our country safe,” said Sam Cicinelli, Midwest territory general vice president for the union, in a statement. “They deserve nothing less than a contract that keeps their families secure and recognizes their unmatched expertise.”
Federal Judges Keep Defying Supreme Court Orders Against Trump Admin– dailycaller.com Source Link Excerpt:
Federal judges are increasingly ruling against the Trump administration’s agenda and in defiance of Supreme Court orders.
The executive branch finds itself fending off endless counter-opinions from federal judges in the courtroom as it continues to implement its hard-line immigration policies. While the Trump administration has scored major victories in the nation’s highest court, including successfully reining in the scope of nationwide injunctions by federal judges, some have chosen to defy Supreme Court rulings.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of the Biden administration, blocked the Trump administration on Friday from using a process known as “expedited removal” to quickly remove illegal migrants from the country, according to court documents. The order could, at least for the time being, dramatically curtail the White House’s ability to carry out its deportation agenda.
In a public statement about the ruling, an administration spokesperson slammed the Biden-appointed judge, accusing her of defying a previous Supreme Court ruling.
Bangladesh tribunal commences trial of deposed PM Hasina over crimes against humanity– economictimes.indiatimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Sunday commenced the trial of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in absentia over crimes against humanity related to the violent suppression of the 2024 student-led protests.
The interim government-appointed Chief Prosecutor, Tajul Islam, in his opening statement, described Hasina as the “nucleus of all crimes” and called for the maximum penalty.
The prosecution also named Hasina’s two top aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullaah Al Mamun — as the co-accused in the case.
The ICT commenced the proceedings against Hasina on several charges, with the major one being killings and tortures to tame last year’s Students Against Discrimination (SAD)-led violent street campaign that eventually toppled her Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
CBS Discovers Social Security Time Bomb, Pushes More Taxes as Best Solution– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
Entitlement spending was the largest driver of America’s debt and the Social Security time bomb had been counting down for decades. Over the weekend, CBS News Sunday Morning stirred at the sound only to promote raising taxes as the most viable solution, dismissed investing the money, and completely ignored President Trump’s baby bonds which were already signed into law last month. Of course, they also decried Trump’s cuts to the Social Security Administration.
Kicking the stories off with the report by David Pogue, the first thing viewers were met with was a soundbite of former Biden Press Secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki proclaiming: “Social Security recipients are dealing with an unbelievable amount of chaos.”
“Social Security has been getting a lot of attention lately — and not the good kind. The Social Security Administration was already at its smallest size in 50 years, when earlier this year, Elon Musk`s DOGE team cut another 14 percent of its employees — 7,000 people,” Pogue lamented.
Colombia Sentences Conservative Ex-President Álvaro Uribe to 12 Years House Arrest– www.breitbart.com Source Link Excerpt:
A court in Colombia sentenced conservative former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez over the weekend to 12 years of house arrest on charges of abuse of procedure and bribery of a public official.
Additionally, Uribe was banned from holding public office for 100 months and 20 days. He must also pay the Colombian state a fine equivalent to 2,420 minimum wages, which translates to over 3.4 billion Colombian pesos (roughly $840,000).
Colombian Judge Sandra Heredia read the sentence on Friday, days after the judge found Uribe guilty of two out of three charges that the former president stood accused of throughout a highly convoluted and lengthy trial process that Colombian politicians and several senior U.S. government members denounced as a sham.
Irish missionary among nine kidnapped from Haiti orphanage– www.bbc.com Source Link Excerpt:
Nine people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince on Sunday, officials said.
Gena Heraty, the facility’s director, was among those taken from the privately-run Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff during the early hours of the morning, according to Mayor Massillon Jean.
Seven employees and a child were also taken from the orphanage, which cares for more than 240 children, some with disabilities.
“The attackers broke into the orphanage around 3:30am (07:30 GMT) without opening fire,” Jean said, describing it as a “planned act”.
The attackers had broken through a wall to enter the property, Jean said, before heading to the building where Ms Heraty was staying.
Top economist warns the U.S. is ‘on the precipice of recession’ — and it will be hard for the Fed to come to the rescue– fortune.com Source Link Excerpt:
The shocking jobs report on Friday wasn’t the only red flag. Indicators from the past week paint an overall picture of an economy that’s headed for a downturn, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.
After months of looking remarkably resilient in the face of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the economic outlook has suddenly turned gloomier.
“The economy is on the precipice of recession. That’s the clear takeaway from last week’s economic data dump,” Zandi wrote in a series of posts on X on Sunday. “Consumer spending has flatlined, construction and manufacturing are contracting, and employment is set to fall. And with inflation on the rise, it is tough for the Fed to come to the rescue.”
Payrolls grew by just 73,000 last month, well below forecasts for about 100,000. Meanwhile, May’s tally was revised down from 144,000 to 19,000, and June’s total was slashed from 147,000 to just 14,000, meaning the average gain over the past three months is now only 35,000.
The Secret Service, which once had a reputation for steadfast apolitical professionalism, found itself on the cusp of making an utterly mystifying decision before a Republican senator intervened with some pointed questions. Incredibly, officials were about to rubber-stamp the renewal of former Director Kimberly Cheatle’s top-level security clearance: the very same Cheatle whose disastrous leadership enabled the security meltdown that nearly claimed Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pa.
It’s only when RealClearPolitics pressed for comment on Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) opposition that the agency recoiled and changed course. Johnson indicated that granting Cheatle a renewed security clearance after she resigned in disgrace was unthinkable: “Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign. I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.”
Cheatle’s disastrous tenure ended the only way it could, drowned in a flood of bipartisan outrage. According to insiders, her team repeatedly shot down requests for more resources during Trump’s campaign. After the stunning security failure in Butler, public fury was swift, including from Congress.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), after jointly probing the agency’s failures, asserted that Cheatle would stain the Secret Service forever and that her attempted security clearance renewal compounded the shame. “Kim Cheatle disgraced the Secret Service by failing to prevent a horrifying attempt on President Trump’s life,”
Blackburn said flatly. Her condemnation didn’t end there. Blackburn skewered Cheatle’s stonewalling of oversight and refusal to answer hard questions, recalling how she literally ran away from senators demanding accountability at the GOP convention just days after the shooting.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and previously chaired the full Homeland Security panel, argued that Cheatle should not have her security clearance renewed after her leadership decisions contributed to the agency’s numerous failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign,” Johnson told RCP. “I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.”
Asked for comment on Johnson’s opposition, the Secret Service issued a vague statement saying Secret Service Director Sean Curran, a Trump appointee, had decided that “not all former directors” should have their security clearances renewed.
Cheatle called it “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades,” but she refused to step down until mounting pressure, failed testimony, and threats of contempt finally forced her out. She left quietly, without punishment or accountability.
But the fallout didn’t end with Cheatle’s quiet exit. On the anniversary of the assassination attempt, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) dropped a bombshell report accusing Cheatle of flat-out lying about denied security requests. Meanwhile, a damning GAO report confirmed what many suspected: Secret Service brass were warned about a potential Iranian threat ten days before the rally, then failed to share that intel with agents tasked with protecting the former president.
So far, Congress hasn’t referred criminal charges, but House Oversight Chair James Comer isn’t closing the door. If it turns out Cheatle misled investigators, he says, the committee “will respond.” At the very least, the public deserves answers, something Cheatle has evaded from day one.
Now, with Director Sean Curran at the helm, there’s a sign that the old D.C. playbook may finally be getting tossed. For too long, former officials enjoyed unfettered access to classified materials under the guise of “advisory” roles or smooth transitions. In reality, that access often just meant fatter paychecks, cushier gigs, and a louder megaphone for disgraced bureaucrats who refuse to leave the stage.
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Hamas said on Sunday (August 3) it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Hamas said it would allow the ICRC access to the hostages but only if “humanitarian corridors” for food and aid were opened “across all areas of the Gaza Strip”. FRANCE 24’s Douglas Herbert gives us his analysis about the situation.
