Trump forced to cancel Wisconsin rally after Secret Service says it ‘did not have sufficient assets’ to secure event: whistleblower | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Secret Service “effectively forced the Trump campaign to cancel an upcoming event in Wisconsin.”
A whistleblower has come forward alleging that the Secret Service told former President Donald Trump’s team that it didn’t have sufficient resources to secure a rally the campaign wanted to hold in Wisconsin. Senator Josh Hawley revealed that the whistleblower’s account was provided to his office.
Judge Aileen Cannon To Preside Over Trial Of Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh– trendingpoliticsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
U.S. District Judge for the District of Southern Florida Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who presided over the Biden DOJ’s bogus classified documents case, will now be presiding over the trial of Ryan Routh, who is accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
Son of Would-be Trump Assassin Arrested for Child Pornography– freebeacon.com Source Link Excerpt:
The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, was arrested Tuesday morning on federal child pornography charges, ABC News reported.
Investigators found “hundreds” of files with child pornography during a search of Oran Routh’s home in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Sept. 21. Prosecutors conducted the search in relation to charges against his father, who remains in custody after he attempted to kill the former president earlier this month, according to ABC News.
Another Man Is Charged for Threatening to Kill President Trump – PJ Media– pjmedia.com Source Link Excerpt:
A man was charged yesterday for threatening to assassinate former President Donald Trump, just a week after a second attempted assassin tried to shoot the Republican nominee for president in Florida.
Warren Jones Crazybull of Idaho allegedly made at least nine threatening phone calls to Trump’s Palm Beach residence at Mar-A-Lago with a promise to kill him “personally.”
Federal authorities arrested Crazybull on August 1, only weeks after Trump was shot in Butler, Pa., and before 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh attempted to carry out his failed attempt on Sept. 15, at Trump International Golf Club In West Palm Beach.
REVEALED: Secret Service was informed of Crooks 27 minutes before shots were fired in Butler, PA, never told Trump to get off stage | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“Shortly before shots were fired, a USSS counter sniper saw local law enforcement running toward the AGR building with their guns drawn, but he did not alert former President Trump’s protective detail to remove him from the stage.”
The US Senate report on the Trump assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks in Butler, PA on July 13 was released on Wednesday morning and it reveals, as Senator Richard Blumenthal warned it would, shocking security failures by the US Secret Service. That agency knew that Crooks was on the building for 27 minutes ahead of the attempt on Trump’s life, which killed one man and injured others.
The Department of Justice released a threatening letter sent by Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who was allegedly hoping to assassinate Donald Trump while he was golfing, in which he offered $150,000 to complete the job should he fail to complete his mission (which is to kill Donald Trump).
Routh Allegedly Wrote a Very Disturbing Letter Months Ago About Trump. Why Did DOJ Release It?– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly wrote a chilling letter about his plan to take out the former president, a new filing released by federal prosecutors shows.
A witness contacted investigators on Sept. 18 informing them that Routh dropped off a box at his home “several months” before the Sept. 15 incident when Secret Service opened fire on Routh, who had been waiting in the shrubbery with a rifle for Trump, who was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach. It was after this that the witness opened the box to find “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters,” according to the filing.
One of the letters, allegedly written by Routh, was addressed to “The World” and said, in part, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
A photo of the first page of the letter was included in the filing, which also shows Routh criticizing Trump for being “unfit” to serve as president.
The filing claims Routh also wrote, Trump “ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled.”
CNN, MSNBC, Dems Ginned Up ‘Every Crazy Person in the World’– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
Media and Democrat lies that reelecting former President Donald Trump would bring about the end of the world are inciting violent, disturbed people to try to kill him, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says.
“Without question I blame CNN, MSNBC and all the other left-wing outlets,” Sen. Paul told Fox News this week after the latest attempt on the life of former President Trump. Sunday’s failed assassination is the second such attempt to kill the Republican presidential candidate in the last two months.
The false, apocalyptic warnings of the Left have successfully ginned up “every crazy person in the world,” Sen. Paul said:
“Without question I blame CNN, MSNBC and all the other left-wing outlets for promoting this idea that Donald Trump is going to end elections, that democracy is being threatened, that it’s going to be the end of the world – that made it so dire and that so misinformed the public about Donald Trump’s positions that every crazy person in the country now is ginned up.”
How Democrats Are Grooming Assassins To Take Out Trump– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
There have been many calls for lowering the temperature between the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, and the second on Sept. 15, 2024. Yet only two hours after last week’s attempt on Trump in Florida, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries lambasted “extreme MAGA Republicans,” saying “We must stop them,” leaving listeners to guess to whom he referred and how “they” should be stopped.
It’s part of a constant pattern since Trump emerged on the political scene, starting with assassination fantasies with “the resistance,” continuing through the Russian collusion hoax, and aided by protective agencies’ refusal to secure conservative figures.
It’s not just the typically aggressive political rhetoric. Leftists have openly engaged in direct assassination fantasies for years. A conspicuous movement to dehumanize one particular person in America has continuously expanded since early 2016, when “the resistance” formed. Madonna infamously proclaimed, “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” signaling the cultural zeitgeist controllers would wage a no-holds-barred siege against Trump.
Authorities Were Previously Warned of Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh’s ‘Predatory Behavior’– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
… it has now emerged that federal authorities were warned about his behavior but ignored it.
U.S. officials apparently did little with the warnings from Americans who had contact with Routh.
Authorities received warnings prompted by Routh’s odd behavior in Ukraine, as Breitbart News reported.
… A self-published book in which Routh urged the terrorist-supporting government of Iran to murder Trump was one of many “red flags” that adorned Routh’s record.
Among his long list of criminal charges, he was found in possession of a “weapon of mass destruction” in the year 2002.
‘Bomb’ found at Trump rally site – reports — RT World News– www.rt.com (ED.NOTE: Later claimed to be a bomb training exercise). Source Link Excerpt:
An explosive device has reportedly been found in a car inside the security perimeter of US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s upcoming rally in New York state.
The Republican presidential nominee is scheduled to speak at the Long Island venue, just east of New York City, on Wednesday evening.
Sources in the Nassau County Police Department just told me that “the perimeter was breached and a blue barrel was removed’ from the area surrounding tonight’s Trump rally site,” journalist James Lalino wrote on X.
According to Lalino’s source, a police dog “found an explosive device in one of the vehicles and that the driver ended up running into the woods. No one saw if he had anything on him, they just saw him take off running.”
Nassau County Police have not officially commented on the report. They told the Daily Mail they were “working on an email” about the alleged security incident.
Would-Be Trump Shooter’s Stunning Letter Is Revealed– trendingpoliticsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Hours before would-be Trump shooter Ryan Wesley Routh makes his first appearance in court, prosecutors unveiled his alleged letter explaining his reasons for aiming a rifle at the former president last weekend.
In new filings, federal authorities describe a plain white letter that confirms Routh’s movements along the perimeter of President Trump’s golf course were part of a plan he hatched to shoot and kill the Republican on the fifth hole of his golf game that day. News of the letter came from an individual who claimed that Routh dropped off a box at his home months earlier which they said “contained ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters,” prosecutors wrote. Addressed to “The World,” the letter said, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
‘Weapon of mass death’: Explosive details about criminal history of Trump’s second suspected would-be assassin– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
Alleged would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was already under indictment for possessing an explosive device when he fled from police during a traffic stop and barricaded himself inside his roofing company in December 2002, court records show.
Despite the seriousness of both offenses and Routh’s long criminal record in North Carolina, he didn’t serve any jail time as a result.
‘He was rather notorious among my people.’
“Guilford County and greater Greensboro are historically very liberal,” Republican B.J. Barnes, who served as Guilford County sheriff for 24 years, told Blaze News. “Our courts here would rather plea out everyone to lesser charges than do the work of convicting real criminals.”
JUST IN: GOP-backed gov funding bill requires DHS, Secret Service to hand over documents on July Trump assassination attempt | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
The House GOP leadership is rolling out their plan B for a short-term stopgap spending package, which includes additional funding of $231 million to the Secret Service (USSS)— but there is a catch. The funding is dependent on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) handing over documentation related to the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump. This comes as the USSS, an agency under the DHS, has been heavily scrutinized after two assassination attempts on the GOP nominee.
The 49-page continuing resolution (CR) spending package was unveiled on Sunday and would keep the government funded through December 20, setting up for a funding debate right before the Christmas holiday. The three-month time span is much shorter than the first time around, which would have funded the government through March 2025, but it does not include the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
FBI investigation of Trump assassination attempt involves ‘full force’ of the department, Wray says– www.foxnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
FBI Director Christopher Wray says he is devoting the “full force” of his department toward the investigation of the assassination attempts against former President Trump.
Wray made the assurance during his remarks at the Aspen Cyber Summit in the nation’s capital. The FBI is one of several federal and state groups that have launched investigations into Sunday’s attempt on Trump’s life.
“I want to just take a moment to talk about what happened over the weekend in West Palm Beach,” Wray said. “For the second time in just over two months, we’ve witnessed what appears to be an attempt to attack our democracy and our democratic process.”
Approval of Secret Service sinks after Trump assassination attempts– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
The lack of faith in the agency that once topped government approval lists was uncovered in the latest Gallup survey of the public’s view of key federal offices, which showed disapproval surging for the outfit charged with protecting presidents and other top officials.
Gallup found that approval of the Secret Service was cut by more than half from its 2019 high of 69%. Prior to the first Trump assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, approval of the Secret Service was at 55%. It is now just 32%.
And that could sink further since the survey was conducted mostly prior to the latest assassination attempt in Florida while Trump was golfing at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
September 18, 2024
Team Trump Blames Assassination Attempts on ‘Communist Left Rhetoric’ and Brings Receipts to Prove It › American Greatness– amgreatness.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Trump-Vance Campaign declared on Monday that left-wing hate speech was to blame for the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, and provided dozens of examples of the Democrats’ “increasingly incendiary rhetoric.”
After Trump’s Secret Service detail fired at Routh, he took off in a black Nissan, leaving his backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 style rifle behind. He was quickly apprehended speeding away on I-95.
Expert indicates Trump hatred from left, media likely fueled latest assassination attempt — then he makes ominous prediction– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
While many on the left and their allies in the media have blamed former President Donald Trump for yet another attempt on his life, at least one counterterrorism expert has claimed instead that anti-Trump animus from Democrats and the media likely motivated the would-be shooter and may even prompt future attacks.
Shortly after the shooting near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, joined CNN‘s Erin Burnett to discuss the incident.
‘I would think we’re going to find that this guy [Routh] is extremely politically motivated and that he probably was spurred on by much of the political diatribes that are going on these days.’
28% of Democrats Say America Would be Better if Donald Trump Was Assassinated– www.lifenews.com Source Link Excerpt:
In a shocking new poll that shows just how radical Democrats are in America today, some 28% of Democrats say America would be better had Donald Trump been assassinated last weekend.
Unbelievably, the poll also found that more Americans blamed Trump and his rhetoric for the potential assassinations instead of the liberal media or Democrats.
The new poll of 1,000 registered voters taken by veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen’s Napolitan News Institute after the second assassination attempt against Trump on Sunday at a Florida golf course revealed that 17% of voters say it would have been better for America had Donald Trump had been killed last weekend.
That figure included a whopping 28% of Democrats, the survey showed.
Top Kamala Harris Campaign Advisor Called for Trump and ‘His Kind’ to ‘Be Destroyed Thoroughly’– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
A senior advisor on Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign, David Plouffe, called for President Donald Trump and “his kind” to “be destroyed” in a resurfaced social media post.
“It is not enough to simply beat Trump,” warned Plouffe, Barack Obama’s former campaign manager.
“He must be destroyed thoroughly.
“His kind must not rise again.”
The statement has come under fresh scrutiny after the second attempt to kill Trump in a matter of months.
Despite Shooting, ABC, CBS and NBC Blast Trump with 95% Bad Press– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
Not even Sunday’s close call with a would-be assassin could interrupt the liberal TV networks’ barrage of bad press against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. A look at the first 72 hours of coverage on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts — Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights — finds that while the attempted assassination dominated campaign coverage, these networks’ anti-Trump spin was nearly as bad as it could be: 95% negative, vs. just five percent positive…
On Sunday, less than four hours after news of the shooting broke, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt scolded Trump for his rhetoric: “Today’s apparent assassination attempt comes amid increasingly fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail itself. Mr. Trump [and] his running mate JD Vance continued to make baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.”
CBS Weekend News reporter Skyler Henry similarly linked Trump to the situation in Springfield, running a clip of Trump from the debate — “They’re eating the dogs” — before scolding: “The city has been thrust into the national conversation on immigration with unsubstantiated claims immigrants are eating pets.”
Not to be left out, ABC’s Perry Russom on Sunday’s World News Tonight also blasted the Republican: “The baseless claim amplified by President Trump at the ABC News debate.”
Ryan Routh CAUGHT ON VIDEO, Bused in for Kamala Campaign Event Just FOUR DAYS Before…?– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
Down the rabbit trail we go? Ryan Routh has shown up on so many law enforcement radars, meeting with lawmakers in 2023 in Washington DC, interviewed by reporters multiple times about his involvement in funneling western and Afghani fighters to fight in Ukraine — it only stands to reason that he would show up on video footage of people being BUSED IN FOR A KAMALA CAMPAIGN EVENT, just 4 days before allegedly trying to kill President Trump!?
Here’s the deal — I haven’t seen verification that this is him. But I’ve seen the video. And it looks like a dead ringer to me! (Hang on to your seat, because I have another crazy connection that someone else just found photo evidence of — connecting Ryan Routh to the Clintons! Can’t make this stuff up!)
So let’s take a look at some of the videos, and you be the judge:
Would-be Assassin Targeting Trump May Have Had Inside Info on His Schedule, Ex-FBI Official Warns: ‘A Scary Possibility’ | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Gateway Pundit reported earlier that former President Donald Trump’s Sunday golf outing at his Trump International Golf Club was a last-minute decision.
Chris Swecker, a retired FBI assistant director, told Newsweek that the law enforcement community is now focused on determining how Routh appeared to know Trump would be at the West Palm Beach golf course on Sunday.
“The biggest question to answer is: ‘How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?’” Swecker said.
He added that the possibility of inside knowledge is “a scary” and dangerous reality that cannot be ignored.
Swecker, who previously oversaw all FBI criminal investigations, outlined three possible explanations: Routh either got incredibly lucky with a guess, conducted surveillance on Trump, or was privy to inside information.
“The last answer is scary and has implications that another person was involved,” he said ominously.
Swecker, who retired from the FBI in 2006 and is now an attorney based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said that it may be time to tone down some of the rhetoric on the former president.
“There is little doubt that the demonization of Trump is resonating with the fringe elements who are mentally unstable and highly impressionable, so it may be time to tone it down a bit,” he said.
He said Routh had been involved in some “strange quests,” including trying to get Afghan fighters into Ukraine to fight the Russians.
“We know this suspect has posted about Trump being a danger to democracy and he has been active on some strange quests: visiting Ukraine to round up Afghan fighters so motive is coming into focus—he is a wing nut who dislikes authority, based on his arrest record for resisting arrest in a two-hour standoff,” Swecker said.
[…]
Swecker said Routh believed those saying that Trump is an existential threat to democracy and allegedly decided to take matters into his own hands.
FBI investigating shots fired near Trump as apparent assassination attempt; Trump is safe • Rhode Island Current Source Link Excerpt:
… “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a statement about 20 minutes after the incident occurred just before 2 p.m. Eastern.
The FBI is taking a lead on investigating, said Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office during a late afternoon press conference by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent with Trump spotted a rifle coming out of bushes next to the golf course.
“The Secret Service agent that was on the course did a fantastic job,” he said. “What they do is, they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the president was at, and he was able to spot this rifle barrel, stickin’ out of the fence, and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off.”
Alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh wrote 2023 book about how Ukraine must win ‘unwinnable war’ and advocating for killing Trump | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me.”
Ryan Wesley Routh, the man under investigation for a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Sunday, wrote a book with his fiancé about how Ukraine must win the “unwinnable war” against Russia in which he discussed Donald Trump being assassinated. The book was published last year.
The book is titled, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment, and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, and the End of Humanity.” It was written by Routh and his fiancé Kathleen Schaffer.
While discussing the Russia-Ukraine war, Routh wrote, “I presume that I must be clear, that while on the current path Ukraine will not win, it is imperative for the world that they do win, and that’s why this book is so important, for us to recognize that losing is not an option and what we must do to win.”
Trump’s would-be assassin Ryan Routh’s Facebook and X accounts suspended: ‘Cover-up begins,’ internet reacts – Hindustan Times Source Link Excerpt:
Following a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Meta has reportedly removed Ryan Routh’s Facebook page, and Elon Musk’s X has suspended his account. The incident, which occurred on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., comes nearly two months after Trump narrowly escaped a shooting at a Pennsylvania rally. Fortunately, this time the Secret Service was able to identify the suspect before any harm occurred.
On September 15, after authorities identified the suspect from a car picture shared by a witness who saw Routh trying to escape, Ryan Wesley Routh’s Facebook page was reportedly removed. According to law enforcement, Routh, armed with a rifle equipped with a scope, aimed his weapon towards the former prez who was golfing at his Florida estate, through the fence from a distance of 300 to 500 yards away.
Alleged would-be Trump assassin recruited for Ukraine’s International Legion– thegrayzone.com Source Link Excerpt:
Before he was caught with an AK-47 on a golf course near Trump, Ryan Routh went to Kiev to fight for Ukraine’s military and recruit for its International Legion. Routh told US media he “had partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week.”
Ryan Routh was arrested today with an AK-47-style rifle several hundred yards from Donald Trump while the former president was golfing. According to the Washington Post, the “Trump golf course incident investigated as potential assassination attempt.”
Back in 2022, Routh reportedly traveled to Ukraine to recruit for the International Legion. According to Newsweek Romania, which interviewed Routh in 2022, the American resident of Hawaii hoped to fight as a volunteer alongside the Ukrainian army, but was too old at age 56.
“So plan B,” Routh said, “was to come to Kiev and promote the idea of many others coming to join the International Legion. We need thousands of people here to fight alongside Ukrainians.
There are about 190 countries on our planet, and if the governments are not officially sending soldiers here, then we civilians should pick up this torch and make it happen.”
Ron DeSantis to Conduct Own Investigation Into Second Trump Assassination Attempt– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
Ron DeSantis just announced that the state of Florida will be conducting its own investigation into the second assassination attempt on President Trump’s life Sunday afternoon at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
This investigation is separate from the FBI’s investigation and aimed at preventing the feds from staging a cover-up.
DeSantis announced the investigation on X, saying that Florida will be getting to the bottom of things and letting people know the whole TRUTH about what happened:
The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.
The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP…
Why There’s Concern Over the FBI Official Involved in Investigation of 2nd Trump Assassination Attempt– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
The FBI’s Miami field office is taking the lead on investigating Sunday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump—the second time in two months. Fortunately, a Secret Service agent noticed a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence near the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and immediately opened fire. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, fled the scene in a getaway car but was eventually detained by Florida law enforcement.
Now, however, some are wondering if Americans are ever going to get the truth about the investigation given who oversees the FBI’s Miami field office.
Last year, top officials at the agency reportedly ordered Jeffrey Veltri to scrub his social media accounts of anti-Trump rhetoric before he could be promoted to be the special agent in charge of the Miami field office.
A whistleblower told Congress Veltri was “adamantly and vocally anti-Trump” and claimed FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, and Executive Assistant Director Jennifer Moore were involved in ordering Veltri to clean up his accounts, though the FBI pushed back, telling The Washington Times the claim was “demonstrably false.”
“The home of President Donald Trump is located in the area of responsibility of the Miami Field Office. It was well known that Veltri was adamantly and vocally Anti-Trump,” said the disclosure, which The Washington Times has obtained. “Wray, Abbate and Moore wanted to ensure that Veltri appeared non-political, Veltri was ordered to remove all of his Facebook and Social media posts that were Anti-Trump.”
The whistleblower said the bureau leaders weren’t concerned about Mr. Veltri’s “bias against Trump” but whether “information related to Veltri’s political bias can be removed from the public domain.”
The whistleblower said Mr. Veltri, who served as acting deputy assistant director of the bureau’s security division until March, also oversaw efforts to suspend agents’ security clearances if they seemed to be a “right-wing radical.” […]
The FBI rejected the whistleblower’s allegations and said Mr. Veltri was promoted through a process by the book.
House lawmakers demand Secret Service briefing on 2nd Trump assassination attempt– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
A bipartisan House task force was already investigating the July assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Sunday’s attack may have lawmakers expanding their probe.
Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the chair and top Democrat on the House task force, have requested a briefing for the panel with the Secret Service this week over what authorities have deemed another “attempted assassination” that occurred at Trump’s golf club in Florida. Shots were fired near Trump, who was unharmed, and a suspect is in custody.
“The Task Force is monitoring this attempted assassination of former President Trump in West Palm Beach this afternoon. We have requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded,” Kelly and Crow said in a joint statement, vowing to “share updates as we learn more.”
‘I am glad he is safe’: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris reacts to shooting incident near Trump’s Florida golf course – The Hindu Source Link Excerpt:
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The shooting, notably, took place at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
After the news of the incident broke out, Ms. Harris, sharing a post on social media, said that there is no place for violence in America.
“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe,” the US Vice President wrote on X.
Adam Kinzinger, Vindmans, MSNBC Deliver Insane Responses to Second Trump Assassination Attempt – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
Given the gravity of the situation, some introspection on the left was warranted. Instead, the equivocations and outright blaming of Trump came fast and hard. One exchange on MSNBC called the attempted assassination “exceptionally unfortunate” not because the former president was nearly killed again, but because it might help him politically.
CNN’s Juliette Kayyem laments this second Trump assassination attempt “could have impacted voters” and “will be used for political purposes” and that’s “exceptionally unfortunate” pic.twitter.com/ymJKE3VbUZ
That was just a warm-up, though. Given the shooter’s obsession with supporting Ukraine, it was just a matter of time before the most Ukraine-centric political hacks among us chimed in. On that front, Adam Kinzinger decided to lock replies and post that it was Trump’s fault Routh tried to kill him.
Look violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place.
But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power. Since Trump showed up our politics has gone to crap.
Literally just accused a group of people of eating our pets.
So stop
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) September 16, 2024
There’s no sugar-coating it. Hours after another attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Kinzinger decided to wink and nod at his crazed followers that everything would be fine if the former president went away. That is the kind of rhetoric that has led us to this point. The idea that commenting on what is happening in Springfield, OH, is somehow an excuse for political violence is insane.
Kinzinger: “Look, isn’t it really Trump’s fault that libs keep trying to shoot him?” https://t.co/RSIfJJSroA
‘I Don’t Like Trump Either’: Son Of Suspect In Latest Assassination Attempt Defends His Dad– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
There has been plenty of social media speculation regarding the possible motive for a shooting near where President Donald Trump was playing golf on Sunday.
A suspect was arrested shortly after the incident, and his previous online posts have provided some context surrounding his political views. Now his son is speaking out and echoing his father’s obvious disdain for Trump.
Oran Routh told the Daily Mail that his father, Ryan Routh, who was arrested in the alleged assassination attempt, isn’t a fan of the Republican nominee.
“I don’t like Trump either,” he added.
But the younger Routh, 35, insisted his dad is not violent and said he was shocked to hear about the allegations.
“He’s my dad and all he’s had is couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,” the son told the Daily Mail. “That’s crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.”
“He’s not a violent person,” Oran Routh also said. “He’s a hard worker and a great dad. He’s a great dude, a nice guy and has worked his whole f–king life.”
Hannity USSS ‘pounced’ on Trump after gunshots fired near ex-president– www.foxnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity spoke with former President Trump on Sunday moments after an apparent assassination attempt in Florida and gave grim details on what may have been the second attempt on Trump’s life in just two months.
Hannity joined fellow hosts Eric Shawn and Arthel Neville as the news was breaking, telling viewers he had just spoken with Trump and Miami real estate developer Steven Witkoff, who were on the fifth hole at about 1:30 p.m. when shots rang out at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
Elon Musk’s Post After Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt Sparks Backlash – Newsweek Source Link Excerpt:
Elon Musk has faced backlash after writing, “No one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” following an apparent second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
On Sunday evening, a shooter attempted to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, the FBI said. No injuries have been reported, according to the Associated Press, which cited a spokesperson for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Following the attack, user @cb_doge on X, formerly Twitter, wrote, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump.” Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media site who supports Trump, replied, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
THE FIRST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Democrat Sen Richard Blumenthal threatens to subpoena Biden-Harris DHS for ‘stonewalling’ investigation into Trump assassination attempts | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“[DHS is] almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information that are necessary to investigate.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who is leading a probe into the now two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, has threatened to use “subpoena power” to force the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop “stonewalling” his committee with its requests for information regarding the two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
Blumenthal is chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) under the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC). He said on Monday that DHS has been stonewalling the subcommittee and said the Biden-Harris department is “almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information that are necessary to investigate.” The senior Democrat said he is “angry” at the way he and the committee have been brushed off by the DHS.
“We may need to require more cooperation from them. And we have the power to do so through the compulsory process. In other words, the subpoena power,” he said, Just the News reported Tuesday.
Americans Will be ‘Appalled’ by Security Failures in Trump Assassination Attempt Report– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Secret Service gave senators a report on its investigation into the security failures at Donald Trump’s rally where someone tried to kill him.
I’d say he’s itching for the Senate to release their interim report:
“I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president,” Blumenthal told Fox News. “But I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank, as it should be to them in terms of providing information.”
The Latest: FBI says gunman in Trump assassination attempt saw ‘target of opportunity’
A senior FBI official says the gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a “target of opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are kicking off a two-day bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday that will snake through rural areas in the southern part of the state before culminating in a big rally in the coastal city of Savannah.
The Democratic ticket will meet with supporters, campaign staff, small business owners and voters.
Donald Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was carrying detonator connected to explosives hidden in car
Crooks opened fire at the rally in Pennsylvania killing a Trump supporter and grazing the Republican’s ear. An image initially published by Pittsburgh’s WPXI revealed the detonator, a rectangular gray device resembling a TV remote control, next to the gunman’s mobile phone.
NEW WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGATION: Secret Service Failed to Properly Train Agents Assigned to Candidate Details, Trump Rally
Yesterday U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe following new whistleblower allegations that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents who partnered with the Secret Service for protective details were improperly trained. Reports indicate that this deficient training extended to the Butler, Pa., rally where former president Donald Trump was shot.
“Whistleblower allegations to my office report that the only training received by many HSI agents reassigned to work protective details is a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams featuring pre-recorded videos,” wrote Senator Hawley. “The whistleblower alleged that these videos were not substantive and their playback was frequently riddled with technical mishaps, leaving the HSI agents ill-prepared for the protective mission to which they were newly assigned.”
He continued, “[A]ll of these allegations together suggest that a significant number of personnel tasked with providing security for former President Trump at the July 13 rally were egregiously under-prepared by the Secret Service to carry out this mission. Moreover, these latest whistleblower allegations contend HSI agents were pulled off child exploitation cases in order to serve on protective details for which they were unprepared.”
Donald Trump Says Assassination Attempt Has Had ‘No Impact’ on Him: ‘I Don’t Think About It a Lot’
Almost two months after Donald Trumpwas shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, the ex-prez, 78, is reflecting on how the event affects him today.
“It’s had no impact,” he told the Daily Mail of how he’s been coping. “It’s just amazing.”
Trump said he hasn’t suffered any flashbacks or had bad dreams since then event, adding that he hasn’t felt the need to go to counseling.
“I have not had any, I must tell you,” he said of therapy. “I don’t think about it a lot. It healed up.”
Trump insisted that the pivotal moment was meant to happen to him.
“And you know what I’d love to think, I would love to think it’s God, and it’s God doing it because he wants to save America,” he said. “He sees what’s happening. God sees what’s happening in America. We’re going bad as a country. Even with religion, we’re going bad.”
“You look at the charts, and I would like to say that it is God that saved me. It wasn’t just just luck, but the reason would be that he saved me, because I can save this country. I hope that’s right,” he added.
Palmer: ‘Lax’ Trump security during attempted assassination ‘raises some serious questions’
Almost two months have passed since former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated during a presidential rally in Butler, Pa., and questions still remain about how security failed to protect the GOP presidential nominee from harm’s way.
In an interview on Thursday’s broadcast of FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) said the “lax” security on July 13 in Pennsylvania “raises some serious questions” about whether it was “intentional” or “incompetence” from poor training.
“[C]ertainly there appears to be some ambivalence about it, about his security. This was not a site that would easily be secured because of the number of buildings and other issues there. But they certainly, I think, were very lax in their security plan,” Palmer outlined. “It had numerous holes in it, and that’s something that I don’t understand, Jeff, is when you’re charged with the protection of someone that high-profile … very likely the next President of the United States, and you leave that many gaps in your security plan, that raises some serious questions.”
Bombshell congressional report on Trump assassination attempt reveals ‘who REALLY took the first shot at Thomas Crooks
A bombshell congressional report claims would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was incapacitated by a local cop before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Two months after Crooks shot the former president’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a preliminary report from Rep. Clay Higgins offered a differing narrative to the official one pushed by the FBI.
The House task force investigating the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a Butler rally in July seeks to interview local law enforcement officers and review a host of related documents and communications, including medical reports on the gunman killed by a Secret Service sniper.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, the task force chairman, and ranking member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., sent several letters Tuesday requesting records on planning, operations and communications from Butler County and Beaver County agencies that were supporting the U.S. Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police at the rally.
The task force leaders asked the local law enforcement teams to make members available for interviews by Sept. 30. The names of those requested for interviews were redacted “to protect the privacy of law enforcement officers,” the lawmakers wrote. The group previously sent federal and state agencies similar requests for documents, and visited the Butler site last week.
House panel investigating Trump shooting presses local law enforcement for transcribed interviews
The House task force investigating the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump is requesting transcribed interviews with local law enforcement officials who were on duty during the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The panel sent five letters to local law enforcement and local officials seeking access to all documents and communications related to the rally, including those involved with the planning and preparation, post-events, and correspondence. The task force is requesting the interviews be completed by the end of the month, although it’s not entirely clear how many officials are being asked to appear before the panel…
The letters come a week after the task force visited the rally site on Aug. 26 and made an extensive records request to the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. Those letters requested access to documents detailing the preparation and security decision-making in the hours leading up to the rally and agents’ responses once the shooting began. Lawmakers are also pushing for interviews with several Secret Service personnel who were on duty and responsible for the security detail that day.
Following up the Israeli operation against Hezbollah leaders through blowing up rigged electronic devices like pages, Nicolas Maduro, the embattled President of Venezuela, is warning members of his government to avoid accepting any electronics gifts. He stated in a Presidential speech on national tv, “Do not accept electronic gifts… be careful with telephones, cellphones, be careful everyone.”
Maduro issues Christmas gift warning — RT World News– www.rt.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Venezuelan leader has pointed to recent pager blasts in Lebanon, while urging caution for the upcoming festive period
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned members of his government against accepting electronic devices as Christmas presents.
Maduro’s comments at a meeting on Venezuelan culture in Caracas on Friday followed a series of deadly explosions involving communications equipment in Lebanon last week.
”Do not accept electronic gifts… be careful with telephones, cellphones, be careful everyone,” the president said during a speech broadcast on national television.
EU’s recognition of González as winner in Venezuela vote historic, opposition leader tells Euronews– www.euronews.com Source Link Excerpt:
The European Parliament’s decision showed Europe is with us, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said in an exclusive interview…
On Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favour of a non-binding resolution stating that González, not Maduro, is the legitimate winner of the presidential election.
The partnerships with Russia, Cuba and Iran, as well as oil, gold and drug trafficking and human rights violations, have put Venezuela among countries antagonist to the interests of the West.
In an exclusive interview, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, told Euronews why Venezuela is crucial for European interests and why the decision in Brussels matters so much to her and her compatriots.
September 18, 2024
Venezuela’s government says 4th US citizen detained in alleged plot to kill president – POLITICO Source Link Excerpt:
Venezuela’s government Tuesday announced the arrest of a fourth U.S. citizen in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolás Maduro in which authorities claim the CIA, Spain’s intelligence agency, organized crime groups, sex workers and members of the opposition are involved.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello revealed the arrest and details of the plot during a speech before the National Assembly, whose members applauded the detention. Cabello did not identify the most recently detained American.
The alleged plan joins dozens of other anti-Maduro plans that his government earlier this year claimed to have foiled.
“Those who try to mess with Venezuela, we will screw them, regardless of their name,” Cabello said.
He spoke hours after an independent panel of experts backed by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council issued a scathing report against Maduro’s government, accusing it of deploying the “harshest and most violent mechanisms of its repressive apparatus” in the wake of the disputed July presidential election.
Venezuela intensified ‘repressive machinery’ after Maduro re-election: UN | Nicolas Maduro News– www.aljazeera.com Source Link Excerpt:
Venezuela’s government has unleashed an unprecedented wave of repression following the contested re-election of Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential election, a United Nations fact-finding mission has reported.
Maduro’s victory in the disputed vote saw authorities crack down on the opposition and protesters, the mission said in its report released on Tuesday. The response of the authorities has thrown the country into one of its most “acute human rights crises in recent history” the report by the UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR) warned.
Amid weeks of unrest on Venezuela’s streets, 25 protesters were killed and at least 2,400 arrested, the report said.
“We are witnessing an intensification of the state’s repressive machinery in response to what it perceives as critical views, opposition or dissent,” said Marta Valinas, chair of the fact-finding mission.
Twenty-four out of the 25 deaths were caused by gunshot wounds, mostly to the neck, the mission reported. Many of those arrested, including more than 100 children, “were accused of terrorism and incitement to hatred”, it noted.
“These arrests involved and were followed by serious violations of due process, reaching unprecedented levels in the country,” the report read.
Venezuelan leaders accuse the CIA of trying to overthrow the government – wbhm.org Source Link Excerpt:
Top Venezuelan officials are accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow the government and assassinate President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan authorities arrested six people, including three Americans in the alleged plot.
U.S. State Department officials call the accusation “categorically false.”
Venezuela says US Navy SEAL among foreigners arrested over alleged CIA ‘operation’ to assassinate Maduro – CNN Source Link Excerpt:
Venezuela says it has arrested six foreigners, including a US Navy SEAL, for an alleged plot to “destabilize” the country that has been in crisis since disputed elections earlier this year.
Interior minister Diosdado Cabello claimed that the alleged plot was led by the CIA, and aimed at assassinating the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro. The US State Department rejected the claim as “categorically false.”
In a news conference on Saturday, Cabello identified the purported Navy SEAL as William Joseph Castañeda Gómez, and claimed he was the leader of the operation. The minister also named two other detained Americans: David Estrella and Aaron Barrett Logan.
The minister said that in addition to the Americans, two Spanish citizens – José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme – and one Czech citizen, Jan Darmovzal, were arrested. Venezuelan authorities have also seized 400 US rifles linked to the alleged plot, he said.
“The CIA is at the forefront of this operation,” Cabello said in the news conference, claiming that Spain’s National Intelligence Center was also involved. “That does not surprise us at all,” he said.
He alleged that the operation had “very clear objectives of assassinating President Nicolás Maduro” and other high-ranking Venezuelan politicians including himself and the vice president.
The State Department denied the claims. A spokesperson confirmed on Saturday a member of the US military had been arrested in Venezuela, and that the department was “aware of unconfirmed reports of two additional US citizens detained” in the country.
“Any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false,” the spokesperson added. “The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”
The department is seeking additional information, the spokesperson said.
A Spanish foreign ministry source told Reuters it was asking Venezuela for more information.
“The Spanish embassy has sent a verbal note to the Venezuelan government asking for access to the detained citizens in order to verify their identities and their nationality and in order to know what they are accused of exactly,” the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Venezuela is still grappling with the fallout from its presidential election in July, which saw Maduro claim a third term despite global skepticism about the result and outcry from the country’s opposition movement.
The coalition backing opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez insists the vote was stolen, publishing online vote tally sheets which experts say indicate Maduro actually lost the presidency by a significant margin.
The US has acknowledged Gonzalez as the candidate who received the most votes in that election, but has not formally recognized him as president-elect of Venezuela.
Last week, Gonzalez flew to Spain, fleeing Venezuela after an arrest warrant was issued accusing him of terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes.
On Thursday, the US imposed sanctions on Venezuelan officials aligned with Maduro for allegedly obstructing the election.
The US also announced that a Venezuelan plane used by Maduro for international travel was seized in the Dominican Republic; a second plane linked to Maduro is under 24-hour surveillance by authorities in the Dominican Republic, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
Meanwhile inside the country, Maduro’s government has cracked down on dissent – the harshest crackdown in years, according to Human Rights Watch. Protests have been fiercely repressed, some 2,400 people have been arrested, and many others are now fleeing the country.
Venezuela opposition leader Machado wants US to do ‘much more’ on election dispute
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday she wants the United States to do “much more” to press President Nicolas Maduro amid an ongoing dispute over July’s presidential election.
Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government’s handling of the July 28 vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro, who has been in power since 2013. Authorities have not released full tallies, blaming a cyber attack.
Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader Gonzalez, AG Says
Venezuela’s attorney general’s office said on Monday a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of incitement and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July election.
Venezuela opposition wants candidate recognized as president-elect
Venezuela’s opposition chief Maria Corina Machado on Thursday called on the world to recognize candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as president-elect after a disputed election in the oil-rich nation.
President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in the July 28 vote but many in the international community have refused to recognize that result.
However, they have also stopped short of accepting Gonzalez Urrutia as the president-elect, instead calling for Caracas to publish detailed polling results.
“The world knows Edmundo Gonzalez is the president-elect and Maduro was defeated by a landslide,” Machado said during a virtual appearance.
Canada still hasn’t recognized the likely winner of Venezuela’s election — Venezuelans want to know why – cbc.ca
Some Venezuelan-Canadians say the Trudeau government has failed to stand up for democracy in its response to the July 28 Venezuelan presidential election — an election tainted by widespread evidence of fraud and a government campaign of arrests, disappearances and torture of poll workers.
Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ruled out seeking asylum abroad yesterday after a judge loyal to the Nicolas Maduro regime issued a warrant for his arrest on Monday.
Global Affairs Canada condemned the arrest warrant in a media statement. Gonzalez was still in hiding when this article was published.
According to digitized returns, Gonzalez’s unified opposition won the great majority of votes in the election. But his victory has been rejected by the Maduro regime, which claims to have received 51 per cent of the vote. It is backed by Venezuela’s courts and its National Election Commission, both packed with hand-picked Maduro loyalists.
While Gonzalez and his partner, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, have refused international protection, they have asked for international recognition.
International leaders condemn arrest order for Venezuelan opposition leader
Foreign leaders, including in the United States and Brazil, have reacted with alarm and warnings after Venezuela issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia this week.
On Tuesday, Canada joined in the outcry, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro continues to crack down on opposition members after a contested presidential election…
Maduro’s government declared him the winner of the July 28 presidential election, with nearly 52 percent of the vote. But unlike in past elections, it did not release vote tallies to back up that claim.
US seizes aircraft used by Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro
Washington has seized a private aircraft used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, citing alleged violations of US export controls and sanctions laws. The Department of Justice on Monday said the Dassault Falcon 900EX plane had been seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to southern Florida.
“This morning, the justice department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13mn through a shell company and smuggled out of the US for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” said US attorney-general Merrick Garland.
The DoJ’s move comes as Maduro, a revolutionary socialist in power since 2013, has been cracking down on the opposition following allegations his government rigged the count to steal victory in July’s presidential election in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition faces setback after countries suggest repeat of presidential election
Venezuela’s opposition was dealt a blow Thursday when countries that had been pressuring President Nicolás Maduro to release vote tallies backing his claim to victory in last month’s presidential election began suggesting a repeat of the contest instead.
The proposal from the leftist governments of Brazil and Colombia, both Maduro allies, came less than three weeks after the results of the highly anticipated election came into question when the main opposition coalition revealed it has proof that its candidate defeated the president by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
The opposition categorically rejected any plan to redo the election.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, during a virtual news conference with Argentine media, said that repeating the July 28 presidential election would be “an insult” to the people, and she asked if a second election were held and Maduro still didn’t accept the results, “do we go for a third one?”
Venezuela AG received affidavit from opposition leader, lawyer says
The lawyer for Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said on Wednesday the attorney general’s office received his affidavit explaining why Gonzalez ignored three summons, amid an ongoing election dispute.
The summons came before an arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez, the opposition’s erstwhile presidential candidate, on Monday on accusations of usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents and conspiracy, among other charges.
Venezuelan dictator decrees Oct. 1 to be start of Christmas season: Church responds
“This year, in homage and gratitude to you, I am going to decree that the Christmas season [begins] on Oct. 1,” declared Nicolás Maduro, leader of the ruling socialist regime in Venezuela, Sept. 2 on national television.
“For everyone, Christmas has arrived with peace, happiness, and security,” Maduro added. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, this is not the first time the socialist regime has done this, as in 2019, 2020, and 2021 it also decreed the “advance” of the Christmas season.
Maduro’s announcement came just hours after the Venezuelan justice system issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González Urrutia, who won the July 28 presidential elections by a wide margin, according to vote tallies published by the opposition. However, the National Electoral Council, controlled by the governing socialist party, declared Maduro the winner.
Major power outage hits Venezuela; Maduro government blames ‘sabotage’
A major power outage plunged much of Venezuela into darkness on Friday, affecting the capital, Caracas, and several other states. The blackout, which began around 4:50 a.m., was blamed on “electrical sabotage” by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement shared via Telegram, Communications Minister Freddy Nanez attributed the outage to what he described as a “desperate” effort by Maduro’s opponents to remove him from power. Nanez claimed that all 24 states in Venezuela were at least partially affected by the power disruption. “The entire national government has been activated to overcome this new aggression,” he declared.
By evening, power had been restored to many parts of Caracas after a day marked by intermittent outages. President Maduro, appearing on state television, expressed gratitude to Venezuelans for their patience during a chaotic day that saw businesses close, hospitals switch to backup generators, and Caracas’ subway system shut down, leaving thousands stranded.
US service member detained in Venezuela, officials say
A US service member has been detained in Venezuela, according to four US officials familiar with the matter.
The service member, a US Navy sailor, is a US citizen and was detained on August 30 in Caracas, according to the officials. One of the officials said he is being held by the Venezuelan intelligence agency SEBIN.
A defense official told CNN, “we are aware of reports that a US Navy Sailor was detained on or about August 30, 2024, by Venezuelan law enforcement authorities while on personal travel to Venezuela. The US Navy is looking into this and working closely with the State Department. We refer you to the State Department for additional questions.”
Venezuela election fallout will worsen refugee crisis, Hopkins expert says
Venezuela has been ruled by dictators for nearly a quarter century, first under Hugo Chavez, and now under his protege, Nicolas Maduro. Their regimes have suppressed free speech, throttled the economy, committed untold human rights violations, and, in typical dictator fashion, ignored election results to remain in power. Maduro recently ran for reelection against Edmundo González, a stand-in for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was arbitrarily banned from running by the government. Exit polls indicate that the incredibly popular Gonzalez beat Maduro by 30 points, yet on July 28, Maduro declared himself the winner. In more than a month since, his government has provided no proof of victory but has cracked down on dissent, arresting around 2,000 protestors.
The SNF Agora‘s Dissident in Residence, David Smolansky, has firsthand experience with Maduro’s oppressive governance. Before seeking refuge in the United States, the native Venezuelan was elected mayor of El Hatillo, one of the five municipalities in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in 2013. During his mayoral tenure, he reduced kidnappings in his district by 84%, gained recognition for establishing one of the most transparent local governments in Venezuela, and used his platform to condemn the Maduro administration.
International leaders condemn arrest order for Venezuelan opposition leader
Foreign leaders, including in the United States and Brazil, have reacted with alarm and warnings after Venezuela issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia this week.
On Tuesday, Canada joined in the outcry, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro continues to crack down on opposition members after a contested presidential election…
Maduro’s government declared him the winner of the July 28 presidential election, with nearly 52 percent of the vote. But unlike in past elections, it did not release vote tallies to back up that claim.
Islamic State group claims responsibility for knife attack in Solingen, Germany that killed 3
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany that killed three people and wounded eight others at a crowded festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary.
The group said Saturday on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and is a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the assaults Friday night “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
The IS claim couldn’t immediately be verified. No evidence for the group’s assertions was provided.
Police later detained a suspect, the state internal affairs minister of North Rhein Westphalia said early Sunday.
Germany knife attack: Police make 2nd arrest in stabbings
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a knife attack in the German city of Solingen that killed three people and wounded eight others.
Some 24 hours after the attack, police said they made a second arrest on Saturday evening as part of a police operation at a home for refugees in Solingen. Police said they could not provide more details on the individual or its connection to the incident.
Police earlier on Saturday detained a teenager who they said may be connected with the attack but said the perpetrator was still at large.
Describing the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State,” the militant group said in a statement on its Telegram account: “He carried out the attack in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
German feds take over festival stabbing case, citing suspected terrorism
German federal prosecutors took over the investigation Sunday of a stabbing rampage in the city of Solingen that left three people dead, citing terrorism as the suspected motive.
A 26-year-old Syrian man turned himself in to police late Saturday after a day-long manhunt that included a search of refugee housing in the city center, said Raimund Dockter, a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police, in a telephone interview Sunday.
Federal prosecutors on Sunday identified the suspect as Issa Al H., not releasing his full last name because of Germany’s privacy laws, and said he is “strongly suspected of membership in a terrorist organization abroad” — referring to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the assault Saturday.
Germany festival stabbing: Manhunt after three killed in knife attack
German police were on Saturday night hunting for a knifeman who deliberately cut at his victims’ necks in a suspected terror attack at a diversity festival that left three people dead…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has issued search warrants targeting a number of Democrat activists in Bexar County, the state’s fourth-highest populated county, which includes the major city of San Antonio. The searches involve alleged ballot box voter tampering.
Paxton stated, “We are completely committed to protecting the security of the ballot box and the integrity of every legal vote. This means ensuring accountability for anyone committing election crimes.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) office executed search warrants in one of the state’s largest urban counties — and biggest Democratic strongholds — where it alleges vote tampering.
On Tuesday, the attorney general’s office searched offices in Bexar County, the state’s fourth most populous county and the home of San Antonio.
The office said the searches followed a two-year investigation and that “secure elections are the cornerstone of our republic.”
The searches came amid a broader push by Paxton to prosecute election fraud — a campaign that in 2023 spent $2.3 million to prosecute just four cases, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“We are completely committed to protecting the security of the ballot box and the integrity of every legal vote. This means ensuring accountability for anyone committing election crimes,” Paxton said in a statement.
The office said the case was referred by state District Attorney Audrey Louis, a conservative Republican whose district abuts Bexar.
Louis made that referral in 2022, after a unanimous 2021 ruling by the Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA). Appellate court judges found that Paxton could not unilaterally investigate election crimes and required him to only prosecute such cases in conjunction with a local DA — a ruling that drove Paxton to urge supporters to flood the court with calls.
Trump Vows Return To Butler Assassination Attempt Area
Former President Donald Trump dropped new details Monday night about his plans to return to the place where he nearly died last month.
During an interview with Elon Musk on X, Trump vowed to return to Butler for a rally in October. He said he will finish his July 13 address that was cut short because of the assassination attempt at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
Trump did not provide a specific date for the rally or divulge its location.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, suffered a wounded ear in the incident in which three spectators were shot, one fatally.
The Biden administration is setting up more areas for Mexicans to apply online to become the latest spate of illegal aliens using an illegal loophole through America’s asylum program. That program was designed to allow people under existential political threat at their home country to apply for asylum in America, not to make it easy for the government to allow economic refugees to flood into the country.
The Biden administration will expand areas where migrants can apply online for appointments to enter the United States to a large swath of southern Mexico, officials said Saturday, potentially easing strains on the Mexican government and lessening dangers for people trying to reach the U.S. border to claim asylum.
Migrants will be able to schedule appointments on the CBP One app from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, extending the zone from northern and central Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The move satisfies a request of Mexico, an increasingly close partner of the U.S. in efforts to control extraordinary migration flows.
The change will spare migrants from traveling north through Mexico to get one of 1,450 appointments made available daily, CBP said. The agency said it will happen soon but did not give a date.
“We consistently engage with our partners in the Government of Mexico and work together to adjust policies and practices in response to the latest migration trends and security needs,” CBP said in a statement.
The statement confirmed remarks a day earlier by Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, who said closer relations with the United States cut migration sharply from late last year.
U.S. officials have said increased Mexican enforcement is largely responsible for a sharp drop in U.S. arrests for illegal border crossings during the first half of this year. Mexican officials have stepped up their presence at highway checkpoints and on railroads leading to the U.S. border, returning most to southern Mexico.
U.S. hands over the last military base in Niger to the ruling junta
The U.S. handed over its last military base in Niger – one of two crucial hubs for American counterterrorism operations in the country – to local authorities, the U.S. Department of Defense and Niger’s Ministry of Defense announced in a joint statement on Monday.
The handing over of Airbase 201 in the city of Agadez came after the U.S. troops withdrew earlier this month from Airbase 101, a small drone base in Niger’s capital of Niamey.
U.S. troops have until Sept. 15 to leave the Sahel country following an agreement with Nigerien authorities.
There are about two dozen American soldiers who remain in Niger, largely for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, according to Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon spokeswoman. They are located at the U.S. embassy.
In March, Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials of the two countries announced in a joint statement that U.S. troops would complete their withdrawal by the middle of September.
Was it Hunter with the cocaine in the cabinet room? Ashley with the cocaine in the Oval Office? Or was it a stranger with access to the White House reference library? The mystery of the cocaine found in the White House over the July 4, 2023, holiday was closed for lack of evidence almost as soon as it began. But now there are revelations of a cover-up in the case.
A new report finds that former director Kim Cheatle, forced to resign over the disastrous near-assassination of Donald Trump, wanted the evidence destroyed, the substance not tested, and the case closed quickly. This was despite the high profile nature of the story — the evacuation of the entire White House, including the media, due to fears that the white powder, which a uniformed Secret Service agent discovered, was ricin or anthrax.
Having been on the Biden’s Secret Service detail, Cheatle probably knew what it was.
The story exploded into the media as gowned-up people in hazmat bunny suits combed the White House.
The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered a suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing.
On July 2, 2023, the U.S. Secret Service discovered a small amount of cocaine at the White House. The substance was found in a cubby area inside a vestibule used for storing electronic devices at the West Executive Avenue entrance, a location that sees a lot of traffic from staff and visitors. Tests by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services later confirmed the presence of cocaine.
Despite extensive forensic efforts, including fingerprint and DNA analysis by the FBI, no conclusive evidence was found to identify a suspect. The area where the cocaine was discovered is accessible to hundreds of people, and the lack of surveillance footage capturing the act made it impossible to pinpoint who might have brought the substance into the White House. As a result, the Secret Service closed the investigation due to insufficient evidence to proceed further.
According to three sources in the Secret Service community who spoke to RealClearPolitics, there was a significant rift among top leaders over how to handle the illicit substance. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, along with other senior figures, reportedly pushed to destroy the cocaine. However, the suggestion was met with firm resistance from both the Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division, who insisted on preserving the evidence.
The Secret Service has denied a report that former Director Kimberly Cheatle and other agency leaders wanted to destroy cocaine found in the White House.
“This is false. The US Secret Service takes its investigative and protective responsibilities very seriously,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “There are retention policies for criminal investigations and the Secret Service adhered to those requirements during this case.”
A story in RealClearPolitics cited three anonymous sources within the Secret Service who claimed that Cheatle, who recently resigned in the fallout from the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, reassigned an officer who wanted to follow a specific crime scene investigative protocol after the discovery. Guglielmi’s statement did not address that aspect of the report.
Aside from the novelty of illicit drugs being found inside the executive mansion, troubled first son Hunter Biden was staying in the White House in the days before the cocaine was discovered on July 2 and then publicly reported on July 4, sparking questions about the source of the drugs.
The initial discovery triggered a brief evacuation of the White House grounds as the substance was tested to rule out the possibility it was anthrax or another deadly powder. Because the evacuation included members of the press, it became impossible to keep the discovery hidden from the public.
Local law enforcement alerted the U.S. Secret Service about a suspicious person before the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, according to the chief of the Pennsylvania State Police.
During questioning at the House Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris disclosed new details about the security lapse that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump. The incident resulted in one death and two injuries.
Col. Christopher Paris stated that the Butler County Emergency Services Unit had a text thread discussing the suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and had reported him as a suspicious person before the incident.
“At some point when he utilized the range-finder, the suspicion was heightened,” Col. Paris said of Crooks. He said that State Police got a call and a text from the emergency services unit about the suspected gunman’s activity and told the Secret Service.
State Police officials had “verbally turned right around and gave it to the Secret Service” at a local command post for security, Col. Paris said, adding, “My understanding was that he was milling about and he stood out to them because he never made his way to a point of ingress to the venue.”
The police chief also testified that two local law enforcement officers stationed in the building complex left to search for the suspect before the shooting. He added that he didn’t know if the officers would have seen Crooks climbing onto the roof of a nearby building had they stayed by the window.
This is a special section of our Global Outlook Report covering the historic attempted assassination of former President and 2024 Presidential nominee Donald J Trump. These are the headlines and links to the stories revealing how the assassination attempt was initially reported, as well as the immediate consequence of the assassination attempt, and up-to-date links on the fallout, including the end of the Biden campaign and the beginning of the Kamala campaign.
ED.NOTE: We will be providing an in-depth report on the Trump assassination attempt and the Biden drop-out in the SEPTEMBER 2024 Issue. The October 2024 Issue will be a special election-focused issue.
THE INITIAL COVERAGE – On Sunday, July 14, 2024, a 20-year-old man named Thomas Cooke managed to get in a choice sniper position to be able to open fire on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, PA. Trump’s head movement appears to have saved him from certain death as the bullet ripped through his ear. One participant was killed, and two others were critically (now stable) wounded.
Since that moment, President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 race, Kamala Harris was coronated the new nominee without a primary, and the media appears desperate to bury this historic story altogether, lest Trump become too human to the American people.
RFK Jr.’s Secret Service protection ends after suspended campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his third-party presidential bid last week and endorsed former President Donald Trump, has lost his Secret Service protection following the decision to leave the race, his campaign said.
“Mr. Kennedy no longer has USSS,” Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s press secretary, told CBS News.
In remarks in Phoenix on Friday, Kennedy said he was backing Trump because he could see no viable path to the White House. And although he said he wasn’t “terminating” his campaign — remaining on the ballot in some noncompetitive states — he pledged to remove his name from states where he could be a spoiler. Kennedy was on the ballot in more than 20 states when he suspended his White House bid.
President Biden directed the Secret Service to afford protection to Kennedy after the assassination attempt against Trump in July. Kennedy’s campaign had long requested the protection for the independent presidential candidate — an issue that was especially acute for Kennedy, whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s.
First outdoor Trump rally since assassination attempt: Why Asheboro?
The Republican ticket sees North Carolina as pivotal for the election, according to local political analysts.
The state as a whole is already important: The UVA Center recently moved the state from Republican to a toss-up this week. It now joins a list of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada: states that will “almost certainly” decide who wins the race, experts said.
In 2020, Trump won Randolph County by 78%.
Watch our interview with Wake Forest University professor John Dinan above to learn more.
Also at the rally, our team noted portable storage and moving vans blocking off the event. There were several law enforcement officers patrolling the area, too.
Video from Trump rally released by Butler Township police available on Eagle’s YouTube channel in its entirety
Body camera and dash camera footage taken by the Butler Township Police Department at the campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on July 13 is now available in its entirety via Butler Eagle’s YouTube channel.
The complete videos, acquired via a right-to-know request earlier this month, were posted Wednesday, Aug. 21 with editing only done to blur graphic scenes and remove foul language in the audio.
The 12 videos were released by the local police department on Aug. 8. Some of the videos were blurred prior to their release to the Eagle.
Washington Post was one of the first to use what became the leftist-approved label of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling it a “Trump rally shooting” to subliminally have Trump’s rallies associated with violence. The hope is to trick the willing-to-be-tricked that the political violence witnessed is the fault of the man who was shot, which is comparable to blaming a rape victim for being raped because “she was asking for it.”
Al Jazeera, a representative of an Islamist ideology that seeks to destroy the American republic, echoes the same type of careful language to assure no sympathy is garnered for the enemy they share with the Progmerican left, Donald J Trump.
Mother Jones took two shots at titling the news event, and both times show their allegiance with the shooter, and their blind hatred of the former President.
Trump shooter Thomas Crooks had encrypted messaging accounts in Belgium, Germany, New Zealand
Trump rally gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks used encrypted messaging accounts on various platforms located in Belgium, New Zealand and Germany, according to a member of a congressional task force investigating his assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), one of 13 lawmakers tapped to serve on the House bipartisan task force, told reporters at a Wednesday press conference at the Trump Hotel Chicago that the “overseas accounts” piqued his suspicion immediately regarding the shooter’s motives.”
“Why does a 19-year-old kid who is a health care aid need encrypted platforms not even based in the United States, but based abroad – where most terrorist organizations know it is harder for our law enforcement to get into?” asked Waltz.
Attempted Trump assassin Thomas Crooks trained at same gun range used by DHS
Attempted Trump assassin Thomas Crooks practiced shooting at his preferred gun range the day before the Department of Homeland Security conducted a training there — just two months before he opened fire at the former president’s rally.
Crooks, 20, visited the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania on May 22 around 3:10 p.m., where he practiced alone at the rifle range, according to a club logbook obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office.
The very next day, beginning at noon, DHS conducted a “police training” at the range with at least three people, club records show.
Clairton’s rifle range where Crooks would have practiced is 200 yards long — more than enough space for him to practice the 150-yard shot he would take at Trump on July 13, wounding the former president and killing a bystander.
It is unclear whether DHS regularly held trainings there, or if the May 23 visit was an uncommon occurrence.
The plot continues to thicken regarding Thomas Crooks:
Matthew Crooks is interested in guns and has sold firearms to family members in the past, the source told the Mail. “The FBI still very much has questions about how much they knew and how [Thomas Crooks] slipped through the net,” the individual said.
Quinn Logue specializes in both criminal and civil law, including wrongful death and personal injury, according to its website.
Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. The 20-year-old, who shot Trump in the ear, also killed attendee Corey Comperatore and injured two others. Crooks was shot dead by a sniper at the scene.
The FBI is still investigating how Crooks was able to carry out the shooting from a rooftop near the rally stage. The FBI briefed Trump on their investigation earlier this month, revealing that they still don’t have a clear motive, ABC News reported. However, Crooks may have targetted Trump just because he was the next big-name politician to come to Pennsylvania.
Why would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks remains an infuriating enigma weeks after shooting
However, it’s clear from congressional hearings — and the details that have emerged from FBI briefings with lawmakers — that investigators still have no satisfying answers for why Crooks targeted Trump.
The glacial pace of new information coming to light has been frustrating for Crooks’ neighbors, who are still waiting for answers after the shocking discovery that they were living next to a killer who plotted to murder a leading candidate for president.
“I would love to know what really happened and what Thomas’ motivation was,” neighbor Kelly Little, 39, told The Post.
“Domestic terrorism is very real. We deserve to know what happened, but I don’t know if we’re ever going to get a straight answer.”
The FBI seized a laptop, two cellphones and multiple hard drives and flash drives from Crooks’ house.via Chuck Grassley’s Office
Little said their calm suburban street has grown quiet again after being thrust into the center of a media and police firestorm last month.
“It’s been weeks since police were here. There’s nothing happening, no police activity,” she said, noting that although local cops drive by occasionally, there are no officers stationed there long-term.
Crooks’ parents have been keeping to themselves since the shooting, which neighbors said was pretty much par for the course even before the events at the Trump rally in Butler.
Rep. Mike Waltz Who Is Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt Reveals Thomas Crooks Acted With Help From Foreign Entity
Republican Rep. Mike Waltz told the Daily Mail that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump, might not have acted alone.
The Congressional task force’s ongoing investigation has raised significant concerns about possible foreign involvement in the attack.
Rep. Waltz stressed that the motivations behind Crooks’ actions are still uncertain, hinting that a foreign entity or another third party might be involved.
“I don’t understand, and I don’t have any answers yet to help me understand how the [Secret] Service and DHS came out so quickly and said – and I think the FBI as well, but I’ll have to check that – and said, he operated alone,” Waltz told Daily Mail at Trump Tower in Chicago on Wednesday.
Waltz told The Post Wednesday that he does not believe the agencies have been able to dig up enough information on the 20-year-old gunman to determine for certain that he did not have help planning and carrying out the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.
“We’ve heard both the Secret Service and the FBI kind of phrase it in different ways — that everything they’ve seen he acted alone and that they have yet to find any co-conspirator,” Waltz (R-Fla.) told The Post in an exclusive interview following an FBI briefing Wednesday.
New Thomas Crooks Video Appears to Show Him Hours Before Trump Shooting
In a chilling development, newly uncovered footage appears to show Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump, wandering around the site of the Butler, Pennsylvania rally just hours before his deadly attack on July 13, 2024.
The video, which has surfaced on social media platforms, was reportedly captured by a small business owner selling patriotic hats at the event. The merchant, who has not been identified, made the startling discovery while reviewing their footage from that fateful day.
The TikTok video, which has since gone viral, is captioned with an ominous message: “Terrifying moment… Looking back at my videos from the PA Butler Trump rally on 7/13/24… we were there just trying to sell our patriotic hats…”
The footage then transitions to a slow-motion clip of a man believed to be Crooks, with text overlay stating, “Captured a video of Thomas Matthews Crooks at 4:26pm, before the assassination attempt occurred.”
THE HISTORIC SS FAIL – Here is how the conservative and MSM press covered what appears to be critical security failures that led to the assassination attempt, starting with might be the very symbol of incompetency from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who sought to lessen the dramatic impact of an attempted assassination on a former President.
Trump rally counter-sniper Ben Shaffer gives damning verdict on FBI ‘evidence tampering’ after assassination attempt
A SWAT counter-sniper who was working the Trump rally in Pennsylvania where a gunman opened fire has issued a damning verdict on the FBI‘s alleged evidence tampering.
Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer admitted that it was ‘absolutely’ concerning that the roof of the AGR International building where gunman Thomas Matthew Crook, 20, was cleaned quickly after the July 13 assassination attempt.
Shaffer then went on to acknowledge that Crooks should have been elevated from a ‘person of interest’ to someone ‘who would have warranted some type of investigatory detention’ by agents because he was using a range finder.
BOMBSHELL: Secret Service Headquarters Ordered Agents NOT to Request Additional Manpower for Trump Rally
As more details emerge about the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the situation is looking increasingly troubling for the Secret Service.
On Friday, Senator Josh Hawley revealed troubling new information from a Secret Service whistleblower, indicating that agency headquarters had explicitly instructed agents not to request additional personnel for the event, knowing such requests would be immediately denied.
It’s almost as if the Secret Service senior staffers wanted President Trump dead and buried. How can he place any trust in the agency going forward?
Forgotten radios and missed warnings: New details emerge about communication failures before Trump rally shooting
The day before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, a tactical team of local police officers set aside radios for their Secret Service partners so the two agencies could communicate during the former president’s July 13 campaign rally.
But those radios were never picked up….
Standing over the gunman’s dead body minutes later, a local police officer who responded to the initial warning expressed frustration that his own radio calls about a man on the roof seemed to go unheeded by the other officers.
“That’s what I was f**king calling out bro, f**king ‘On top of the roof,’” the officer said, according to body camera footage. “We’re not – we on the same frequency?”…
Details about the forgotten radios were included in a recent report from Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican member of the congressional task force investigating the events of that day. Higgins claims that a county emergency services commander had “personally reminded” Secret Service counter-sniper teams to pick up their assigned radios at a command post located at the Butler County Fairgrounds. “It didn’t happen,” according to Higgins’ report.
That detail was confirmed to CNN by Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.
“I can confirm that the Butler County ESU team made radios available to the Secret Service and that they were not utilized by the Secret Service,” Goldinger said in a statement. While it’s unclear if Secret Service would have gotten the warning about a man on the roof had they picked up the radios, Goldinger said, “It is safe to assume that if a holder of an ESU radio was paying attention, they would have received the call.”
Sen Johnson: FBI ‘Dragging Feet’ on Trump Assassination Probe
The Secret Service and FBI are “basically dragging their feet” on the Senate bipartisan probe into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ron Johnson told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
The Wisconsin Republican, who is part of the bipartisan investigation, said the agencies are “stonewalling us.”
“We have gotten some transcribed interviews, but the documents we request are heavily redacted [and] they’re delivered the day of the interview,” he said, explaining that this means that they can’t really even “be used to conduct the interviews effectively.”
Trump assassination attempt sparks investigation of Secret Service DEI policies: ‘Compromised its mission’
A non-profit group has launched an investigation into the Secret Service’s Diversity Equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Trump last month.
Mountain States Legal Foundation, (MSLF) a Colorado-based organization, says it is looking into how the controversial policy may have led to security being dangerously lax at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to scale the roof of a nearby building and fire off eight shots with one bullet grazing the right ear of the former commander-in-chief. One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was fatally struck, while two others were also hit and suffered serious injuries in an event that could have plunged the nation into a political crisis.
MSLF says its investigation is examining how DEI impacted the elite agency’s hiring, retention, and promotion. Critics of DEI say the policy elevates those of a certain sex or ethnicity over those who may be more qualified, thus the best person for a particular job may not get the role, thereby lowering standards overall.
Secret Service Records Reveal DEI Is Prioritized for All Agency Employees in ‘Every Action, Every Day’
Judicial Watch announced today it received 311 pagesof U.S. Secret Service (USSS) records that show the Secret Service has made it a top priority that “diversity and inclusion is not just ‘talked about’ – but demonstrated by all employees through ‘Every Action, Every Day.’” [Emphasis in original]
The records show the Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demands that 12 percent of its workforce be composed of “persons with disabilities,” and that it is the policy of the Secret Service to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to such non-merit factors as “disability (physical or mental).”
Judicial Watch obtained the records in a FOIA lawsuit against DHS for records relating to an incident in April at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in which a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Vice President Kamala Harris got into a scuffle with colleagues(Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security(No. 1:24-cv-01705)).
According to an April 24 report by the Washington Examiner, a Secret Service agent was removed from her duties after physically attacking the commanding agent in charge and other agents who tried to subdue her.
Holt, Shaffer to Newsmax: Secret Service Failures Go Beyond DEI
Americans deserve a thorough federal investigation into the Secret Service security failures that led up to the shooting of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last month, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax, Friday.
In an appearance on “The Chris Salcedo Show,” Holt and retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer discussed whether the problems were the result of incompetence related to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies or something more sinister.
Shaffer said Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., attended a Trump rally in Virginia a few weeks before the July 13 assassination attempt, and at that event, “they had layers of overlapping and continuous security-controlled corridors for people to move, and nobody was allowed to wander around. So then, yeah, how is it that even with DEI in mind, they go from an efficient, well-organized, well-wired machine to like, Oh, did we forget to check that building? So, no, this goes beyond DEI.”
US Congressman Clay Higgins has accused the FBI of a potential cover-up related to the attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The accusation centers on the handling of the remains of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by the Secret Service after opening fire on trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Crooks’ attack resulted in the death of one bystander and injuries to Trump and two other attendees.
Higgins, a Louisiana Republican with a background in law enforcement and a member of the congressional Task Force investigating the shooting, publicly criticized the FBI’s actions. According to Higgins’ report released Thursday, the FBI authorized the release of Crooks’ body for cremation just ten days after the incident, on July 23, without prior notice to local authorities or the county coroner. Higgins asserted that the coroner and other officials were unaware of the body’s release until August 5.
The congressman expressed concerns that the release of the body before the completion of the coroner’s and autopsy reports obstructs further investigation into the incident. Higgins argued that the FBI’s decision to permit the cremation could be seen as an obstruction to a thorough investigative process. He highlighted the lack of available forensic evidence as a significant hindrance to verifying the circumstances surrounding the shooting attempt.
Sen. Ron Johnson: FBI probe into Trump shooting is ‘jaw-dropping’
The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee told DailyMail.com that the actions of the Justice Department are ‘jaw dropping’ and slammed the agency’s law enforcement arm – the FBI – for thinking they are ‘above the law.’
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year would-be assassin of Trump, was shot dead by Secret Service right after one of his bullets grazed the former president’s right ear during an attack at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on June 13 that left one supporter dead and two others critically injured.
‘I think the FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong,’ Johnson told DailyMail.com at Trump Tower in Chicago on Monday. ‘If you want people to have confidence in the investigation, it needs to be transparent.’
Sen. Ron Johnson (right) told DailyMail.com that ‘the FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong’ in the investigation of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump
‘What we know about the events of July 13 is coming primarily from local law enforcement,’ the furious senator explained.
FBI engaged in ‘major-league cover-up’ of Trump assassination attempt
The FBI and the Biden-Harris administration are engaged in a “major-league cover-up on the near-assassination of former President Trump,” Judicial Watch Inc. asserted Aug. 12.
The accusation came after the FBI denied Judicial Watch’s request for records on the July 13 Pennsylvania rally at which Donald J. Trump was shot by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI on July 26, seeking documents, emails, presentations, and other data regarding the FBI’s coordination with the U.S. Secret Service in preparation for the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at which Trump was shot in the ear. The request covered the time period from June 15 to present.
The FBI cited FOIA exemption 7A, which allows withholding of information that “would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.” It did not elaborate or provide context for use of this exemption.
Secret Service denied Butler agents extra manpower ahead of Trump rally shooting: Whistleblower
A Secret Service department that handles manpower requests urged agents not to ask for additional security for the rally where an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump occurred, according to a whistleblower report.
The whistleblower told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that the Secret Service Office of Protective Operations — Manpower essentially denied security assets “through informal means” by encouraging agents not to seek more manpower for the rally, Hawley wrote in a letter…
Trump team irate over Secret Service failing to warn them about Crooks after spotting him with a range finder
Former President Trump took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, several minutes after the Secret Service first began tracking the former president’s attempted assassin, and Trump’s team was none too happy about it.
Those in Trump’s orbit said the former president’s security detail became enraged after learning they were not told for 30 minutes about a suspicious subject carrying a range finder around the perimeter of Trump’s July 13 rally, according to The Washington Post. That suspicious subject turned out to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, the former president’s 20-year-old attempted assassin.
Trump took the stage in Butler shortly after 6 p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, local officers had first spotted Crooks between 5:45 p.m. and 5:55 p.m., the Post’s timeline of events indicates. Once spotted, local law enforcement verbally communicated the threat to Secret Service agents, but the threat was reportedly never shared with Trump’s team. Trump’s team was also reportedly never told that local law enforcement counter-snipers lost track of Crooks at one point.
Videos: Trump shooter spotted jumping across roofs before assassination attempt
A new body camera video shows would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks jumping across multiple roofs as he moved into position just minutes before the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at the former president’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Monday, Jack Posobiec, a conservative media personality, shared a video of the body camera footage alongside the caption, “Bodycam footage of Thomas Matthew Crooks jumping from roof to roof just minutes before he shot President Trump and the crowd in Butler, PA.”
The video clearly shows an individual jumping across multiple roofs near the former president’s Pennsylvania rally prior to the assassination attempt, which resulted in Trump being shot in the ear, a retired fire chief being killed, and two other rally attendees being seriously injured.
Attempted Trump assassin seen walking around Pennsylvania rally hours before opening fire
Chilling new video has been released showing Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly two hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump and attendees at a campaign rally.
The short clip, released by the clothing company Iron Clad USA, shows Crooks at 4:26 p.m. dressed in shorts and a “Demolitia” T-shirt walking past a line of vendors selling Trump merchandise ahead of the July 13 rally.
He was wearing the same T-shirt when he opened fire on Trump and is not carrying anything in the eerie video.
“Terrifying moment… looking back on my videos from the PA Butler Trump rally on 7/13/24,” the company’s owner wrote on the TikTok version of the video. “We were there just trying to sell our patriotic hats from my small business.”
Trump assassination attempt in Butler reflects long-standing ‘systemic failures’ in Secret Service protections
Butler Township Police Officer Drew Blasko paced angrily along the AGR building, where just minutes before a gunman had clambered atop the roof, aimed an AR-15-style rifle at Donald Trump and fired, striking the former president.
As Blasko and other officers stood guard near a loading bay behind the building, he recounted a meeting earlier in the week with the Secret Service.
“I told them that fucking Tuesday,” he said. “I told them to post fucking guys over here.”
The Trump rally shooting that day, which killed one man and injured three others, including the former president, has been called the largest security failure in 40 years. It has led to the resignation of the Secret Service director, a congressional investigation and questions from lawmakers about how such a lapse could have occurred.
But an investigation by Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle has revealed that the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.
Trump Assassination Attempt Laid Bare Long-standing Vulnerabilities in the Secret Service
Butler Township Police Officer Drew Blasko paced angrily along the AGR building, where just minutes before a gunman had clambered atop the roof, aimed an AR-15-style rifle at Donald Trump and fired, striking the former president.
As Blasko and other officers stood guard near a loading bay behind the building, he recounted a meeting earlier in the week with the Secret Service.
“I told them that fucking Tuesday,” he said. “I told them to post fucking guys over here.”
The Trump rally shooting that day, which killed one man and injured three others, including the former president, has been called the largest security failure in 40 years. It has led to the resignation of the Secret Service director, a congressional investigation and questions from lawmakers about how such a lapse could have occurred.
But an investigation by Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle has revealed that the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.
The newsrooms spoke to dozens of officials across all levels of law enforcement and in several states who have provided security for presidents and presidential candidates, as well as local party officials and academic experts in security.
Speaker Mike Johnson Sparks Uproar After Revealing the Seven Republicans Who Will Serve on Task Force Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt
House Speaker Mike Johnson makes an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” (CNBC Television / YouTube screen shot)
House Speaker Mike Johnson today announced the Republicans who will serve on the Bipartisan House Task Force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt and sparked an uproar among conservatives in the process.
Today, I’m announcing the seven Republicans who will serve on the Bipartisan House Task Force to investigate the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. We have the utmost confidence in this group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress:
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 29, 2024
The seven GOPers listed are as follows:
• Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly
• Tennessee Rep. Mark Green
• Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce
• Florida Rep. Laurel Lee
• Florida Rep. Michael Waltz
• Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins
• Texas Rep. Pat Fallon
THE PRE AND POST VIOLENT RHETORIC OF THE DNC – Immediately after the assassination attempt, the conservative press rightly questioned the role the violent rhetoric by the DNC, including Biden, in inspiring the shooting in the first place. As if to confirm their fears, the violent rhetoric of the Left continued AFTER the assassination attempt:
THE FALL-OUT – Here are some of the immediate consequences of the Trump assassination attempt. As already noted, there will be an in-depth report on the fall-out of the Trump assassination attempt in the September 2024 Issue of MIA. We’ll start with an announcement by President Trump that might be a symbol of what this assassination has come to mean for many, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Secret Service Pittsburgh employees placed on administrative leave: report
Several members of the U.S. Secret Service Pittsburgh Field Office have reportedly been placed on administrative leave following the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Anthony Guglielmi, USSS chief of communications, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the agency’s personnel are held “to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action.”
USSS did not directly confirm any employees placed on leave, but Guglielmi added that given the “personal” nature of the matter, the agency is “not in a position to comment further.”
What we know about why 5 Secret Service agents got new duties after Trump assassination attempt
At least five Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
They include the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office and three other agents assigned to that office, which was responsible for the security planning ahead of the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to the law enforcement official who had direct knowledge of the matter. One of the five agents was assigned to Trump’s protective detail, the official said.
The official was not authorized to publicly disclose details of the personnel investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The agents are on administrative leave, meaning they cannot do investigative or protective work.
Fox News reported that a different group of Secret Service agents assigned specifically to Trump’s security detail remains operational. Trump avoided serious injury from the shooting.
But as shocking as it is to see a former Secret Service director need the protection of her own former agency, it’s much less surprising when one considers the overall threat environment facing those whom Trump loyalists perceive as a danger to him — or them. After all, we learned earlier this week that the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s New York hush money trial, and her business partner have each been subjected to death threats and harassment, and that law enforcement has advised the daughter and her family to leave their home for their own safety.
Further, in an interview with my NBC News colleague Ken Dilanian last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that the Justice Department has brought 400 cases over the last two years alone dealing with threats against federal and state judges, federal and state prosecutors, federal and state legislators, and federal, state and local law enforcement officers. Of course, those are just the cases federal law enforcement has brought, not the totality of the threats.
Butler officials are concerned about future Trump rally
Local officialsare worried about former President Trump‘s plans to return to Butler in October, reports Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle.
Why it matters: Last month’s assassination attempt at an outdoor rally in the rural western Pennsylvania city has been panned as one of the most glaring security lapses in decades, leading to former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle‘s resignation and numerous federal and congressional probes.
Driving the news: Trump said in an interview with billionaire Elon Musk on X earlier this month that he intends to come back to Butler to finish his speech.
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche shared concerns about how the visit “will place additional stress on law enforcement and the community.”
Local officials are calling for better coordination with the Secret Service should Trump return, including a unified command post, Adams Township Sgt. Ed Lenz told the outlets.
Here’s Who Donald Trump Jr. Holds Responsible For His Father’s Attempted Assassination
The Democratic Party and its allies in the mainstream media have attempted to muddy the waters when it comes to covering the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, offering conflicting narratives regarding the deceased suspect and even seeming to blame Trump himself for the violent act.
But for Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., it is clear where much of the blame lies.
He called the media “truly embarrassing” and a “disgrace” to the country and hypocritical for calling Republicans a threat to democracy while not holding Harris accountable over her record.
“They seem to be able to run roughshod over all of those things, but again, that’s nothing new,” he said. “They called everyone in the world a fascist, and yet, they’re the ones that want to jail their political opposition. They’re the ones that want to censor and silence them. They are the ones that, you know, ultimately caused an assassination attempt of the leading candidate of the opposition party.”
A $208 million grant from the Biden administration to Volvo Holdings that is intended to enable the company to keep 3 American facilities from shutting down is directly benefiting a Chinese Communist Party senior member, auto industry magnate Li Shufu, whose firm holds $2.4 billion worth of stock in the company.
Chinese billionaire and auto industry magnate Li Shufu is a senior Chinese Communist Party member who has explicitly devoted his career to spreading Chinese influence worldwide. According to data reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, he is also set to personally benefit from the Biden-Harris administration’s latest taxpayer-funded initiative to boost electric vehicle manufacturing.
Li’s firm, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, holds a $2.4 billion stake in heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer Volvo Group, making the Chinese firm the company’s second-largest shareholder. The Volvo Group is set to receive a $208.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that will help keep some of the truckmaker’s factories afloat.
Geely’s stake is entirely made up of class-A shares, which are more exclusive and confer much greater voting power. In total, Geely has a 15 percent share of voting power, giving it sway in the Volvo Group’s corporate decisions, such as electing board members or initiating mergers.
The value of that stake has surged 5.3 percent, or $119 million, since the morning of July 11, when the Biden-Harris administration announced the grant, which is designed to support the Volvo Group’s transition to electric truck manufacturing across three facilities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
The Energy Department’s grant was earmarked under a new federal program designed to support “shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly facilities.” The designation suggests that, without the funding, the Volvo Group’s three facilities may have been forced to close.
In a gesture that’s as important as the location it took place, the two Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah met in the city of Beijing, the capitol of the Chinese Communist Party’s empire, forming an historic peace through a declaration on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity.”
The gesture puts Fatah in the elevated crosshairs in its rule in the West Bank, the former heart of Judah and Samaria. It also puts China in the power broker role in the Middle East, shifting more influence away from the U.S. and Western allies.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration in Beijing on ending a yearslong rift, the groups said Tuesday, taking a step toward resolving a deep divide which has lingered for years despite repeated attempts at unifying the sides.
The two heavyweights of Palestinian politics signed the Beijing Declaration on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, pledging to form a unity government for the Palestinian territories. But previous such declarations have failed, including a similar deal in 2011, casting doubt over whether the China-sponsored negotiations might actually lead to a resolution.
The declaration comes at a sensitive time, as the war in Gaza rages on into its 10th month and as Israel and Hamas are weighing an internationally backed cease-fire proposal that would wind down the war and free dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, at 1:46PM ET, Joe Biden let the world know he was bowing out of the Presidential race for “the good of the country and the good of the party.” He let the world know through X. This followed an announcement earlier that week he was diagnosed with having Covid-19.
Within two days of the announcement being made, Democrat delegates quickly rallied around Biden’s endorsement, Vice President Kamala Harris, the new presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party. Biden disappeared for four days before emerging Tuesday, July 23, in a video showing him weakly walking across a tar mac and up a small flight of stairs into Air Force One.
Radio blackouts have been reported across Earth after the Sun released powerful flares.
There is a 65% chance of this happening across the planet still and it could impact aviation and satellite communication too.
Blackouts have already been reported over parts of the Pacific Ocean, according to the alert issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Other radio blackouts have been tracked by scientists across the globe over the last several days.
Solar flares are also expected in the weeks to come, NASA told DailyMail.com.
A solar flare happens when there is an emission of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s atmosphere called a sunspot.
This means radiation is blasted away from the Sun’s surface and depending on where it erupts from, it can launch towards Earth.
Elon Musk announced on X his intentions to pull his X offices and his SpaceX offices out of California to Texas, where Musk would follow suit. He announced the plan after California passed a law preventing parents from being informed if their children should begin to go through “gender-affirming therapy.”
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would be donating $45 million a month – $180 million from July through October – to America PAC, a political action committee dedicated to reelecting former President Donald Trump.
“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X, adding that he told California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that affirming laws like this one would lead to an exodus of families who want to “protect their children.”
To me, none of the mogul’s recent moves are surprising. They will, however, affect how the presidential election plays out – and possibly assist in reelecting Trump. That should concern all of us because of the power owning X gives him and his willingness to wield it.
On Monday, three small Houthi vessels, two of which were crewed and one uncrewed, attacked the Panama-flagged, Israeli-owned MT Bently I off the coast of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, according to British and American authorities.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center reported that the MT Bently I conducted self-protection measures, and after 15 minutes the small watercraft aborted the attack.
Later the same day, the MT Chios Lion, a Liberian-flagged, Marshall Islands-owned oil tanker, was attacked by a Houthi drone.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has ruled that the appointment of special council Jack Smith by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was unconstitutional, calling the cases cited by Jack Smith’s office to back up his claim irrelevant to the constitutional issues at hand. This means that the classified documents charges against Trump are necessarily thrown out.
Cannon concluded, “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers. That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.”
WASHINGTON — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case of former President Donald Trump in Florida dismissed the prosecution on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon brings a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats that the Republican former president confronted. Trump faced dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back.
Defense lawyers filed multiple challenges to the case, including a legally technical one that asserted that special counsel Jack Smith had been illegally appointed under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which governs the appointment of certain government positions, and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.
Donald J Trump chose Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024. Vance was once a virulent critic of Trump but had changed his tune, becoming one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. Vance is 39, a stark contrast to the age of his running mate, Trump, as well as Biden.
MILWAUKEE — Anticipation around former President Donald Trump tapping Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice presidential nominee not only concerned the next four months before the 2024 election and the next four years, should he and Vance win in November.
But Trump’s decision on Monday, announced during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, could also define the GOP for the four or eight years after that should Vance become the party’s prohibitive favorite in 2028.
In tapping Vance, 39, the youngest vice president since eventual President Richard Nixon, Trump has provided his Make America Great Again movement and America First policy platform with an opportunity to continue after his second and last term, instead of picking a more centrist, compromise candidate as an appeal to more establishment Republicans.
Trump, a legacy-minded real estate mogul and marketing expert who rose to national prominence before The Apprentice TV series because of his branded buildings, has anointed an heir apparent in tapping Vance, according to Republican strategist Cesar Conda.
Moments before the former president was shot at, with one bullet grazing his ear, Trump declared to a crowd of rallygoers that his nomination would be a moment of unity for the party.
“The world will see a vibrant Republican Party that is bigger, stronger, more confident, and more united than ever before,” he said in Butler, Pennsylvania.
But Republicans were going into the convention, a four-day affair that begins on Monday in Milwaukee, with lingering divisions over the party’s official platform and a bitter primary that revealed a sizable rift among Republican voters.
The owner of social media site X, Elon Musk, has opened up on his feelings regarding the recent incident which saw former President of the United States, Donald Trump, become the victim of a shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump was attending a presidential rally in Butler when shots were heard coming in from his right hand side. Amidst screams and confusion, the former leader was quickly told to ‘get down’ by Secret Service agents, who piled on top of him in an effort to protect him from the incoming fire.
Former US President Donald Trump has said he is “supposed to be dead” after Saturday night’s assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
In one of his first interviews since the incident, Mr Trump told conservative US media he felt that he had been saved “by luck or by God”.
A spectator was killed in the attack, while two other people were seriously injured. The gunman, who also died, has been named as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Trump says he’ll ‘bring country together’ at Republican convention after shooting.
Mr Trump described the moment he looked up at the crowd after realising he had been shot.
Speaking as he prepared to board a flight to the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is expected to be confirmed as the party’s candidate for president, Mr Trump said he now had a “chance to bring the country together”.
President Joe Biden addressed Americans for the second time on Sunday evening, instructing voters how to feel and behave in the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Saturday.
“We’re neighbors, we’re friends, coworkers, citizens,” he told his “fellow Americans,” saying that “we’re not enemies.” He went on to say “we must stand together,” saying it was time to “lower the temperature” and “take a step back.”
“Thankfully,” he said, “former Trump is not injured” [sic], he said, noting again, as he did this morning and last evening in a post, that they spoke on the phone. And he again offered condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the would-be assassin’s bullet. Biden had no update on the investigation, saying that it was ongoing and that was still no information as to what the motivation of Thomas Matthew Cooks, the 20-year-old Pennsylvania gunman, was.
As fans of MSNBC woke up on Monday morning, many no doubt waiting to be delivered the hottest takes from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, they were instead greeted by generic news desk coverage. That’s because executives at the network made the call to pull “Morning Joe” off the air in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The reason why is telling.
According to CNN, which reported the development, this wasn’t a case of routine preemption. After all, “Morning Joe” has been left intact through essentially every other breaking news story since its inception. Instead, the decision came from a much darker place: MSNBC couldn’t trust that Joe, Mika, and its stable of lunatics wouldn’t compare Trump to Hitler again.
It’s a huge day in politics and MSNBC has pulled ‘Morning Joe’ off the air. They’re apparently worried the MJ crew might say something ‘inappropriate’ about the Trump assassination attempt. From CNN: https://t.co/uK3u0ZIoU9pic.twitter.com/AS8E4b5FdQ
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the decision was made to avoid a scenario in which one of the show’s stable of two dozen-plus guests might make an inappropriate comment on live television that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole. Given the breaking news nature of the story, the person said, it made more sense to continue airing rolling breaking news coverage in the fraught political moment.
Alex Berenson, author of the book, “Pandemia”, said the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is the biggest security “failure since 9-11.”
“LOL dummy it was the biggest failure since 9/11. Or maybe the Kennedy assassination,” Berenson posted on X, in response to a post saying the assassination attempt was the biggest security failure since January 6, 2021.
“I am so tired with lefty media pretending Jan. 6 was a near-coup. It sucked, it was horrible and embarrassing, but it was closer to a Capitol tour gone wrong for 98% of the ‘insurrectionists,’” posted Berenson.
lol dummy it was the biggest failure since 9/11
Or maybe the Kennedy assassination
I am so tired with lefty media pretending Jan. 6 was a near-coup. It sucked, it was horrible and embarrassing, but it was closer to a Capitol tour gone wrong for 98% of the “insurrectionists.” pic.twitter.com/SuVwe7BaoP
According to a new report by NBC News, the Secret Service identified the rooftop next to Trump’s event in Butler, Pennsylvania as a security vulnerability just days before the rally.
The agents failed to secure the building, allowing a man with a rifle to climb onto the roof, position his scope, and fire several shots at President Trump.
A bullet grazed Trump’s right ear, while two rally attendees were wounded. One Trump supporter was fatally shot.
Biden’s FBI has announced that they believe the would-be assassin at former President Trump’s Pennsylvania rally on Saturday acted alone.
The statement comes despite the bureau’s inability to access data from the suspect’s cell phone, which has been sent to Quantico for further examination.
Kevin Rojek, FBI Special Agent in Charge Pittsburgh, said that the information currently available to the bureau suggests that there is no further public safety concern. However, he also noted that the investigation is still in its early stages, according to Fox News.
“We have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation,” Rojek said during a press conference on Sunday.
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — The FBI said Sunday that investigators have not yet identified any ideology fueling the gunman who fired at former president Donald Trump at a packed campaign rally, and they believe he carried out the horrifying assassination attempt on his own.
The gunman was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, a strong math student in high school who was working as a nursing home employee.
Seconds after he opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally’s security perimeter Saturday evening, using an AR-style rifle that was legally purchased by his father,he was fatally shot by the Secret Service, authorities said.
“At this time, the information that we have indicates that the shooter acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns,” FBI special agent in charge Kevin Rojek said in a telephone briefing. “At present we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation.”
DNC-controlled media are using statements from unnamed intelligence officials to spread the narrative that the Russians are using social media to “covertly” affect U.S. elections in swing states in an effort to once again get Trump elected President.
One official is quoted with saying, “We are beginning to see Russia target specific voter demographics, promote divisive narratives and denigrate specific politicians. (Russia is) undertaking a whole-of-government approach to influence the election, including the presidential race, Congress and public opinion.”
(CNN) — Russian operatives and propagandists are planning to “covertly use social media” in an attempt to sway public opinion and undermine support for Ukraine in swing states during the 2024 US elections, US intelligence officials said on Tuesday.
“We are beginning to see Russia target specific voter demographics, promote divisive narratives and denigrate specific politicians,” an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told reporters in a call conducted on the condition that the official not be named.
Russia is “undertaking a whole-of-government approach to influence the election, including the presidential race, Congress and public opinion,” the official said, adding that Russia’s preference for US presidential candidates has not changed from previous election cycles.
The official declined to elaborate, but US intelligence previously assessed that in the 2020 US election, Russia conducted a range of influence operations to denigrate Joe Biden’s candidacy and support Donald Trump’s candidacy.
