Dem. Mayor Implies He Changed Biden’s Diaper in Since-Deleted Tweet

Luis Cornelio
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Dem. Mayor Implies He Changed Biden’s Diaper in Since-Deleted Tweet

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas recently celebrated a major milestone in his career in a now-deleted tweet: talking with President Joe Biden and changing diapers. 

“It’s not every day you get to sit in a stealth bomber, talk to the President of the United States, and change a diaper,” tweeted Lucas, a Democrat, on Tuesday. “I never stop counting my blessings and it all starts and ends here in Kansas City.” 

Lucas’s celebratory tweet left many observers baffled at the juxtaposition of changing diapers and speaking with Biden—particularly as Biden faces mounting calls to step down from the 2024 election due to his age and cognitive decline.  

Critics quickly interpreted the tweet as suggesting that Lucas might have changed Biden’s diapers, leading to widespread mockery. 

In response to the backlash, Lucas deleted the tweet and posted a revised version. “It’s not every day you get to sit in a stealth bomber, talk to the President of the United States, and spend time with your newborn.”

It’s unclear how long the original post was available, but it was long enough for critics to take screenshots and mock both Lucas and Biden. 

“HAHAHA THIS IS INCREDIBLE,” tweeted popular account “End Wokeness,” also sharing a screenshot of the deleted post. 

Similarly, political commentator Gunther Eagleman quipped, “What an honor… Changing the Presidents diaper.” Pro-Trump Twitter user Paul A. Szypula added, “Our leaders are not serious people. At all.” 

Lucas’s comments come a month after Biden faced online accusations that he may have had a bathroom incident during a D-Day ceremony in France, based on initial videos shared online.

Follow-up videos clarified that Biden, seen awkwardly bending over, was trying to have a seat. The video resurfaced again on Monday after The View’s Whoopie Goldberg declared her support for Biden even “if he’s pooped his pants,” as reported by the Media Research Center.

At 81, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history, leading to increasing calls from his own party to step down as their nominee over concerns about his fitness for office. 

Stephanopolous Publicly Apologizes for Going Off-Script as Biden Flouts Feeding Frenzy

Contributing Author
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Stephanopolous Publicly Apologizes for Going Off-Script as Biden Flouts Feeding Frenzy

(Headline USA) ABC News’s George Stephanopolous issued an apology this week after he admitted in a recording that President Joe Biden was not fit to serve another presidential term, Axios reported.

The former Bill Clinton aide was filmed making the comment to a passerby in midtown Manhattan just days after his interview with the 81-year-old president. 

“I don’t think he can serve four more years,” Stephanopolous told the person.

Stephanopolous quickly backtracked after the video went public, claiming he should never have answered the passerby’s question. However, he did not disavow his assertion that Biden isn’t fit to serve.

“Earlier today I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have,” he said.

ABC News also tried to distance itself from Stephanopolous’s apparent blunder, saying in a separate statement, “George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News.”

Stephanopolous interviewed Biden last Friday in a highly anticipated sit-down with the president—Biden’s first since his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump.

Stephanopolous grilled Biden on whether he had the physical and mental capacity to serve another four years, and whether he planned to consider Democratic demands for him to drop out of the 2024 race.

Biden repeatedly insisted that he is not going anywhere, and told Stephanopolous that the only way he’d consider abandoning his reelection bid is if the “Lord almighty” told him to.

Biden also dismissed his embarrassing debate performance, calling it a “bad night” and claiming he had been “exhausted” and “sick” with a “bad cold.”

When Stephanopolous asked if Biden would submit to a cognitive exam to ease Americans’ concerns about his mental capacity, Biden replied, “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day, I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that’s not—it sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation of the world.”

Teachers Union Gets Taste of Its Own Medicine as Staff Strike Forces Conference Cancelation

Molly Bruns
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Teachers Union Gets Taste of Its Own Medicine as Staff Strike Forces Conference Cancelation

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The nation’s largest teachers union faced a strike of its own, in what was called an unprecedented event, according to Education Week.

The strike disrupted National Education Association’s annual conference in Philadelphia, and led President Joe Biden to cancel his planned appearance on Sunday in awkward solidarity with workers in the union-versus-union dispute

“President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line,” a spokesperson told EdWeek.

The strike, which began on July 5, was conducted by the National Education Association Staff Organization—what essentially amounts to a union within the union, comprising roughly 300 staff members employed by the union.

They held signs outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center calling on the NEA to “uphold union values.”

Among its complaints was that the NEA had denied holiday pay, despite requiring the staffers to work over the July 4 holiday weekend.

The NEA, however, accused the union staffers in a statement of “abandoning thousands of NEA members from across the country who traveled to the representative assembly … and depriving them of the opportunity to convene and deliberate the business of the union.”

The purpose of the assembly was to vote on the union’s priorities, budget and strategic plan for the upcoming year.

After being forced to cancel the convention just one day into it, for only the fourth time in the organization’s century-old history—once for war and twice for COVID—NEA retaliated against the striking workers by threatening to lock them out of the organization’s Washington, D.C. headquarters until a contract agreement could be reached.

The previous contract expired at the end of May, and negotiations between the two unions have been tense since then.

It also allegedly cut the striking workers’ business phones and accounts, as well as their hotel rooms and flights back from the Philadelphia conference.

The aggressive moves by the NEA shocked many members of the NEASO.

“The NEA management’s punitive lockout of its own employees is a dangerous, reckless, and reactionary move that undermines the rights of every union worker in this country,” NEASO President Robin McLean said.

“These are clear union-busting techniques that will not be tolerated,” she added. “I cannot imagine it lands well that the nation’s largest union is locking out its staff union.”

Exacerbating tensions were recent allegations that NEA President Becky Pringle spent $8,500 on a three-day hairstyline session paid for with union dues.

“We have witnessed excessive, even exorbitant, spending on just the NEA president’s physical appearance,” McLean said.

“Their failure to provide basic details about outsourcing makes us wonder what else the National Education Association is hiding,” she added. “For a public-service union that purports to oppose outsourcing members’ work, it is unconscionable that NEA would spend hundreds of millions of NEA member dues on contractors while union-busting and shrinking its staff unions.”

Not only was Pringle slammed for the allegations about her hairdo—costing more than the average starting teacher would make in two full months—but she was also ridiculed for her opening day speech at the convention, in which she was accused of plagiarizing Dwight Schrute from the sitcom The Office during an episode in which he, in turn, mimicked Benito Mussolini.

‘Taxpayer-Funded Child Slavery’: HHS Whistleblowers Expose Migrant Trafficking Scandal

Ken Silva
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‘Taxpayer-Funded Child Slavery’: HHS Whistleblowers Expose Migrant Trafficking Scandal

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Congress heard whistleblower testimony Tuesday about what could be the Biden administration’s biggest scandal to date: What was described as “taxpayer-funded child slavery” being conducted with the government’s full knowledge and tacit consent.

The whistleblowers who testified Tuesday were Florida Department of Children and Families Sec. Shevan Harris; whistleblower Deborah White, who worked in Health and Human Services’ Unaccompanied Child Program; and another HHS whistleblower, Tara Rodas. They testified at a Senate “roundtable” hosted by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who gave the opening remarks.

Cassidy began by recounting Biden’s decision to overturn Trump-era border policies, such as “remain in Mexico.” Biden also reimposed so-called “catch and release,” and exempted unaccompanied children from Title 42, which allows immigration restrictions in the name of protecting public health.

“The result: predictably, President Biden’s open border policies encouraged the worst rates of illegal immigration ever, including over 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children,” Sen. Cassidy said.

“As the surge continued, ORR staff were directed by their superiors to prioritize speed over safety and limit the amount of information collected when releasing children to sponsors,” he added.

“What are the effects of these failed policies? Children are being released into dangerous environments to be exploited for illegal labor, leading to serious injuries such as dismemberment and shattered bones. Tragically, one child died when he was pulled into a meat-processing machine.”

The whistleblowers offered more details to Cassidy’s already-haunting description of the consequences of Biden’s border policies.

HHS whistleblower White went as far as to say that the Biden administration is sanctioning “taxpayer-funded child slavery.”

“Make no mistake: Children were not going to their parents. They were being trafficked with billions of taxpayer dollars by a contractor failing to vet sponsors and process children safely—with government officials complicit in it,” White said, referring to government contractor Charokee Federal.

“Cherokee Federal staffed the site with several unqualified unvetted and quite frankly dangerous contractors with access to vulnerable children that did not get the appropriate support, services, or humanity they deserved after a most treacherous journey,” White added.

“I have seen these children, I have interviewed these children and I have stories that will haunt me for the rest of my life. The HHS ORR program is the biggest failure in government history that I have ever witnessed.”

In one case, more than 12 children were linked to one sponsor with multiple houses, she said.

“In Michigan, a child was sent to an open field,” she said.

Florida’s Sec. Harris corroborated the HHS whistleblowers’ testimony. She called the environment created by Biden’s border policies the “perfect breeding ground for predators.”

“We’ve witnessed this firsthand in Florida,” she said.

“We interviewed a young girl who shared that during her journey over the border, people in the group were robbed; several girls, including her, were raped; and she witnessed a decapitation,” she said.

“This is the reality the federal government has created by failing to secure our border.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Target to Stop Accepting Personal Checks on July 15

Editor 1
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Target to Stop Accepting Personal Checks on July 15

(Headline USA) Target will no longer accept personal checks from shoppers as of July 15, another sign of how a once-ubiquitous payment method is going the way of outmoded objects like floppy disks and the Rolodex.

The Minneapolis-based discounter confirmed the move in a statement to the Associated Press on Tuesday, citing “extremely low volumes” of customers who still write checks.

Target said it remained committed to creating an easy and convenient checkout experience with credit and debit cards, “buy now, pay later” services and the Target Circle membership program, which applies deals automatically at checkout.

“We have taken several measures to notify guests in advance” about the no-checks policy, the company said.

Target’s decision leaves Walmart, Macy’s and Kohl’s among the retailers that still accept personal checks at their stores. Whole Foods Market and the Aldi supermarket chain previously stopped taking checks from customers.

Shoppers have pulled out checkbooks increasingly less often since the mid-1990s. Cash-dispensing ATMs, debit cards, online banking and mobile payment systems like Venmo and Apple Pay mean many young adults may never have written a check.

Check usage has been in decline for decades as Americans have largely switched to paying for their services with credit and debit cards. Americans wrote roughly 3.4 billion checks in 2022, down from nearly 19 billion checks in 1990, according to the Federal Reserve.

However, the average size of the checks Americans wrote over the 32-year period rose from $673 in 1990—or $1,602 in today’s dollars—to $2,652.

The drop in check-writing enabled the Federal Reserve to sharply reduce its national check processing infrastructure. In 2003, it ran 45 check-processing locations nationwide; since 2010, it has operated only one.

Rising incidents of check fraud are also making people shy away from check writing. It’s being fueled by organized crime that is forcing small businesses and individuals to take additional safety protections or to avoid sending checks through the mail altogether.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

EXCLUSIVE: Freedom Caucus Chair Responds to Anonymous ‘A**hole’ Allegations

Molly Bruns
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EXCLUSIVE: Freedom Caucus Chair Responds to Anonymous ‘A**hole’ Allegations

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., brushed off the anonymous allegations from Capitol Hill insiders that his recent primary defeat by a razor-thin margin was the result of an abrasive personal demeanor.

In a statement to Headline USA through his communications director, Marjorie Jackson, Good said the halls of Congress were no place for sugar-coating the work that needed to be done in order for lawmakers to do right by their constituents.

“I believe we should do what we tell people we are going to do when we ask them to vote for us and trust us with the majority,” Good said in the statement.

“With $35 trillion in debt, a border invasion, and an unprecedented assault on our constitutional freedoms, we cannot afford to wait till the next election to fight for the American people,” he added. “We should use every tool available to reverse the harm caused by the Democrat policies that are destroying our country and causing so much suffering.”

Despite having one of the most conservative voting records in all of Congress, Good—the current chair of the House Freedom Caucus— lost his primary election in Virginia’s 5th District by 0.6% of the vote to state Sen. John McGuire.

The contentious primary race made national headlines after Good and presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump each backed the other’s primary opponent—a significant departure from the days when Trump drew some of his staunchest support from Freedom Caucus members (even selecting two chiefs of staff, former Reps. Mick Mulvaney and Mark Meadows, from its ranks).

Good declined to endorse Trump until Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—another Freedom Caucus alumnus—dropped out of the race in January. Consequently, he became the object of Trump’s ire.

Good also invited attacks from loyalists to ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after he was one of the “Gaetz Eight” who voted with Democrats to invoke the motion to vacate the speakership.

“I didn’t come to Washington to make friends, and some of my colleagues are angry with me because they have to answer for their bad votes when they go back home,” Good said in his statement to Headline USA. “If they can’t defend these votes, they should vote differently.”

Good, however, ultimately reaped the political consequences of his tough decisions, including the dubious achievement of uniting both Trump’s America First populist supporters and the D.C. insiders of the McCarthy-linked Republican Main Street Partnership against his campaign.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a well-known ally of both Trump and McCarthy, made several withering statements against Good, going as far as to call him “toxic” to Trump’s reelection efforts.

Speaking anonymously to the Daily Caller on Monday, some Capitol insiders took it to an even more personal level.

“He’s an a**hole” said one individual.

A Republican member of Congress elaborated: “He’s perhaps the most unlikable guy in Congress, and that’s saying a lot with the likes of some others who are major-league a**holes. I don’t think there is anyone in Congress, conservative or not, who would pee on Bob Good if he was on fire.”

A GOP ad-maker accused him of getting “out-hustled” by McGuire on the campaign trail.

“Bob Good decided to spend his time in Washington making enemies out of literally everyone he met,” the source said. “He wasn’t being a principled conservative; he was being an unnecessary jerk.”

The aftermath of the primary battle, with its razor-thin finish in an unpredictable district that encompasses both ultra-liberal Charlottesville and the Jerry Falwell-influenced Lynchburg, has brought little closure to the wounds that were openened during the course of the campaign.

According to Good, three of the voting precincts mysteriously caught fire on Election Day.

He also signaled his intention to move forward with a recount, even though 374-vote gap in the final tally fell outside the 0.5% threshold for the state to cover it—meaning Good must foot the bill himself.

“In a race with nearly 63,000 votes that is separated by a 0.6% margin, Republican voters across the 5th District deserve to know that all legal votes have been accurately counted,” Good’s campaign manager, Diana Shores, told the Daily Caller. “We will vigorously pursue that objective over the coming days and weeks, as permitted by Virginia law.”

Good—who took over from Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., as the fifth chair of the Freedom Caucus at the start of the current session—may not finish his term in the leadership role. Politico reported indicated that fellow caucus members were privately discussing his replacement following the presumptive primary defeat.

Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.

Treasonous VA Officials Say They Won’t Comply w/ Bill to Protect Veterans’ 2A Rights

Ken Silva
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Treasonous VA Officials Say They Won’t Comply w/ Bill to Protect Veterans’ 2A Rights

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Congress is mulling legislation that would limit bureaucrats from using “red flag laws” to confiscate veterans’ guns, along with bolstering the rights of 261,168 veterans disarmed by such laws.

Specifically, legislation discussed Wednesday in the House Veterans Affairs Committee would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to take steps to have records deleted that were provided to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

However, even if Congress passes the pro-Second Amendment legislation, top VA officials told lawmakers Wednesday that they won’t enforce it.

“This bill, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Restoration Act, would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify the Attorney General that VA’s reporting of incompetent beneficiaries ‘was improper under the law because such individuals were not adjudicated as a mental defective under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).’ VA’s reporting was not improper,” said the written testimony submitted on behalf of four top VA officials.

“This bill would thus require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to erroneously notify the Attorney General that it erred by reporting incompetent beneficiaries to NICS. VA did not err; if this bill is passed into law, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs could not comply,” the written testimony reiterated.

GOP lawmakers were stunned by the VA’s brazen testimony.

“Is it your position that you won’t comply with an act of law passed by Congress?” Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mt., asked, to which VA senior official Kevin Friel responded: “Yes, I guess based off of what you have in written testimony, yes sir.”

“Well, I guess I’m glad we have that on record,” Rosendale remarked, accusing Friel of incriminating himself.

Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., had a blistering response to the VA’s treasonous posturing.

“Where is your loyalty, sir? Is it to the Constitution or is it to your boss?” he asked. “You’re willing to do what your boss tells you to do, even if it violates veterans’ rights. You should do some soul-searching, sir.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Money Metals Midweek Memo Recap: Jerome Powell’s Testimony and Platinum’s Potential

Money Metals News Service
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Money Metals Midweek Memo Recap: Jerome Powell’s Testimony and Platinum’s Potential

(Money Metals News Service) In the latest episode of the Money Metals Midweek Memo, host Mike Maharrey provides a comprehensive overview of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent testimony and delves into the investment potential of platinum.

Jerome Powell’s Testimony: Market Movements and Rate Cuts

Jerome Powell Testimony on Capitol Hill Mike Maharrey Joshua D Glawson Money Metals Exchange

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony on Capitol Hill had significant market implications. Powell’s statements have the power to influence markets dramatically, causing fluctuations in gold prices.

During his prepared statement, Powell reiterated the Fed’s stance on maintaining the target range for the federal funds rate until there is greater confidence that inflation is moving towards 2%.

This initially caused gold prices to drop from $2,368 to $2,357 per ounce. However, during the Q&A session, Powell’s comments hinted at possible rate cuts, causing gold to rebound to $2,364 per ounce.

Despite Jerome Powell’s efforts to manage expectations, investors still place a nearly 70% probability of a Fed rate cut in September. Maharrey predicts that the Fed will indeed cut rates in September, driven by political pressures and the upcoming election.

Consumer Debt and Inflation Concerns

Maharrey highlights the staggering levels of consumer debt, which reached $5.06 trillion, excluding mortgages. Credit card debt alone exceeds $1 trillion, with interest rates averaging 20.7%, and some companies charging up to 28%. He argues that the Fed’s previous rate hikes were insufficient to combat inflation, which had peaked at 9.2% CPI in 2022.

Platinum: The Other White Metal

Platinum the other white metal

Maharrey shifts focus to platinum, noting its historical significance and recent performance. Platinum, once more expensive than gold, has seen its price hover around $1,000 an ounce. In 2008, platinum reached an all-time high of $2,213 per ounce due to a supply shortage in South Africa, the leading producer. Today, the gold-to-platinum ratio is about 2.3:1, indicating platinum’s potential undervaluation.

What is Platinum?

what is platinum? Money Metals Exchange

Platinum is a dense, malleable, and highly valuable precious metal with a silvery-white appearance. It has an atomic number of 78 and is located in group 10, period 6 of the periodic table, with the symbol Pt.

Platinum is one of the six Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), which also include palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), and osmium (Os). These metals share similar physical and chemical properties and are often found together in mineral deposits.

Platinum is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, primarily found in South Africa, which accounts for about 70-80% of the world’s supply. Known for its resistance to corrosion and tarnish, platinum is used in various industrial applications, including catalytic converters in automobiles, jewelry, and electronics.

Its unique properties also make it a critical component in medical devices and in the production of hydrogen fuel cells. Despite its industrial uses, platinum is also an investment metal, often minted into coins and bars for trading and investment purposes.

Supply and Demand Dynamics

Platinum’s market is primarily driven by industrial demand, particularly in the automotive sector, which accounts for 30-44% of platinum usage due to its role in catalytic converters. Other industrial applications comprise another 27-36% of demand.

Jewelry and investment demand make up the rest, with jewelry demand seeing a 5% year-on-year increase, driven largely by Indian consumers who view platinum as an investment.

Investment Prospects

Investment Prospects Platinum Money Metals Exchange

Maharrey points out that platinum’s price has increased by 12.5% in 2023 and has charted modest gains of 3.8% this year. The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) reported a 100 million-ounce market deficit in 2023, with a projected deficit of 476,000 ounces for this year. This deficit, coupled with increasing demand and flat supply, suggests a bullish outlook for platinum.

China is set to launch its first platinum futures contract, allowing investors to take physical delivery of platinum in both ingots and sponge form. This could further bolster investment demand in China, where interest in platinum is already growing.

Conclusion

Given the current supply and demand dynamics, along with historical price comparisons, platinum appears to be an undervalued investment. Maharrey advises considering platinum as a speculative investment, supplementing but not replacing gold and silver in a diversified portfolio. With significant supply deficits and increasing industrial demand, platinum may offer substantial returns in the near to mid-term.

For those interested in investing, Money Metals Exchange offers a range of platinum products and knowledgeable specialists to help integrate platinum into investment strategies.

You can either check out the website www.moneymetals.com or call our phone number at 1-800-800-1865 to speak with a friendly, knowledgeable, non-commissioned representative who will gladly assist you.

Advertising Cartel Targeted Joe Rogan over Views on COVID-19 Jab, Congressional Probe Finds

Ken Silva
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Advertising Cartel Targeted Joe Rogan over Views on COVID-19 Jab, Congressional Probe Finds

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Judiciary Committee released a report Wednesday, which found that an advertising cartel known as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, targeted popular podcaster Joe Rogan over his views on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Created by the World Federation of Advertisers—which represents roughly 90% of global advertising spending—GARM says its function is to unite marketers and media agencies to “safeguard the potential of digital media by reducing the availability and monetization of harmful content online.”

But in reality, GARM’s function is to bully media companies into removing politically inconvenient content, according to the Judiciary report.

“GARM appears to have anti-democratic views of fundamental American freedoms. In discussing his views on freedom of speech, GARM’s leader and co-founder, Rob Rakowitz, has expressed frustration with an ‘extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution’ and complained about using ‘principles for governance and applying them as literal law from 230 years ago (made by white men exclusively),’” the report noted.

The report provided several examples of GARM’s censorship efforts, perhaps the most prominent example being that of Rogan. According to the report, GARM tried to drive advertisers away from Rogan due to his pro-choice vaccine views.

“GARM pressured Spotify to punish Mr. Rogan by applying GARM’s standards on Mr. Rogan’s content,” the report stated.

“In late-January 2022, Spotify met with Joe Barone, Managing Partner Brand Safety Americas, of GroupM, a Steer Team member, to discuss so-called misinformation on Spotify,” the report said, noting that GroupM is the world’s largest media buying agency.

Even though GroupM didn’t buy ads on the Joe Rogan Experience, the organization still pressured to punish the podcaster, according to the Judiciary report.

“GARM includes every major advertising agency holding company in its ranks and includes the world’s largest media buying agency, GroupM, on its Steer Team,” the report said.

Rogan, of course, survived the coordinated onslaught and today still has one of the world’s most popular shows. Nevertheless, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing about the matter on Wednesday, ostensibly to discuss whether anti-trust laws should be strengthened to prevent advertisers from forming cartels.

The hearing can be watched here.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

SCOOP: AG Barr Blocked Investigation into FBI Coverup of LaVoy Finicum’s Death

Ken Silva
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SCOOP: AG Barr Blocked Investigation into FBI Coverup of LaVoy Finicum’s Death

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Nearly nine years after the fact, the Justice Department’s Inspector General has released a damning report on the death of Robert LaVoy Finicum, who was killed by law enforcement in January 2016 during an armed protest at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

As has been widely documented, Finicum was killed under suspicious circumstances during the occupation of the wildlife refuge. The FBI and local law enforcement had set up a roadblock to stop Finicum and several other activists, and shot at his vehicle as he approached. Finicum got out of his truck with his hands in the air, but was gunned down by Oregon State Police anyway.

LaVoy Finicum PHOTO: Wikipedia
LaVoy Finicum PHOTO: Wikipedia

The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team initially denied firing at Finicum, but agents were later caught engaging in a cover-up—removing bullet casings from the crime scene at the dead of night. The FBI was later determined to have fired at least two shots. One FBI HRT operator was indicted over the matter, but a jury acquitted him in 2018.

In his Tuesday report, DOJ-IG Michael Horowitz said he attempted to conduct his own investigation into the FBI’s conduct in the Finicum shooting, but that then-Attorney General Bill Barr blocked him from doing so.

“The OIG encountered a significant issue regarding its access to information in this matter,” he said.

Horowitz said he was allowed to polygraph two FBI HRT operators who were present at the scene of the shooting. However, Barr wouldn’t allow him to interview a third HRT operator, he said.

“The FBI routinely uses polygraph examinations in its administrative misconduct investigations, and the OIG’s request was identical to the polygraph requests that the FBI had previously approved for the first two FBI HRT operators,” Horowitz said.

“Nonetheless, the FBI denied that request following its receipt of a memorandum from then Attorney General William Barr stating that the FBI should deny the OIG’s request because of his belief that compelling the polygraph would not be consistent with FBI policy or appropriate under the circumstances,” he added.

“The FBI adopted Barr’s position in denying the OIG’s request. As the OIG noted in our report to the FBI following our de novo examination, the FBI’s denial of the OIG’s request was inconsistent with its usual practice and deprived the OIG of information relevant to our oversight responsibilities.”

Most of the remainder of the DOJ-IG report focused on the FBI’s “mishandling” of evidence. He recounted how local law enforcement assumed control of the crime scene because only two shell casings were initially found.

However, investigators later determined that at least eight shots were fired, only six by the Oregon staties. FBI aerial surveillance footage later showed FBI HRT personnel moving around the scene in the dark after the shooting—using flashlights to look under and around vehicles, examining the area near the roadblock, and appearing to pick up objects from the roadway in an apparent attempt to engage in a cover-up.

The FBI’s story about the cover-up is that its agents were looking for flash bang canister during its evening search—even though none were collected that night.

The DOJ-IG report debunked the FBI’s cover story, but nevertheless didn’t recommend any penalties for the agents involved. Instead, the DOJ-IG recommended new guidelines for how the FBI HRT handles “sensitive” evidence such as flash bangs.

The DOJ-IG report recommended that the FBI update its shooting incident policies for circumstances where the FBI participates in a law enforcement operation that results in a shooting involving another law enforcement agency; analyze whether and under what circumstances its policies permit identifying and removing sensitive items from a crime scene; and develop guidelines for identifying and removing sensitive items.

The FBI agreed with all of those recommendations.

Headline USA contacted Ammon Bundy, the leader of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff, for his reaction to the report. Bundy, who was arrested over the matter but later acquitted, reiterated his longstanding belief that his friend, Finicum, is dead because of the FBI.

“The FBI HRT caused the entire incident. They shot at the vehicle when the sheriff pulled us over causing Lavoy to flee. Then the FBI shot at the vehicle when Lavoy was driving. Then FBI agents continued to shoot into the vehicle after it was stopped—shooting my brother in the arm, (the bullet is still in his arm today),” Bundy told this publication.

“Then after it was all over the FBI secretly picked up the ammunition casings and lied in the reports and interviews about how many time the shot.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

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