The Government’s Sprawling Effort to Censor (True) Information During the Pandemic

Wire Editor
-
0
The Government’s Sprawling Effort to Censor (True) Information During the Pandemic

(Jon Miltimore, FEE) In July 2022, Twitter permanently suspended Rhode Island physician Andrew Bostom after awarding the epidemiologist and longtime researcher at Brown University a fifth strike for spreading “misinformation.”

A July 26 tweet alleging that there was no solid evidence COVID-19 vaccines had prevented any children from being hospitalized—”only RCT data we have from children reveals ZERO hospitalizations prevented by vaccination vs. placebo”—was apparently the final straw.

The funny thing was, it appeared Bostom’s tweet was true.

Dr. Anish Koka, a cardiologist and writer, said he was initially skeptical of Bostom’s claim. But after speaking with him for more than an hour, he realized Bostom was citing the government’s own data, a Food and Drug Administration briefing document that included randomized controlled trial (RCT) data on children.

“…Dr. Bostom’s tweet appears quite correct as per the FDA documents,” Koka wrote on Substack. “In the RCTs available, there does not appear to be evidence that the vaccine prevented hospitalizations.”

‘They Veered From CDC Guidance’

Bostom’s permanent suspension was one of many anecdotes shared by journalist David Zweig in a December Twitter Files thread viewed by more than 64 million people, which exposed how the government worked with Twitter to try to “rig the Covid debate.”

It turns out this was not the only one of Bostom’s tweets that was true but was nevertheless flagged for “misinformation.”

“A review of Twitter log files revealed that an internal audit, conducted after Bostom’s attorney contacted Twitter, found that only 1 of Bostom’s 5 violations were valid,” Zweig notes. “The one Bostom tweet found to still be in violation cited data that was legitimate but inconvenient to the public health establishment’s narrative about the risks of flu versus Covid in children.”

In other words, all five of Bostom’s tweets that had been flagged as “misinformation” were legitimate. At the very least, four-out-of-five were, and that’s according to Twitter’s own internal audit.

How this happened was partially explored by Zweig, who explained Twitter’s convoluted censorship process, which relied heavily on bots, contractors in foreign countries who lacked the expertise to make informed decisions, and Twitter brass who carried their own biases and incentives. This structure led to a predictable result.

“In my review of internal files,” writes Zweig, “I found countless instances of tweets labeled as ‘misleading’ or taken down entirely, sometimes triggering account suspensions, simply because they veered from CDC guidance or differed from establishment views.”

The CDC had effectively become the arbiter of truth.

This is alarming for at least two reasons. First, for anyone familiar with the government’s track record on truth, there’s reason to be skeptical of putting any government agency in charge of deciding what is true and false. Second, the CDC has been, to put it kindly, fallible throughout the pandemic. Indeed, the agency has been plagued with so much dysfunction and made so many crucial mistakes that its own director announced less than a year ago the organization needed an overhaul.

So there’s some reason to believe that Bostom and people like him—including epidemiologists like Dr. Martin Kuldorff (formerly of Harvard) and mRNA vaccine creator Dr. Robert Malone—were being suspended, banned, and de-amplified simply because Twitter was poorly situated to determine what was true and what was false.

There’s reason to doubt this claim, however.

‘Worrisome Jokes,’ ‘Natural Immunity,’ and Other ‘Potential Violations’

Months after Zweig published his report on the Twitter Files, journalist Matt Taibbi published a separate deep dive exploring the Virality Project, an initiative launched by Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center.

The project, which Taibbi described as “a sweeping, cross-platform effort to monitor billions of social media posts by Stanford University, federal agencies, and a slew of (often state-funded) NGOs,” is noteworthy because officials made it clear that a goal was not just to flag false information, but information that was true but inconvenient to the government’s goals. Reports of “vaccinated individuals contracting Covid-19 anyway,” “worrisome jokes,” and “natural immunity” were all characterized as “potential violations,” as were conversations “interpreted to suggest that coronavirus might have leaked from a lab.”

In what Taibbi describes as “a pan-industry monitoring plan for Covid-related content,” the Virality Project began analyzing millions of posts each day from platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Medium, TikTok and other social media sites, which were submitted through the JIRA ticketing system. On February 22, 2021, in a video no longer public, Stanford welcomed social media leaders to the group and offered instruction on how to join the JIRA system.

In contrast to Twitter’s previous internal guidance, which required narratives on COVID-19 to be “demonstrably false” before any censorship actions were taken, the Virality Project made it clear that information that was true was also fair game if it undermined the larger aims of the government and the Virality Project.

Specifically noted were “true stories that could fuel [vaccine] hesitancy,” personal testimonials about adverse side effects of vaccination, concerns over vaccine passports, and actual deaths of people following vaccination, such as Drene Keyes.

As NBC noted in 2021, Keyes, a 58-year-old black woman, died after receiving the Pfizer vaccine in February 2021. Described as an “elderly Black woman” by the Virality Project, Keyes’s death became a “disinformation” event after it garnered attention from “anti vax groups”—even though no one denied that she died within hours of taking the vaccine.

No autopsy was conducted on Keyes and there’s no way of knowing if the vaccine caused her death. But merely raising the possibility could have resulted in a ban. Officials at the Virality Project warned platforms that “just asking questions”—at least the wrong questions—was a tactic “commonly used by spreaders of misinformation.”

Ironically, Taibbi notes, the Virality Project itself was often “extravagantly wrong” about Covid science, describing breakthrough events as “extremely rare events” (a fact it later conceded was wrong) and implying that natural immunity did not offer protection from Covid.

“Even in its final report, [the Virality Project] claimed it was misinformation to suggest the vaccine does not prevent transmission, or that governments are planning to introduce vaccine passports,” Taibbi writes. “Both things turned out to be true.”

‘You Can’t Handle the Truth’

It’s clear that the Virality Project’s primary purpose was not to protect Americans from misinformation. Its goal, as Taibbi notes, was to get the public to submit to authority and accept the state’s Covid narrative, particularly the pronouncements of public figures such as Drs. Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky.

The official policy can be summed up in the immortal words of Colonel Nathan Jessup, the villain portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Aaron Sorkin’s popular 1992 film A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth.”

It’s important to understand that public officials, just like Col. Jessup, genuinely believe this. Jessup utters these words in anger in a wonderful monologue, after he is baited by Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) into telling the court how he really feels. Similarly, the Twitter Files reveal a program designed to control information—even true information—because it serves the state’s plan.

The last word—plan—is important, because it calls to mind Ludwig von Mises’s warning about those seeking to plan society.

“The planner is a potential dictator who wants to deprive all other people of the power to plan and act according to their own plans,” Mises wrote. “He aims at one thing only: the exclusive absolute preeminence of his own plan.”

‘Sometimes They Are Five’

Mises’ words apply perfectly to the Virality Project, a program designed specifically to get people to submit to the government’s narrative and objectives, not their own. The preeminence of the plan is so important that it requires censoring information and targeting individuals—as the Virality Project did—even if it’s true.

It’s difficult to overstate how Orwellian this is.

In Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith, the protagonist of the story, says, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four.”

Absent any context, the quote doesn’t make much sense. But it’s important to understand that Orwell saw statism and politics as forces destructive to the truth. His own brushes with state propaganda during the Spanish Civil War left him terrified that objective truth was “fading out of the world,” and he saw the state as inherently prone to obfuscation and euphemism (regardless of party).

“Political language,” he wrote, “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Within the context of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the meaning of Winston Smith’s words becomes crystal clear. Saying “two plus two makes four” might be an objective truth, but sometimes objective truth runs counter to Big Brother’s plan. Winston Smith is a slow learner, state agents tell him, because he can’t seem to grasp this simple reality:

“How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.”

“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder.”

Many people who lived through the Covid-19 pandemic likely can identify with the terror of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Orwell’s fear that objective truth is “fading out of the world.” We witnessed public officials say things that were demonstrably false and face no consequences, while Andrew Bostom and countless others were exiled from public discourse because they said things that were true, but ran counter to the state’s narrative.

Fortunately, in large part because of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, we now know how this happened.

“Government, academia, and an oligopoly of would-be corporate competitors organized quickly behind a secret, unified effort to control political messaging,” Taibbi writes.

All of it was designed to control information. And in doing so, the state—which actually attempted to create a “Disinformation Governance Board,” which critics promptly dubbed a Ministry of Truth—created an environment hostile to free speech and truth.

Ironically, despite the egregious abuse delivered upon the truth over the last three years in the name of fighting “misinformation,” polls show roughly half of Americans believe social media companies should be censoring such material from their sites. Few seem to realize this will almost certainly involve those with influence and power—especially the government—deciding who and what are censored.

This is a recipe for disaster. History shows there’s no greater purveyor of falsehood and propaganda than the government itself. The Twitter Files are a reminder of that.

2024 Campaigns Must Navigate Nuances of Hispanic, Latino Voters

Wire Editor
-
0
2024 Campaigns Must Navigate Nuances of Hispanic, Latino Voters

(Alex Garcia, RealClear Wire) In the world of political campaigning, the digital video landscape is king. With consumers shifting away from traditional TV viewing toward ad-free streaming platforms, political campaigns must adapt to the changing times to reach their target audience, especially in 2024.

However, when it comes to connecting with specific demographics, such as Hispanic and Latino voters, a nuanced approach is key. For one, Hispanic and Latino voters are not a monolithic group. There are clear distinctions based on nation of origin and generational differences, which makes targeting them effectively a challenge. Cuban voters, for instance, may have different preferences than Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.

But, with the right approach, digital video can be a powerful tool for building the trust and engagement that can win elections in 2024 and the years to come. One of the best ways to reach Hispanic and Latino audiences is by using digital video to connect with voters on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. While this allows political campaigns to target specific demographics in a more personal and direct way, it’s not just about the platform; the content and messaging are equally important.

To resonate with Hispanic and Latino voters, political campaigns must address issues that are important to these communities, including immigration, healthcare, and education. The messages that resonate with other demographics aren’t necessarily applicable to Hispanics and Latinos – painting with a broad brush is shortsighted. By creating compelling content that speaks to targeted issues, political campaigns can ultimately build trust among the demographic and increase their likelihood of support.

Recent data shows that Republican candidates have seen a rise in support among Hispanic and Latino voters. In the 2020 election cycle, the Trump campaign saw a 35% increase in Hispanic support compared to 2016. Part of the reason is that Trump focused on pocketbook issues that matter to Hispanics and Latinos – from small business job creation to taxes and regulations.

Despite defeat, the Trump campaign won the economic messaging battle, which wasn’t lost on Hispanics and Latinos. His campaign specifically targeted neighborhoods like Miami’s Little Havana with custom content, explaining why much of Trump’s support endures there today. While momentum still exists, it is essential that Republican campaigns learn from Trump’s 2020 blueprint and sustain their Hispanic and Latino support enough for it to swing the 2024 election. Winning the White House is impossible for Democrats or Republicans without winning at least a substantial minority of Hispanic and Latino voters, and ideally a majority.

Former President George W. Bush proved it back in the early 2000s. Two decades ago, the Bush campaign’s brand of social conservatism appealed to voters with traditional values, including many in Hispanic and Latino communities. And Bush drove that message home. While the modes of messaging have changed since then, with the popularity of digital videos skyrocketing, the need for a nuanced approach has not. Reaching key communities on the right platforms – such as Facebook and YouTube – in the right way is paramount.

Effective adaptation to the digital video landscape is impossible without nuance. Voters are able to tell when campaigns become lazy and revert to a one-size-fits-all targeting approach, and they will punish the culprits by voting differently.

Successful campaigns, on the other hand, will build trust and support by understanding what resonates with Hispanic and Latino communities, and then creating compelling content accordingly. That is how to harness the power of digital media and build the momentum to win in 2024. There is no other way.

Biden Admin Tells Americans Stranded in Sudan to Fend for Themselves

Molly Bruns
-
0
Biden Admin Tells Americans Stranded in Sudan to Fend for Themselves

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) U.S. special operations teams left behind thousands of American citizens in Sudan after the initial evacuation of staff and their families from the U.S. Embassy while fighting broke out in the war-torn country.

According to the Daily Caller, the Biden administration told the 16,000 citizens they left behind that they should not expect evacuation, despite other countries working to extract theirs.

“It is not our standard procedure to evacuate American citizens living abroad,” said Press Secretary Karine Jean–Pierre in a conference addressing the issue.

The statement stands in stark contrast to the mass evacuation of Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal from the country.

Although it failed to secure all of the American citizens and allied partners from under the rule of the Taliban, Biden’s administration nonetheless boasted of having “executed the largest airlift in U.S. history.”

In a recent postmortem report on the failed withdrawal, which largely deflected blame onto the prior Trump administration, White House officials further said that they “now prioritize earlier evacuations when faced with a degrading security situation.”

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan appeared to undermine Jean–Pierre’s claim regarding the Sudanese evacuation. He said the administration was overseeing overland evacuations, despite the lack of American troops on the ground.

The State Department issued a Level 4 travel warning after infighting between two Sudanese militant groups ensued in April. The warning called the situation “violent, volatile, and extremely unpredictable, particularly in the capital city of Khartoum.”

The Biden administration issued a statement reaffirming its commitment “to the Sudanese people and the future they want,” but temporarily suspended operations in the African nation.

“Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract U.S. Government personnel from Khartoum,” said Biden in a press release. “I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety.”

America seems to be one of the only nations making no effort to rescue the citizens who took up residence in the country.

The German military rescued more than 400 people via helicopter, Italian C-130’s airlifted almost 200 people from the Khartoum airport, and the Japanese government evacuated 45 citizens via military transport.

The U.S. government estimate of nearly 16,000 Americans residing in Sudan may, in fact, be an outdated figure; it is possible that the number is much higher.

Trapped citizens are no longer receiving services from the embassy staff.

Pathways out of the country are not clear, as the conflicting groups blocked off roads. The airport in the country’s capitol is no longer operational for civilian flights.

The State Department alerted Americans to the danger of travel and advised them to shelter in place, making escape impossible.

Sudanese officials estimate that nearly 400 people were killed in the first week of fighting, including one American.

Don Lemon’s Toxic Interview w/ GOP Candidate Was Final Straw

Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji Bello
-
0
Don Lemon’s Toxic Interview w/ GOP Candidate Was Final Straw

(Abdul–Rahman Oladimeji Bello, Headline USA) Leftist star anchor Don Lemon ended his career with CNN after race-baiting GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who appeared on “CNN This Morning.” Lemon co-hosted this show with Kaitlin Collins and Poppy Harlow.

A report by ZeroHedge noted that Ramaswamy made a comment about Lemon doing a “disservice to our country by failing to recognize” the progress black people have made in securing rights. However, the host shunned Ramaswamy, saying he had no authorization to talk about black history. 

Though Ramaswamy happens to be a man of color, the host suggested he wasn’t of the right color as he said, “When you are in black skin, and then you live in this country, you can disagree with me.”

The report noted that the producers apparently tried to correct Lemon at a point but failed as they got an on-air scolding. “Please. I cannot keep a thought if you guys are talking in my ear. So hang on one second,” he said to the producers. 

Going further down the cliff, Lemon added that it was insulting for Ramaswamy to be “sitting there, whatever ethnicity you are, ‘splaining to me what it’s like to be black in America.”

The New York Times reported that this interview stunned CNN leaders, making it the final straw for him on the channel. 

The host, who was already on thin ice at the channel, was demoted from prime time to a morning slot six months ago. However, he continued giving the CNN leaders reasons to kick him out. 

One of these instances occurred in February, when said 51-year-old GOP candidate Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime, sorry…A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” He also shut down his female co-hosts, who pushed back by saying he was merely stating facts. 

“CNN and Don have parted ways,” Chris Licht, CNN’s chairman, said in a statement. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

However, Lemon’s interpretation of the event was in contrast as he expressed shock. “I am stunned,” Lemon wrote. “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.” 

Hunter Biden Hiding in Dem. Donor’s $50M Mansion Amid Probes

Contributing Author
-
0
Hunter Biden Hiding in Dem. Donor’s $50M Mansion Amid Probes

(Headline USA) Hunter Biden reportedly spent the weekend hiding out at a Democrat donor’s $50-million vineyard, increasing speculation that he is moving locations frequently to avoid legal action.

Hunter and his wife Melissa Cohen arrived at Kiani Preserve in Santa Barbara, California, last Friday, along with their Secret Service detail, according to the New York Post.

Kiani Preserveis owned by medical device company executive Joe Kiani, who is also a major donor to President Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. In 2020, Kiani donated $750,000 to the pro-Biden Unite the Country PAC. He is estimated to have donated a total of $3 million to Biden’s campaign and inaugural committee.

In return, it would seem, the president rewarded Kiani by naming him to his Council of Advisers on Science and Technology in September 2021. Kiani has also received millions in government contracts since Biden took office.

Hunter’s stay at Kiani’s vineyard comes just one week after the embattled son traveled to Ireland with his father and aunt on a state visit. 

Another report revealed Hunter has been crashing at the White House frequently in order to avoid getting served by former stripper Lunden Roberts, with whom he fathered a child. Hunter continues to refuse to provide child support to Roberts for the child, according to her legal team.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden’s legal team reportedly plans to meet with Justice Department officials this week regarding the long-running federal investigation into his alleged tax fraud, wire fraud, and lying about his drug use on a federal gun-purchase.

House Republicans are also ramping up their investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances and overseas business dealings, which they argued point to corruption throughout the entire Biden family.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in an interview this weekend that his committee is looking at “six specific decisions that Joe Biden made either as vice president or president that are very concerning to us, that we believe could potentially lead back to payments that were made to these LLCs that were then laundered down to the Biden family member.”

Biden Blasted for Claiming All Children Are ‘the Nation’s’ Children

Contributing Author
-
0
Biden Blasted for Claiming All Children Are ‘the Nation’s’ Children

(Headline USA) President Joe Biden was blasted this week for claiming that children do not belong just to their parents, but to “the nation.”

Speaking at a White House event on Monday, Biden ripped legislation restricting woke and sexually explicit curricular material in schools, accusing Republicans of “book banning.”

“As a student of history, I never thought I’d be a president who was fighting against elected officials trying to ban and banning books,” Biden said. “Empty shelves don’t help kids learn very much. And I’ve never met a parent who wants a politician dictating what their kid can learn, what they can think, and who they can be.”

Biden then added: “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child. No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.”

Conservatives pointed out that Biden’s comments have communist roots.

“Parents, your children are NOT property of the state. This is not the Soviet Union. You must stand up for Parental Rights!” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., tweeted.

Conservative writer Jim Treacher joked that, while Biden is trying to take ownership of children that aren’t even his, Hunter Biden is actively avoiding taking responsibility for a child he fathered.

“Hunter’s lawyer is arguing the exact opposite in Arkansas,” Treacher quipped.

This isn’t the first time the White House has dismissed parental rights efforts. Last October, Vice President Kamala Harris made a similar comment about how America’s youth are “our children.”

“When you see our kids, and I truly believe that they are our children, they are the children of our country, of our communities, I mean, our future is really bright if we, if we prioritize them, and therefore prioritize the climate crisis and the need to address it. If we think about our children, prioritizing the need to bring our country together,” Harris said.

Army Officers Complain of Delayed Discharge amid Recruiting Crisis

Molly Bruns
-
0
Army Officers Complain of Delayed Discharge amid Recruiting Crisis

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Several Army officers claimed that the military institution is denying soldiers’ scheduled discharges in the midst of a historic recruitment crisis.

A recent study from the Pentagon found that 77% of Americans age 17-24 are unfit for duty due to obesity, drug use and other health issues. That data, coupled with the large gaps in recruitment for 2022, put the entire military in a rough spot.

According to the Daily Caller, the recruitment and retention disaster impacted all branches of the military and highly-elite tactical groups.

A letter, written and signed by 61 aviation officers and submitted to Congress, explained how the effect of the lack of qualified enlistees led to the easing of military standards.

The letter also described how Army bureaucrats took advantage of a line in the Army contract to extend the airmen’s service by three years.

“Army Aviators have been misled by Human Resources Command, the U.S. Military Academy and Reserve Officers’ Training Course Aviation Branch Representatives, and our Career Managers on the exact length of our service contract,” the officers wrote. “They are request[ing] an inquiry into the U.S. Army’s Human Resources Command (HRC) due to significant mismanagement relating to the enforcement of Active-Duty Service Obligations (ADSOs) for Army Aviation Officers.”

The vaguely worded contract allowed for the extension of the seven-year term of service by three years to make up for a training course generally acknowledged to overlap with initial training. Three of the officers gave statements to the press on the condition of anonymity.

“It was a contract we signed as cadets in ROTC or at West Point,” one aviation officer said. “Those contracts are kind of sketchy because they technically don’t exist. It’s a made-up document. It’s not a Department of the Army form.”

The HRC alerted the officers of the contractual change in February.

Army recruiters struggling to meet recruitment goals explained that one of their major hurdles is gaining access to high schools, as teachers and administrators treat the institution with hostility.

Several Republican representatives launched an investigation into the recruitment failures as well, finding that wokeness is also a major deterrent to young people who might enlist.

Hunter Biden Files Ethics Complaint against Marjorie Taylor Greene

Jacob Bruns
-
0
Hunter Biden Files Ethics Complaint against Marjorie Taylor Greene

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As Hunter Biden desperately tries to ride out a cascading series of scandals and legal issues, lawyers for the president’s son pushed back by filing ethics complaints against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her recent comments about him.

The lawyers penned letters to both the House Ethics Committee and the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General, NBC News reported.

In the Ethics Committee letter, the Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote that Greene has made numerous “defamatory statements,” including the posting of conspiracy theories on social media accounts.

“Representative Greene’s unethical conduct arises from her continuous verbal attacks, defamatory statements, publication of personal photos and data, and promotion of conspiracy theories about and against Robert Hunter Biden,” Lowell wrote, adding that Greene’s actions were unrelated to her job.

Greene’s actions could not possibly “be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity, as is clear from both the content of her statements and actions,” Lowell added.

Lowell further claimed that Greene used Twitter and other social media platforms to “spew” what he called “her often unhinged rhetoric.”

Such activity, he said, amounted to “a spray of shotgun pellets of personal vitriol” from Greene’s professional position in Congress.

For Lowell and Biden, the House must police the social media usage of its members.

“The House has a duty to make loud and clear that it does not endorse, condone, or agree with her outrageous, undignified rhetoric and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives,” the letter concluded.

Biden’s legal team also penned a letter to the Treasury Department, complaining about  former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler, who allegedly “came to acquire and then retain and publish on his website” suspicious activity reports from JP Morgan Chase bank purportedly related to Biden bank accounts.

The recent complaints are the latest lawfare attack to try to counterpunch the Biden family’s political enemies as the walls close in on the president’s troubled son.

Biden also has threatened defamation lawsuits and other legal action against former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, Fox News and computer store owner John Paul Mac Isaac for their role in exposing the “laptop from Hell” that shed light on many of his crimes.

Purported Daughter of J6 Provocateur Ray Epps Making Abuse Claims on Twitter

Ken Silva
-
0
Purported Daughter of J6 Provocateur Ray Epps Making Abuse Claims on Twitter

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A woman claiming to be the adopted daughter of Jan. 6 provocateur Ray Epps has taken Twitter by storm in recent days with child abuse allegations against Epps and wild stories about his frequent trips to Mexico.

The allegations from the woman, Tiffany Jones, come as Epps is reportedly preparing to sue Tucker Carlson for promoting theories that he helped incite violence during the Capitol Hill protests at the behest of the U.S. government, or some rogue elements therein.

Headline USA has not confirmed her claims.

Given the high stakes involved—some say Epps is the key to proving the U.S. government’s role in provoking violence during the Capitol Hill protests, while liberal-leaning institutions such as the New York Times, CBS and the Jan. 6 Commission have mounted a full-throated defense of him—readers should be aware of the possibility that Jones is spreading disinformation.

However, there is evidence to suggest that her story may be true.

For starters, online information brokers such as fastpeoplesearch.com do say that Jones and Epps are relatives. Jones has also posted pictures on her Twitter account that appear to be of Epps and her as a child, and a Twitter personality who interviewed her Monday night said he viewed her birth certificate.

Jones started tweeting about Epps on Oct. 24, 2021—days after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., asked questions about him in Congress, and one day after Revolver News published its first “blockbuster” story about the Jan. 6 provocateur. Revolver News asked why Epps was never arrested over his actions on Jan. 6, despite him being caught on camera urging protestors to enter the Capitol, and despite him initially being on the FBI’s wanted list.

Jones’s first interview appears to be from about a year ago with right-wing broadcaster Kyle Clifton.

She remained relatively quiet since then, until 60 Minutes published a segment featuring Epps on Sunday. After that show, she appeared on a Twitter Spaces segment and spoke about her experiences with Epps.

The next day, Jones again went on a Twitter Spaces with “Dom Lucre,” for a tell-all interview.

Jones’s remarks start around the 30-minute mark. She talked about being put up for adoption at the age of four, eventually being found by Epps’s wife, Robyn.

Jones’s described being abused by Epps. She said he shook her violently and would make her change her clothes in front of him. Headline USA is not describing the abuse in detail since Epps was never charged over the matter and the allegations are unconfirmed.

Jones was estranged from Epps by the time he became prominent in the Oath Keepers and right-wing politics, she said, adding that she has no knowledge of any connections Epps might have to the federal government.

However, she did tell stories that deepens the mystery of Epps, a retired U.S. Marine.

According to Jones, the Epps family made frequent trips to Mexico in her teenage years during the 1990s. She said the family wouldn’t go to touristy areas, but would instead stay in tents in places such as Caborca and Puerto Lobos.

She said the family would be frequently detained when returning to the U.S.

The family would wait in a holding area while Epps talked to the “Federales,” she said. Epps would tell her that the authorities were “checking to make sure we weren’t bringing fruit across the border,” Jones said.

One time, Jones said Epps was incarcerated in Mexico after “someone ran into our boat.” Jones said she was 14 at the time, meaning this incident would have occurred around 1996.

Jones said she and her mother stayed at a motel overnight while Epps was in custody. The next morning, Epps returned to the room and started placing calls.

According to Jones, Epps said “This is Sgt. James Ray Epps of the United States Marine Corps, get me out of here. I’m prepared to shoot my way out of this country if I have to.”

Headline USA reached out to Jones on Sunday for an interview. She initially agreed, but stopped responding to messages. Her Twitter following has skyrockets to around 250 followers on Sunday to more than 10,000 today.

Headline USA has also reached out to Epps for a response to Jones’s allegations. He has not responded, nor has his former attorney, ex-FBI agent John Blischak, or his new attorney, former Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Teter.

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

RFK Jr. Slams DNC for Primary Election Procedures

Ezekiel Loseke
-
0
RFK Jr. Slams DNC for Primary Election Procedures

(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat presidential candidate, slammed the Democratic National Committee this week for its official position on holding debates for its 2024 primary election.

Joe Biden’s formal announcement on Tuesday that he will run for president in 2024 was preceded on Monday by an announcement that the party will not hold debates for its presidential primary. The DNC’s decision came despite the fact that two candidates, had announced their campaigns for the party’s presidential nomination.

“The DNC, at this point, has taken the official position that there will be no debate, and I think that’s unfortunate,” Kennedy Jr. said in an interview with Breitbart News.

“You have so many Americans who are concerned about election integrity. We should be doing everything we can in our party to show that, you know, this is not rigged, rigged system. That it is actually democracy.”

Kennedy Jr. explained what democratic elections look like.

“[In democratic elections] people can run and that they can get to debate and that the public is gonna be able to see them,” he said. “[But,] they’re [the Democratic National Comittee] doing kind of the opposite.”

Kennedy claimed that the DNC abandoning its traditional primary election order creates suspicion among voters, specifically citing the committee’s decision to bump New Hampshire, a state where Kennedy Jr. noted that Biden had come in fifth place.

“And now they’re gonna say — they’re saying that they’re going to completely remove the delegates from New Hampshire,” he said.

Fellow long-shot Democrat candidate, Marrianne Williamson, also sounded off about the DNC stealing the nomination.

“The DNC “plans no primary debates,” she tweeted. “As though there simply ARE no other candidates … no other ideas we should discuss about ways to win in 2024, or other ideas we should discuss about ways to repair the country. Too many people are too smart to accept this.”

1...2,0342,0352,036...3,892Page 2,035 of 3,892