House GOP to Subpoena Blinken over Afghanistan Dissent Cable

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House GOP to Subpoena Blinken over Afghanistan Dissent Cable

(Headline USA) House Republicans plan to deliver a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday for classified cables related to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking an unprecedented effort to force the release of sensitive documents to Congress.

Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Associated Press on Monday that he had spoken with Blinken earlier in the day when he was notified the agency would not be turning over a so-called dissent cable written by diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul shortly before the August 2021 withdrawal.

“We have made multiple good faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information,” McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee.”

The July 2021 communication warned Blinken about the potential fall of Kabul via a special “dissent channel,” which allows State Department officials to issue warnings or express contrarian views directly to senior agency officials, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The State Department made a direct offer last week—before McCaul made his subpoena threat about the dissent cable in particular—to share the substance of the cable via a briefing, according to a March 22 letter obtained by the AP.

“The Department is prepared to discuss a path that would communicate to you the circumstances and substance of the requested cable exchange, as an extraordinary accommodation,” the letter read. “The Department trusts that this accommodation will address the Committee’s request for information while preserving the confidential nature of the Dissent Channel.”

McCaul and other House Republicans have sought to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a “stunning failure of leadership” after Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out.

Kabul’s fall turned the West’s withdrawal into a rout, with Kabul’s airport the center of a desperate air evacuation guarded by U.S. forces temporarily deployed for the task. A single explosive device that day killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members.

McCaul made the Afghanistan-related document requests in January, upon becoming chairman of the committee, but has said he faced pushback from the department as he pursued his investigation into the withdrawal.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday that while he recognizes “the importance and the keen interest in this cable,” it would be a rare move for any secretary to turn over those documents to Congress.

“It is a unique way for anyone in the department to speak truth to power as they see it without fear or favor. And they do it by the regulations we have established for these cables in a privileged and confidential way,” Patel said. “It’s vital to us that we preserve the integrity of that process and of that channel.”

It follows four years in which House Democrats, under the gavel of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, issued far more spurious subpoena requests that did not directly pertain to legislative matters, such as demanding to see the tax records of then-President Donald Trump—a fight that ultimately made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Biden White House’s pattern of cover-ups on a litany of national-security issues, including the U.S.–Mexican border and the Biden family’s business deals with China and President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified materials, have given ample concern that legislative oversight is a necessary tool to keep the corrupt administration in check.

Since the Dissent Channel was created in 1971, in part to address U.S. diplomats’ concerns over the Vietnam War, the State Department has held communications closely. Nearly all such cables are classified to protect the integrity of the process and the identities of dissenting Foreign Service officers. However, some have been leaked to the press, often by their authors.

According to the National Security Archives at George Washington University, at least 123 Dissent Channel cables have been sent since 1971. The vast majority of those have remained classified and the State Department has long objected to efforts to force their release.

The basic contents of some Dissent Channel cables have become public, including in the Afghanistan withdrawal case. One of its authors was given an award for “Constructive Dissent” in 2022 by the union that represents U.S. diplomats.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Ga. Passes Bill to Hold Corrupt, Soros-Backed Prosecutors Accountable

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Ga. Passes Bill to Hold Corrupt, Soros-Backed Prosecutors Accountable

(Headline USA) A new Georgia commission to discipline and remove corrupt prosecutors would be the latest move nationwide to ratchet up oversight on what conservatives see as the root cause of a dramatic uptick in violent crime and a politically-motivated double-standard in the justice system.

The Georgia House voted 97-77 on Monday for Senate Bill 92 to create the commission. The Senate later sent the measure to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto. Kemp has previously voiced support for the concept.

The Georgia bill parallels efforts to remove prosecutors in Florida, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania, as well as broader disputes nationwide over how criminals should be charged.

After years of tacitly supporting “defund the police” rhetoric, Democrats stand accused of coddling criminals and acting improperly by refusing to prosecute whole categories of violent crimes.

“I think it’s happened because several years ago, there was a push to try to use the office of prosecutor to address mass incarceration and injustices within the criminal justice system,” said Carissa Hessick, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who directs the Prosecutors and Politics Project. “That movement was successful in a lot of places.”

Specifically, the movement was bankrolled in large part by predatory oligarch George Soros, who is accused of trying to actively undermine America’s institutions in order to promote a Marxist agenda that will allow himself and other globalists to further entrench their power in the creating of a “one-world government” that they alone control.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has decried the Georgia law, claiming it’s a racist attack after 14 far-left, nonwhite district attorneys came to power in 2020—in what remains a heavily disputed election for many that saw activists like failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams illegally solicit votes and harvest ballots from inelligible voters.

But the energy behind the bill has not been against Willis, who—in addition to targeting former President Donald Trump—is pursuing a tough-on-crime offensive against alleged gang members.

Instead, many Georgia Republicans are most angered by Deborah Gonzalez, a district attorney who covers two counties including Athens, Kemp’s hometown. She’s under fire for refusal to prosecute marijuana crimes, an outflow of prosecutors working under her, and failure to meet court deadlines.

“That’s the whole point of this bill, is to restore public safety in places where you have rogue district attorneys who simply are not doing their job,” said Georgia Republican Rep. Houston Gaines of Athens.

The effort was borne from frustrations involving a white Republican prosecutor in suburban Atlanta who was indicted for bribery related to sexual harassment claims. He lingered until he pleaded guilty to unprofessional conduct and resigned in 2022.

Some Democrats were interested in similar measures for a time because of Jackie Johnson, the coastal Georgia district attorney later charged with hindering the police investigation into the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

Democratic interest cooled after voters ousted Johnson. Now they say Republicans should respect the will of local voters.

Crucially, the Georgia bill mandates that a prosecutor must consider every case for which probable cause exists and can’t exclude categories of cases from prosecution. A similar bill pending in Indiana would let an oversight board appoint a special prosecutor to handle cases when a “noncompliant” prosecutor refuses to charge certain crimes.

Hessick—who made 15 separate donations to the 2008 campaign of Barack Obama while working at Arizona State University—claimed the Georgia law is less likely to change prosecutors’ decisions about which cases they pursue than to muzzle their ability to talk about their decisions.

“It’s designed to stop them from running on these platforms of reform,” Hessick said, without evidence.

The rules could also target prosecutors who declared before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 that they would not prosecute abortion-related offenses. Seven current Georgia district attorneys made such pledges, among dozens nationwide.

Georgia lawmakers can already impeach district attorneys and solicitors general—elected prosecutors in some Georgia counties who handle lower-level cases. But they say impeachment would take up too much of lawmakers’ time. Instead, the new commission would investigate and make decisions. A prosecutor could appeal a decision to a state-level court, and eventually to the state Supreme Court.

Impeachment is proceeding in Pennsylvania, where state House Republicans voted in November to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner for reasons including his failure to prosecute crimes, his bail policies and management.

Krasner sued to challenge the impeachment’s legality, and a divided state court ruled for him, finding impeachment articles didn’t reach the needed legal threshold.

Plans for an impeachment trial in the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate have been on hold while that decision is appealed. In the meantime, the Republican majority that voted to impeach in the House is now a Democratic majority. It’s unclear what that will mean for any trial.

Other governors and legislatures have moved more directly to remove prosecutors. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren in Tampa’s Hillsborough County in August.

A federal judge found DeSantis illegally targeted Warren because he’s a Democrat who has publicly supported the pro-abortion and transgender agenda, and because it would politically benefit DeSantis. But the judge wrote he had no power to reinstate Warren, leading the Democrat to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the prosecutor that DeSantis tapped to replace Warren has resumed prosecuting some misdemeanors—including suspended licenses, disorderly conduct and panhandling—that Warren had stopped bringing to trial.

The GOP-led Missouri legislature is also maneuvering to override a far-left prosecutor—St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. It would let Republican Gov. Mike Parson appoint an additional special prosecutor for five years in any jurisdiction where the homicide rate exceeds 35 killings per 100,000 residents. The bill was drafted with St. Louis in mind.

Also, Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey is seeking to remove Gardner from office, alleging negligence in her job. If a judge agrees, Parson would appoint her replacement. A hearing date hasn’t been set.

In some states, such laws could face hurdles. A New York court struck down a 2018 commission to investigate prosecutorial conduct after district attorneys sued saying it gave state lawmakers too much oversight over independent offices.

Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021 signed another version into law. The commission isn’t yet operating because some members haven’t been appointed, a court spokesperson said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

NYC Spending $5.3M to Install Toilets

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NYC Spending $5.3M to Install Toilets

(Adam Andrzejewski, RealClear Wire) New York City is planning to spend $5.3 million to install high-tech toilets in public parks in each of the five boroughs. Those five toilets, however, cost less than $1 million to purchase, according to the New York Post.

Each toilet from Portland Loo only cost about $185,000, putting the total price tag at $925,000. The other $4 million in costs comes from high infrastructure costs and navigating the complex and bureaucratic installation process.

An NYC Parks Department representative told the New York Post that part of the reason for the steep costs is because the program intentionally chose locations without existing bathrooms, so new electric and water infrastructure needs to be created in these areas. Other installation costs include preparation work, laying a foundation, and erecting fencing.

New York City is notorious for its stringent and complex zoning and construction laws, which undoubtedly add to the total cost. A sales manager for the portable bathroom manufacturer that is leading this project told news outlet The City, “I built 180 of these, from Portland to Alaska to Miami, and I’ve never had this certification problem,” and added “New York City has been the most difficult to have a permit approved for.”

Despite still being in its early stages, the project seems doomed for delays and mismanagement. Already, an NYC official angrily contacted the toilet manufacturer in February of 2022, demanding answers as to why the toilets had not arrived yet, The City reported. The company informed this official that no order had ever actually been placed.

While cities have a wide variety of options on how to spend its taxpayers’ money to improve communities and services, one might think that investments in public safety, roads and bridges and streets and sanitation would top the list. NYC, however seems convinced that its top concern is toilets.

Hang Gliders Newest Way for Illegal Entry into U.S.

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Hang Gliders Newest Way for Illegal Entry into U.S.

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) As more foreign nationals are caught attempting to illegally enter Florida and are repatriated to their country or port of origin, a new method to bypass law enforcement efforts by sea is underway by air: hang gliders.

On Saturday, two Cuban nationals landed at the Key West International Airport using a powered hang glider. They were taken into custody by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who then turned them over to U.S. Border Patrol. No injuries were reported, the sheriff’s office said.

Border Patrol agents continue arrest violent gang members after they’ve illegally entered the U.S. at the southwest border.

On March 13, Miami Sector Chief Patrol agent Walter Slosar said Border Patrol agents arrested a Honduran national in Fort Myers who had seven prior arrests and was identified as an MS-13 gang member who’d illegally entered the U.S. as a juvenile near El Paso, Texas.

As law enforcement officers in Texas and Arizona have warned, single, military age men make up the majority of those illegally entering the U.S. at the southwest border.

Miami Sector Border Patrol agents working with local sheriffs offices and Coast Guard crews continue to apprehend human smugglers arriving by sea.

Last weekend, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office interdicted a maritime smuggling event and apprehended 15 citizens from Ecuador, Vietnam, Cuba and the Dominican Republic being smuggled into Florida on a motorized boat. Two suspected smugglers were identified and would be prosecuted, Slosar said.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew apprehended five Ecuadorians, three Dominicans, one Cuban, four Chinese and two Vietnamese in a smuggling event in the vicinity of Lake Worth Inlet earlier this month, it announced.

“Coast Guard and partner agency crews are stopping people from illegally landing in the U.S.,” Lt. Cmdr. Mark Cobb, Coast Guard District Seven, said.

They also rescued four foreign nationals from a capsized vessel three miles east of Juno Beach in a separate incident after receiving a call from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.

Border Patrol agents and law enforcement partners on March 10 apprehended 10 citizens of Guyana, Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil arriving on a powerboat that made landfall on Boynton Beach. An investigation was launched into a possible human smuggling operation.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Border Patrol agents continue to apprehend Cubans arriving in the Florida Keys using rustic vessels. In one instance, they responded to a rustic vessel landing on Sombrero Beach in the Florida Keys and apprehended five Cubans. In another, they apprehended 19 Cubans using a rustic vessel in Key Largo.

Coast Guard crews continue to save people at sea and repatriate them to Cuba or the Bahamas. Coast Guard Station Key West crew members recently saved 18 people who were in the water and another 10 from a rustic vessel in perilous conditions on March 21.

On March 24, Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber’s crew repatriated 64 Cubans. On March 20, 29 were repatriated to the Bahamas. On March 15, Coast Guard Cutters Charles Sexton and James’ crews transferred 32 Cubans to The Bahamas and repatriated 27 Cubans to Cuba.

“Coast Guard and partner agency crews are not letting people illegally land in the U.S.,” Capt. Robert Kinsey, Coast Guard District Seven, said. He also said, “15 people needlessly died at sea because they risked the unpredictable Florida Straits in unseaworthy vessels without safety equipment.”

Since Oct. 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 5,862 Cubans, nearly as many as they did in all of fiscal 2022 – 6,182. By comparison, they apprehended 838 Cubans in fiscal 2021, according to U.S. Coast Guard data.

Lawmakers Reveal Plan to Overturn Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation

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Lawmakers Reveal Plan to Overturn Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation

(Casey Harper, The Center Square) Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have kicked off an effort to overturn the Biden administration’s student loan cancellation via Congressional authority.

The move comes after the Government Accountability Office said that the student loan rule fell within Congress’ authority to overturn under the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows lawmakers to revoke executive rules soon after they are enacted. To that end, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, announced Monday they are leading a Joint Resolution of Disapproval, the first step for Congress to overturn Biden’s student loan forgiveness.

“President Biden’s so-called student loan forgiveness programs do not make the debt go away, but merely transfer the costs from student loan borrowers onto taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars,” Good said.

Last August, Biden said that his administration would “forgive” $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for married couples. Those who borrowed money before July 1 can qualify.

The debt cancellation would total $20,000 for Pell Grant awardees. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office said that the plan would cost taxpayers about $400 billion, though other estimates are higher.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard a legal challenge to Biden’s loan cancellation. They are expected to rule in the coming weeks. For now, the program is on hold.

“President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” Cassidy said. “It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.”

The measure has 39 cosponsors so far and support from several groups, including the National Taxpayers Union, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Heritage Action and America First Policy Institute. The resolution, though, needs Biden’s signature or a majority large enough to override a veto.

“This resolution will dissuade the executive branch from other expansions of its authority, prevent the transfer of billions in debt payments to all taxpayers, and prevent this authority from being spuriously activated in the future,” said Nicholas Johns, Policy and Government Affairs manager of National Taxpayers Union.

Antifa, Trans Activist Groups Planned ‘Day of Vengeance’ Prior to Nashville Massacre

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Antifa, Trans Activist Groups Planned ‘Day of Vengeance’ Prior to Nashville Massacre

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) It remained unclear Monday if an Antifa-linked domestic terror group had cancelled its “Day of Trans Vengeance” planned for next month, in the wake of a horrific mass shooting in Nashville.

Our Rights DC had partnered with the Trans Radical Action Network in demanding the transgender community “stop trans genocide” and planning for a weekend of protests at the Supreme Court to accompany a fundraiser for firearms training.

“The time is now, enough is enough,” TRAN activists posted on TikTok, reported the Daily Wire. “We want more than visibility. Trans Day of Vengeance. Stop trans genocide. Save the date: April 1st – 11:00 AM / March 31st – TBA.”

In a tweet that has since been locked, the group advertised for its “DANCE PARTY FUNDRAISER!! … $10 suggested admission Benefiting firearm/self defense training for trans Virginians. Come boogie with us and defend trans life!”

The threats coming from radical trans activists started even earlier, noted Andy Ngo, who reported that “Far-left extremists & militant #trans activists are threatening to injure or kill lawmakers in Tennessee as revenge for the state banning the medical transitioning of minors. Their violent threats have surged in recent weeks.”

The specific targeting of Tennessee took on added significance with the trans-linked mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School.

“Today, a transgender extremist shot and killed Christian children in Nashville,” wrote Trending Politics’ Collin Rugg. “But according to our government, ‘Christian extremism’ is the real problem in America.”

GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy tweeted that “When someone says they’re trans, it usually means *something else* is badly wrong in their life. Let’s abandon the farce that the “humane” thing to do is to affirm their confusion, rather than to actually help. It’s inhumane. My heart goes out to the victims & families in Nashville.”

The extent of toxicity was revealed in the radical Left’s reaction to the mass shooting.

“I still think TN got what it deserved today. You can’t victimize people nonstop and expect something bad not to happen,” tweeted one activist.

“It always a very clear case of mental illness when someone identifies as trans,” wrote Candace Owens. “This was an anti-Christian hate crime motivated by radical left gender ideology.”

“We will not let this story be swept under the rug,” wrote Rogan O’Handley. “Trans-terrorism must be confronted head on and stopped.”

WSJ Survey Reveals Plunge in Traditional American Values

Mark Pellin
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WSJ Survey Reveals Plunge in Traditional American Values

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) After years of infiltration into the mainstream by leftist-driven cancel cultists, increasing censorship of conservative voices and lingering impacts from tyrannical COVID lockdowns and mandates, traditional American values have taken a nosedive.

The importance of patriotism, religious faith and having children, in particular, have plummeted, according to a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll.

Patriotism took one of the hardest hits, dropping from 70% of respondents in 1998 who said it was very important to them, to 38% in the WSJ survey taken earlier this month. Those numbers dipped even further for adults under the age of 30, with only 23% saying patriotism was very important to them personally, compared with 59% of seniors ages 65 or older.

The results fell in line with views about America’s stature on the world stage, with only 21% saying they thought it “stands above all countries in the world”.

The relevance and importance of religion took a similar plunge, falling from 62% to 39%. At the same time, the importance of having children dropped from 59% to 30%, while the importance of community involvement plunged from 62% to 27%.

The importance of money, meanwhile, jumped from 31% to 43%, combined with nearly 40% of respondents who said their financial situation has gotten worse over the last few years. A staggering 78% said they had low confidence that “life for our children’s generation will be better than it has been for us.”

“These differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America,” pollster Bill McInturff told the WSJ. “Perhaps the toll of our political division, COVID and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.”

The WSJ-NORC poll showed significant variances on social issues, depending on political party.

Slightly more than 50% of Republicans said businesses have gone too far promoting racial and ethnic diversity, compared to only 7% of Democrats. Similarly, nearly 70% of Republicans said society has gone overboard in accepting transgender people, while nearly 60% of Democrats said society hasn’t done enough.

Biden Ripped for Focus on Ice Cream, ‘Good Looking’ Kids in Remarks after Nashville Shooting

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Biden Ripped for Focus on Ice Cream, ‘Good Looking’ Kids in Remarks after Nashville Shooting

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) President Joe Biden stunned a TV audience on Monday when he began his remarks following a mass shooting at a Christian school by babbling about his favorite ice cream flavor and creeping on “good-looking” kids.

“My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband and I eat Jeni’s Ice Cream, chocolate chip,” Biden joked at the Women’s Business Summit. “I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream here. By the way, I have a whole refrigerator-full upstairs. You think I’m kidding? I’m not.”

A stunned Fox News correspondent, who had interrupted programing to capture the president’s remarks with a live-feed from the White House after the Nashville mass shooting, apologized to viewers for the insulting tone of Biden’s rambling.

“It’s rather surprising,” agreed a Fox News anchor, after dropping the live-feed. “I thought a somber President Biden would come to the podium and address the school shooting. He’s yukking it up with the crowd.”

When he was done with his ice cream review, Biden turned his attention to creeping on youngsters in the crowd, asking “Who are those good-looking kids back there?”

Biden eventually addressed the school shooting by taking advantage of the tragedy to once again call for more gun restrictions on law-abiding citizens, but not before getting ripped for his misplaced jocularity at the summit.

While the public expected and deserved a president who could act as “comforter-in-chief,” what they got instead was “an old, dementia-riddled man with full Depends wobbling around talking about how much he loves ice cream, and then creeping on children,” said pundit Benny Johnson, who called Biden’s comments “an insult” that was “very, very hard to watch.”

It got progressively worse as Biden continued his disjointed ramble.

“It’s pretty dull when you’ve been in public life as long as I have, and you’re know for two things: Chocolate chip ice cream and Ray-Ban sunglasses. What the hell?” Biden groused.

“I am not surprised by any of this. We have a literal dementia patient as president,” Matt Walsh wrote of Biden’s performance.

Others were equally critical, but not surprised by Biden’s attitude.

“Why are people shocked Biden started joking and talking about ice cream before mentioning those who were killed in Nashville?” tweeted one disgusted viewer. “I mean, he did look at his watch in front of the coffins of troops who were killed in Kabul. He’s a disgrace.”

MORE Government Provocateurs Emerge from Jan. 6 Woodwork

Ken Silva
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MORE Government Provocateurs Emerge from Jan. 6 Woodwork

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) From leaked discovery material to a surprising admission by the U.S. government itself, a trove of new evidence was revealed Friday showing that undercover police officers played a much larger role in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill protests than originally thought.

The new evidence comes from the trial of William and Michael Pope, who face obstruction of Congress, civil disorder and trespassing charges. William Pope has been trying to have a federal judge unseal evidence, including video footage, that he says will show a more complete picture of government’s covert operations that day.

On Friday, the U.S. government filed a response to Pope, making some shocking admissions that appear to support his claims. Prosecutors admitted that some of the Jan. 6 footage under seal includes body camera recordings from undercover police officers who were urging protestors inside the Capitol building.

“The specific footage, GoPro video recorded by an MPD Police Officer who was stationed at the Capitol in an evidence-gathering capacity, captures the officer shouting words to the effect of ‘Go! Go! Go!’ and ‘Keep going! Keep going!’ apparently to the individuals in front of him on the balustrade of the U.S. Capitol’s northwest staircase around 2:15 p.m.,” prosecutors said in their filing.

“At other times in these videos, the officer and the two other plain clothes officers with him appear to join the crowd around them in various chants, to include ‘drain the swamp,’ ‘U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!’ and ‘whose house? Our house!’”

Despite these admissions, the U.S. government still wants to keep Jan. 6 footage secret. According to Friday’s filing, prosecutors are worried about their case being tried in the public instead of in a federal courtroom.

“The defendant is not entitled to ‘undesignate’ these videos to share them with unlimited third parties. His desire to try his case in the media rather than in a court of law is illegitimate, and the government has met its burden to show the necessity of the protective order,” prosecutors argued.

Also on Friday, seemingly the same footage described by the prosecutors in their filing was leaked online. Pope was quick to clarify that he was not the leaking party, as that would be a violation of the judge’s orders.

The leaked video, titled on Rumble as “JANUARY 6 CARE PACKAGE,” shows exactly what prosecutors described: Several plainclothes police officers pretending to be Trump supporters, urging other protestors to break the law and enter the Capitol. The footage can be seen here:

The Popes have a status hearing for their case on April 3. A trial date has yet to be set.

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

Shooter Confirmed as Transgender Triggerwoman in Christian School Massacre

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Shooter Confirmed as Transgender Triggerwoman in Christian School Massacre

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Law enforcement officials confirmed that the suspect in Monday’s deadly mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, was a transgender woman.

The mass shooting that erupted at Covenant School left three students, all age 9, and three adults dead. The shooter, who was killed by law enforcement, was named as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender woman, according to Nashville Police Chief John Drake.

Asked if authorities thought there was “any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school,” Drake said that avenue of investigation was being explored.

“There is some theory to that,” he told reporters, adding that officials thought it was a targeted attack and that Hale had written a manifesto before the shooting.

“We have also determined that there were maps drawn of the school in detail of surveillance entry points. At one point she was a student at that school,” the police chief said.

A police spokesman later clarified the chief’s remarks, writing in an email that “Audrey Hale is a biological woman who, on a social media profile, used male pronouns,” according to the Washington Post.

Hale identified on social media as “he/him,” and mainstream media was taken to task for grossly downplaying any connection to the mental health controversies surrounding a radicalized trans movement.

“Today a mentally ill woman (who claims to be a man) premeditatedly mapped, targeted and massacred people at a Christian institution,” wrote Steven Crowder. “If you believe in ‘hate crimes,’ file this one.”

“Fascinating to see the entire media now apparently ‘misgender’ the suspect in the Nashville shooting, in much the same way they decided to scoff at the chosen gender of the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting,” tweeted the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, referring to the mass shooting where the suspect identified as “non-binary.”

Others questioned how soon it would be until fake news media began to re-write the original narrative and actively try to suppress any reference to the shooter’s transgender status.

“Corporate media will now do everything in their power to cover up the transgender aspect of this,” Posobiec predicted.

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