CBP Air, Marine Agents Confiscate Nearly 20 Tons of Narcotics in 2 Months

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CBP Air, Marine Agents Confiscate Nearly 20 Tons of Narcotics in 2 Months

(The Center Square) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations agents stationed out of Jacksonville, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas, confiscated a record 20 tons of narcotics and other drugs in two months.

CBP said AMO agents from the Florida and Texas bases seized nearly 37,887 pounds of cocaine and 1,518 pounds of marijuana in international waters between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022, worth an estimated $77.3 million.

Twenty tons, 40,000 pounds, is roughly equivalent to the weight of a full school bus or loaded coach bus.

AMO interdicts “unlawful people and cargo approaching U.S. borders, investigates criminal networks, provides domain awareness in the air and maritime environments,” in addition to providing a range of support and interdiction efforts, CBP explains.

Multiple AMO “significant seizure events” occurred in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in November and December, but two stood out, CBP noted.

On Nov. 10, a National Air Security Operations Center P-3 Long Range Tracker crew responded to reports of a suspect low-profile vessel in the Caribbean. They tracked the vessel and communicated with partner naval vessel teams, which resulted in the confiscation of nine bales of cocaine and apprehension of three traffickers. The vessel sank, but three days later it was recovered, and another 6,852 pounds of cocaine was seized.

On Dec. 15, AMO and Joint Interagency Task Force-South partners interdicted 1.9 tons of cocaine. Using a P-3 Long Range Tracker, they located a low-profile vessel in the Eastern Pacific and relayed the position to Southern Command partners. An international maritime crew responded to interdict, but the suspect vessel crew outran them. A Guatemalan maritime crew responded, pursued the vessel and successfully interdicted it. One Columbian national and two Ecuadorian nationals were apprehended, and 3,792 pounds of cocaine was seized.

AMO and the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement have been partnering with Guatemala’s Navy, including providing vessel interdiction tactics training with Guatemalan forces to bolster their counternarcotics operations.

Nationwide, in fiscal 2022, AMO enforcement actions resulted in 967 arrests and 134,981 apprehensions of illegal foreign nationals and seized or disrupted 250,616 pounds of cocaine, 1,475 pounds of fentanyl, 25,625 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,342 weapons, and $21.7 million in cash.

These numbers are down from fiscal 2021, with the exception of fentanyl, meth and weapons seizures.

Nationwide, in fiscal 2021, AMO enforcement actions resulted in the seizure or disruption of 324,772 pounds of cocaine, 779,725 pounds of marijuana, 1,191 pounds of fentanyl, 18,548 pounds of methamphetamine, 900 weapons and $73.3 million in cash. Their efforts also helped lead to 1,119 arrests and 122,035 apprehensions of illegal foreign nationals.

Unemployment Fraud May Top $60B during Pandemic

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Unemployment Fraud May Top $60B during Pandemic

(Tom Gantert, The Center Square) A U.S. government report released Monday estimates that there could have been more than $60 billion in unemployment insurance fraud during the pandemic.

The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that figure is an estimate spread over the entire unemployment system and should be “interpreted with caution.”

There has been $4.3 billion of unemployment fraud proven by state workforce agencies and at least $45 billion more in transactions that were flagged as potential fraudulent unemployment claims but not confirmed.

The U.S. Department of Labor stated that about $878 billion in total unemployment benefits were paid from April 2020 through September 2022, the report stated. There was $209 billion in expenditures under the regular unemployment insurance and about $669 billion payouts under the various pandemic unemployment programs, which ended September 6, 2021.

The U.S. Congress created four new unemployment insurance programs during the pandemic, according to the report.

The report also questioned the U.S. Department of Labor’s efforts to combat fraud.

“The Department of Labor has taken steps to address such fraud,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office pointed out. “However, the department has yet to develop an antifraud strategy based on leading practices from GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework as required by law.”

The GAO continued: “While these steps help prevent, detect, and respond to fraud, as of December 2022, DOL has not yet developed an antifraud strategy based on leading practices in GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework. Also, it has not yet addressed the six October 2021 recommendations GAO made including to identify, assess the impact of, and prioritize UI fraud risks. These are essential pieces to inform an overall antifraud strategy. Without an antifraud strategy, DOL is not able to ensure that it is addressing the most significant fraud risks facing the UI system in alignment with the Fraud Risk Framework.”

Al Sharpton Defends Notorious Race Hoax that Launched His Career

Jacob Bruns
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Al Sharpton Defends Notorious Race Hoax that Launched His Career

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) In a recent interview with PBS’s Firing Line, professional race-hustler Al Sharpton defended the Tawana Brawley hoax, which he used to launch his fraudulent career.

The case dates back to 1987, when Sharpton, a little-known community activist in New York, claimed that Brawley, a then-15-year-old black girl, was gang-raped by officers from the New York Police Department.

Brawley—who was found outside a New York condominium wrapped in trash bags and covered in feces, with racial slurs written on her body—told authorities that she was held captive for four days.

A grand-jury ultimately concluded that her allegations were fraudulent. Steven Pagones, a prosecutor who had been falsely implicated, successfully sued for libel.

However, the Brawley family, along with Shaprton, still maintains that the claims were true.

Despite much time having passed, Sharpton reasserted his claims during the Jan. 13 Firing Line segment, reported the Media Research Center, a well-known conservative watchdog.

The interview coincided with the recent release of a documentary on Sharpton, titled Loudmouth, which again reopened the debate over the hoax, noted PBS host Margaret Hoover

“You served as an advisor to her family, and, throughout the grand jury investigation—which ultimately found her story to be a hoax,” Hoover said. “In the recent film, you say to the camera that your position in the case has been distorted. “How so?”

Sharpton responded that whatever the grand jury found is irrelevant because the case was not prosecuted in court.

“My position was that there was this allegation from this young lady that was really questionable behavior by some that she accused,” Sharpton, who owes nearly $1 million from his failed 2004 presidential campaign, responded. “She deserved to have her day in court—let us bring the case to court. And this prosecutor would not do that.”

He later noted that because “a grand jury is not a trial,” he refused to believe that he may have misled others or been misled himself.

“You mean nothing has changed in 35 years?” Hoover asked.

“Absolutely not… I have no evidence that I was misled,” he replied.

Former Russiagate Investigator Charged over Ties to Russian Oligarch

Ken Silva
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Former Russiagate Investigator Charged over Ties to Russian Oligarch

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Former FBI official Charles McGonigal, who was involved in the U.S. government’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia, has been charged with secretly working for a Russian oligarch.

McGonigal, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, is accused in an indictment unsealed Monday of working with a former Soviet diplomat-turned-Russian interpreter on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire they purportedly referred to in code as “the big guy” and “the client,” reported the Associated Press.

McGonigal, who had supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska, worked to have Deripaska’s sanctions lifted in 2019 and took money from him in 2021 to investigate a rival oligarch, the Justice Department said.

McGonigal, 54, and Russian interpreter Sergey Shestakov, 69, are charged with violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and conspiring to commit money laundering. Shestakov is also charged with making material misstatements to the FBI.

According to the DOJ, the U.S. Treasury Department added Deripaska to its sanctions list in 2018 for purported ties to the Russian government and Russia’s energy sector amid Russia’s ongoing threats to Ukraine.

That year, while McGonigal was still working for the FBI, Shestakov introduced him to a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who functioned as Deripaska’s agent, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, Shestakov asked McGonigal for help getting the agent’s daughter an internship in the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism and intelligence units. McGonigal agreed, prosecutors say.

After retiring from the FBI, according to the indictment, McGonigal went to work in 2019 as a consultant and investigator for an international law firm seeking to reverse Deripaska’s sanctions, a process known as “delisting.” The law firm paid McGonigal $25,000 through a Shestakov-owned corporation, prosecutors say, though the work was ultimately interrupted by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a bureau-wide email Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said McGonigal’s alleged conduct “is entirely inconsistent with what I see from the men and women of the FBI who demonstrate every day through their actions that they’re worthy of the public’s trust.”

After Monday’s indictment was unsealed, observers were quick to note that McGonigal was a top official who took part in the U.S. government’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016.

A September 2022 Business Insider article on McGonigal also noted that he led the WikiLeaks investigation into Chelsea Manning, busted Bill Clinton’s national security advisor Sandy Berger for removing classified material from a National Archives reading room and led the search for a Chinese mole inside the CIA.

“In 2016, when reports surfaced that Russia had hacked the email system of the Democratic National Committee, McGonigal was serving as chief of the cybercrimes section at FBI headquarters in Washington. In that capacity, he was one of the first officials to learn that a Trump campaign official had bragged that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton, sparking the investigation known as Operation Crossfire Hurricane,” Business Insider reported. “Later that year, FBI Director James Comey promoted McGonigal to oversee counterintelligence operations in New York.”

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

Harley–Davidson Goes Woke, Plans to Phase Out Gas-Powered Bikes

Ben Sellers
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Harley–Davidson Goes Woke, Plans to Phase Out Gas-Powered Bikes

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Farewell, Hell’s Angel’s. Hello, Heck’s Snowflakes.

The CEO of Harley–Davidson said the company plans to go full electric in the foreseable future, according to a recent interview with British design magazine Dezeen.

“At some point in time, Harley Davidson will be all-electric,” said Jochen Zeit, the German-born top executive of the quintessentially American motorbike brand.

“But that’s a long-term transition that needs to happen,” he reassured bikers. “It’s not something you do overnight.”

The company’s first electric option, the LiveWire, launched in 2018, quickly rivaling rice-burners everywhere and forcing more than a few Vespa owners to spill their cappuccinos.

The aptly-named Zeit said the long march of time throughout the brand’s storied history had always been building toward the moment when wokeness entered into the corporate Zeitgeist and allowed the chopper industry to virtue-signal its commitment to green energy.

“If you look at the past 120 years, the company has always evolved, never stood still,” Zeit said.

“Now, like the founders did at the time by trying to reinvent or invent something unique, that’s obviously something that we as a company brand need to do as well,” he continued. “What we’re doing is celebrating our past but also evolving the brand at the same time. It’s a natural evolution that needed to happen.”

Harley–Davidson is not alone in hopping on the eco-evolution bandwagon.

Last summer, Dodge—a classic American brand now owned by the Dutch company Stellantis—said it planned to replace its line of Challengers and Chargers with ones that actually required charging.

The announcement prompted criticism from actor John Schneider, known for portraying Bo Duke on TV’s Dukes of Hazzard.

“It’s a sign of the lunacy of the Left,” Schneider told Headline USA. “I believe it’s also a sign of the total disconnect between the manufacturer and the consumer.”

Not to be outdone, Chevrolet—which, for now, remains an American brand—also underwent a woke transformation, scrapping the tough-guy image long associated with its Camaros and Corvettes in favor of a more sensitive and socially conscious variety.

Schneider said that as a business decision it was a “serious mistake” to think electric vehicles might be more than a passing fad.

“Apparently they forgot about the great sexy cars of the ’70s,” he said. “… It will open the door for someone else who is a muscle-car enthusiast, who will replace them.”

But Zeit begged to differ, saying his philosopy was that if it ain’t broke, keep tinkering.

“I believe in big transformational change for iconic brands, which is what I’ve always done in my life,” he said.

If Harley’s deeply loyal base of customers objects, Zeit added, they can always find new ones to replace the old.

“We are targeting different consumer profiles—you have the traditional core customer, but you have a contemporary core customer, you have dreamers that aspire to ride or may just dream about the brand,” he said.

And even those who loathe the very idea of hitting the open road on a two-wheeled hog should be able to get the warm fuzzies when hearing the Harley name, he continued.

After all, the real money is in merchandising.

“The brand is not just for inspiring for those who buy motorcycles,” Zeit said. “It’s inspiring for others, which is why we’re making such made such a big effort on apparel and accessories to really bring the brand to broader customer bases—customers that might or might not ride one day.”

Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.

Pelosi Blames Hochul, NY Dems for Downplaying Crime and Losing the House

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Pelosi Blames Hochul, NY Dems for Downplaying Crime and Losing the House

(Headline USA) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state Democrats for downplaying crime as the reason their party lost so many congressional seats in the state during the midterm elections.

During an interview with the New York Times, Pelosi admitted that crime was a critical issue for voters and blasted Hochul for not dealing with it quickly enough to impact the midterms.

“That is an issue that had to be dealt with early on, not 10 days before the election,” Pelosi said. “The governor didn’t realize soon enough where the trouble was.”

Hochul defeated Republican challenger Lee Zeldin, who made rising crime rates in New York the focal point of his campaign. However, the race was much closer than expected, with Zeldin reducing Hochul’s lead significantly during the final weeks before the election.

Hochul continuously downplayed crime, claiming Zeldin and other Republicans were trying to “create a sense of fear in people’s minds.”

“These are master manipulators. They have this conspiracy going all across America trying to convince people that in Democratic states that they’re not as safe,” Hochul said of Republicans last November. “Well guess what? They’re also not only election deniers, they’re data deniers.”

It wasn’t until Nov. 3, just five days before the election, that Hochul admitted there was a crime problem.

“I acknowledge there is a crime issue,” Hochul told a local radio station. “It’s not new to me because it’s election time, I’ve been working on this throughout my entire time as governor.”

Pelosi was also asked whether President Joe Biden should run for the White House again, given his age.

“Is age a positive thing for him? No,” Pelosi admitted, before claiming that age is a “relative thing.”

“I think we have other great candidates when the time comes,” she added.

UT Austin Bans Students, Staff from Using TikTok

Molly Bruns
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UT Austin Bans Students, Staff from Using TikTok

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) TikTok is now banned on the University of Texas at Austin’s WiFi network as Republican Gov. Greg Abbot’s ban on the app goes into effect.

The executive order, issued in December 2022, cited cybersecurity risks posed by the Chinese-owned app for the ban, reported Big League Politics.

Adviser to the university’s president for technology strategy, Jeff Neyland, sent an email to students outlining the measures taken by institution to comply with the order.

“Recently, UT Austin began the process of removing TikTok from all government-issued devices, including university-issued cell phones, laptops, tablets, and desktop computers,” the email read. “Today, the university blocked TikTok access on our networks. You are no longer able to access TikTok on any device if you are connected to the university via its wired or WIFI networks.”

Neyland explained how the school is implementing steps to “eliminate risks to information contained in the university’s network and to [their] critical infrastructure.”

Abbot’s original directive indicated concerns over the growing threat of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over ByteDance, and their attempts to infiltrate the U.S. using the social media platform.

“While the federal government holds the ultimate responsibility for foreign policy issues, the State also has the responsibility and opportunity to protect itself,” the order detailed.

The directive banned state employees from accessing the platform via government devices and networks, with some exceptions for law enforcement agencies. TikTok is the most popular app in history, coming out in 2017 and quickly becoming the most downloaded social media platform of all time.

Like all social media platforms, TikTok’s algorithm of the platform panders to the user. What makes TikTok more dangerous than other apps is the minimal attention span necessary to watch short video clips combined with the lack of interaction needed to operate the platform, according to critics.

“If it’s the passive nature of online content consumption that causes atrophy of mental faculties, then TikTok, as the most passively used platform, will naturally cause the most atrophy,” said a report from Gurwinder. “Indeed many habitual TikTokers can already be found complaining on websites like Reddit about their loss of mental ability, a phenomenon that’s come to be known as ‘TikTok brain.’ If the signs are becoming apparent already, imagine what TikTok addiction will have done to young developing brains a decade from now.”

Several investigations into the platform’s privacy and tracking terms are underway globally. Some institutions are even suing the platform for its effect on young kids.

Judge in Whitmer Kidnap Trial Discloses Prior Ties to Governor

Ken Silva
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Judge in Whitmer Kidnap Trial Discloses Prior Ties to Governor

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Michigan Circuit Judge Kevin Elsenheimer disclosed Monday that he knows the state’s Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer, from when the two were both state legislators, but he said the prior relationship won’t affect his ability to preside over the trial of five men accused of playing a role in the Whitmer kidnap plot.

Elsenheimer, a Republican, made his disclosure Monday during the pretrial hearing of Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, Michael Null, William Null and Brian Higgins. All face the charge of providing material support for terrorist acts—allegedly assisting the Wolverine Watchmen militia in their conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer.

“I do know the victim,” Elsenheimer said, referencing Whitmer. “We were colleagues in legislature. We were members of leadership of our respective caucuses. We had several meetings over the years together. But for the obvious, I have not seen Ms. Whitmer since before she became governor.”

Elsenheimer served as a member of Michigan’s house of representatives from 2005 to 2010, while Whitmer was a member from 2003 to 2006 before serving in Michigan’s senate from 2006 to 2015. Elsenheimer was appointed as a circuit judge in 2017 by former Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

No one objected to Elsenheimer presiding over the state proceedings.

Also at Monday’s hearing, Michigan Assistant Attorney General William Rolstin said the government will seek to try all five defendants together. Defense attorney Tom Siver, who is representing Michael Null, indicated that he plans to file an objection, so that his client can have a separate trial.

Elsenheimer said he’s aiming for the trial—or trials—to begin in the summer.

Fix, Molitor, Higgins and the Nulls are set to be the third set of defendants to be tried for their role in the alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer. Six men were charged federally with conspiring to kidnap—two were acquitted, two struck plea deals and two were found guilty—and three others were found guilty in December of state charges of providing material support for a terrorist act.

With at least 12 FBI informants and two undercover agents participating in the sting operation to take down the alleged kidnap plotters, some politicians and civil liberties advocates have accused the U.S. government of entrapping the defendants.

“Every step of the way, the Whitmer plot was directed and encouraged by government agents. It required approval at the highest levels of the DOJ,” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., noted last July. “What we still don’t know: Who approved this op? Who oversaw it?”

Last week, Headline USA revealed that one of the informants in the sting operation had been working for the FBI since at least 2019, and had contacted one of the defendants in January 2020—months before the FBI officially opened its investigation in March 2020. The revelations undermine government’s claim that it only began infiltrating the Michigan militia movement after an FBI informant discovered their violent online rhetoric in March 2020.

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

House Democrat’s Son Arrested for Attacking Cop During Boston Riot

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House Democrat’s Son Arrested for Attacking Cop During Boston Riot

(Headline USA) The son of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., was arrested over the weekend for assaulting a police officer during a violent riot in Boston, Massachusetts.

On Saturday night, Jared “Riley” Dowell, 23, was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, destruction, or injury of personal property, and damage of property by graffiti or tagging. According to Clark, “Riley” is nonbinary, but was born a male named “Jared.”

In a tweet, Clark referred to her son as her “daughter” and acknowledged his arrest.

“Last night, my daughter was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts,” the No. 2 House Democrat wrote. “I love Riley, and this is a very difficult time in the cycle of joy and pain in parenting. This will be evaluated by the legal system, and I am confident in that process.”

According to reports, Dowel was involved in a riot near the Parkman Bandstand monument within the Boston Common. Police arrived on the scene at about 9:30 p.m., at which point they saw someone “defacing” the monument with spray paint, allegedly writing “NO COP CITY” and “ACAB,” which stands for “All Cops Are Bastards.”

Officers then arrested Dowell, but a group of about 20 protesters allegedly surrounded them, screaming profanities through megaphones. One officer was hit in the face and started bleeding from the nose and mouth, according to police.

Clark has referenced Dowell several times, recalling in December how he was “waking up with nightmares” because of climate change.

“I remember my middle child waking up with nightmares over concern around climate change. I’ve had my family at a movie theater, when the movie stopped, my children immediately felt there must be a shooter in the theater with us,” she claimed.

Yuma Official: City on Brink of Collapse Because of Biden Border Policies

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Yuma Official: City on Brink of Collapse Because of Biden Border Policies

(Headline USA) A Yuma official said this week that the Arizona city is on the brink of collapse due to the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines told Fox News on Monday that the massive influx of illegal immigrants into the city has overloaded its system and resources.

“The average for Yuma on a weekly basis is 6,000 people coming across. Of those 6,000, we have 1,000 to 2,000 ‘gotaways’ — people we have not been able to catch,” Lines said.

He named President Joe Biden directly, urging the president to come to Arizona and see the problem for himself.

“Policies need to be changed when you see an unprecedented amount of people coming across the border that even supersedes what we saw under any of the other presidents for the past 30 years,” Lines said. “And they’re coming because they said that Biden told them to come, that we have an open border.”

Lines predicted that “it will only get worse” because of Biden’s policies.

“He needs to reassess,” he added.

Already, nonprofits, churches and the medical system in Yuma are struggling to stay afloat, Lines said.

“Let’s talk about the financial impact and the strain that it’s placed on our hospital,” Lines said. “So far, Yuma Medical Center has had over $22 million of unreimbursed expenses specifically for people who are illegally crossing our border.

“I have received calls from people saying, ‘I had to take my wife to San Diego, I had to take my wife to Phoenix to deliver a baby because there were no more beds at this hospital.’”

Customs and Border Protection released data earlier this month that shows 5 million migrants have crossed into the U.S. illegally since January 2021 when Biden took office. Many of them come through Yuma or El Paso, Texas, two of the biggest illegal immigration hubs.

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