New Prosecutor Takes on the Georgia Election Case Against Trump and Others

Headline USA Editor
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New Prosecutor Takes on the Georgia Election Case Against Trump and Others

(Headline USA) A longtime prosecutor announced he will take over the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others, after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case and no one else wanted the job.

The nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia was tasked with replacing Willis after she was disqualified over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she’d chosen to lead the case. The organization’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, said Friday that he would take the case on himself.

“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” Skandalakis said in an emailed statement.

Legal action against Trump is unlikely to proceed while he is president. However, 14 other defendants still face charges, among them former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani as well as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Trump earlier this week announced pardons for people accused of backing his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — including those charged in Georgia — but Skandalakis has said that has no bearing on these state charges.

After the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis can continue to follow Willis’ vision for the prosecution, decide to pursue only some charges or dismiss the case altogether.

He said he could have let the deadline pass or told the court no prosecutor was available, which would have led to the case’s dismissal, but he decided that wasn’t “the right course of action.”

“The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” he wrote. “Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed.”

Skandalakis said Willis’ office delivered 101 boxes of documents on Oct. 29 and an eight-terabyte hard drive with the full investigative file on Nov. 6. Although he hasn’t completed his review, he took on the case so he can finish assessing it and decide what to do next.

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, said he is confident that “fair and impartial review” will lead to a dismissal of the case against his client.

“This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end,” he said in an email.

Allyn Stockton, an attorney for Giuliani, called Skandalakis’ decision an “interesting twist,” but added, “everything I know about Mr. Skandalakis is that he is a fair minded and honorable man who is void of any political agenda.”

A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment, deferring to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.

Skandalakis, who has led the small, nonpartisan council since 2018, said in his filing that he will get no extra pay for the case, with Fulton County reimbursing expenses. He previously spent about 25 years as the elected Republican district attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit, southwest of Atlanta.

“I doubt anything will ever move forward with the president,” Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said, noting that Skandalakis’ appointment is temporary and charges can’t proceed against Trump while he’s in office.

As for the president’s co-defendants, Kreis said the council’s resources are scarce, which “may lead to a simplification of the case or plea deals.”

Willis announced the sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one revealed in January 2024 that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. The defense attorneys alleged a conflict of interest and said Willis profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took.

During an extraordinary hearing the next month, Willis and Wade testified about their relationship’s intimate details, saying the romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired and that they split the costs for vacations and other outings.

Judge Scott McAfee rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but found no disqualifying conflict of interest, ruling she could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.

Defense attorneys appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December 2024, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The state Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal.

This is not the first time Skandalakis has been involved in this case. Even before Willis obtained an indictment, a judge barred her from seeking criminal charges against Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, one of 16 state Republicans who signed a certificate that Trump had won Georgia and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

A state senator in the wake of the election, Jones also sought a special legislative session to overturn Biden’s win.

As Willis investigated, Jones argued she had a conflict of interest because she hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race. Judge Robert McBurney ruled in July 2022 that Willis’ actions created an “actual and untenable” conflict of interest.

Skandalakis appointed himself to handle that issue as well and ultimately chose not to pursue charges against Jones.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Poll: Majority Believe Free Speech in U.S. Headed in Wrong Direction

Headline USA Editor
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Poll: Majority Believe Free Speech in U.S. Headed in Wrong Direction

(Sarah Roderick-Fitch, The Center Square)  An overwhelming majority of Americans believe freedom of speech is headed in the wrong direction, according to a new poll.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), through its National Speech Index, tracks attitudes toward free speech on a quarterly basis. The latest tracking shows that 74% of Americans believe things are headed in the wrong direction when it comes to free speech. Only 26% believe things are headed in the right direction.

The group says there has been a 10% increase since July in the number of Americans who believe free speech is headed in the wrong direction.

The index, which began tracking attitudes toward free speech in January 2024, has shown political shifts, where Republicans’ attitude shifted in a positive direction around the time President Donald Trump was elected for a second term; however, they have dropped from 69% in July to 55% in October, believing free speech was headed in the right direction.

The group noted the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.

“In the last three months, America watched as Charlie Kirk was murdered for simply debating on a college campus, followed immediately by a wave of censorship of those who opposed his views,” said FIRE Research Fellow and Polling Manager Nathan Honeycutt in a news release. “It’s no surprise that a record number of Americans of all parties now think that it’s a dire time for free speech in America.”

The drop in confidence in the direction of free speech for Democrats dropped from 17% in July to 11% in October. At the same time, the number of independents dropped from 31% to 19%.

However, prior to Kirk’s assassination, the survey shows a dramatic shift in attitudes based on political party between the presidency of former President Joe Biden and the election of Trump.

Between January and April 2024, the percentage of Democrats who viewed free speech as headed in the right direction rose from 46% to 56%, then decreased to 50% in the lead-up to the November 2024 presidential election. The number dropped to 38% in January 2024, then dramatically dropped to 17% in April 2025.

Whereas the percentage for Republicans was low, beginning at 25% of those who believed free speech was headed in the right direction between January and April 2024, then dropped to 20% in July 2024, but began to rise in October 2024 from 24% to 52% in January 2025, peaking at 69% in July.

Notably, among independents, it would appear the Trump presidency has had a positive impact on their views of the direction in which free speech is headed.

In January 2024, independents were surveyed at a lower rate than Republicans, with only 23% rising slightly to 26%, then dropping again to 19% in July 2024. They began rising in October 2024 to 24%, steadily increasing and peaking at 36% in April 2025. However, the number started to dip to 31% in July, and to 19% in October.

He Was Looking for Worms; He Found Silver Treasure!

Money Metals News Service
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He Was Looking for Worms; He Found Silver Treasure!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) He was hoping for a lucky day of fishing. As it turned out, he was luckier than he could have imagined.

An unnamed Swedish fisherman was digging around for worms at his summer home, prepping for a day on the lake. Along with some slimy invertebrates, the fisherman also dug up a corroded copper cauldron. Inside was nearly 13 pounds of treasure dating back to the Middle Ages.

Among the rings, pendants, and other pieces of jewelry were as many as 20,000 silver coins.

According to county administrative board member Sofia Andersson, it’s one of the largest treasure troves from that period ever discovered in Sweden.

The coins date back to the 12th century. Some are embossed with KANATUS, the Latin name of King Knut Eriksson, who ruled the country from 1172 until his death in 1195. There were also “bishop coins” in the treasure trove. These coins were minted in Europe and were used by clergy. They feature an image of a bishop holding a ceremonial staff known as a crozier. According to Popular Science, “The images on these coins suggest clergy actively negotiated with kings and wielded quite a bit of power in medieval Sweden.”

Unfortunately for our intrepid fisherman, he won’t get to keep the silver. But he is entitled to a finder’s fee under Swedish law.

Officials haven’t determined the value of the cache. From a historical standpoint, the treasure is priceless. According to Earth.com, the coins could shed new light on the time period.

“Large hoards compress history into a sealed container. They capture a money system at one moment and freeze a network of trade and taxes. Patterns in this cache may show how silver moved between town and countryside. They may also reveal what people trusted when storing wealth.”

Historical value aside, the silver in the coins is worth a pretty penny. The individual coins are relatively small and thin. They weigh around 0.3 grams each. But there are around 20,000 of them. That totals around 6,000 grams or 190 ounces. At today’s silver price, the melt value is around $9,800.

Our intrepid fisherman could buy a lot of worms with that haul.

And it goes to show – real money retains its value over time.

Think about it. You could take these 850-year-old coins and use them to buy a sandwich today from anybody who understands the value of silver.

Now imagine if somebody finds a box of dollar bills in 850 years. What do you think they’ll be worth?

Probably nothing. That’s assuming paper money could even survive buried for that long.

Or what about a treasure trove of modern quarters and dimes?

It would also likely be close to valueless. They are made from a metal alloy that’s not worth a whole lot. That is, unless you find quarters and dimes minted before 1965. Those are 90 percent silver. The melt value of a 1964 or earlier quarter is currently around $9!

They call these old dimes, quarters, and half dollars “junk silver.” But it’s pretty clear what is real junk.

OK, so how about finding pennies sometime in the future? The U.S. government just minted the last 1-cent piece this week. Of course, thanks to relentless monetary devaluation, a penny isn’t worth anything even today. But at least they are made of copper, right?

Well, not unless you find a penny minted earlier than 1982. That year, the government took most of the copper out of the penny. Modern pennies are mostly zinc. I don’t think many people are going to get fired up about finding zinc in their yard.

In all likelihood, you’re not going to dig up silver in your backyard. But you can still get silver quarters, dimes, and half dollars. We’re currently running a pretty good deal on them here at Money Metals.

Photo courtesy of the Stockholm County Administrative Board

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

They Shot the Penny, Killing the Messenger

Money Metals News Service
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They Shot the Penny, Killing the Messenger

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) The government killed the penny. RIP.

It was tantamount to shooting the messenger.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Mint produced the final five circulating pennies.

The Treasury stopped mass-producing pennies months ago after President Trump passed a death sentence, ordering an end to the venerable 1-cent piece earlier this year. However, an unspecified number of pennies were struck with an Omega symbol to signify that they are the last of their kind. The final five pennies produced in Philly were part of that batch, and they will be auctioned off next month.

U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach was in Philadelphia to witness the execution.

Trump passed a death sentence on the penny in an announcement in February, citing the rising cost of manufacturing the 1-cent coin.

“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!”

Trump went on to say he is going to rip the waste out of the U.S. budget “even if it’s a penny at a time.”

According to the U.S. Mint, it costs 3.69 cents to mint and distribute one penny.

In 2024, the mint produced 3.2 billion pennies and lost about $85.3 million in the process. That was over half of the new coins minted last year.

They Shot the Messenger!

So, what happened to the penny?

Well, it’s not worth anything anymore. You might still be able to give a penny for somebody’s thoughts, but that’s about it. You can’t even get a penny gumball these days.

One cent has become virtually irrelevant in today’s financial system. The greenback has devalued so much that the value of 1/100th of a dollar is approaching zero. It’s worth about as much as the lint in your pocket.

How did this happen?

The government is destroying your money.

Simply put, the government and its enablers at the Federal Reserve have printed the dollar into oblivion. The more dollars they create, the less each dollar is worth.

And they have printed a lot of dollars.

Since 2008, the Fed has created over $8 trillion through quantitative easing alone.

The results were predictable.

Based on the CPI, prices have increased by over 713 percent since 1970. That penny gumball you bought as a kid would cost about 8.1 cents today.

Keep in mind that the CPI doesn’t tell the entire story of inflation. The government revised the CPI formula in the 1990s so that it understated the actual rise in prices. Based on the formula used in the 1970s, CPI is closer to double the official numbers.

On the other side of the coin (pun intended), production costs have gone up due to this same inflationary pressure. Put into perspective, it’s no wonder it costs so much more to produce a penny than it’s worth.

The bottom line is, every time you pick up a penny, it’s a reminder of Uncle Sam’s monetary malfeasance. Instead of actually solving the problem (i.e., end the borrowing, spending, and money printing), your drunk uncle just shot the messenger and sent the penny to its grave.

This isn’t the first time the government has taken steps to obscure its monetary destruction.

In 1982, the mint removed most of the copper from the penny. Before that year, pennies were composed of 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. Due to rising copper costs (a result of inflation), the mint changed the composition to 97.5 percent zinc with 2.5 percent copper plating.

The government devalued silver coins nearly two decades earlier.

Under the Coinage Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the U.S. Treasury removed all the silver from dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. Instead, the government mints coins from “composites, with faces of the same alloy used in our 5-cent piece that is bonded to a core of pure copper.”

Today, you will sometimes hear coins minted before 1965 referred to as “junk silver.”

In reality, we should call modern American coins junk.

The demise of the penny is another example of the same phenomenon.

When Johnson signed the Coinage Act, he insisted that removing silver would have no impact on the value of U.S. coinage.

“[The] Treasury has a lot of silver on hand, and it can be, and it will be used to keep the price of silver in line with its value in our present silver coin,” he said.

Just a few years later, President Richard Nixon made a similar claim when he cut the final tie to the gold standard. He said, “Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation,” and promised, “Your dollar will be worth just as much as it is today.”

Both men were lying.

When you disconnect money from anything of tangible value, it is going to quickly depreciate. It’s as certain as death and taxes.

And that’s exactly what happened.

This currency debasement is ongoing. They killed the penny. What goes before the firing squad next? The nickel?

The way things are going, it’s only a matter of time.

This is why you want to have real money – gold and silver. It will not be devalued by government action and can hold the value of your wealth over time.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Eric Swalwell Referred to DOJ for Federal Probe

Luis Cornelio
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Eric Swalwell Referred to DOJ for Federal Probe

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., may soon find himself under Justice Department scrutiny after a top housing official referred him for investigation.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred Swalwell for a criminal investigation over allegations of mortgage and tax fraud tied to his Washington, D.C., home. 

NBC News first reported the referral on Thursday, which makes Swalwell the fourth Democrat to face such scrutiny.

As reported by the outlet, Pulte wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, pointing to several million dollars’ worth of loans and refinancing tied to Swalwell falsely declaring his primary residence as Washington. 

Federal law criminalizes falsely declaring a secondary home as a primary residence. Doing so allows borrowers to unlawfully secure lower interest rates, since secondary and rental properties typically carry higher rates. 

Pulte called for federal investigations into possible mortgage fraud, state and local tax fraud, as well as insurance fraud investigations. 

In response, Swalwell sarcastically suggested he was only surprised the federal probe hadn’t been opened sooner. 

“As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me,” he said in a statement to NBC News. 

Swalwell joins a growing list of political figures under federal scrutiny over similar allegations. 

A federal grand jury in Virginia indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges after she allegedly listed a rental property in the Old Dominion state as her secondary home. 

Pulte also referred Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook over similar allegations. 

House GOP Probes VA Prosecutor Who Shielded Stephen Miller’s Doxer

Luis Cornelio
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House GOP Probes VA Prosecutor Who Shielded Stephen Miller’s Doxer

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the “rogue” Virginia prosecutor who shielded Barbara Wien, the leftist activist who allegedly posted flyers doxxing Stephen Miller’s home address. 

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced the probe Wednesday, publishing a fiery, two-page letter to Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, the Democrat prosecutor in Arlington County. 

“Your unmistakably partisan actions suggest that you are willing to not only ignore threats of political violence against those with whom you disagree, but will actively side with those making the threats,” Jordan wrote. 

The probe centers on reports that Parisa Dehghani-Tafti asked a Virginia judge to block the FBI from accessing Wien’s cellphone, a device at the center of a legal battle between the FBI, local police in Arlington and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. 

The phone had been seized by Virginia police after security footage captured Wien outside Miller’s home and making a threatening gesture toward his wife, Katie. 

Local police detained Wien on suspicion that her distribution of the flyers may have violated state and federal laws against doxxing. 

Left-wing U.S. Judge Lindsey Vaala, a donor to both former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, denied two search warrants for the phone, prompting the federal government to turn to Miyares. 

Virginia State Police, acting on behalf of Miyares, had successfully persuaded Virginia Judge Judith Wheat to approve a search warrant after finding evidence that Wien misled investigators during questioning about the alleged threat. 

But the situation turned after Dehghani-Tafti intervened on Wien’s behalf and asked Judge Wheat to limit the warrant and block the FBI from accessing the phone’s data. The extraordinary intervention prompted Wheat to amend her earlier order.  

Jordan is now demanding that Dehghani-Tafti explain her intervention and turn over all records related to the matter. He also asked her to detail how much federal funding her office receives. 

“The appearance that you have allowed your political bias to influence an investigation involving a senior Trump Administration official gives rise to substantial federal concerns,” Jordan added. 

Dehghani-Tafti, a left-wing prosecutor, was first elected in 2019 on a woke platform to upend Arlington’s justice system. 

Person Named in Blaze Media’s Pipe Bomb Investigation Denies ‘Defamatory’ Report

Ken Silva
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Person Named in Blaze Media’s Pipe Bomb Investigation Denies ‘Defamatory’ Report

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The person named by Blaze Media reporter Steve Baker as a possible suspect in the Jan. 5/6, 2021, pipe bombs case has vigorously denied the allegations against her, calling them “false, absurd, and defamatory.”

That person, former Capitol Police officer and current CIA security guard Shauni Kerkhoff, was accused by Baker and the Blaze as being the possible pipe bomber based on circumstantial evidence.

For instance, Baker reported that it had a “veteran analyst” run Kerkhoff through gait recognition software, which analyzes how someone walks. The software reportedly found that the suspect’s gait, seen on FBI surveillance footage, is a “94%-98% match” to her. Blaze also reported that the FBI traced a DC Metrorail SmarTrip card to Kerkhoff’s neighbors, putting agents right outside of her doorstep.

Of course, neither the gait analysis nor the SmartTrip card proves that Kerkhoff was the bomber. And on Friday, the Washington Post published a statement from her attorney that rebukes the Blaze’s unconfirmed report.

“These shameful allegations are recklessly false, absurd, and defamatory. Ms. Kerkhoff categorically denies them,” the attorney, former Justice Department prosecutor Steve Bunnell, told the Post.

The statement from Kerkhoff’s camp follows DOJ special attorney Ed Martin also saying that the former Capitol Police officer wasn’t suspect. Additionally, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Thursday that “some of the media reporting regarding prior persons of interest is grossly inaccurate and serves only to mislead the public.”

Blaze has already had to issue several corrections to its reporting.

For instance, the Blaze initially implied that it was the actual pipe bomber who used Kerkhoff’s neighbor’s SmarTrip card on the night of Jan. 5, when the pipe bombs may have been placed near the RNC and DNC headquarters. In fact, it was the neighbor’s friend who used the SmarTrip card, and he was back in Falls Church, Virginia before the actual suspect is seen on surveillance footage released by the FBI. The FBI has cleared both the neighbor and his friend as suspects.

Blaze also initially reported that Kerkhoff works on CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s security detail, but had to run a correction after the agency clarified that she only works campus security.

It’s unclear if the publication reached out to Kerkhoff for comment before running its story. The Blaze has since published her denial. Blaze editor in chief Christopher Bedford said he was pulled over by local police after stopping to observe her home the night before publication. He was allowed to leave.

Pipe Bomb Case History

As Headline USA revealed in March 2024, the FBI had a suspect identified by Jan. 10, 2021 in the pipe bomb case, but never made any arrests.

FBI records released in September revealed that agents didn’t interview the woman who discovered a pipe bomb near the RNC around 12:40 p.m. on Jan. 6 until days later. That woman, former counterterrorism analyst and then-Commerce Department worker Karlin Younger, said she found the bomb while doing laundry.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to be tight-lipped on the subject, despite the fact that her motorcade drove past the DNC pipe bomb on Jan. 6. Harris left the Capitol at 11:21 a.m. arrived to the DNC at 11:25 a.m., but the nearby pipe bomb wasn’t discovered until 1:07 p.m. by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.

The lack of answers have driven many to suspect that it may have been a false-flag attempt overseen by the feds themselves to divert law enforcement from the Capitol right as the Jan. 6 protest was turning violent.

Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., has said that it may be impossible to successfully prosecute the pipe bomber, even if he or she is ever arrested.

“Here’s what a good criminal defense attorney’s going to say: If you identified the individual who’s believed to place the bomb, then hours go by, and you had a search by the Secret Service at the DNC and the dog didn’t find the explosive—so clearly, the device [the defense attorney’s] client might have left there wasn’t the device that was determined to be the pipe bomb, because it wasn’t picked up by the bomb-sniffing dog,” Griffith argued in March 2024.

Blaze Reporter Steve Baker’s Dubious Journalism

Baker was the lead reporter on the Blaze’s unconfirmed pipe bomb story. Baker has a long history of reporting dubious and downright false information.

In August 2024, for instance, he reported that the alleged pipe bomber seemingly interacting with Capitol Police while walking around DC the night of Jan. 5, 2021. However, that turned out to be false. The pipe bomb suspect seen walking by the Capitol Hill Club was not the same person as someone who walked towards Capitol Police vehicles minutes later.

In that blunder, one of Baker’s sources was former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, who is also a source in his story naming the supposed pipe bomb suspect. Seraphin is currently being sued for his own blunder—baselessly accusing FBI Director Kashyap Patel’s girlfriend of being an Israeli intelligence asset. Seraphin’s defense is that he was joking when he said that.

A month before reporting a fake pipe bomb story, Baker reported in July 2024 that a Secret Service counter-sniper shot the would-be assassin at Butler, Pennsylvania, from 448 yards away. In fact, the counter-sniper who shot the would-be assassin was about 150 yards away. Baker never ran a correction on his false report.

Additionally, Baker has claimed to have evidence that the Pentagon authorized “directed energy weapons” to be used during the 2020 leftist riots, and that such weapons may also have been used on Jan. 6, 2021. Baker has yet to provide any evidence of this.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Hegseth Announces Operation Southern Spear, Targeting Narco-Terrorists

Headline USA Editor
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Hegseth Announces Operation Southern Spear, Targeting Narco-Terrorists

(Sarah Roderick-Fitch, The Center Square) Operation Southern Spear, the new title for the Trump administration’s targeting of narco-terrorists in and around Latin America, was announced Thursday by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth’s announcement comes amid reports that the U.S. conducted its 20th strike on suspected narco-terrorist marine vessels in Latin America, and two days after the nation’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, and its strike group arrived in the Caribbean to support counter-narcotic operations.

“President Trump ordered action – and the Department of War is delivering. Today, I am announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Led by Joint Task Forces Southern Spear and SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it.”

The arrival of the Ford in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility signals a major buildup of naval and military presence in the region as the Trump administration continues targeting marine vessels suspected of trafficking narcotics headed for the U.S.

The Center Square previously reported that several naval ships were already in the region, including the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, according to the U.S. Naval Institute. Iwo Jima is a Wasp-class amphibious ship, one of the larger classes of ships in the Navy.

The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group deployed in August, carrying over 4,500 sailors and Marines, according to the Department of War. The group includes the Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, USS San Antonio and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The institute also reported that, in addition to the group, three Navy guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Caribbean, including the USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely, and USS Stockdale. In addition, USNI reported that the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) and the USS Wichita (LCS-13) are operating in the Caribbean.

The buildup of Navy ships in the region points to the Trump administration’s commitment to prioritizing targeting narco-terrorists. Still, it could also signal a shift in the U.S.’s focus on potential adversarial threats in Latin America.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told The Center Square last month at an event in the White House that the Department of War is keeping its eyes on adversaries in the region after The Center Square asked the secretary and the president if they had plans to expand U.S. Naval operations in Puerto Rico, specifically Roosevelt Roads, a Navy base closed in 2004.

“We’re familiar with the location that you’re referring to, and we will make sure that we’re properly placed in order to deal with the contingency we’re dealing with there, and also any ways in which other countries would attempt to be involved also, so we can walk and chew gum. We’re definitely keeping our eyes on near peer adversaries at the same time,” Hegseth told The Center Square.

The secretary’s response cemented the administration’s “America first” policy, which is beginning to shift focus to its “own backyard.”

“But we think sending a message on these cartels, these narco-terrorists, is an important, important inside our hemisphere, which for far too long other presidents, as the president pointed out, they’ve ignored our own backyard and allowed other countries to increase their influence here, which only threatens the American people. We’re changing that,” Hegseth concluded.

The naval buildup in the region could highlight concerns in recent years that Venezuela, under the dictatorship of socialist Nicolas Maduro, has aligned the country with American adversaries, such as Russia, China and Iran.

In 2022, Venezuela hosted military drills with countries including Russia, China and Iran.

State Department Designates European Antifa Groups Foreign Terror Organizations

Headline USA Editor
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State Department Designates European Antifa Groups Foreign Terror Organizations

(Sarah Roderick-Fitch, The Center Square) The U.S. State Department officially designated four foreign Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations, nearly two months after President Donald Trump designated Antifa a domestic terror organization.

The designations pave the way for the State Department to target individuals or groups by cutting off or freezing their access to global financial systems to curb potential attacks.

The designations come after The Center Square asked the president if he would designate the group a foreign terror organization during a roundtable at the White House on Antifa, comprised of independent journalists, to which Trump responded, “Let’s get it done.”

The State Department identified four European-based organizations, which either claimed or have been accused of carrying out a series of violent attacks in a handful of countries.

The groups include German-based Antifa Ost, which the State Department says has been known for “wielding hammers in premeditated attacks.” The group was designated a terror organization in Hungary in September after a “series” of attacks in Budapest occurring in February 2023. The group has also been accused of several attacks in Germany between 2018 and 2023.

The second group, The International Revolutionary Front, an Italian-based group, is described as a “coalition of violent anarchists,” which has claimed responsibility for a shooting and injured several people after the group “sent a series of bombs” to political leaders, embassies, and civilians. The State Department stated that, despite the group operating out of Italy, it has “proclaimed affiliates” in Europe, South America and Asia.

The third group, a Greek-based organization, the Armed Proletarian Justice group, is described as anarchists who have waged “armed conflict against police officers and state infrastructure.” State said in a failed attack, the group planted a homemade dynamite bomb near a riot police headquarters in 2023.

The final group, also a Greek-based anarchist organization, known as the Revolutionary Class Self Defense, claimed responsibility for an attack on the Greek Ministry of Labor in 2024 and recently targeted major railway offices in April. The State Department says that the group used improvised explosive devices in those attacks.

“Today, building on [President Donald Trump’s] historic commitment to uproot Antifa’s campaign of political violence, the Department of State is designating four Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specifically Designated Global Terrorists. The United States will continue using all available tools to protect our nation from these anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-Christian terrorist groups,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X.

The State Department indicated that there could be more organizations designated as the Trump administration continues to “identify and disrupt Antifa’s terror networks across the world.”

The foreign designations are essential in “denying them access to the U.S. financial system and resources,” which can aid in attacks.

“All property and property interests of designated individuals or groups that are in the United State or that are in possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked,” according to a fact sheet from the State Department. “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting business with sanctioned persons. It is also a crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to those designated, or to attempt or conspire to do so.”

The latest designation comes less than two months after The Center Square asked the president in the Oval Office if he would designate the leftist group a domestic terror organization, which he agreed to do. A week later, the group was officially designated a domestic terror organization.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the federal government is committed to pursuing violent Antifa members but also their funders, in line with the expansion of designating some of the groups as foreign terror organizations.

“We’re not going to stop at just arresting the violent criminals we can see in the streets,” Bondi said. “Fighting crime is more than just getting the bad guy off of the street. It’s breaking down the organization brick by brick. Just like we did with cartels. We’re going to take this same approach, President Trump, with Antifa. Destroy the entire organization from top to bottom.”

The designations follow a recent rise in violent protests in cities like Portland and Chicago, with immigration and customs enforcement facilities and agents being targeted by leftist groups, including Antifa. Most recently, the group has been accused of taking part in a violent protest at Berkeley University during a Turning Point USA event. The protests are now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Trump Admin Cracking Down on Cartel Tunnels at Southwest Border

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Admin Cracking Down on Cartel Tunnels at Southwest Border

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) The Trump administration is cracking down on Mexican cartel-dug tunnels at the southwest border. The tunnels are built and used to smuggle drugs, weapons, people and other illicit contraband, authorities have found.

Two major finds this year were in the high traffic areas of El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California, where established cartel operations have controlled the areas for years. 

In addition to ongoing border security efforts, the Trump administration is expanding its Persistent Surveillance and Detection System (PDS) to strengthen tunnel detection capabilities along high-risk areas of the southwest border. The PDS is managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security released a solicitation for a $100 million contract to expand the PDS as part of its Cross Border Tunnel Threat (CBTT) program.  

The PDS is designed to “provide continuous detection capabilities in high-risk areas,” including finding links to existing infrastructure and locating within a certain degree of accuracy the point where a tunnel crosses the border, DHS explains. Border Patrol agents also use it to “forecast the trajectory of a detected tunnel to the suspected entrance on the Mexican or Canadian side of the border, and to estimate the subsurface path to the exit point on the U.S. side of the border,” DHS says. 

The contract, managed by CBP, would be awarded in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 to expand PDS operations in California and in various southwest border locations with a completion date of Dec. 31, 2026. 

Expanding PDS operations will build on investigations already underway stemming from two major finds earlier this year.

In April, CBP San Diego Sector Border Patrol Tunnel Team agents uncovered and disabled a large-scale narcotics smuggling tunnel linking Tijuana, Mexico, to the San Diego area. 

The tunnel ran under part of the CBP San Diego Sector Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Although unfinished, it measured nearly 3,000 feet long, 42 inches high, 28 inches wide and ran approximately 50 feet underground at its deepest point, authorities found. 

When Border Patrol agents first went inside, they found multiple makeshift barricades, placed haphazardly “in an apparent effort to impede agents’ southbound progress and the eventual identification of the tunnel’s origin.”

They discovered that it extended more than 1,000 feet inside the U.S., “was highly sophisticated” and “equipped with electrical wiring, lighting, ventilation systems, and a track system designed for transporting large quantities of contraband,” Border Patrol agents found. 

In California, Border Patrols agents estimated the tunnel’s exit point was near or within a nearby commercial warehouse space. In Mexico, working with Mexican officials they determined its entrance was located inside a residence in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood. Mexican authorities served a warrant at the location and identified the entrance, which was concealed by tile.

CBP San Diego Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker said it wasn’t surprising that foreign terrorist organizations resorted to using underground routes and the Border Patrol agents were in a dangerous situation the further they went into the tunnel. 

The Sinaloa Cartel, which has controlled the Mexican region south of San Diego for decades, has long used a tunnel system to reach the San Diego area, authorities have told The Center Square. Since 1993, San Diego Border Patrol agents have found more than 95 tunnels in the area and destroyed them by pouring thousands of gallons of concrete inside.

In January, Border Patrol agents in the CBP El Paso Sector also discovered a man-made tunnel stretching from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, into a public storm drainage system in El Paso.

Border Patrol agents found the tunnel was braced with wood beams throughout, measured six feet tall and four feet wide and was equipped with lighting and a ventilation system. 

“Our agents are relentless in searching and surveying every square mile of the El Paso Sector,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good said. U.S. and Mexican authorities also worked together to remediate the tunnel. 

Border Patrol’s discovery and disruption of the tunnel “underscores the vital importance of coordination and collaboration among our law enforcement agencies … to combat illegal criminal activity and address national security threats,” FBI El Paso Field Office Special Agent in Charge John Morales said. The FBI has long warned that El Paso is a key smuggling hub known for kidnapping, gang and foreign terrorist violence, The Center Square reported. 

Border Patrol is requesting assistance from the public to combat border crime. El Paso residents are encouraged to report suspicious activity or potential smuggling operations by calling 1-800-635-2509 or WhatsApp (915) 314-8194. San Diego residents are encouraged to call 619-498-9900. Reports are anonymous.

 

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