Today is the day the mainstream has been dreading.  In actual fact, the abortion issue has been handed back to the states.  The 1973 ruling was invalidated as a matter of law.  The idea that the U. S. Constitution handed some sacred “right” to women was a fantastic reach in the first place.  Finally, nearly 50 years later, it’s been overturned.  Some “crowds” (to be charitable) have been parading, banging drums and chanting in front of the homes of Supreme Court Justices.  Who are these people?  Are they wearing masks outdoors for fear of COVID, or to hide their identities?

If the hard left gets its way, there will be all kinds of mayhem.  Nobody seems interested in prosecuting those trying to influence the decision, a crime though it may be.  They seem to be doing the dirty work we were promised.  Will it set off riots?  Maybe looting and burning?

It’s Trump’s fault, of course.  Him and his ultra-maga supporters.  Biden is mad,  Maxine Waters says they’re going to be out protesting in their thousands, or millions.  “We are going to make sure we fight for the right to control our own bodies.”  (Where was she during the mask mandate?)  They’ll defy the Supreme Court.  How, other than causing a ruckus, we’ll see.

Obama says the court has curtailed our freedoms.  Michelle is heartbroken.  It is a “horrifying decision.”  They’re both calling on people to join protests and give Planned Parenthood support.  The Justice Dept. says it will “use every tool at our disposal to protect reproductive freedom.”  It’s hard to know what that means, but the weeks ahead should give us some idea.   AOC is shown with her mouth wide open, talking about “birthing people” and  chanting with protesters.  I guess this is supposed to let us know she thinks men can get pregnant.  But sure enough, some states are announcing that abortion is illegal, as of today.

World leaders are appalled.  Especially Justin Trudeau of Canada.  He’s horrified and can’t imagine the fear and anger that it will cause.  Even Boris Johnson is bent out of shape.  Just when the whole world was seeing the light and liberalizing laws governing abortion.

It’s the second time this week they’ve seen the court rule against their  beloved philosophy.  First it struck down New York’s gun law.  So they were already ticked.  The abortion ruling though, just might drive them over the edge.  The police caught a guy who said he’d come to “kill Kavanaugh.”  No big deal, according to the mainstream media.  Hardly worth reporting.  But all bets are off as we wait to see how crazy the protesters will get.  This may well justify riots and looting.  Even if the rioters and looters don’t know what they’re mad about.  Riot police are staging outside the Supreme Court, just in case.  But not everybody is down in the dumps.  Some are celebrating.  Trump says to God be the glory.

What ever happened to Ukraine?  It’s not in the news much lately.  The last thing we heard was that we were going to send billions of dollars and more.  Apparently Russia has had to call in troops that were stationed in other hot spots.  Some are worried that this thing may drag on and that other countries may get involved causing an escalation that may get out of control.  We hope they’re wrong.

Meanwhile UN officials are warning of food shortages.  The pope is hinting at resignation.  Maybe he’s done enough damage.  The American economy is reeling from inflation being driven by the  pretend administration’s war on oil.  They want you to know there’s nothing more they can do.  But at least something’s gone right today.    Have a great Sabbath.

Mark

P.S. The new Feast brochures are printed and will be going out with the next letter, probably Monday or Tuesday.

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 24 June 2022 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending the Title 42 public health order on May 23 — stopping the administration from a move that had seen significant Republican and Democratic opposition amid fears it would exacerbate the border crisis.

Judge Robert Summerhays, in the Western District of Louisiana, granted a preliminary injunction on the Biden administration’s plan to end the order on May 23. It was in response to a lawsuit by two dozen Republican states, led by Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri.

“Today’s ruling is a significant win as Title 42 is one of the few policies that is actually working,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “I’m grateful to the court for upholding the rule of law and helping maintain some level of sanity as we continue to battle the Biden-made border crisis.”

FEDERAL JUDGE EXTENDS ORDER BLOCKING BIDEN ADMIN FROM ROLLING BACK TITLE 42 AHEAD OF HEARING

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had announced in April that the order, which has been used since March 2020 to expel a majority of migrants at the southern border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would expire at the end of May.

“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the agency said.

The move sparked outrage from both Democrats and Republicans, who warned that the move would lead to a surge in illegal immigration at the border and more people being released into the U.S.

DHS has acknowledged these concerns, saying it is planning for up to 18,000 people a day. However, it has also said that it believes that over time it will reduce the numbers encountered at the border when it re-implements criminal penalties for repeat border crossings.

A number of moderate Democrats joined Republicans in signing onto legislation preventing the administration from lifting the order until 60 days after the CDC says the national emergency on COVID-19 is over. That legislation has not yet been voted on in the Senate.

INTERNAL CBP DOC WARNS OF ‘SIGNIFICANT SAFETY IMPLICATIONS’ OF TITLE 42 LIFT, CARTEL HOLD ON CENTRAL AMERICA

The Republican lawsuit, seeking the injunction, claimed the lifting of the order violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires a notice-and-comment period and also bars moves deemed “arbitrary and capricious.”

The lawsuit claims the administration failed to estimate or account for the costs to the states. They cite “increased health care costs for aliens infected with COVID-19 and the cost of increased illegal immigration caused by the Termination Order and the presence of much greater numbers of paroled aliens with non-meritorious asylum claims who were induced to enter the United States because of the Termination Order.”

“This suit challenges an imminent, man-made, self-inflicted calamity: the abrupt elimination of the only safety valve preventing this administration’s disastrous border policies from devolving into an unmitigated catastrophe,” the complaint read.

Summerhays, in his order, said that the record supports the states’ position “that the Termination Order will result in increased border crossings and that, based on the government’s estimates, the increase may be as high as three-fold.” He also agreed with states that lifting Title 42 will increase costs on healthcare and education – and said the government did not dispute that claim.

“In sum, the Plaintiff States have demonstrated that the Termination Order will affect their ‘quasi-sovereign’ interests based on its impact on their healthcare systems and their interest in the health and welfare of their citizens,” he said.

The judge also agreed with the states that the lifting of Title 42 was subject to the ACA, and that the government did not overcome “the presumption of reviewability under the APA.”

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Summerhays, a Trump nominee, was widely seen as likely to issue the injunction, particularly as he had granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Homeland Security from transitioning away from Title 42 by removing migrants via a process called “expedited removal” instead.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal the federal district court judge’s ruling, and the Supreme Court may be asked to weigh in with an emergency order, but that may not happen for the next several weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants encountered at the southern border has remained at highs not seen in decades. There were more than 234,000 migrant encounters in April, compared to 178,000 in April 2021 and just 17,106 in April 2020.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, with a focus on immigration. He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-blocks-biden-admin-ending-title-42-border-expulsions?test=38861ea43380e1402f1c90f21546ad4b

The post Federal judge blocks Biden admin from ending Title 42 border expulsions first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

As in 55 years beyond.

That’s how long the Food & Drug Administration in court papers this week proposes it should be given to review and release the trove of vaccine-related documents responsive to the request. If a federal judge in Texas agrees, plaintiffs Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency can expect to see the full record in 2076.

The 1967 FOIA law requires federal agencies to respond to information requests within 20 business days. However, the time it takes to actually get the documents “will vary depending on the complexity of the request and any backlog of requests already pending at the agency,” according to the government’s central FOIA website.

Justice Department lawyers representing the FDA note in court papers that the plaintiffs are seeking a huge amount of vaccine-related material – about 329,000 pages.

The plaintiffs, a group of more than 30 professors and scientists from universities including Yale, Harvard, UCLA and Brown, filed suit in September in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, seeking expedited access to the records. They say that releasing the information could help reassure vaccine skeptics that the shot is indeed “safe and effective and, thus, increase confidence in the Pfizer vaccine.”

But the FDA can’t simply turn the documents over wholesale. The records must be reviewed to redact “confidential business and trade secret information of Pfizer or BioNTech and personal privacy information of patients who participated in clinical trials,” wrote DOJ lawyers in a joint status report filed Monday.

The FDA proposes releasing 500 pages per month on a rolling basis, noting that the branch that would handle the review has only 10 employees and is currently processing about 400 other FOIA requests.

“By processing and making interim responses based on 500-page increments, FDA will be able to provide more pages to more requesters, thus avoiding a system where a few large requests monopolize finite processing resources and where fewer requesters’ requests are being fulfilled,” DOJ lawyers wrote, pointing to other court decisions where the 500-page-per-month schedule was upheld.

Civil division trial lawyer Courtney Enlow referred my request for further comment to the DOJ public affairs office, which did not respond.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that their request should be top priority, and that the FDA should release all the material no later than March 3, 2022.

“This 108-day period is the same amount of time it took the FDA to review the responsive documents for the far more intricate task of licensing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote Aaron Siri of Siri & Glimstad in New York and John Howie of Howie Law in Dallas in court papers.

“The entire purpose of the FOIA is to assure government transparency,” they continued. “It is difficult to imagine a greater need for transparency than immediate disclosure of the documents relied upon by the FDA to license a product that is now being mandated to over 100 million Americans under penalty of losing their careers, their income, their military service status, and far worse.”

They also argue that Title 21, subchapter F of the FDA’s own regulations stipulates that the agency “is to make ‘immediately available’ all documents underlying licensure of a vaccine.”

Given the intense public interest in the vaccine, the plaintiffs’ lawyers say that the FDA “should have been preparing to release (the data) simultaneously with the licensure. Instead, it has done the opposite.”

Siri declined comment.

To meet the plaintiffs’ proposed FOIA deadline, the FDA would have to process a daunting 80,000 pages a month. But the plaintiffs note that the FDA has 18,000 employees and a budget of $6 billion and “has itself said that there is nothing more important than the licensure of this vaccine and being transparent about this vaccine.”

To be sure, most people — including many who sanctimoniously proclaim “I do my own research” — lack the expertise to evaluate the information.

But the plaintiffs, who also include overseas professors from the UK, Germany, Denmark, Australia and Canada, appear to be well-positioned to do so.

As Siri and Howe argue, “Reviewing this information will settle the ongoing public debate regarding the adequacy of the FDA’s review process.”

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman has set a scheduling conference for December 14 in Fort Worth to consider the timeline for processing the documents.

Opinions expressed here are those of the author. Reuters News, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence and freedom from bias.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Jenna Greene
Jenna Greene writes about legal business and culture, taking a broad look at trends in the profession, faces behind the cases, and quirky courtroom dramas. A longtime chronicler of the legal industry and high-profile litigation, she lives in Northern California. Reach Greene at jenna.greene@thomsonreuters.com

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/wait-what-fda-wants-55-years-process-foia-request-over-vaccine-data-2021-11-18/

The post Wait what? FDA wants 55 years to process FOIA request over vaccine data first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The negotiations, which began in the early months of the Biden administration, were aimed at settling claims brought by migrant families that were separated under the “zero tolerance” policy while seeking to enter the U.S. for asylum and other reasons.

But government officials abruptly pulled the plug on all settlement talks on Thursday, Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, and one of the lead negotiators told NPR.

Gelernt said the Justice Department did not explain why it was walking away from the talks.

“We can see no reason for this other than this administration does not want to use any political capital to help these children,” Gelernt said in an interview. “History will not judge this decision kindly.”

In a statement, the Department of Justice said the parties have been unable to reach a settlement, but “we remain committed to engaging with the plaintiffs and to bringing justice to the victims of this abhorrent policy.”

The controversial immigration policy was dismantled within Biden’s first week as president

In all, the Trump administration separated more than 5,000 families who crossed into the U.S. without visas. Under the policy adults who entered the U.S. from the southern border were prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be imprisoned with adults, the young kids were taken into separate federal facilities.

Government reports ultimately found the administration had no clear plan nor had it allocated resources to help reunite parents or guardians with their children when it implemented the zero tolerance enforcement policy. Hundreds of families remain separated, many more say they are still suffering the effects of the separation. More than 100 have brought claims seeking monetary damages from the government, Gelernt said.

Republicans and Democrats appeared united against the draconian policy, calling it a humanitarian failure. President Biden called it a “moral and national shame.” And settlement talks proceeded quietly behind closed doors for several months — until October, when the Wall Street Journal broke the story that financial compensation amounts could reach as high as $450,000 per person in some cases.

At that point, the negotiations became a political liability for Biden and his administration who came under fire by Republicans in Washington.

Lawyers representing families who’d been torn apart, have insisted most settlement amounts would be far lower, But the story generated enormous outrage among GOP members, who tried to link the issue to the soaring number of arrests at the southern border. They argued that giving large cash settlements to migrant families would encourage more illegal immigration.

In a Department of Homeland Security hearing on immigration last month, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he takes the entire concept of compensation as a personal affront.

“As you can imagine, many Americans think it’s a pretty outrageous idea to offer massive taxpayer funded payments to illegal immigrants who broke our laws,” Grassley told DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, blaming the Biden administration for the current immigration crisis.

Grassley noted that the families of service members who die on active duty receive a tax repayment of $100,000. “Under what circumstances, if any do you think it’s appropriate for an illegal immigrant who broke our laws to receive more money from the government than the family of a fallen service member,” he asked.

Biden administration officials and the president himself were asked frequently about the settlement talks, which appeared likely to become an election-year issue in 2022.

Lawyers representing the families say they’re deeply disappointed and contend everyone who was a victim of the zero tolerance approach deserves recompense, including financial settlements. They also say the government could easily wind up spending even more money fighting these cases than if it had simply reached a settlement.

The Women’s Refugee Commission condemned the decision by the Justice Department to pull out of the negotiations.

“This move is a shameful, profound betrayal of the government’s responsibility to redress the harms of this heinous policy,” Katharina Obser, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program with the group, said in a statement.

“While the U.S. can never undo what happened, we expected the Biden administration to engage in good faith with efforts for redress and repair,” she said, adding that “the cruelty of intentionally tearing families apart inflicted unspeakable and permanent trauma on children and their parents coming to the U.S. border seeking safety.”

Kathryn Hampton, deputy director of the Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Program, also noted the long term effects of the separation on children. The organization has documented the psychological harms and trauma many have suffered, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

“Instead of bowing to right-wing ideologues, the Biden administration should pursue justice and accountability for the deeply traumatized children and parents who endured these atrocious acts perpetrated by the United States government,” Hampton said in a statement.

The Biden administration says it will continue to identify and reunify families that were separated under the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, the ACLU is in negotiations with the administration over other issues, including the possibility of legal status for separated families. Those talks will continue, Gelernt said — but the end of financial negotiations won’t make them any easier.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/16/1065044185/justice-department-breaks-off-talks-on-compensation-for-separated-families

The post Justice Department breaks off talks on compensation for separated families first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.

The post Exclusive-FBI Finds Scant Evidence U.S. Capitol Attack Was Coordinated-Sources first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

President Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he has granted a ‘full pardon’ to his former national security adviser, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn, ending a legal saga brought about by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” the president wrote. “Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”

The post Trump announces pardon of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Qods Force – the external operations branch of the Revolutionary Guards – was responsible for the illicit shipments, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers alleged. “These actions represent the government’s largest-ever civil seizures of fuel and weapons from Iran,” he said. “Our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.” The government sold the oil for about $40 million.

Demers added that enforcing sanctions on Iran – “a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force” – was a top U.S. priority. Iran accounted for “more than 40 percent” of the Justice Department’s prosecutions related to export controls and sanctions, he said.

The property in question was obtained through three seizures:

• On Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. Navy Central Command seized weapons from two flagless ships in the Arabian Sea, including 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, land-attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics, and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The weapons were allegedly sent by the Qods Force and were intended for militant groups in Yemen.
• On Aug. 14, 2020, the United States seized the cargo of four oil tankers transporting 1.1 million barrels of gasoline to Venezuela. The Bella, Bering, Pandi, and Luna were reportedly handed over while en route to Houston after the United States threatened the ship owners, insurers and captains with sanctions if they did not hand over their cargo.

The following is a press release from the Justice Department and remarks by Demers.

United Stated Files Complaint to Forfeit Iranian Missiles and Sells Previously-Transferred Iranian Petroleum

The Iranian Missiles Were Confiscated and the Iranian Petroleum Was Transferred From Ships in International Waters

The Justice Department today announced the filing of a complaint to forfeit two shipments of Iranian missiles that the U.S. Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen, as well as the sale of approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum that the United States previously obtained from four foreign-flagged oil tankers bound for Venezuela.

These actions represent the government’s largest-ever forfeitures actions for fuel and weapons shipments from Iran.

“The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to secretly ship weapons to Yemen and fuel to Venezuela, countries that pose grave threats to the security and stability of their respective regions,” said John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.  “Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force.  It is with great satisfaction that I can announce that our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.”

“These actions demonstrate our commitment to working with all of our law enforcement partners to stem the flow of illicit weapons, oil, and money from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other organizations that would do harm to the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia.  “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will use all available tools, including our jurisdiction to seize and forfeit assets located abroad, to counter terrorist funding and weapons proliferation.”

“This case exemplifies the remarkable collaboration across government toward our shared goal of protecting the homeland from regimes that threaten our national security.  This investigation sends a message that the attempted circumvention of U.S. sanctions and the avoidance of export conventions will not be tolerated,” said Derek Benner, Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  “HSI will continue to use the full scope of its authorities and stand besides its partners in the U.S. and around the world keep weapons and assets out of the hands of adversarial regimes.”

“The FBI places a high priority on national security investigations targeting state-sponsored foreign terrorist organizations like the IRGC,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul.  “We recognize and appreciate the hard work and dedication of the agents and prosecutors who secured forfeiture of the petroleum and prevented its proceeds from funding Iran’s campaign of violence and unrest throughout the Middle East.”

“The illegal exportation of sensitive technology to prohibited countries poses a significant threat to our national security,” said Dermot F. O’Reilly, Director, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS).  “The complaint announced today is the direct result of joint investigative and analytical efforts with close partners in law enforcement and the Department of Defense.  DCIS will continue to identify, disrupt, and bring to justice those who threaten U.S. military technology.”

U.S. Navy Central Command (NAVCENT) seized the weapons from two flagless vessels in the Arabian Sea on Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, respectively.  The weapons included 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, land-attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics, and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

On Aug. 20, 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint seeking to forfeit the seized weapons in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  The forfeiture action is part of a larger investigation of an Iranian weapons smuggling network responsible for the arms shipments.  The network was involved in the illicit trafficking of advanced conventional weapons systems and components, including systems that contain U.S.-origin components, by sanctioned Iranian entities that directly support military action by the Houthis movement in Yemen and the Iranian regime’s campaign of terrorist activities throughout the region.

On Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. authorities seized three type “358” surface-to-air missiles (above) and 150 “Dhelaveih” anti-tank guided missiles (below).

On July 2, 2020, the United States also filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to forfeit all petroleum-product cargo aboard four foreign-flagged oil tankers.  The petroleum originated in Iran, and the sale of that petroleum benefitted the IRGC, a sanctioned Iranian entity.  In August 2020, the district court issued a warrant for arrest in rem and the United States subsequently transferred approximately 1.1 million barrels of refined petroleum from the four vessels.  The United States has now sold and delivered that petroleum.

The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to clandestinely ship weapons and fuel to sanctioned entities that pose grave threats to U.S. national security.  Forfeiture complaints are merely allegations.  The burden to prove forfeitability in both civil forfeiture proceedings is upon the government.

Funds successfully forfeited with a connection to a state sponsor of terrorism may in whole or in part be directed to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (http://www.usvsst.com/) after the conclusion of the case.

These seizures and forfeiture actions are a product of the U.S. government’s coordinated efforts to enforce U.S. sanctions against the IRGC and the Iranian regime.  HSI’s Washington Field Office and DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office are leading the investigation of the Iranian weapons smuggling network, with substantial assistance from NAVCENT in conducting the seizures.  The weapons case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Grady and Stuart D. Allen are handing the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with support from Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick.

HSI Denver and FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office are investigating the shipments of Iranian petroleum, again with substantial assistance from NAVCENT during the seizure.  The petroleum case is being prosecuted by the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Hudak, Michael P. Grady, and Stuart D. Allen and National Security Division Trial Attorney David Lim are litigating the case, with support from Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick.  The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice provided extensive assistance in the forfeiture and sale of the seized petroleum.

Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division John Demers

“Today, I am joined by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin and the State Department’s Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams to announce two civil seizure court actions that have disrupted malign, and in one instance, potentially deadly, activities undertaken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force, a Foreign Terrorist Organization.  Special Representative Abrams will also be announcing sanctions that the State Department and the Department of the Treasury have imposed on the responsible individuals and entities.

“First, in November 2019 and February 2020, two U.S. warships – the USS Forrest Sherman and the USS Normandy – while conducting routine maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea, interdicted two flagless vessels.  Aboard both of the vessels were large stocks of weapons, including 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, and various other missile components.  Subsequent investigation revealed the ships’ cargo to be of Iranian manufacture and consistent with known Iranian weapon systems.  Additional analysis revealed that the arms were from the IRCG-Quds Force and destined for militant groups in Yemen.  On Aug. 20, 2020, the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed a complaint in U.S. District Court seeking to forfeit the seized weapons.

“On July 20, 2020, the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed the second action, a complaint in U.S. district court seeking to forfeit approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian refined petroleum from four foreign-flagged vessels bound for Venezuela.  The proceeds from the sale of the petroleum benefitted the IRGC.  In August 2020, the District Court issued a warrant for arrest in rem of the cargo.  Upon being presented with the court’s seizure order, the ships’ owner transferred the petroleum to the government, and we can now announce that the United States has sold and delivered that petroleum.

“The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to secretly ship weapons to Yemen and fuel to Venezuela, countries that pose grave threats to the security and stability of their regions.  These actions represent the government’s largest-ever civil seizures of fuel and weapons from Iran.  Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force.  It is therefore with great satisfaction that I can announce that our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.

“These cases also highlight that enforcement of the sanctions against Iran remains one of the department’s national security priorities.  For the last several years, cases involving Iran’s efforts to evade the restrictions designed to curb its malign conduct comprise more than 40 percent of the export control and sanctions prosecutions that the department brings.  High-profile matters such as the prosecutions of foreign banks like Standard Chartered or Halkbank for handling prohibited U.S. dollar transactions or the prosecution of ZTE for using U.S. origin goods to build Iran’s telecommunications networks are only some of the excellent work that the department’s prosecutors and its law enforcement partners have done.  With these seizure actions, we are expanding our toolbox to combat Iran’s bad behavior.

“I would like to thank prosecutors from the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for their work on both of these matters.  I would further like to thank the U.S. Navy Central Command for successfully executing the seizures of the weapons at sea and Homeland Security Investigations and Defense Criminal Investigative Services for the subsequent investigation revealing the ties to the IRGC-Quds Force.  Last, I would like to thank Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI for their excellent assistance investigating the facts leading to the petroleum seizures.”

Source: https://iranprimer.usip.org/index.php/blog/2020/oct/30/us-seized-iranian-weapons-and-fuel-shipments

The post Iran: What Khamenei’s Special Reappearance Means? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The FBI is in possession of the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden which contained emails revealing his foreign business dealings, including contacts in Ukraine and China, two senior administration officials told Fox News Tuesday.

The FBI declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into the laptop or the emails, as is standard practice.

Further, Fox News has learned that the FBI and Justice Department officials concur with an assessment from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe that the laptop is not part of a Russian disinformation campaign targeting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Ratcliffe, on Monday, said that Hunter Biden’s laptop and the emails on it “is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” despite claims from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

RATCLIFFE SAYS HUNTER BIDEN EMAILS, LAPTOP ‘NOT PART OF SOME RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN’

“Let me be clear: the intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that,” Ratcliffe said. “And we have shared no intelligence with Adam Schiff or any member of Congress.”

Ratcliffe went on to say that it is “simply not true.”

“If you thought it wasn’t possible for Schiff to have any less credibility, DOJ just proved you wrong,” a senior intelligence official told Fox News.

Meanwhile, another senior federal law enforcement official told Fox News that the emails are “authentic.”

The FBI, in a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, as well as the laptop in question, said that the bureau has “nothing to add at this time to the October 19th public statement by the Director of National Intelligence about the available actionable intelligence.”

“If actionable intelligence is developed, the FBI in consultation with the Intelligence Community will evaluate the need to provide defensive briefings to you and the Committee pursuant to the established notification framework,” the letter stated.

The emails in question were first obtained by the New York Post and, in part, revealed that Hunter Biden allegedly introduced his father, the then-vice president, to a top executive at Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings less than a year before he pressured government officials in Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company’s founder.

The Post report revealed that Biden, at Hunter’s request, met with the executive, Vadym Pozharskyi, in April 2015 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting was mentioned in an email of appreciation, according to the Post, that Pozharskyi sent to Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015 — a year after Hunter took on his position on the board of Burisma.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the email read.

DOCUMENTS SHOW ALLEGED HUNTER BIDEN SIGNATURE, FBI CONTACTS WITH COMPUTER REPAIR SHOP OWNER

The Biden campaign told Fox News Sunday that the former vice president “never had a meeting” with Pozharskyi.

Biden, prior to the emails surfacing, repeatedly has claimed he’s “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”

Hunter Biden’s business dealings, and his role on the board of Burisma, emerged during the Trump impeachment inquiry in 2019.

Another email, dated May 13, 2017, and obtained by Fox News, includes a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Hunter Biden as “Chair/ Vice Chair depending on an agreement with CEFC,” in an apparent reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co.

The email includes a note that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.” A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details.

SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING HUNTER BIDEN EMAILS

Fox News spoke to one of the people who was copied on the email, who confirmed its authenticity.

Sources also told Fox News that “the big guy” was a reference to the former vice president. The New York Post initially published the emails, and others, that Fox News has also obtained.

While Biden has not commented on that email or his alleged involvement in any deals with the Chinese Energy firm, his campaign said it released the former vice president’s tax documents and returns, which do not reflect any involvement with Chinese investments.

Fox News also obtained an email last week that revealed an adviser of Burisma Holdings, Vadym Pozharskyi, wrote an email to Hunter Biden on May 12, 2014, requesting “advice” on how he could use his “influence to convey a message” to “stop” what the company considers to be “politically motivated actions.”

“We urgently need your advice on how you could use your influence to convey a message/signal, etc .to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions,”  Pozharskyi wrote.

The email, part of a longer email chain obtained by Fox News, appeared to be referencing the firm’s founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, being under investigation.

Meanwhile, additional documents obtained by Fox News include FBI paperwork that details the bureau’s interactions with John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of “The Mac Shop” who reported the laptop’s contents to authorities, as first reported by the New York Post.

The post FBI in possession of Hunter Biden’s purported laptop, sources say first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Updated at 7:51 p.m. ET

The Trump administration can end counting for the 2020 census after the Supreme Court approved a request to suspend a lower court order that extended the count’s schedule.

The high court’s order on Tuesday, following an emergency request the Justice Department made last week, helps clear the way for President Trump to try to alter the count while in office by excluding unauthorized immigrants from the numbers used to reallocate congressional seats and Electoral College votes for the next 10 years.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the lone dissenter from the unsigned court order.

In a statement, Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the attorneys who helped bring the lawsuit to extend the census schedule, noted that the order “will result in irreversible damage” despite the challengers’ efforts to “secure more time on the clock to achieve a fair and accurate count.”

Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community — one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs — called the ruling “a bitter pill for us to swallow here on the Reservation” in Arizona.

“With no explanation or rationale, a majority simply decided that our people do not deserve to be counted, thus continuing a long history of leaving Indian peoples at the margins of the U.S. society at large and economy,” Lewis said in a statement.

The Census Bureau’s public information office did not immediately respond to NPR’s questions about when it plans to conclude door-knocking efforts at unresponsive households. It is also not clear when it will stop accepting responses online at My2020Census.gov, over the phone or through the mail.

Sadik Huseny, a plaintiffs’ attorney with the law firm Latham & Watkins, said in a statement that the challengers “remain focused on ensuring that the Bureau’s data collections, and whatever data processing timelines the Bureau may implement, are consistent with the Constitution and the [Administrative Procedure Act]’s standards for reasoned decision making.”

The court’s ruling is the latest turn in a roller coaster of a legal fight over the timeline for the count. Last-minute changes by the Census Bureau and its skirting of an earlier court order for the count have left local communities and the bureau’s workers across the U.S. unsure of how much longer they can take part in a national headcount already upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lower courts previously ordered the administration to keep counting through Oct. 31, reverting to an extended schedule that Trump officials had first proposed in April in response to delays caused by the pandemic and then abruptly decided to abandon in July.

More time, judges have ruled, would give the bureau a better chance of getting an accurate and complete count of the country’s residents, which is used to determine how political representation and federal funding are distributed among the states over the next decade.

Justice Department attorneys say the Census Bureau is under pressure to meet a legal deadline of Dec. 31 for reporting to the president the first set of census results — the latest state population counts that determine each state’s share of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. The numbers, in turn, also determine how many Electoral College votes each state has to determine who becomes the U.S. president in 2024 and 2028.

Since May, however, career officials at the bureau have warned that the agency can no longer meet the Dec. 31 reporting deadline because of the pandemic. Judges in lower courts have also noted that the national counts from the years 1810 through 1840 were delivered late and Congress later stepped in to approve deadline extensions.

In her dissenting opinion, Sotomayor wrote that “meeting the deadline at the expense of the accuracy of the census is not a cost worth paying, especially when the Government has failed to show why it could not bear the lesser cost of expending more resources to meet the deadline or continuing its prior efforts to seek an extension from Congress.”

Still, if the commerce secretary, who oversees the bureau, were to present the new state counts to the White House by Dec. 31, that would ensure that even if Trump did not win reelection, he could attempt to carry out the unprecedented change he wants to make to who is counted when determining the reallocation of House seats.

Despite the Constitution’s requirement to include the “whole number of persons in each state” and the president’s limited authority over the census, Trump wants to try to exclude unauthorized immigrants from those numbers.

That effort has sparked another legal fight that is also before the Supreme Court. On Friday, the court is set to discuss whether to hear oral arguments for that case in December.

Click here to see  Supreme Court Order on Application for Stay

Source: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/921428056/supreme-court-allows-trump-administration-to-end-census-early

The post Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Early first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has charged two Chinese hackers with trying to steal U.S. COVID-19 research as well as other sensitive information from businesses and government agencies.

The 11-count indictment against Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 31, alleges the Chinese nationals hacked into the computer systems of hundreds of companies, government organizations as well as individual dissidents and clergy.

They also allegedly broke into the accounts of democratic and human rights activists in the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China. The Justice Department alleges their con, which for a decade had allegedly been stealing sensitive information, was not only for personal financial gain but also to benefit the Chinese government.

POMPEO, STATE DEPARTMENT SHARPEN CRITICISM OF CHINA ON VIRUS AND RIGHTS ABUSES

“The hackers stole terabytes of data from hundreds of targets establishing themselves as a prolific threat to U.S. and foreign networks,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said during a press conference in New York.

Li and Dong, trained in computer application technology at the same Chinese university in Chengdu, targeted countries with high-tech industries, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, authorities said. The industries included the high-tech manufacturing of medical devices, industrial engineering, business, educational and gaming software as well as in energy and pharmaceutical defense.

“In at least one instance, the hackers sought to extort cryptocurrency from a victim entity, by threatening to release the victim’s stolen source code on the Internet,” the FBI said. “More recently, the defendants probed for vulnerabilities in computer networks of companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, testing technology, and treatments.”

Li and Dong’s actions are “concrete examples” of two concerning trends, Demers said.

“China is using cyber intrusions as part of its ‘rob, replicate and replace’ strategy to technological development,” he said, adding that Beijing is also “providing a safe haven for criminal hackers who, as in this case, are hacking in part for their own personal gain but willing to help the state and on call to do so.”

Demers claimed China has upped its brazen willingness to engage in theft through computer intrusions contrary to their international commitments.

“China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cybercriminals in exchange for those criminals being ‘on-call’ to work for the benefit of the state, here to feed the Chinese Communist Party’s insatiable hunger for American and other non-Chinese companies’ hard-earned intellectual property, including COVID-19 research,” Demers said.

China has faced global backlash led largely by the United States for downplaying and failing to contain the coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019.

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China has pushed back strongly on the accusations and has accused the U.S. of using the global pandemic to play politics.

China has not yet responded to the charges against Li and Dong.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-hackers-charged-steal-usa-coronavirus-research

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