Hunter Biden Reluctantly Pleads Guilty To Avoid Messy Trial
On Thursday, Hunter Biden was set to stand trial for tax crimes in federal court in Los Angeles, California, in a case brought by Special Counsel David Wise. The proceedings were quickly derailed just before jury selection began, however, when defense lawyer Abbe Lowell advised Judge Mark C. Scarsi that Biden wished to change his plea from “not guilty” to an “Alford plea” and thereby avoid a trial altogether.
An Alford plea is one in which the defendant maintains his innocence but agrees to plead guilty anyway and accept punishment just as if he had been found guilty by a judge or jury. The constitutionality of such a plea was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the case of North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), hence the name “Alford plea.” In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit that he is guilty, but he accepts legal guilt for the charged offenses and submits to being sentenced for them.
The Supreme Court explained that, “while most pleas of guilty consist of both a waiver of trial and an express admission of guilt, the latter element is not a constitutional requisite to the imposition of criminal penalty. An individual accused of crime may voluntarily, knowingly, and understandingly consent to the imposition of a prison sentence even if he is unwilling or unable to admit his participation in the acts constituting the crime.” Pointing out that sometimes simply not going to trial could benefit a defendant, the Court concluded that even pleas coupled with some assertion of innocence or of lesser culpability can still be constitutional, where “a defendant intelligently concludes that his interests require entry of a guilty plea and the record before the judge contains strong evidence of actual guilt.”
Jonathan Turley: Hunter Biden Will Face Prison Time after ‘Legal Death Wish’ Guilty Plea
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley has noted that Hunter Biden should still be facing a prison sentence, despite his last-minute move to plead guilty in his federal tax charges case.
Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, responded after Hunter Biden made a sudden change to a guilty plea to avoid his case going to trial this week.
Prof. Turley said Thursday that despite a sudden change in plea, the younger Biden would likely face jail time over tax charges if federal prosecutors pressed for a prison sentence.
Harvard University Not Cooperating With DA’s Investigation Into Students Charged With Assault of Jewish Classmate
Harvard University has refused to cooperate with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s investigation into the assault of an Israeli business school student that occurred during a protest in October 2023. That decision has delayed the ongoing criminal case against two of the students caught on camera accosting their Jewish classmate, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight, who leads the office’s Civil Rights and High-Risk Victims Unit and is prosecuting two of the students who participated in the assault, during a Wednesday hearing admonished the university.
“Harvard police essentially refused to investigate,” she said, according to an attendee, adding that the school’s behavior “has been a shock to the Commonwealth.”
Pro-Hamas Mob Terrorizes New York City During Labor Day Weekend
Oh, look. Within Our Lifetime and its sheep terrorized New York City.
Spotted at the “Within Our Lifetime” rally in NYC – “Intifada” threats to terrorize Jews around the world, as well as the logos of these terrorist groups:
– Hezbollah
– Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
– Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (HAMAS)
– Palestinian Islamic… pic.twitter.com/QvmSMGQ6uS
Pro-Hamas Students Block Entry To Campus, Vandalize Statue on First Day of Classes
Anti-Israel students brought chaos to Columbia University on Tuesday morning, returning the campus to its new normal: dozens of keffiyeh-clad protesters blocked the entrance to the school, praising Hamas, vandalizing a statue, and clashing with police. At least one group involved aims to bring violence to America, while others called on their followers to help shut down the university.
Agitators with Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter prevented students from entering campus, promising that “this is just the beginning.” A flyer posted to social media advertising the protest encouraged attendees to “wear a mask,” “bring noisemakers,” and to “shut it down.” And Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter released a statement praising Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin and the terrorist group’s current chairman, Yahya Sinwar.
NOW: On first day of classes, Pro-Palestine protesters have created a picket outside of Columbia University, demanding to “Shut It Down” and telling students – “Don’t Go to Classes, Do Not Enter, Call Out Sick”.
Huge line of students has formed around the block to go in.
Anti-Israel Harvard students condemn new vice president: ‘War criminals not welcome’
An anti-Israel group of Harvard University students condemned the recent appointment of the school’s new vice president and general counsel due to her former leadership roles at the U.S. Defense Department and a defense company that sold weapons to Israel.
Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, or HOOP, hung a banner stating, “War Criminals Not Welcome Here” alongside the name of the new appointee, Jennifer O’Connor, who took the helm July 29, the Harvard Gazettereported.
The group also hung a second banner over the summer reading, “Harvard Funds Genocide,” according to images posted on Instagram. The post’s caption criticized O’Connor for a “lack of experience” in higher education and her former position as general counsel for the Department of Defense.
“Yesterday, Harvard announced its appointment of Jennifer O’Connor as the new Vice President and general counsel of the university,” the Instagram post stated.
“She has 0 experience in higher education positions, yet her time as the former general counsel to the US Department of Defense and former Tech Law VP to weapons company Northrop Grumman make her a perfect fit at this complicit institution.”
Muslim groups: Emory ‘institution of particular concern’ due to treatment of pro-Hamas activists– www.thecollegefix.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee have designated Emory University as an “institution of particular concern” due to its “hostility” towards anti-Israel student activists.
According to The Emory Wheel (which follows CAIR’s lead and refers to the activists as “anti-genocide”), the groups allege that Emory, along with George Washington University and UCLA, “set the standard for creating a thoroughly hostile and dangerous environment” for Muslims and Palestinians.
Back in April, CAIR-Georgia and Palestine Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint on behalf of Emory’s Students for Justice in Palestine, alleging the school created a “hostile anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic environment.”
Two months later, CAIR-Georgia claimed Emory was “tokenizing” and “furthering a pattern of exclusion” against Muslim students because its search for a full-time Muslim chaplain wasn’t “inclusive” enough.
At a recent press conference, CAIR’s Farah Afify alleged Emory has cultivated a “culture in which discrimination and harassment towards Palestinian Arabs and Muslims was reportedly permitted and even enabled.”
I’d say he’s itching for the Senate to release their interim report:
“I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president,” Blumenthal told Fox News. “But I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank, as it should be to them in terms of providing information.”
The Latest: FBI says gunman in Trump assassination attempt saw ‘target of opportunity’
A senior FBI official says the gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a “target of opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are kicking off a two-day bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday that will snake through rural areas in the southern part of the state before culminating in a big rally in the coastal city of Savannah.
The Democratic ticket will meet with supporters, campaign staff, small business owners and voters.
Donald Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was carrying detonator connected to explosives hidden in car
Crooks opened fire at the rally in Pennsylvania killing a Trump supporter and grazing the Republican’s ear. An image initially published by Pittsburgh’s WPXI revealed the detonator, a rectangular gray device resembling a TV remote control, next to the gunman’s mobile phone.
NEW WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGATION: Secret Service Failed to Properly Train Agents Assigned to Candidate Details, Trump Rally
Yesterday U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe following new whistleblower allegations that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents who partnered with the Secret Service for protective details were improperly trained. Reports indicate that this deficient training extended to the Butler, Pa., rally where former president Donald Trump was shot.
“Whistleblower allegations to my office report that the only training received by many HSI agents reassigned to work protective details is a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams featuring pre-recorded videos,” wrote Senator Hawley. “The whistleblower alleged that these videos were not substantive and their playback was frequently riddled with technical mishaps, leaving the HSI agents ill-prepared for the protective mission to which they were newly assigned.”
He continued, “[A]ll of these allegations together suggest that a significant number of personnel tasked with providing security for former President Trump at the July 13 rally were egregiously under-prepared by the Secret Service to carry out this mission. Moreover, these latest whistleblower allegations contend HSI agents were pulled off child exploitation cases in order to serve on protective details for which they were unprepared.”
Donald Trump Says Assassination Attempt Has Had ‘No Impact’ on Him: ‘I Don’t Think About It a Lot’
Almost two months after Donald Trumpwas shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, the ex-prez, 78, is reflecting on how the event affects him today.
“It’s had no impact,” he told the Daily Mail of how he’s been coping. “It’s just amazing.”
Trump said he hasn’t suffered any flashbacks or had bad dreams since then event, adding that he hasn’t felt the need to go to counseling.
“I have not had any, I must tell you,” he said of therapy. “I don’t think about it a lot. It healed up.”
Trump insisted that the pivotal moment was meant to happen to him.
“And you know what I’d love to think, I would love to think it’s God, and it’s God doing it because he wants to save America,” he said. “He sees what’s happening. God sees what’s happening in America. We’re going bad as a country. Even with religion, we’re going bad.”
“You look at the charts, and I would like to say that it is God that saved me. It wasn’t just just luck, but the reason would be that he saved me, because I can save this country. I hope that’s right,” he added.
Palmer: ‘Lax’ Trump security during attempted assassination ‘raises some serious questions’
Almost two months have passed since former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated during a presidential rally in Butler, Pa., and questions still remain about how security failed to protect the GOP presidential nominee from harm’s way.
In an interview on Thursday’s broadcast of FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) said the “lax” security on July 13 in Pennsylvania “raises some serious questions” about whether it was “intentional” or “incompetence” from poor training.
“[C]ertainly there appears to be some ambivalence about it, about his security. This was not a site that would easily be secured because of the number of buildings and other issues there. But they certainly, I think, were very lax in their security plan,” Palmer outlined. “It had numerous holes in it, and that’s something that I don’t understand, Jeff, is when you’re charged with the protection of someone that high-profile … very likely the next President of the United States, and you leave that many gaps in your security plan, that raises some serious questions.”
Bombshell congressional report on Trump assassination attempt reveals ‘who REALLY took the first shot at Thomas Crooks
A bombshell congressional report claims would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was incapacitated by a local cop before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Two months after Crooks shot the former president’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a preliminary report from Rep. Clay Higgins offered a differing narrative to the official one pushed by the FBI.
The House task force investigating the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a Butler rally in July seeks to interview local law enforcement officers and review a host of related documents and communications, including medical reports on the gunman killed by a Secret Service sniper.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, the task force chairman, and ranking member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., sent several letters Tuesday requesting records on planning, operations and communications from Butler County and Beaver County agencies that were supporting the U.S. Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police at the rally.
The task force leaders asked the local law enforcement teams to make members available for interviews by Sept. 30. The names of those requested for interviews were redacted “to protect the privacy of law enforcement officers,” the lawmakers wrote. The group previously sent federal and state agencies similar requests for documents, and visited the Butler site last week.
House panel investigating Trump shooting presses local law enforcement for transcribed interviews
The House task force investigating the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump is requesting transcribed interviews with local law enforcement officials who were on duty during the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The panel sent five letters to local law enforcement and local officials seeking access to all documents and communications related to the rally, including those involved with the planning and preparation, post-events, and correspondence. The task force is requesting the interviews be completed by the end of the month, although it’s not entirely clear how many officials are being asked to appear before the panel…
The letters come a week after the task force visited the rally site on Aug. 26 and made an extensive records request to the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. Those letters requested access to documents detailing the preparation and security decision-making in the hours leading up to the rally and agents’ responses once the shooting began. Lawmakers are also pushing for interviews with several Secret Service personnel who were on duty and responsible for the security detail that day.
Venezuela opposition leader Machado wants US to do ‘much more’ on election dispute
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday she wants the United States to do “much more” to press President Nicolas Maduro amid an ongoing dispute over July’s presidential election.
Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government’s handling of the July 28 vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro, who has been in power since 2013. Authorities have not released full tallies, blaming a cyber attack.
Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader Gonzalez, AG Says
Venezuela’s attorney general’s office said on Monday a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of incitement and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July election.
Venezuela opposition wants candidate recognized as president-elect
Venezuela’s opposition chief Maria Corina Machado on Thursday called on the world to recognize candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as president-elect after a disputed election in the oil-rich nation.
President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in the July 28 vote but many in the international community have refused to recognize that result.
However, they have also stopped short of accepting Gonzalez Urrutia as the president-elect, instead calling for Caracas to publish detailed polling results.
“The world knows Edmundo Gonzalez is the president-elect and Maduro was defeated by a landslide,” Machado said during a virtual appearance.
Canada still hasn’t recognized the likely winner of Venezuela’s election — Venezuelans want to know why – cbc.ca
Some Venezuelan-Canadians say the Trudeau government has failed to stand up for democracy in its response to the July 28 Venezuelan presidential election — an election tainted by widespread evidence of fraud and a government campaign of arrests, disappearances and torture of poll workers.
Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ruled out seeking asylum abroad yesterday after a judge loyal to the Nicolas Maduro regime issued a warrant for his arrest on Monday.
Global Affairs Canada condemned the arrest warrant in a media statement. Gonzalez was still in hiding when this article was published.
According to digitized returns, Gonzalez’s unified opposition won the great majority of votes in the election. But his victory has been rejected by the Maduro regime, which claims to have received 51 per cent of the vote. It is backed by Venezuela’s courts and its National Election Commission, both packed with hand-picked Maduro loyalists.
While Gonzalez and his partner, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, have refused international protection, they have asked for international recognition.
International leaders condemn arrest order for Venezuelan opposition leader
Foreign leaders, including in the United States and Brazil, have reacted with alarm and warnings after Venezuela issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia this week.
On Tuesday, Canada joined in the outcry, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro continues to crack down on opposition members after a contested presidential election…
Maduro’s government declared him the winner of the July 28 presidential election, with nearly 52 percent of the vote. But unlike in past elections, it did not release vote tallies to back up that claim.
US seizes aircraft used by Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro
Washington has seized a private aircraft used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, citing alleged violations of US export controls and sanctions laws. The Department of Justice on Monday said the Dassault Falcon 900EX plane had been seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to southern Florida.
“This morning, the justice department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13mn through a shell company and smuggled out of the US for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” said US attorney-general Merrick Garland.
The DoJ’s move comes as Maduro, a revolutionary socialist in power since 2013, has been cracking down on the opposition following allegations his government rigged the count to steal victory in July’s presidential election in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition faces setback after countries suggest repeat of presidential election
Venezuela’s opposition was dealt a blow Thursday when countries that had been pressuring President Nicolás Maduro to release vote tallies backing his claim to victory in last month’s presidential election began suggesting a repeat of the contest instead.
The proposal from the leftist governments of Brazil and Colombia, both Maduro allies, came less than three weeks after the results of the highly anticipated election came into question when the main opposition coalition revealed it has proof that its candidate defeated the president by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
The opposition categorically rejected any plan to redo the election.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, during a virtual news conference with Argentine media, said that repeating the July 28 presidential election would be “an insult” to the people, and she asked if a second election were held and Maduro still didn’t accept the results, “do we go for a third one?”
Venezuela AG received affidavit from opposition leader, lawyer says
The lawyer for Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said on Wednesday the attorney general’s office received his affidavit explaining why Gonzalez ignored three summons, amid an ongoing election dispute.
The summons came before an arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez, the opposition’s erstwhile presidential candidate, on Monday on accusations of usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents and conspiracy, among other charges.
Venezuelan dictator decrees Oct. 1 to be start of Christmas season: Church responds
“This year, in homage and gratitude to you, I am going to decree that the Christmas season [begins] on Oct. 1,” declared Nicolás Maduro, leader of the ruling socialist regime in Venezuela, Sept. 2 on national television.
“For everyone, Christmas has arrived with peace, happiness, and security,” Maduro added. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, this is not the first time the socialist regime has done this, as in 2019, 2020, and 2021 it also decreed the “advance” of the Christmas season.
Maduro’s announcement came just hours after the Venezuelan justice system issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González Urrutia, who won the July 28 presidential elections by a wide margin, according to vote tallies published by the opposition. However, the National Electoral Council, controlled by the governing socialist party, declared Maduro the winner.
Major power outage hits Venezuela; Maduro government blames ‘sabotage’
A major power outage plunged much of Venezuela into darkness on Friday, affecting the capital, Caracas, and several other states. The blackout, which began around 4:50 a.m., was blamed on “electrical sabotage” by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement shared via Telegram, Communications Minister Freddy Nanez attributed the outage to what he described as a “desperate” effort by Maduro’s opponents to remove him from power. Nanez claimed that all 24 states in Venezuela were at least partially affected by the power disruption. “The entire national government has been activated to overcome this new aggression,” he declared.
By evening, power had been restored to many parts of Caracas after a day marked by intermittent outages. President Maduro, appearing on state television, expressed gratitude to Venezuelans for their patience during a chaotic day that saw businesses close, hospitals switch to backup generators, and Caracas’ subway system shut down, leaving thousands stranded.
US service member detained in Venezuela, officials say
A US service member has been detained in Venezuela, according to four US officials familiar with the matter.
The service member, a US Navy sailor, is a US citizen and was detained on August 30 in Caracas, according to the officials. One of the officials said he is being held by the Venezuelan intelligence agency SEBIN.
A defense official told CNN, “we are aware of reports that a US Navy Sailor was detained on or about August 30, 2024, by Venezuelan law enforcement authorities while on personal travel to Venezuela. The US Navy is looking into this and working closely with the State Department. We refer you to the State Department for additional questions.”
Venezuela election fallout will worsen refugee crisis, Hopkins expert says
Venezuela has been ruled by dictators for nearly a quarter century, first under Hugo Chavez, and now under his protege, Nicolas Maduro. Their regimes have suppressed free speech, throttled the economy, committed untold human rights violations, and, in typical dictator fashion, ignored election results to remain in power. Maduro recently ran for reelection against Edmundo González, a stand-in for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was arbitrarily banned from running by the government. Exit polls indicate that the incredibly popular Gonzalez beat Maduro by 30 points, yet on July 28, Maduro declared himself the winner. In more than a month since, his government has provided no proof of victory but has cracked down on dissent, arresting around 2,000 protestors.
The SNF Agora‘s Dissident in Residence, David Smolansky, has firsthand experience with Maduro’s oppressive governance. Before seeking refuge in the United States, the native Venezuelan was elected mayor of El Hatillo, one of the five municipalities in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in 2013. During his mayoral tenure, he reduced kidnappings in his district by 84%, gained recognition for establishing one of the most transparent local governments in Venezuela, and used his platform to condemn the Maduro administration.
Islamic State group claims responsibility for knife attack in Solingen, Germany that killed 3
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany that killed three people and wounded eight others at a crowded festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary.
The group said Saturday on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and is a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the assaults Friday night “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
The IS claim couldn’t immediately be verified. No evidence for the group’s assertions was provided.
Police later detained a suspect, the state internal affairs minister of North Rhein Westphalia said early Sunday.
Germany knife attack: Police make 2nd arrest in stabbings
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a knife attack in the German city of Solingen that killed three people and wounded eight others.
Some 24 hours after the attack, police said they made a second arrest on Saturday evening as part of a police operation at a home for refugees in Solingen. Police said they could not provide more details on the individual or its connection to the incident.
Police earlier on Saturday detained a teenager who they said may be connected with the attack but said the perpetrator was still at large.
Describing the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State,” the militant group said in a statement on its Telegram account: “He carried out the attack in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
German feds take over festival stabbing case, citing suspected terrorism
German federal prosecutors took over the investigation Sunday of a stabbing rampage in the city of Solingen that left three people dead, citing terrorism as the suspected motive.
A 26-year-old Syrian man turned himself in to police late Saturday after a day-long manhunt that included a search of refugee housing in the city center, said Raimund Dockter, a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police, in a telephone interview Sunday.
Federal prosecutors on Sunday identified the suspect as Issa Al H., not releasing his full last name because of Germany’s privacy laws, and said he is “strongly suspected of membership in a terrorist organization abroad” — referring to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the assault Saturday.
Germany festival stabbing: Manhunt after three killed in knife attack
German police were on Saturday night hunting for a knifeman who deliberately cut at his victims’ necks in a suspected terror attack at a diversity festival that left three people dead…
The Biden administration is setting up more areas for Mexicans to apply online to become the latest spate of illegal aliens using an illegal loophole through America’s asylum program. That program was designed to allow people under existential political threat at their home country to apply for asylum in America, not to make it easy for the government to allow economic refugees to flood into the country.
The Biden administration will expand areas where migrants can apply online for appointments to enter the United States to a large swath of southern Mexico, officials said Saturday, potentially easing strains on the Mexican government and lessening dangers for people trying to reach the U.S. border to claim asylum.
Migrants will be able to schedule appointments on the CBP One app from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, extending the zone from northern and central Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The move satisfies a request of Mexico, an increasingly close partner of the U.S. in efforts to control extraordinary migration flows.
The change will spare migrants from traveling north through Mexico to get one of 1,450 appointments made available daily, CBP said. The agency said it will happen soon but did not give a date.
“We consistently engage with our partners in the Government of Mexico and work together to adjust policies and practices in response to the latest migration trends and security needs,” CBP said in a statement.
The statement confirmed remarks a day earlier by Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, who said closer relations with the United States cut migration sharply from late last year.
U.S. officials have said increased Mexican enforcement is largely responsible for a sharp drop in U.S. arrests for illegal border crossings during the first half of this year. Mexican officials have stepped up their presence at highway checkpoints and on railroads leading to the U.S. border, returning most to southern Mexico.
Was it Hunter with the cocaine in the cabinet room? Ashley with the cocaine in the Oval Office? Or was it a stranger with access to the White House reference library? The mystery of the cocaine found in the White House over the July 4, 2023, holiday was closed for lack of evidence almost as soon as it began. But now there are revelations of a cover-up in the case.
A new report finds that former director Kim Cheatle, forced to resign over the disastrous near-assassination of Donald Trump, wanted the evidence destroyed, the substance not tested, and the case closed quickly. This was despite the high profile nature of the story — the evacuation of the entire White House, including the media, due to fears that the white powder, which a uniformed Secret Service agent discovered, was ricin or anthrax.
Having been on the Biden’s Secret Service detail, Cheatle probably knew what it was.
The story exploded into the media as gowned-up people in hazmat bunny suits combed the White House.
The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered a suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing.
On July 2, 2023, the U.S. Secret Service discovered a small amount of cocaine at the White House. The substance was found in a cubby area inside a vestibule used for storing electronic devices at the West Executive Avenue entrance, a location that sees a lot of traffic from staff and visitors. Tests by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services later confirmed the presence of cocaine.
Despite extensive forensic efforts, including fingerprint and DNA analysis by the FBI, no conclusive evidence was found to identify a suspect. The area where the cocaine was discovered is accessible to hundreds of people, and the lack of surveillance footage capturing the act made it impossible to pinpoint who might have brought the substance into the White House. As a result, the Secret Service closed the investigation due to insufficient evidence to proceed further.
According to three sources in the Secret Service community who spoke to RealClearPolitics, there was a significant rift among top leaders over how to handle the illicit substance. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, along with other senior figures, reportedly pushed to destroy the cocaine. However, the suggestion was met with firm resistance from both the Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division, who insisted on preserving the evidence.
The Secret Service has denied a report that former Director Kimberly Cheatle and other agency leaders wanted to destroy cocaine found in the White House.
“This is false. The US Secret Service takes its investigative and protective responsibilities very seriously,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “There are retention policies for criminal investigations and the Secret Service adhered to those requirements during this case.”
A story in RealClearPolitics cited three anonymous sources within the Secret Service who claimed that Cheatle, who recently resigned in the fallout from the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, reassigned an officer who wanted to follow a specific crime scene investigative protocol after the discovery. Guglielmi’s statement did not address that aspect of the report.
Aside from the novelty of illicit drugs being found inside the executive mansion, troubled first son Hunter Biden was staying in the White House in the days before the cocaine was discovered on July 2 and then publicly reported on July 4, sparking questions about the source of the drugs.
The initial discovery triggered a brief evacuation of the White House grounds as the substance was tested to rule out the possibility it was anthrax or another deadly powder. Because the evacuation included members of the press, it became impossible to keep the discovery hidden from the public.
This is a special section of our Global Outlook Report covering the historic attempted assassination of former President and 2024 Presidential nominee Donald J Trump. These are the headlines and links to the stories revealing how the assassination attempt was initially reported, as well as the immediate consequence of the assassination attempt, and up-to-date links on the fallout, including the end of the Biden campaign and the beginning of the Kamala campaign.
ED.NOTE: We will be providing an in-depth report on the Trump assassination attempt and the Biden drop-out in the SEPTEMBER 2024 Issue. The October 2024 Issue will be a special election-focused issue.
THE INITIAL COVERAGE – On Sunday, July 14, 2024, a 20-year-old man named Thomas Cooke managed to get in a choice sniper position to be able to open fire on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, PA. Trump’s head movement appears to have saved him from certain death as the bullet ripped through his ear. One participant was killed, and two others were critically (now stable) wounded.
Since that moment, President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 race, Kamala Harris was coronated the new nominee without a primary, and the media appears desperate to bury this historic story altogether, lest Trump become too human to the American people.
RFK Jr.’s Secret Service protection ends after suspended campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his third-party presidential bid last week and endorsed former President Donald Trump, has lost his Secret Service protection following the decision to leave the race, his campaign said.
“Mr. Kennedy no longer has USSS,” Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s press secretary, told CBS News.
In remarks in Phoenix on Friday, Kennedy said he was backing Trump because he could see no viable path to the White House. And although he said he wasn’t “terminating” his campaign — remaining on the ballot in some noncompetitive states — he pledged to remove his name from states where he could be a spoiler. Kennedy was on the ballot in more than 20 states when he suspended his White House bid.
President Biden directed the Secret Service to afford protection to Kennedy after the assassination attempt against Trump in July. Kennedy’s campaign had long requested the protection for the independent presidential candidate — an issue that was especially acute for Kennedy, whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s.
First outdoor Trump rally since assassination attempt: Why Asheboro?
The Republican ticket sees North Carolina as pivotal for the election, according to local political analysts.
The state as a whole is already important: The UVA Center recently moved the state from Republican to a toss-up this week. It now joins a list of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada: states that will “almost certainly” decide who wins the race, experts said.
In 2020, Trump won Randolph County by 78%.
Watch our interview with Wake Forest University professor John Dinan above to learn more.
Also at the rally, our team noted portable storage and moving vans blocking off the event. There were several law enforcement officers patrolling the area, too.
Video from Trump rally released by Butler Township police available on Eagle’s YouTube channel in its entirety
Body camera and dash camera footage taken by the Butler Township Police Department at the campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on July 13 is now available in its entirety via Butler Eagle’s YouTube channel.
The complete videos, acquired via a right-to-know request earlier this month, were posted Wednesday, Aug. 21 with editing only done to blur graphic scenes and remove foul language in the audio.
The 12 videos were released by the local police department on Aug. 8. Some of the videos were blurred prior to their release to the Eagle.
Washington Post was one of the first to use what became the leftist-approved label of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling it a “Trump rally shooting” to subliminally have Trump’s rallies associated with violence. The hope is to trick the willing-to-be-tricked that the political violence witnessed is the fault of the man who was shot, which is comparable to blaming a rape victim for being raped because “she was asking for it.”
Al Jazeera, a representative of an Islamist ideology that seeks to destroy the American republic, echoes the same type of careful language to assure no sympathy is garnered for the enemy they share with the Progmerican left, Donald J Trump.
Mother Jones took two shots at titling the news event, and both times show their allegiance with the shooter, and their blind hatred of the former President.
Trump shooter Thomas Crooks had encrypted messaging accounts in Belgium, Germany, New Zealand
Trump rally gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks used encrypted messaging accounts on various platforms located in Belgium, New Zealand and Germany, according to a member of a congressional task force investigating his assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), one of 13 lawmakers tapped to serve on the House bipartisan task force, told reporters at a Wednesday press conference at the Trump Hotel Chicago that the “overseas accounts” piqued his suspicion immediately regarding the shooter’s motives.”
“Why does a 19-year-old kid who is a health care aid need encrypted platforms not even based in the United States, but based abroad – where most terrorist organizations know it is harder for our law enforcement to get into?” asked Waltz.
Attempted Trump assassin Thomas Crooks trained at same gun range used by DHS
Attempted Trump assassin Thomas Crooks practiced shooting at his preferred gun range the day before the Department of Homeland Security conducted a training there — just two months before he opened fire at the former president’s rally.
Crooks, 20, visited the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania on May 22 around 3:10 p.m., where he practiced alone at the rifle range, according to a club logbook obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office.
The very next day, beginning at noon, DHS conducted a “police training” at the range with at least three people, club records show.
Clairton’s rifle range where Crooks would have practiced is 200 yards long — more than enough space for him to practice the 150-yard shot he would take at Trump on July 13, wounding the former president and killing a bystander.
It is unclear whether DHS regularly held trainings there, or if the May 23 visit was an uncommon occurrence.
The plot continues to thicken regarding Thomas Crooks:
Matthew Crooks is interested in guns and has sold firearms to family members in the past, the source told the Mail. “The FBI still very much has questions about how much they knew and how [Thomas Crooks] slipped through the net,” the individual said.
Quinn Logue specializes in both criminal and civil law, including wrongful death and personal injury, according to its website.
Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. The 20-year-old, who shot Trump in the ear, also killed attendee Corey Comperatore and injured two others. Crooks was shot dead by a sniper at the scene.
The FBI is still investigating how Crooks was able to carry out the shooting from a rooftop near the rally stage. The FBI briefed Trump on their investigation earlier this month, revealing that they still don’t have a clear motive, ABC News reported. However, Crooks may have targetted Trump just because he was the next big-name politician to come to Pennsylvania.
Why would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks remains an infuriating enigma weeks after shooting
However, it’s clear from congressional hearings — and the details that have emerged from FBI briefings with lawmakers — that investigators still have no satisfying answers for why Crooks targeted Trump.
The glacial pace of new information coming to light has been frustrating for Crooks’ neighbors, who are still waiting for answers after the shocking discovery that they were living next to a killer who plotted to murder a leading candidate for president.
“I would love to know what really happened and what Thomas’ motivation was,” neighbor Kelly Little, 39, told The Post.
“Domestic terrorism is very real. We deserve to know what happened, but I don’t know if we’re ever going to get a straight answer.”
The FBI seized a laptop, two cellphones and multiple hard drives and flash drives from Crooks’ house.via Chuck Grassley’s Office
Little said their calm suburban street has grown quiet again after being thrust into the center of a media and police firestorm last month.
“It’s been weeks since police were here. There’s nothing happening, no police activity,” she said, noting that although local cops drive by occasionally, there are no officers stationed there long-term.
Crooks’ parents have been keeping to themselves since the shooting, which neighbors said was pretty much par for the course even before the events at the Trump rally in Butler.
Rep. Mike Waltz Who Is Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt Reveals Thomas Crooks Acted With Help From Foreign Entity
Republican Rep. Mike Waltz told the Daily Mail that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump, might not have acted alone.
The Congressional task force’s ongoing investigation has raised significant concerns about possible foreign involvement in the attack.
Rep. Waltz stressed that the motivations behind Crooks’ actions are still uncertain, hinting that a foreign entity or another third party might be involved.
“I don’t understand, and I don’t have any answers yet to help me understand how the [Secret] Service and DHS came out so quickly and said – and I think the FBI as well, but I’ll have to check that – and said, he operated alone,” Waltz told Daily Mail at Trump Tower in Chicago on Wednesday.
Waltz told The Post Wednesday that he does not believe the agencies have been able to dig up enough information on the 20-year-old gunman to determine for certain that he did not have help planning and carrying out the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.
“We’ve heard both the Secret Service and the FBI kind of phrase it in different ways — that everything they’ve seen he acted alone and that they have yet to find any co-conspirator,” Waltz (R-Fla.) told The Post in an exclusive interview following an FBI briefing Wednesday.
New Thomas Crooks Video Appears to Show Him Hours Before Trump Shooting
In a chilling development, newly uncovered footage appears to show Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump, wandering around the site of the Butler, Pennsylvania rally just hours before his deadly attack on July 13, 2024.
The video, which has surfaced on social media platforms, was reportedly captured by a small business owner selling patriotic hats at the event. The merchant, who has not been identified, made the startling discovery while reviewing their footage from that fateful day.
The TikTok video, which has since gone viral, is captioned with an ominous message: “Terrifying moment… Looking back at my videos from the PA Butler Trump rally on 7/13/24… we were there just trying to sell our patriotic hats…”
The footage then transitions to a slow-motion clip of a man believed to be Crooks, with text overlay stating, “Captured a video of Thomas Matthews Crooks at 4:26pm, before the assassination attempt occurred.”
THE HISTORIC SS FAIL – Here is how the conservative and MSM press covered what appears to be critical security failures that led to the assassination attempt, starting with might be the very symbol of incompetency from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who sought to lessen the dramatic impact of an attempted assassination on a former President.
Trump rally counter-sniper Ben Shaffer gives damning verdict on FBI ‘evidence tampering’ after assassination attempt
A SWAT counter-sniper who was working the Trump rally in Pennsylvania where a gunman opened fire has issued a damning verdict on the FBI‘s alleged evidence tampering.
Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer admitted that it was ‘absolutely’ concerning that the roof of the AGR International building where gunman Thomas Matthew Crook, 20, was cleaned quickly after the July 13 assassination attempt.
Shaffer then went on to acknowledge that Crooks should have been elevated from a ‘person of interest’ to someone ‘who would have warranted some type of investigatory detention’ by agents because he was using a range finder.
BOMBSHELL: Secret Service Headquarters Ordered Agents NOT to Request Additional Manpower for Trump Rally
As more details emerge about the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the situation is looking increasingly troubling for the Secret Service.
On Friday, Senator Josh Hawley revealed troubling new information from a Secret Service whistleblower, indicating that agency headquarters had explicitly instructed agents not to request additional personnel for the event, knowing such requests would be immediately denied.
It’s almost as if the Secret Service senior staffers wanted President Trump dead and buried. How can he place any trust in the agency going forward?
Forgotten radios and missed warnings: New details emerge about communication failures before Trump rally shooting
The day before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, a tactical team of local police officers set aside radios for their Secret Service partners so the two agencies could communicate during the former president’s July 13 campaign rally.
But those radios were never picked up….
Standing over the gunman’s dead body minutes later, a local police officer who responded to the initial warning expressed frustration that his own radio calls about a man on the roof seemed to go unheeded by the other officers.
“That’s what I was f**king calling out bro, f**king ‘On top of the roof,’” the officer said, according to body camera footage. “We’re not – we on the same frequency?”…
Details about the forgotten radios were included in a recent report from Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican member of the congressional task force investigating the events of that day. Higgins claims that a county emergency services commander had “personally reminded” Secret Service counter-sniper teams to pick up their assigned radios at a command post located at the Butler County Fairgrounds. “It didn’t happen,” according to Higgins’ report.
That detail was confirmed to CNN by Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.
“I can confirm that the Butler County ESU team made radios available to the Secret Service and that they were not utilized by the Secret Service,” Goldinger said in a statement. While it’s unclear if Secret Service would have gotten the warning about a man on the roof had they picked up the radios, Goldinger said, “It is safe to assume that if a holder of an ESU radio was paying attention, they would have received the call.”
Sen Johnson: FBI ‘Dragging Feet’ on Trump Assassination Probe
The Secret Service and FBI are “basically dragging their feet” on the Senate bipartisan probe into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ron Johnson told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
The Wisconsin Republican, who is part of the bipartisan investigation, said the agencies are “stonewalling us.”
“We have gotten some transcribed interviews, but the documents we request are heavily redacted [and] they’re delivered the day of the interview,” he said, explaining that this means that they can’t really even “be used to conduct the interviews effectively.”
Trump assassination attempt sparks investigation of Secret Service DEI policies: ‘Compromised its mission’
A non-profit group has launched an investigation into the Secret Service’s Diversity Equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Trump last month.
Mountain States Legal Foundation, (MSLF) a Colorado-based organization, says it is looking into how the controversial policy may have led to security being dangerously lax at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to scale the roof of a nearby building and fire off eight shots with one bullet grazing the right ear of the former commander-in-chief. One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was fatally struck, while two others were also hit and suffered serious injuries in an event that could have plunged the nation into a political crisis.
MSLF says its investigation is examining how DEI impacted the elite agency’s hiring, retention, and promotion. Critics of DEI say the policy elevates those of a certain sex or ethnicity over those who may be more qualified, thus the best person for a particular job may not get the role, thereby lowering standards overall.
Secret Service Records Reveal DEI Is Prioritized for All Agency Employees in ‘Every Action, Every Day’
Judicial Watch announced today it received 311 pagesof U.S. Secret Service (USSS) records that show the Secret Service has made it a top priority that “diversity and inclusion is not just ‘talked about’ – but demonstrated by all employees through ‘Every Action, Every Day.’” [Emphasis in original]
The records show the Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demands that 12 percent of its workforce be composed of “persons with disabilities,” and that it is the policy of the Secret Service to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to such non-merit factors as “disability (physical or mental).”
Judicial Watch obtained the records in a FOIA lawsuit against DHS for records relating to an incident in April at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in which a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Vice President Kamala Harris got into a scuffle with colleagues(Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security(No. 1:24-cv-01705)).
According to an April 24 report by the Washington Examiner, a Secret Service agent was removed from her duties after physically attacking the commanding agent in charge and other agents who tried to subdue her.
Holt, Shaffer to Newsmax: Secret Service Failures Go Beyond DEI
Americans deserve a thorough federal investigation into the Secret Service security failures that led up to the shooting of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last month, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax, Friday.
In an appearance on “The Chris Salcedo Show,” Holt and retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer discussed whether the problems were the result of incompetence related to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies or something more sinister.
Shaffer said Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., attended a Trump rally in Virginia a few weeks before the July 13 assassination attempt, and at that event, “they had layers of overlapping and continuous security-controlled corridors for people to move, and nobody was allowed to wander around. So then, yeah, how is it that even with DEI in mind, they go from an efficient, well-organized, well-wired machine to like, Oh, did we forget to check that building? So, no, this goes beyond DEI.”
US Congressman Clay Higgins has accused the FBI of a potential cover-up related to the attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The accusation centers on the handling of the remains of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by the Secret Service after opening fire on trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Crooks’ attack resulted in the death of one bystander and injuries to Trump and two other attendees.
Higgins, a Louisiana Republican with a background in law enforcement and a member of the congressional Task Force investigating the shooting, publicly criticized the FBI’s actions. According to Higgins’ report released Thursday, the FBI authorized the release of Crooks’ body for cremation just ten days after the incident, on July 23, without prior notice to local authorities or the county coroner. Higgins asserted that the coroner and other officials were unaware of the body’s release until August 5.
The congressman expressed concerns that the release of the body before the completion of the coroner’s and autopsy reports obstructs further investigation into the incident. Higgins argued that the FBI’s decision to permit the cremation could be seen as an obstruction to a thorough investigative process. He highlighted the lack of available forensic evidence as a significant hindrance to verifying the circumstances surrounding the shooting attempt.
Sen. Ron Johnson: FBI probe into Trump shooting is ‘jaw-dropping’
The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee told DailyMail.com that the actions of the Justice Department are ‘jaw dropping’ and slammed the agency’s law enforcement arm – the FBI – for thinking they are ‘above the law.’
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year would-be assassin of Trump, was shot dead by Secret Service right after one of his bullets grazed the former president’s right ear during an attack at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on June 13 that left one supporter dead and two others critically injured.
‘I think the FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong,’ Johnson told DailyMail.com at Trump Tower in Chicago on Monday. ‘If you want people to have confidence in the investigation, it needs to be transparent.’
Sen. Ron Johnson (right) told DailyMail.com that ‘the FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong’ in the investigation of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump
‘What we know about the events of July 13 is coming primarily from local law enforcement,’ the furious senator explained.
FBI engaged in ‘major-league cover-up’ of Trump assassination attempt
The FBI and the Biden-Harris administration are engaged in a “major-league cover-up on the near-assassination of former President Trump,” Judicial Watch Inc. asserted Aug. 12.
The accusation came after the FBI denied Judicial Watch’s request for records on the July 13 Pennsylvania rally at which Donald J. Trump was shot by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI on July 26, seeking documents, emails, presentations, and other data regarding the FBI’s coordination with the U.S. Secret Service in preparation for the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at which Trump was shot in the ear. The request covered the time period from June 15 to present.
The FBI cited FOIA exemption 7A, which allows withholding of information that “would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.” It did not elaborate or provide context for use of this exemption.
Secret Service denied Butler agents extra manpower ahead of Trump rally shooting: Whistleblower
A Secret Service department that handles manpower requests urged agents not to ask for additional security for the rally where an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump occurred, according to a whistleblower report.
The whistleblower told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that the Secret Service Office of Protective Operations — Manpower essentially denied security assets “through informal means” by encouraging agents not to seek more manpower for the rally, Hawley wrote in a letter…
Trump team irate over Secret Service failing to warn them about Crooks after spotting him with a range finder
Former President Trump took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, several minutes after the Secret Service first began tracking the former president’s attempted assassin, and Trump’s team was none too happy about it.
Those in Trump’s orbit said the former president’s security detail became enraged after learning they were not told for 30 minutes about a suspicious subject carrying a range finder around the perimeter of Trump’s July 13 rally, according to The Washington Post. That suspicious subject turned out to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, the former president’s 20-year-old attempted assassin.
Trump took the stage in Butler shortly after 6 p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, local officers had first spotted Crooks between 5:45 p.m. and 5:55 p.m., the Post’s timeline of events indicates. Once spotted, local law enforcement verbally communicated the threat to Secret Service agents, but the threat was reportedly never shared with Trump’s team. Trump’s team was also reportedly never told that local law enforcement counter-snipers lost track of Crooks at one point.
Videos: Trump shooter spotted jumping across roofs before assassination attempt
A new body camera video shows would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks jumping across multiple roofs as he moved into position just minutes before the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at the former president’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Monday, Jack Posobiec, a conservative media personality, shared a video of the body camera footage alongside the caption, “Bodycam footage of Thomas Matthew Crooks jumping from roof to roof just minutes before he shot President Trump and the crowd in Butler, PA.”
The video clearly shows an individual jumping across multiple roofs near the former president’s Pennsylvania rally prior to the assassination attempt, which resulted in Trump being shot in the ear, a retired fire chief being killed, and two other rally attendees being seriously injured.
Attempted Trump assassin seen walking around Pennsylvania rally hours before opening fire
Chilling new video has been released showing Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly two hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump and attendees at a campaign rally.
The short clip, released by the clothing company Iron Clad USA, shows Crooks at 4:26 p.m. dressed in shorts and a “Demolitia” T-shirt walking past a line of vendors selling Trump merchandise ahead of the July 13 rally.
He was wearing the same T-shirt when he opened fire on Trump and is not carrying anything in the eerie video.
“Terrifying moment… looking back on my videos from the PA Butler Trump rally on 7/13/24,” the company’s owner wrote on the TikTok version of the video. “We were there just trying to sell our patriotic hats from my small business.”
Trump assassination attempt in Butler reflects long-standing ‘systemic failures’ in Secret Service protections
Butler Township Police Officer Drew Blasko paced angrily along the AGR building, where just minutes before a gunman had clambered atop the roof, aimed an AR-15-style rifle at Donald Trump and fired, striking the former president.
As Blasko and other officers stood guard near a loading bay behind the building, he recounted a meeting earlier in the week with the Secret Service.
“I told them that fucking Tuesday,” he said. “I told them to post fucking guys over here.”
The Trump rally shooting that day, which killed one man and injured three others, including the former president, has been called the largest security failure in 40 years. It has led to the resignation of the Secret Service director, a congressional investigation and questions from lawmakers about how such a lapse could have occurred.
But an investigation by Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle has revealed that the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.
Trump Assassination Attempt Laid Bare Long-standing Vulnerabilities in the Secret Service
Butler Township Police Officer Drew Blasko paced angrily along the AGR building, where just minutes before a gunman had clambered atop the roof, aimed an AR-15-style rifle at Donald Trump and fired, striking the former president.
As Blasko and other officers stood guard near a loading bay behind the building, he recounted a meeting earlier in the week with the Secret Service.
“I told them that fucking Tuesday,” he said. “I told them to post fucking guys over here.”
The Trump rally shooting that day, which killed one man and injured three others, including the former president, has been called the largest security failure in 40 years. It has led to the resignation of the Secret Service director, a congressional investigation and questions from lawmakers about how such a lapse could have occurred.
But an investigation by Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle has revealed that the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.
The newsrooms spoke to dozens of officials across all levels of law enforcement and in several states who have provided security for presidents and presidential candidates, as well as local party officials and academic experts in security.
Speaker Mike Johnson Sparks Uproar After Revealing the Seven Republicans Who Will Serve on Task Force Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt
House Speaker Mike Johnson makes an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” (CNBC Television / YouTube screen shot)
House Speaker Mike Johnson today announced the Republicans who will serve on the Bipartisan House Task Force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt and sparked an uproar among conservatives in the process.
Today, I’m announcing the seven Republicans who will serve on the Bipartisan House Task Force to investigate the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. We have the utmost confidence in this group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress:
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 29, 2024
The seven GOPers listed are as follows:
• Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly
• Tennessee Rep. Mark Green
• Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce
• Florida Rep. Laurel Lee
• Florida Rep. Michael Waltz
• Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins
• Texas Rep. Pat Fallon
THE PRE AND POST VIOLENT RHETORIC OF THE DNC – Immediately after the assassination attempt, the conservative press rightly questioned the role the violent rhetoric by the DNC, including Biden, in inspiring the shooting in the first place. As if to confirm their fears, the violent rhetoric of the Left continued AFTER the assassination attempt:
THE FALL-OUT – Here are some of the immediate consequences of the Trump assassination attempt. As already noted, there will be an in-depth report on the fall-out of the Trump assassination attempt in the September 2024 Issue of MIA. We’ll start with an announcement by President Trump that might be a symbol of what this assassination has come to mean for many, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Secret Service Pittsburgh employees placed on administrative leave: report
Several members of the U.S. Secret Service Pittsburgh Field Office have reportedly been placed on administrative leave following the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Anthony Guglielmi, USSS chief of communications, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the agency’s personnel are held “to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action.”
USSS did not directly confirm any employees placed on leave, but Guglielmi added that given the “personal” nature of the matter, the agency is “not in a position to comment further.”
What we know about why 5 Secret Service agents got new duties after Trump assassination attempt
At least five Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
They include the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office and three other agents assigned to that office, which was responsible for the security planning ahead of the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to the law enforcement official who had direct knowledge of the matter. One of the five agents was assigned to Trump’s protective detail, the official said.
The official was not authorized to publicly disclose details of the personnel investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The agents are on administrative leave, meaning they cannot do investigative or protective work.
Fox News reported that a different group of Secret Service agents assigned specifically to Trump’s security detail remains operational. Trump avoided serious injury from the shooting.
But as shocking as it is to see a former Secret Service director need the protection of her own former agency, it’s much less surprising when one considers the overall threat environment facing those whom Trump loyalists perceive as a danger to him — or them. After all, we learned earlier this week that the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s New York hush money trial, and her business partner have each been subjected to death threats and harassment, and that law enforcement has advised the daughter and her family to leave their home for their own safety.
Further, in an interview with my NBC News colleague Ken Dilanian last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that the Justice Department has brought 400 cases over the last two years alone dealing with threats against federal and state judges, federal and state prosecutors, federal and state legislators, and federal, state and local law enforcement officers. Of course, those are just the cases federal law enforcement has brought, not the totality of the threats.
Butler officials are concerned about future Trump rally
Local officialsare worried about former President Trump‘s plans to return to Butler in October, reports Spotlight PA, ProPublica and the Butler Eagle.
Why it matters: Last month’s assassination attempt at an outdoor rally in the rural western Pennsylvania city has been panned as one of the most glaring security lapses in decades, leading to former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle‘s resignation and numerous federal and congressional probes.
Driving the news: Trump said in an interview with billionaire Elon Musk on X earlier this month that he intends to come back to Butler to finish his speech.
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche shared concerns about how the visit “will place additional stress on law enforcement and the community.”
Local officials are calling for better coordination with the Secret Service should Trump return, including a unified command post, Adams Township Sgt. Ed Lenz told the outlets.
Here’s Who Donald Trump Jr. Holds Responsible For His Father’s Attempted Assassination
The Democratic Party and its allies in the mainstream media have attempted to muddy the waters when it comes to covering the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, offering conflicting narratives regarding the deceased suspect and even seeming to blame Trump himself for the violent act.
But for Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., it is clear where much of the blame lies.
He called the media “truly embarrassing” and a “disgrace” to the country and hypocritical for calling Republicans a threat to democracy while not holding Harris accountable over her record.
“They seem to be able to run roughshod over all of those things, but again, that’s nothing new,” he said. “They called everyone in the world a fascist, and yet, they’re the ones that want to jail their political opposition. They’re the ones that want to censor and silence them. They are the ones that, you know, ultimately caused an assassination attempt of the leading candidate of the opposition party.”
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, at 1:46PM ET, Joe Biden let the world know he was bowing out of the Presidential race for “the good of the country and the good of the party.” He let the world know through X. This followed an announcement earlier that week he was diagnosed with having Covid-19.
Within two days of the announcement being made, Democrat delegates quickly rallied around Biden’s endorsement, Vice President Kamala Harris, the new presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party. Biden disappeared for four days before emerging Tuesday, July 23, in a video showing him weakly walking across a tar mac and up a small flight of stairs into Air Force One.
Elon Musk announced on X his intentions to pull his X offices and his SpaceX offices out of California to Texas, where Musk would follow suit. He announced the plan after California passed a law preventing parents from being informed if their children should begin to go through “gender-affirming therapy.”
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would be donating $45 million a month – $180 million from July through October – to America PAC, a political action committee dedicated to reelecting former President Donald Trump.
“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X, adding that he told California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that affirming laws like this one would lead to an exodus of families who want to “protect their children.”
To me, none of the mogul’s recent moves are surprising. They will, however, affect how the presidential election plays out – and possibly assist in reelecting Trump. That should concern all of us because of the power owning X gives him and his willingness to wield it.
