Police officers were called to the 3100 block of Legion Lane, north of Chatterton Road, in Columbus, Ohio, just after 4:30 pm for a disturbance call.  When police arrived 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant (black female) was in the process of attempting to stab one woman with a knife and then attempting to stab a second woman (see screengrab below).  One officer opened fire, Ma’khia Bryant was shot and killed.

Columbus police released the bodycam footage from the shooting.

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A story in The Hill highlights a “data breach” in the Christian donation site GiveSendGo and how that data breach is being weaponized against people who support the standard of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in the Wisconsin case against Kyle Rittenhouse.   You can read the article HERE, but what I would draw attention toward is not the details of the people being targeted, but rather the process behind the “data breach.”

We have talked about the weaponization of metadata for several years on this website.  Factually we know with certainty that political operatives within the national security apparatus illegally exploit their access to the FBI and NSA database, the totality of all electronic communication, amid Americans.

The NSA has made those factual admissions to the FISA court who are supposed to be the backstop to protect the fourth amendment privacy of our nation.

The fact that no-one has ever been held legally accountable for violating the law and extracting the personal information of U.S. citizens shows how eroded the constitutional protections really are.  Not a single person has ever been arrested or convicted for exploiting their access… so why would it stop?  Short answer: it hasn’t.

As a result every time I read a story that says a “data breach’ is being weaponized for political benefit, my immediate reaction is now to dismiss the oft claimed “hackers” and focus on the most likely source of privacy weaponization: the known and intentional intrusion by government officials and contractors.

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The Washington Post has a lengthy hit-piece against Kash Patel where they infer unsourced claims the DOJ is investigating the former Nunes aide and Trump administration official for releasing classified information.

Keep in mind that President Trump granted full declassification authority to AG Bill Barr on May 23, 2019.   I would draw your attention to these two paragraphs buried deep in the reporting (emphasis mine):

(WaPo) […] The battle against the deep state continued, meanwhile. Patel kept pushing, along with DNI Ratcliffe, for declassification of memos challenging the origins of the Russia investigation. Nakasone [NSA Director] strongly dissented, and Esper [Sec of Defense] backed him up in an October letter to Ratcliffe “urging that the information not be released due to the harm it would do to national security, including specific harm to the military,” a senior defense official said. Haspel [CIA Director], too, strongly opposed release of the information. Their argument for protecting sensitive information was finally supported by Attorney General William P. Barr, and Trump backed away, a source close to the events said.

“I think there were people within the IC [Intelligence Community], at the heads of certain intelligence agencies, who did not want their tradecraft called out, even though it was during a former administration, because it doesn’t look good on the agency itself,” Patel said in the RealClearInvestigations interview. (read more)

It is tradition the NSA and CIA run to the Washington Post when they need a media PR firm to push their position. So this article makes sense considering the NSA and CIA both had something to hide within the criminal activity behind Spygate. [Maybe the timing has to do with recent information about the Durham probe.]

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Rep. Markwayne Mullin took his opportunity to question FBI Director Cristopher Wray by asking the FBI Director about the double standard in investigating/prosecuting Capitol rioters vs the Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters in DC and Portland.

Rep Mullin smartly uses the example of federal officers who have been attacked, assaulted and injured by Antifa and BLM, yet the FBI does nothing to investigate or prosecute these violent extremists.  Mullin even quoted Wray back to himself when the FBI Director said: “Antifa is not a national organization”, a quote Director Wray now stunningly denies.   First, WATCH:

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Unfortunately Mullin missed one key aspect and it would be nice if any GOP member would ask the DOJ and FBI this question:

‘Is the reason the federal agencies refuse to investigate and prosecute Black Lives Matter and Antifa due to the fact both organizations were the funding mechanism for Joe Biden’s election effort’?

Ask that question and Republicans will be getting closer to the target.

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Jerry ‘the penguin’ Nadler and Senator Ed Markey are planning to introduce legislation tomorrow to add four Supreme Court justices to the current bench.  The objective is to bring a liberal bias to the high court by adding four leftist judges.

WASHINGTON DC – The bill, led by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), is the first legislation in recent years designed to add seats to the high court, and its introduction comes as progressive organizations are pushing for court expansion, after watching Senate Republicans fill three Supreme Court vacancies in four years under President Donald Trump. (read more)

Infuriating… and the timing of the DOJ announcement explains Biden on distract television today.

Not only did the DOJ not prosecute the Capitol Hill police officer who murdered Ashli Babbitt, but they still refuse to name him.  The sunlight upon the two-tiers of justice in the United States is at a supernova level of intensity.  Everything about this DOJ announcement is FUBAR:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer involved in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, the Office announced today.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and the Civil Rights Division, with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD), conducted a thorough investigation of Ms. Babbitt’s shooting. Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy.

Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution. Officials from IAD informed a representative of Ms. Babbitt’s family today of this determination.

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The content of the story is less important than the network within it.

The New York Times writes a story about John Durham issuing subpoenas to the Brookings Institute for records of Igor Danchenko’s work there.   Danchenko was Chris Steele’s primary sub-source for the infamous Steele Dossier.

The material provided by Danchenko to Steele was described as unsubstantiated “gossip”, “rumor”, “hearsay” and innuendo by Danchenko himself after he was questioned by the FBI.

New York Times – […] Mr. Durham has keyed in on the F.B.I.’s handling of a notorious dossier of political opposition research both before and after the bureau started using it to obtain court permission to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016 and 2017 and questioned witnesses who may have insight into the matter.

In particular, Mr. Durham has obtained documents from the Brookings Institution related to Igor Danchenko, a Russia researcher who worked there a decade ago and later helped gather rumors about Mr. Trump and Russia for that research, known as the Steele dossier, according to people familiar with the request.

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Friend of the Treehouse, Peter Duke, introduced me to this story and it is blood-boiling, yet awesome.

A young man named Lucas Lepejian is in a battle with Burbank authorities who are trying to run him out of business.  Lucas is the 20-year-old son of Baret Lepejian the proprietor of a long-standing western-themed restaurant called Tinhorn Flats; a well known place to dine in Burbank, California.

Local authorities have attempted to shut down Tinhorn Flats repeatedly.  Each time Lucas defies the orders and reopens.

Lucas has been arrested three times in defiance of the ridiculous COVID shutdown.

The issue now is personal, the authorities are intent on destroying his business… Lucas, and a small battalion of supporters, remain defiant.

TIMELINE & DETAILS: Tinhorn Flats is the oldest bar in Burbank.  In March of 2020 they shut down in compliance with state guidelines.   They reopened in November 2020, and when the second lockdown was announced their defiance began.

Burbank authorities first cited and fined Tinhorn Flats.  Lucas refused to pay and stayed open.  Burbank authorities cut their utilities.  Lucas brought in generators and stayed open.   Burbank authorities Red tagged his restaurant and locked the doors.  Lucas cut the locks and reopened.  Burbank authorities boarded up the doors and ‘red tagged’ again as unsafe.  Lucas sawed off the boards and reopened his business.  Burbank police then arrested Lucas.  Lucas made bail and was released.

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Earlier today Joe Biden raised some eyebrows when he said “no amendment to the constitution is absolute.”   The first ten amendments to the constitution are commonly known as “The Bill of Rights.”

The occupant of the oval office, and head of the executive branch, saying the Bill of Rights is not absolute, should be challenged immediately to qualify that statement.

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As a reminder:

♦ Amendment 1
– Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

♦ Amendment 2
– The Right to Bear Arms

A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

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This is long overdue, and worthy of support.  Most CTH readers are now aware what the Lawfare group is all about.  Inside the Lawfare network the far-left political ideologues organize and launch attacks against anything they view as adverse to their interests.  The Lawfare network is made up of Obama ideologues and former DOJ officials who manipulate the legal system for their political agenda.

Many, if not most, of the legal aspects connected to attacks against conservatives stem from inside this Lawfare network.  They operate inside government and outside in the private sector and compliment each other in their unified agenda.  An example was the attack against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by both groups.

During her Senate testimony Kavanaugh accuser, Christine Blasey-Ford ,called the network her “beach friends” connecting the casual relationship they all carry.  The Lawfare group operate inside the DOJ, inside the FBI, inside the State Department and inside the institutions of government.  They connect ideologically to their allies in the private sector law firms and they share insider information to coordinate their attacks.

The Lawfare group also has a media strategy.  If the inside government group needs to advance a narrative to advance their interests they will leak to media (ex. Lisa Page and Peter Strzok leaking to Devlin Barrett, WSJ); and/or leak to their middle-men outside in the private sector who will leak to media on their behalf (ex James Comey to Daniel Richman who then conveys to the New York Times).

Today, former Senior Advisor Stephen Miller announces his launch of a Lawfare group of his own; a counter force against the conniving leftist objectives.  Miller is calling his MAGA legal network “America First Legal”.

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