This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
.
When the pretenses drop completely, we see CBS news promoting “Merch” for “No Kings” protesters.
I don’t ever want to hear a word about corporate media pretending to be unbiased and apolitical.
[SOURCE]
This official promotion for the protest groups comes as CBS is still in litigation for a lawsuit from President Trump as an outcome of their fabricating a response for Kamala Harris during a pre-election day interview. Unreal…. well, not really, but sheesh.
The Justice Department has announced that a USAID official named Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, and three corporate executives, Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland; Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, and Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, have pleaded guilty to a decade long scam involving bribery using USAID funds and awarded government contracts.
Roderick Watson took bribes and directed over $550 million to the three USAID contractors. [SEE DETAILS HERE]
DOJ – […] According to court documents, beginning in 2013, Watson, while a USAID contracting officer, agreed with Britt to receive bribes in exchange for using Watson’s influence to award contracts to Apprio. As a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, which helps socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, Apprio could access lucrative federal contracting opportunities through set-asides and sole-source contracts exclusively available to eligible contractors without a competitive bid process.
Vistant was a subcontractor to Apprio on one of the contracts awarded through Watson’s influence. After Apprio graduated from the SBA 8(a) program and it was no longer eligible to be a prime contractor for new contracts with USAID under this program, the scheme shifted so that Vistant became the prime contractor and Apprio became the subcontractor on USAID contracts awarded through Watson’s influence between 2018 and 2022.
During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant. Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives.
President Trump supporter Charlie Kirk presented a poll question on his Twitter account asking, “Should the US get involved in Israel’s war against Iran?” Almost a half million responses and the outcome is almost 90% saying no.
[SOURCE]
There is obviously a significant majority of MAGA Republicans who do not want the U.S. military involved in more foreign conflict.
Also, it’s obvious this is not a scientific poll and more of a ‘sense’ amid the people who use Twitter; people who are often the strongest political influence voices for American politicians; but still, that is quite a remarkable outcome.
Border Czar Tom Homan appeared for a podcast discussion with Dr Phil. Homan makes a strong point about the “customs” aspect in Customs and Border Patrol and outlines how it was customs enforcement that backstopped the reason for the ICE raid in Los Angeles. There was a money laundering operation underway that had long been investigated.
“Dr. Phil and Border Czar Tom Homan break down the major LA raid targeting cartel-linked businesses, sparking protests and debate. They discuss a major multi-agency operation in Los Angeles targeting criminal enterprises in the garment industry. Homan explains how ICE, DEA, FBI, IRS, and other agencies collaborated to serve search warrants, uncovering $80 million in undeclared imports, $17 million in unpaid tariffs, and arresting 41 undocumented immigrants.
The operation, part of a larger investigation into money laundering and cartel activity, sparked intense protests and clashes outside targeted businesses. Homan discusses the challenges of balancing law enforcement with public outcry, the new zero-tolerance policy for interference, and the importance of transparency about the broader criminal context of these actions.” WATCH:
.
Last night U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a ridiculous temporary restraining order (TRO) removing President Trump’s control of the California National Guard [SEE RULING HERE]. Charles Breyer is the 83-year-old younger brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
What made the TRO ruling transparently ridiculous was: (A) the state of California never requested a TRO; and (B) the citations Breyer used to underpin his decision were all left-wing media reports about the events. The facts, his facts, underpinning his judicial opinion, were wrong.
Those who follow judicial writing will note that using media reports as citations inside judicial decisions is a common attribute of Lawfare operations. Factually, it seemed unlikely District Judge Breyer even wrote his own ruling; it reads like something from Norm Eisen or Mary McCord.
This morning, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Breyer’s order just hours after he issued it [SEE RULING HERE].
The appellate intervention retains the power of President Trump as commander in chief over the California national guard. The appeals court set a Tuesday hearing on the full context of the matter, thereby ensuring Trump’s deployment will remain in place at least into next week.
President Trump released a series of statements earlier this morning as Israel continues to execute operation Rising Lion and strike Iran.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP – “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.”
“Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!” [source]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP – “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to “make a deal.” They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” [source]
Also, VIA CNN: I just spoke with President Donald Trump on the phone. The President told me the US supports Israel and called the strikes on Iran last night “a very successful attack.”
“We of course support Israel, obviously and supported it like nobody has ever supported it,” Trump said during our brief phone call.
This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
.