Category: Security

On a day when many Republican members of Congress were likely asking themselves why they ever wanted to go to Washington, D.C., Greenland businesswoman Hollie Noveletsky announced her plans to join their ranks.

She jumped into the 1st Congressional District GOP primary on Monday, facing off against former state Sen. Russell Prescott for the chance to take on Rep. Chris Pappas (D)

Just 36 hours before Noveletsky’s announcement, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) passed a stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown, a plan that only passed thanks to Democratic support. Less than 12 hours after her announcement, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) declared his plan to use a procedural tool — called a motion to vacate — to try and force McCarthy out.

Not exactly ideal timing.

Noveletsky, the CEO of Novel Iron Works, targeted incumbent Democrats in her campaign announcement, pledging “to offer conservative, America First solutions that will help New Hampshire.”

“When I look at Washington, I see a city run by Joe Biden and Chris Pappas, who bask in inaction and empty promises, while middle-class families in New Hampshire are stuck with inflation, higher energy costs, the rising cost of healthcare, and chaos at our southern border,” Noveletsky said.

Though Noveletsky has never run for office before, she is no stranger to politics. Often seen at GOP fundraisers, Noveletsky was part of a group of New Hampshire business owners who held a 2021 event opposing the “PRO Act” — a federal law that would override states’ right-to-work laws.

Her campaign touts Noveletsky’s ten years of service in the U.S. Army Reserves as a nurse practitioner and her volunteer work at disaster sites from Africa to Maine.

Matt Mowers is a veteran GOP operative who ran in the 1st District in both 2020 and 2022.

“Keep an eye on Hollie — her combined background in business, the military, and as a nurse give her an incredible biography to run on, and her roots in the Seacoast run deep,” he said via social media.

Prescott owns R.E. Prescott Pump Company in Exeter and is a professional engineer. He also served as a state senator and member of the Executive Council. His campaign says he has raised more than $400,000 and received several high-profile endorsements, including former NHGOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald.

“I’ve worked alongside Russell Prescott for many years, and I trust him. I have seen him defeat Democrats like Maggie Hassan when others could not, and I have watched him govern in a conservative way that still brings in the independent votes we need to win in swing districts.”

McCarthy’s speakership was hotly debated during the 2020 GOP primary, with eventual winner Karoline Leavitt repeatedly criticized for her willingness to back the California Republican if the GOP won the majority. Leavitt, an outspoken MAGA Republican, handily won the primary despite the McCarthy issue but lost to incumbent Pappas in the general election.

Asked by NHJournal if they would have voted for the stopgap measure and if they supported or opposed the effort to oust McCarthy, the two 2024 candidates gave similar answers.

“Of course, I would’ve kept the government funded,” Noveletsky told NHJournal. “But as a business owner, I’ve always had to make the tough decisions to make ends meet. Washington has enough career politicians; it needs more business leaders like myself, who know how to reduce spending while keeping the government open.”

Prescott said, “I would have voted to keep the government open for our first responders, our military, and our seniors, but I would have also been leading on making sure we never get to that point again.” He would not vote to vacate the chair, he added.

“We need to return our government to a regular and transparent order. The people of New Hampshire deserve no less. We need to get control of our spending; both parties need to stop putting forth bills filled with pork and hidden costs passed on to the voters of the 1st Congressional District.

“The fact that we continue to govern with a shutdown clock ticking down to the very last minute is absurd.”

New Hampshire GOP insiders tell NHJournal that party leaders have been working hard to avoid a costly and divisive primary in the district, hoping to go into the 2024 general election unified and with momentum to take on Pappas. Now that there is a competitive primary, several GOP activists who live in the district say they expect at least one more candidate, likely from the MAGA wing of the party, to enter the race.

With or without New Hampshire’s notoriously late primaries, however, Republicans are looking at an uphill climb. Pappas has won his three terms handily, part of the Democratic Party’s growing success at the federal level.

Beginning in 2012, New Hampshire Republicans have lost 16 out of 17 federal elections.

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(c) 2023 New Hampshire Journal

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Chicago residents gathered at a community meeting Tuesday to protest the city’s decision to kick a local youth football team out of the neighborhood field house in order to make the space into a migrant shelter.

Sharing video footage from a Tuesday night community meeting in Chicago, Mark Weyermuller, a conservative policy advocate, tweeted, “These ‘Chicago’ KIDS from the Amundsen Park youth football program in the Austin neighborhood will be kicked out of their neighborhood field house so it can become a migrant shelter on Monday.”

Weyermuller noted that over 600 community residents attended Tuesday’s meeting to oppose the city’s plan to shut down a youth football program to house migrants in the community.

These “Chicago” KIDS from the Amundsen Park youth football program in the Austin neighborhood will be kicked out of their neighborhood field house so it can become a migrant shelter on Monday. Over 600 residents met last night here to oppose this. @bennyjohnson @IllinoisReview pic.twitter.com/w4y3pQRPK3

— Mark Weyermuller (@publicpolicyman) October 4, 2023

According to KTVZ News, Tuesday’s meeting occurred as ten additional buses of migrants were scheduled to arrive. Chicago has reported that 9,827 migrants are living in shelters, while an additional 3,012 are awaiting placement in migrant shelters.

Chicago’s 29th Ward Alderman Chris Taliaferro organized Tuesday’s community meeting to address the city’s plan to house migrants in the neighborhood’s Amundsen Park field house. Taliaferro explained that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson notified him of the plan just days before the meeting and informed the alderman that the plan would be executed regardless of the community’s wishes.

“I told them right away that I objected to it because there had been no community engagement, and the response given to me was, ‘You’re getting it,’” he said. “They said this is happening whether you object to it or not, and this is happening whether your community objects to it or not.”

The Chicago Park District building is typically used for sporting events and for various senior programs. However, with the transition to a migrant shelter, Taliaferro said the mayor’s office would be canceling all of the park programs.

Additionally, Taliaferro said the mayor’s office had notified him last Friday that the Amundsen field house would be housing 125 migrants. However, he claimed that on Tuesday, the mayor increased the number to 276 migrants.

According to KTVZ News, Johnson’s plan to transform the neighborhood field house into a migrant shelter has resulted in major backlash from local residents.

Mona Collins, a neighborhood resident, stated, “We’re taxpayers. They’re not paying taxes. It’s not fair to us.”

Collins urged community members to vote against the current leaders of Chicago when they are up for election.

“We’re going to vote them out of office,” she said.

READ MORE: Army-Navy game hotel rooms given away to migrants, travel agent says

Donald Glover, an Amundsen Park Advisory Council member, said, “We’re not anti-migrants. But we shouldn’t have to suffer.”

KTVZ news reported that the atmosphere at Tuesday’s meeting was tense as community residents protested the decisions of city leaders. Representatives from the Chicago Police Department, the Park District, and Johnson’s office were present at the meeting and received significant backlash from constituents.

“We’re not anti-migrants, but it should not be on our backs,” one resident stated. “For them to just sit up here with this crap, and we’re supposed to listen to it!”

Residents questioned what would be done for the children who would be affected by the closing of the field house, while others argued that their tax dollars are being used to house migrants without any community input.

While representatives from the city attempted to defend the decision to house migrants in the community field house, KTVZ News reported that the 600-person crowd did not appear interested in hearing from them.

During the meeting, Beatriz Ponce De León, Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights, was met with loud boos and chants of “You work for us” when she tried to introduce herself.

President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd, Commander, has been temporarily relocated from the White House after a series of biting episodes.

The 2-year-old dog has reportedly bitten both White House staff and U.S. Secret Service officers, raising concerns about safety within the presidential premises.

A spokesperson for First Lady Jill Biden, Elizabeth Alexander, explained in a statement to The Associated Press, “Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated.”

Alexander explained that the Bidens care about the safety of White House staff members and the individuals who provide protection for their families.

“They remain grateful for the patience and support of the U.S. Secret Service and all involved as they continue to work through solutions,” she said.

Details about Commander’s current location have not yet been disclosed. According to The Associated Press, Commander was last spotted on an upper balcony at the White House last Saturday.

Recent events have brought Commander’s behavior into question. A photo first obtained by The Daily Mail shows Commander biting Dale Haney, a long-serving groundskeeper at the White House. Captured by a tourist, the image depicts the dog’s teeth around Haney’s wrist and arm.

BREAKING: Joe Biden’s dog ‘Commander’ has been removed from the White House after multiple biting incidents, including one caught on camera pic.twitter.com/6l5l7lELq2

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 5, 2023

The visitor, preferring to remain anonymous, told The Daily Mail, “I was really just wanting to take pictures of the dog; it’s the next best thing to seeing the president, after all. Commander was bouncing around. He seemed very lively, high-spirited, and playful. He’s a good-looking dog.”

The tourist explained that they only noticed that Commander had “bitten the groundskeeper” when they looked at the picture and saw “his teeth quite clearly round the man’s wrist and arm.”

Dale Haney, a White House employee with over five decades of service, has walked presidential pets since the time of former President Richard Nixon’s administration.

READ MORE: Biden’s dog bites a Secret Service agent for 11th time

Haney has not been the only person to be bitten by Commander. An incident with a Secret Service agent also came to light recently, which involved the agent having to seek medical attention. Initial reports deemed this the 11th known biting episode involving Commander, but the recent revelation of Haney’s incident now makes it the 12th incident.

Despite some sources from the White House attributing Commander’s behavior to ‘unfriendly expressions’ of security personnel, the Haney biting episode suggests that the dog’s actions are not limited to targeting the president’s security detail.

While some have dismissed the bites as accidents or playful gestures, many experts, including former USSS agent Jonathan Wackrow, have voiced concerns over the repetitive nature of these incidents.

Wackrow recently emphasized the “significant hazard” Commander poses, stating, “One time you can say it’s an accident, but now multiple incidents, it’s a serious issue.”

As Commander’s behavior becomes a matter of public scrutiny and concern, it remains to be seen what steps the White House will take to ensure the safety of its staff and visitors.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

President Joe Biden’s administration has waived 26 federal laws to allow the construction of a new addition to the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Texas. The move comes after Biden vowed “there will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.”

The new border wall will be built in Starr County, Texas, according to The Department of Homeland Security’s announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry. The area is part of a Border Patrol sector that experiences “high illegal entry.”

“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated in the notice.

As the Biden administration moves to build the wall, President Biden continues to insist border walls don’t work.

READ MORE: Army-Navy game hotel rooms given away to migrants, travel agent says

“I’ll answer one question on the border wall: The border wall – the money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t, they wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that,” Biden told reporters on Thursday.

When asked if he believes border walls work, Biden replied, “No.”

Millions of migrants have crossed the border illegally since President Biden took office in January 2021.

Former President Donald Trump, the likely GOP candidate for president in 2024, called out Biden’s decision to build a wall after years of claiming they don’t work.

“So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every environmental law in the book to prove that I was right when I built 560 miles (they incorrectly state 450 in story!) of brand new, beautiful border wall,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls! Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving, and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegals immigrants, from places unknown. I will await his apology!”

A new poll shows that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has leapfrogged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire’s Republican primary race.

A recent poll from Suffolk University, Boston Globe and USA TODAY showed Haley’s surge with 19% support, a significant lead over DeSantis, who received only 10% in the poll. However, both candidates trail behind the dominant figure in the race, former President Donald Trump, who received 49% of voters’ support in the poll.

The survey, which was determined based on 500 likely GOP primary voters after the second Republican debate, reveals an intriguing shift in momentum. With a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, the poll indicates that Haley’s performance in the first two debates has caught the eye of Republican voters. According to POLITICO, Haley’s rise in the polls is also catching the interest of donors.

READ MORE: ‘That’s a mistake’: Nikki Haley critical of Tuberville military holds

POLITICO noted that Haley’s recent rise in the polls is noteworthy, especially as GOP candidates prepare to visit the state of New Hampshire next week. Many of the Republican presidential candidates will be participating in a weekend event hosted by the state GOP.

While DeSantis previously held an edge in New Hampshire over Trump in a January poll, his recent decline has opened the door for the second-place spot in the crucial swing state. Nikki Haley is currently filling that gap by riding on a wave of renewed interest in her candidacy that has come following the first two Republican debates.

However, despite the shifts in second and third places, Trump’s lead in the Republican primary appears unshaken. Beyond Haley and DeSantis, no other GOP candidate in the survey reached double-digit support.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie secured 6%, with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott each obtaining around 4%. Former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum polled at the bottom of the race with just 1% support each.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

If all you wanted for Christmas was to see Mariah Carey live during the holidays, Santa has delivered.

The pop superstar is bringing her “Merry Christmas One And All!” tour to 13 places coast to coast, she announced Monday morning.

The tour will begin Nov. 15 in Highland, California, and conclude a week before Christmas at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 17.

“Yes, the actual defrosting has begun!” the “All I Want for Christmas is You” singer wrote on social media.

Presale tickets will be available Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday. Tickets will be sold at LiveNation.com.

The full tour list:

Highland, California, Nov. 15

Los Angeles, Nov. 17

Denver, Nov. 21

Kansas City, Missouri, Nov. 24

Toronto, Nov. 27

Montreal, Nov. 29

Detroit, Dec. 1

Chicago, Dec. 3

Pittsburgh, Dec. 5

Boston, Dec. 11

Philadelphia, Dec. 13

Baltimore, Dec. 15

New York, Dec. 17

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© 2023 PG Publishing Co

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

High-ranking Pentagon official Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., along with his associate, Mario Damon Flythe, have been charged with facilitating an underground dogfighting ring.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland detailed in an October 2 news release that Moorefield, 62, and Flythe, 49, both from Maryland, have been charged with facilitating the gruesome dogfighting activity. On September 6, FBI agents conducted a search at Moorefield’s residence, leading to the discovery of five caged pit bull-type dogs, weighted collars, chains, and other incriminating evidence.

The FBI agents also uncovered equipment suspected of being used in the termination of dogs following lost fights. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland’s press release states, “Law enforcement officers seized a device consisting of an electrical plug and jumper cables, which the affidavit alleges is consistent with devices used to execute dogs that lose dogfights.”

Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, a Pentagon spokesman, acknowledged the charges Tuesday, stating, “We can confirm that the individual is no longer in the workplace,” while refraining from commenting further and directing all questions to the Justice Department.

In addition to the investigation of Moorefield’s residence, FBI agents also conducted a search at Flythe’s home on September 6, which resulted in the discovery of seven more pit-bull-type dogs, metal cages, weighted collars, and other evidence.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Animal Wellness Action, addressed the allegations Tuesday, stating, “As ugly and horrific as it is, dogfighting can be found just beneath the surface of civil society with the perpetrators maintaining the veneer of mainstream participation in society.”

Pacelle gave credit to federal authorities for successfully putting an end to Moorefield and Flythe’s dogfighting operations and for making efforts to prevent other dogfighting operations.

“The scale of the problem is staggering, and we must respond with even more vigorous efforts to pull up animal fighting at the root,” he said. “No dog should endure the kind of pain and torment that fighting animals endure in the pit and after their handlers decide they are no longer useful to them.”

READ MORE: Pics: Two hero dogs recognized for supporting US troops

According to Military.com, the FBI’s investigation also referenced an unsettling incident from November 2018, where two injured dogs were found discarded in a dog food bag near Annapolis. The bag contained mail linked to Moorefield, leading FBI Special Agent Ryan C. Daly to infer Moorefield’s potential involvement in discarding dogs after fights.

Additionally, the charges accuse Moorefield and Flythe of holding digital conversations about dogfights over encrypted platforms and using aliases in the dogfighting community, with Moorefield as “Geehad Kennels” and Flythe as “Razor Sharp Kennels.”

Moorefield and Flythe are also accused of having connections with other individuals who have been prosecuted in previous dogfighting cases. If proven guilty, both Moorefield and Flythe could face imprisonment of up to five years.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

Ford and General Motors are laying off a combined 500 workers as the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike enters its third week.

General Motors announced it was laying off 164 workers in Ohio and Indiana, CNN reported. The carmaker blamed the ongoing strike for the job losses.

“We have said repeatedly that nobody wins in a strike, and this is yet another demonstration of that fact,” GM said in a statement. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

The new layoffs come after GM already laid off more than 1,800 workers in Kansas and New York.

Ford laid off 330 workers in Chicago after the union decided to strike the Chicago Assembly plant.

“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage,” Ford said in a statement.

READ MORE: 800+ workers facing layoffs at major tech company

Ford previously laid off 600 workers in Michigan who were not on strike in a move the union said was an attempt to “put the squeeze on our members to settle for less.”

“With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off a single employee,” the union said. “Their plan won’t work. The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Three’s latest attack will not go without an income.”

The union is currently paying strikers $500 a week in strike benefits, according to CNN. The roughly 3,000 members who were laid off will also get $500 a week.

Former President Donald Trump recently warned UAW members that a favorable deal wouldn’t “make a damn bit of difference” because “in two years, you’re all going to be out of business” due to the shift toward electric vehicles.

“Now they want to go all-electric and put you all out of business. Biden’s mandate isn’t a government regulation; it’s a government assassination of your jobs and of your industry. The auto industry is being assassinated,” Trump insisted.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has secretly developed a new category of “extremists” that targets Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters of former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to classified information obtained by Newsweek.

Newsweek reported that the FBI is currently working to investigate and prevent what the agency considers domestic terrorism without referencing individual political affiliations in the United States. However, the information obtained by Newsweek indicates that an overwhelming majority of the FBI’s current “anti-government” investigations are related to MAGA Republicans.

“The FBI is in an almost impossible position,” a current FBI official told Newsweek.

The anonymous official, one of over a dozen current or former government officials specializing in terrorism interviewed by Newsweek, claimed that the FBI is attempting to prevent any domestic terrorism that could lead to an incident like the January 6 Capitol storming.

At the same time, the FBI official told Newsweek that the bureau could unintentionally provoke anti-government activists if the agency fails to allow Americans to exercise their Constitutional rights of free speech and protest.

“Especially at a time when the White House is facing Congressional Republican opposition claiming that the Biden administration has ‘weaponized’ the Bureau against the right wing, it has to tread very carefully,” the official stated.

READ MORE: Trump responds to possible House speaker nomination

Another anonymous senior intelligence official told Newsweek that the country has “crossed the Rubicon.”

The official claimed, “Trump’s army constitutes the greatest threat of violence domestically…politically…that’s the reality and the problem set. That’s what the FBI, as a law enforcement agency, has to deal with.”

In a statement to Newsweek, the FBI said: “The threat posed by domestic violent extremists is persistent, evolving, and deadly. The FBI’s goal is to detect and stop terrorist attacks, and our focus is on potential criminal violations, violence, and threats of violence.”

The FBI told Newsweek that the threat of “domestic violent extremists” in the United States remains ongoing, is continuing to expand and is “deadly.” The agency noted that its goal is to detect potential “terrorist attacks” and prevent them before they happen by focusing on illegal activity, violence and threats of potential violence.

“Anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism is one category of domestic terrorism, as well as one of the FBI’s top threat priorities,” the FBI said.

The FBI also claimed that the agency’s investigations are not based on political affiliations.

“We are committed to protecting the safety and constitutional rights of all Americans and will never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity, including a person’s political beliefs or affiliations,” the bureau said.

While the FBI claimed that its investigations are not political in nature, Newsweek reported that a recent Department of Homeland Security and FBI joint report to Congress highlighted what the agency views as potential threats of domestic terrorism.

“Sociopolitical developments — such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence — will almost certainly spur some domestic terrorists to try to engage in violence,” the report stated.

Newsweek noted that each of the threats listed by federal authorities is closely associated with the MAGA Republicans who support Trump.

Moreover, the news outlet reported that the FBI released a report titled “Domestic Violent Extremists Emboldened in Aftermath of Capitol Breach, Elevated Domestic Terrorism Threat of Violence Likely Amid Political Transitions and Beyond” in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.

In the FBI’s report, the agency changed the definition of “anti-government, anti-authority violent extremism” (AGAAVE) from “furtherance of ideological agendas” to “furtherance of political and/or social agendas.”

As a result of the definition change, Newsweek reported that Americans could be labeled a potential threat as a result of their political affiliation despite assurances by the FBI.

Additionally, in 2022, the FBI unveiled a new domestic threat subcategory labeled “AGAAVE-Other,” which is used to describe individuals the FBI believes could pose a threat but cannot be classified into militia, Sovereign Citizen or anarchist categories.

According to Newsweek, the classification defines “AGAAVE-Other” individuals as “domestic violent extremists who cite anti-government or anti-authority motivations for violence or criminal activity not otherwise defined, such as individuals motivated by a desire to commit violence against those with a real or perceived association with a specific political party or faction of a specific political party.”

When an anonymous FBI officer was asked by Newsweek about the new subcategory, the officer answered, “What other name could we use?”

The FBI officer defended the agency’s change and claimed that the change was meant to help the agency keep better track of domestic threats in response to Congress pressuring the bureau.

“Obviously, if Democratic Party supporters resort to violence, it [AGAAVE-Other] would apply to them as well,” the FBI officer said. “It doesn’t matter that there is a low likelihood of that. So yes, in practical terms, it refers to MAGA, though the carefully constructed language is wholly nonpartisan.”