Tag: Americas

Judicial Watch Sues for Records of Attacks by Biden German Shepherd
Judicial Watch Sues Education Department on Book Bans, Moms for Liberty
San Francisco Prioritizes Guaranteed Income to Black/Latino Transgenders
Menendez Corruption Case: Will He Beat the Rap Again?

 

Judicial Watch Sues for Records of Attacks by Biden German Shepherd

Biden’s dog is out of control.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service for records of aggression and bites by President Joe Biden’s Dog, Commander (Judicial Watch Inc, v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:23-cv-02960)).

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Secret Service, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, failed to respond to a July 31, 2023, request for all records involving the “Biden family dog, ‘Commander,’ including but not limited to communications sent to and from [Secret Service] officials in the Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Divisions involved in White House operations and the Presidential Protection Division.”

Acquired in December 2021, Commander, a pure-bred German Shepherd, replaced another German Shepherd, Major, which was reportedly “given to family friends” following a series of attacks on Secret Service and White House staff. In April 2022, we released records detailing multiple attacks and damages to Secret Service members by Major at both the White House and Biden’s lake home in Wilmington, DE.

In July, we uncovered records from the DHS in a related lawsuit revealing 10 attacks by Commander on officers of the Secret Service between October 2022 and January 2023. In several cases, the agents required medical care, including at a hospital.

The records included a November 5, 2022, email exchange between a Uniformed Division officer and the November 3 attack victim, the first officer asked, “Doing alright [redacted]? That’s freaking crazy that stupid dog – rolling my eyes [redacted].” The victim replied, “My leg and arm still hurts. He bit me twice and ran at me twice.” The colleague replied, “What a joke [redacted] – if it wasn’t their dog he would already have been put down – freaking clown needs a muzzle – hope you get to feeling better [redacted].”

Commander reportedly has been removed from the White House after its most recent attack on a Secret Service agent and other White House staff. According to our source, President Biden has mistreated his dogs. We have learned that he has punched and kicked his dogs.

It is beyond belief that even after we exposed attacks on 10 Secret Service personnel, Joe and Jill Biden have continued to let their dog menace and attack agents and White House staff. Let’s be blunt: the dangerous dog could kill someone. This continuing Biden administration cover-up is dangerous corruption.

 

 Judicial Watch Sues Education Department on Book Bans, Moms for Liberty

Let this sink in: Biden’s Education Department and its union buddies are ganging up on America’s mothers. Read that again.

We’ve gone to court to expose them. We filed a FOIA suit on behalf of the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for records regarding book bans, the organization Moms for Liberty, and Ron DeSantis (Daily Caller News Foundation v. U.S Department of Education (No. 1:23-cv-02768)).

Our lawsuit aims to uncover the truth about the desperate new effort by the Biden administration and its leftist teachers’ union allies to smear and target parents who oppose sexually explicit and other extremist content being made available to schoolchildren.

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Department of Education failed to respond to separate August 8, 2023, requests for:

• All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) of Miguel Cardona to or from (President of the National Education Association (NEA)) Rebecca (Becky) Pringle and (President of the American Federation of Teachers) Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the gov domain.
  • All communications about book bans or book banning.
  • All communications about Moms for Liberty and/or Ron DeSantis.

And:

• All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) sent and/or received by Miguel Cardona to or from any/all: President of the American Library Association Emily Drabinski, from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the gov domain.
  • All communications about book bans or book banning.
  • All communications about Moms for Liberty.

On July 4, 2023, EducationWeek reported on a speech Cardona gave on July 3 in Orlando, FL, at the NEA’s annual representative assembly. Cardona addressed statements regarding “woke ideology” and “indoctrinating” students made by Republican presidential candidates at the Moms for Liberty National Conference in the days prior to the NEA event:

Cardona dismissed that type of rhetoric as “divisive drama,” slamming conservative policymakers who have pushed for book bans, restrictions on instruction about racism, limitations on the rights of LGBTQ+ students, and school choice policies that divert public money to private schools.

Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 in Florida by two former school board members. The group initially fought against mask mandates in Florida schools. The group then expanded its mission to support parental rights legislation to give parents more say in their children’s education. The parents group has come under increasing attack by the extremist left.

“The Biden administration can’t be allowed to hide this information from the American people,” said Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-In-Chief Michael Bastasch. “Citizens have a right to know if their government is plotting against moms or working behind the scenes to keep pornographic books in schools.”

Separately, we filed suit in June against the U.S. Department of Justice for all FBI communications from bureau officials using several systems and databases regarding investigations carried out after an October 4, 2021, memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing investigators to target American parents due to an alleged “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools”

 

San Francisco Prioritizes Guaranteed Income to Black/Latino Transgenders

If you’ve been worried about “financial insecurity” in “trans communities,” consider moving to San Francisco. Taxpayers there are funding, among other things, gynecological care for black/Latino transgenders (biological men) and support for trans and nonbinary people who engage in “survival sex trades.”

We received 1,719 pages of records from the City of San Francisco showing the city prioritizes tax money for black/Latino transgenders (biological men) in a program that distributes free money to transgender individuals. The records show that the taxpayer-funded “Guaranteed Income for Trans People” (GIFT) program also allowed illegal aliens to apply; allowed people who “engage in survival sex trades” to apply; and the use of the funds by participants is virtually unrestricted.

We obtained the records through a November 18, 2022, California Public Records Act (CPRA) request to the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector for:

Records and communications regarding the application and approval process for transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and intersex individuals receiving Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) benefits.

Records identifying the legality or constitutionality of using transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and intersex status as a factor in deciding who receives GIFT benefits.

We filed a follow-up request with the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector on January 10, 2023, for:

Records and communications regarding the administration of funds to participants of the Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) benefits.

Records and communications regarding the development of eligibility requirements for GIFT benefits.

Records and communications regarding financial literacy services and workshops associated with the GIFT program.

Mayor London Breed announced the launch of the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program on November 16, 2022. The mayor’s office stated in a press release that the city will “provide low-income transgender San Franciscans with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months to help address financial insecurity within trans communities.”

The program began disbursing funds in January 2023.

An undated document from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, titled “Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development Pre-paid Card Policies and Procedures,” states:

Selected participants in this program will identify as transgender and extremely low-income (<30% of Area Median Income, approximately less than $28,000 per year for a household of one person). Within this population, there will be a specific focus on Black and Latinx transgender women. A monthly $1,200 stipend will be provided to participants so they may focus on their basic physical and mental health and wellness without worrying about income. Prepaid cards are being utilized because some participants may not have bank accounts.

***

[The Mayor’s Office] will purchase Prepaid cards with funding supported by the General Fund and dedicated specifically for the Transgender Basic Income pilot program.

A March 2022 city document sets the program’s intended opening date as October 2022 and is titled “Guaranteed Income Program for Transgender People.” It details the criteria for guaranteed income eligibility and sets race and sexual identity quotas:

The collaborative leading this program will focus on a target population of low-income transgender, non-binary, gender nonconforming and intersex (TGI) individuals residing in San Francisco County. The program will prioritize enrollment and retention of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous People of Color] trans and nonbinary people who also engage in survival sex trades, living with disabilities, elders, living with HIV/AIDS, undocumented, monolingual Spanish speakers, formerly incarcerated, and unhoused and marginally housed. [Emphasis in original]

***

We will work collaboratively to create equity guidelines for enrollment, centered on the reality of how racism disproportionately disadvantages BIPOC, black trans women, and undocumented monolingual Spanish speakers. The program enrollment will ensure the 55 participants is 66% BIPOC, at least 30% Black Trans Women, and at least 20% Latinx Trans Women.

Lyon-Martin Health Services will provide wrap-around peer-led services such as gender-affirming primary medical and holistic care, gynecological and sexual health care, mental health services, case management, crisis response services, financial literacy training and workforce development services, and outreach and harm reduction services, to the enrollees. [Emphasis in original]

A November 2022 email chain among San Francisco government and Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office (TTX) officials has the subject line “DRAFT — ReliaCard FAQ for GI [guaranteed income] recipients,” which includes concerns about the use of legal names (“dead” names) versus aliases (chosen names):

Thanks! This looks great. I’d like to see if we can provide more nuance and explanation around the legal name question as this will be very important for the transgender pilot. My understanding is that the city will allow a provider to enroll participants using their chosen name vs legal name and it may be very challenging for someone to put their dead name on the card. So I think we can provide more context – “when you use the card in person you may be asked to verify your id. If you don’t have id that matches the name on the card, you could be turned away.”

A February 2022 email from Kimmie Wu in the Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office to her supervisor, Tajel Shah, details how the office hired a firm to push “diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging” training and hiring:

TTX [Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office] has hired a firm to advance our Racial Equity initiative. TTX has budgeted for these costs. The scope of the work includes the following:

A. Executive Leadership Team Assessment and Training

1. Racial equity assessment – Assess leadership competencies in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. This assessment should be leveraged to develop capacity building and lead to clear recommendations that help leaders lead with equity in mind.
2. Customized facilitated learning sessions – Work with the varying levels of comfort and practice with concepts of structural and organizational equity including: coaching around racial equity in supervision and program delivery design, customer service, decision-making processes, communications and daily practices.

B. All Staff Training Sessions

1. Department wide training – Facilitate one to two Department-wide Racial Equity trainings for All Department Staff. The content will be based on discussions with the Core Team and the consultant assessment of the Department’s racial equity journey.

C. Restorative Justice Dialogue and Reflection

Facilitate restorative justice conversations in order to provide insight on how systemic and historic issues of racism and bias are inherently part of conversations, which is therefore limiting full participation and reflection on how work environments and systems of communication (Human Resources/Discipline/Performance) are being heard/interpreted. Garner insights from key conversations to alleviate immediate issues as well as reflect on changes to be made, which may include training.

D. Hiring, Recruitment, and Promotion Strategy

1. Address specific job classifications that lack racial diversity, including Managers, Administrative Analysts, Accountants and Auditors. The consultant shall develop recommendations for identifying barriers to application and employment within these job classifications with the aim to broaden diversity and inclusion throughout the hiring and employment cycle. Recommendations may be shared with the Central Department of Human Resources and/or Civil Service. The consultant will also interview the teams to identify group norms and biases within the sections that inhibit full participation by staff.
2. Review current hiring and recruitment policies and make recommendations to ensure they align with ORE’s racial equity framework. The consultant will make recommendations to broaden recruitment strategies to increase diversity in candidate pools.
3. Review current employee assessments tools and surveys and recommend the inclusion of questions to gauge sentiment on the department’s effort to address diversity and inclusion. The consultant will evaluate current exit interviews and recommend changes to questions to ensure a racial equity lens is applied.
4. Review any current candidate exit interviews and propose new questions to gauge sentiment on the department’s effort to address diversity and inclusion and to solicit any feedback or recommendations in this area.

E. Core Team Racial Equity Capacity Building

1. Customized learning sessions on racial equity leadership & facilitation – interactive workshops and learning sessions that build capacity to lead with equity through dialogue, analysis and reflection. The sessions should build a foundational understanding and framework for racial equity in the workplace and basic terminology and definitions. The learning sessions must help the Core Teams to push beyond this shared understanding to address topics such as: the role of team members in leading organizational antiracist changes and make recommendations to transform practices that are heavily influenced by white-supremacist culture and practices. The learning sessions should address the specific racial equity work to be done by the cohort within the department building on the racial equity plan.
2. Coaching, facilitation & technical assistance on racial equity plan implementation – Operationalizing the Racial Equity Action Plan as well as provide the Team with tools that help foster inclusion and racial equity across the Agency. The consultant will also provide coaching and support racial equity working groups including: barriers to hiring, supplemental questionnaires, minimum qualifications, etc.

These disturbing new documents confirm how, among other leftist extremist policies, San Francisco is abusing tax dollars to give cash to individuals based on race and transgender quotas.

 

Menendez Corruption Case: Will He Beat the Rap Again? 

I’ll let you decide why Biden’s Justice Department has suddenly decided to go after Sen. Robert Menendez again for corruption. Could it possibly be that he’s voted the wrong way on matters important to the Biden administration, the Obama operation, and Deep State? Micah Morrison, our chief investigative reporter, takes a look in Investigative Bulletin: 

The government’s September indictment on corruption charges of Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, opened with a bang. Prosecutors displayed sensational photographs of gold bars, a Mercedes Benz, and piles of cash—more than $480,000—found at the home of Menendez and his wife, Nadine.

Justice may endeavor to be blind, but the prosecution of politicians is inherently political. The Justice Department failed to convict Menendez in a high-profile 2017 corruption case and doubtless is eager to take another shot at him. And while reliably liberal on many issues, Menendez has taken a hard line on Cuba and Iran as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, often thwarting Biden—and earlier Obama administration—initiatives. He’ll have zero support from the White House and Democratic Party establishment as he fights the new charges.

Menendez and his wife are charged with bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion. Also charged are three businessmen with ties to Egypt. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the conspirators were engaged in “a corrupt relationship” that included payments by the businessmen to the Menendez couple of “hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value—in exchange for Senator Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the Government of Egypt.”

Corruption concerns have swirled around Menendez for decades. A product of the famously corrupt Hudson County, New Jersey, political machine, Menendez was schooled in the amoral world of Union City Mayor William Musto, who hired him as aide in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, he had turned on Musto and testified at the mayor’s corruption trial. By 1986, in a campaign touting his Cuban roots and “reformer” image, he was elected mayor of Union City. From there he rose through state government and into the halls of Congress.

Judicial Watch has been ringing alarm bells about Menendez for more than a decade. In 2012, we put him on our list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” In 2014, we highlighted concerns about Menendez and a “never-ending saga of political corruption and cronyism.”

In 2017, it looked like the jig was up for Menendez. The Justice Department indicted him and an old friend and benefactor, Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgan, on charges of bribery and honest services fraud. The government charged that the duo conspired to corruptly influence Menendez’s “official acts” and defraud the U.S. of the “honest services of a public official.” Sound familiar?

In the new case, the government similarly charges that Menendez “agreed to take a series of official acts and breaches of his official duty” in return for bribes from the three Egypt-connected businessmen.

First, the government charges, Menendez “improperly pressured” an Agriculture Department official about an Egypt-related business directly benefiting the co-defendants.

Second, Menendez tried to “disrupt” a New Jersey state investigation related to the co-defendants.

Third, Menendez recommended the appointment of a U.S. Attorney that he believed would be more friendly to one of the co-defendants under federal investigation.

Back in 2017, Judicial Watch took a close look at that first Menendez federal corruption case. We noted that a year earlier, the Supreme Court had significantly narrowed the definition of official acts and honest services fraud in the McDonnell ruling. Prosecutors now needed to prove a direct “official action” connected to an illegal payment. An “official act” must be more than “setting up a meeting, talking to another official, or hosting an event,” the court ruled. We were skeptical that prosecutors in 2017 could meet that standard. It turned out, we were right. Menendez beat the rap.

Will history repeat itself in the new Menendez prosecution?

Let’s go back to those gold bars and piles of cash. The meaning of the photos is of course to suggest corrupt intent. How could gold bars and $400,000 in cash stashed at home not be corrupt? That’s a smart media play by the prosecution.

But Menendez struck back. The cash and the gold? Blame the communists—blame Cuba—an argument that may find sympathetic ears at a jury trial. “For 30 years,” he told the media in a statement that highlighted his hardscrabble Cuban background, “I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”

Weightier perhaps is how Menendez will exploit McDonnell. We’ll have more to say on this as the trial nears, but based on the current indictment, the government could have trouble drawing a quid pro quo that will satisfy a jury. The co-defendants may have provided something (the quid, the cash, the gold) but what did they get in return (the quo)? Given what we currently know about the case, Senator Menendez appears to have been singularly unsuccessful in delivering for his friends.

 

Until next week,

 

Source

Biden Secret Service Records Show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Was Denied Protection Despite Numerous Threats
Biden Agency Spends $100 Million to Help Disadvantaged Communities by Fixing Broken Electric Vehicle Chargers
Biden Homeland Security Department Greatly Inflates Number of Transnational Criminal Organizations It Dismantles

 

Biden Secret Service Records Show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Was Denied Protection Despite Numerous Threats

The Biden administration doesn’t look good on this one – to put it mildly.

We received 11-pages of Secret Service records detailing the denial of protection to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite his having received numerous threats from “known subjects.”

We received the document from the in response to a July 28, 2023, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records and communications of:

a) Director Kimberly A. Cheatle

b) Deputy Director Ronald L. Rowe, Jr.

c) Chief Operating Officer Cynthia Sjoberg Radway

d) Assistant Director, Office of Protective Operations, Michael Plati

On July 28, 2023, Kennedy posted to X (formerly Twitter), “Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me.”

Just last week, Kennedy again requested Secret Service protection following an incident on the campaign trail involving an armed man impersonating a police officer.

The records we obtained include a Secret Service “Protective Intelligence and Assessment” that reveals numerous threats to Kennedy (“Behaviors of Interest”):

On April 23, 2023, a known subject [Redacted] submitted an inappropriate comment on the White House website addressed to President Biden [Redacted] stated, “Born to a political family, his twelfth cousin—Robert Kennedy—announces their candidacy to succeed Joseph Biden for ‘President of the United States.’ There’s no way you’d… assassinate former president Donald Trump. `Go get ‘ern, kiddo!” No further USSS investigation was conducted.

[Redacted]

A known subject [Redacted] mailed a nonsensical letter to the hotel where Kennedy held his presidential campaign announcement event [redacted] warned a “madman” may commit a “serious terrorist act” and wanted to discuss his sins with Kennedy. [Redacted] is of record with the USSS [Secret Service] since March 2023 after he sent a nonsensical letter to President Biden with similar rhetoric. The USSS investigation is complete.

A known subject [Redacted] sent numerous packages, including gifts and a wedding band, to Kennedy [Redacted] stated that she loves Kennedy and expressed anger about being kept away from him. [Redacted]

A known subject [Redacted] sent materials to Kennedy’s residence. One letter contained a 32-page manifesto in which [Redacted] made nonsensical religious references and described himself as a “commissioned messenger of God.”

A known subject [Redacted] regularly sends threatening emails, stating he will “bury” Kennedy, “everyone will die,” and that he will make Kennedy “suffer.”

A subject [Redacted] sent inappropriate communications to Kennedy. The subject believed Kennedy was spying on him, paying people to follow him, and was responsible for vandalism against him. The subject state “your behavior has complete [sic] freaked me out. Focus on your damn campaign and leave me the hell alone.”

The assessment also notes:

Many comments suggested that, for no other reason than that he is a Kennedy, he would be at risk of assassination. In May 2023, Kennedy received increased media attention after accusing the CIA of involvement in the assassination of his uncle. Kennedy has advocated for the release of the individual currently imprisoned for assassinating his father, Sirhan Sirhan, because he believes a CIA contractor was responsible for the death.

Kennedy has received both support and criticism for his stance on vaccines and has been described as an anti-vaccine activist.

In a July 28, 2023, email chain with the subject line “RFK Jr Says Biden Administration Denied Him Secret Service Protection – The Messenger” Secret Service officials discuss a news article in which Kennedy makes a case for protection.

The chief of communications, whose name is redacted, writes to Michael Plati, the assistant director of Protective Operations, and others: “We’re getting Press calls on this and sending to DHS.”

An official in the Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs, whose name is redacted, responds: “Request for protection to DHS dated 5/26; Response by Congressional Advisory Board 7 /11; Passed to DHS front office on 7 /14.”

The deputy special agent in charge, whose name is redacted, adds:

[T]he following language was key to the recommendation and subsequent decision.

“Protection under these guidelines should only be granted within one year prior to the general election. Protection more than one year prior to the general election should only be granted in extraordinary, case by case circumstances in consultation with the committee, based on threat assessment and other factors.”

The records were produced earlier this week, the day after we filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over similar but broader requests for DHS/Secret Service leadership records regarding the decision to not provide Secret Service protection for Kennedy (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:23-cv-02846)).

The Biden administration’s refusal to provide Secret Service protection to Mr. Kennedy is dangerous and vindictive. These FOIA requests and our new lawsuit aim to get the full truth on why Mr. Kennedy’s life is being put at unnecessary risk by the Biden administration.

We’ll be sure to keep you apprised if we uncover any other documents on this disturbing issue.

 

Biden Agency Spends $100 Million to Help Disadvantaged Communities by Fixing Broken Electric Vehicle Chargers

What happens when two of the ideology-driven Biden administration’s policies come in contact? You get an outrageous waste of your tax dollars, as our Corruption Chronicles blog reports.

Besides subsidizing the electric vehicle (EV) industry with a staggering $15.5 billion, the Biden administration is investing an additional $100 million in federal funding to prioritize the repair and replacement of EV charging stations throughout the U.S. The venture will “ensure disadvantaged communities benefit from upgraded charging infrastructure,” according to the Department of Transportation (DOT), which is doling out the money. The costly EV charger project is part of the administration’s Justice40 Initiative which requires 40% of all federal government investments to flow to “disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened with pollution.” The president signed an executive order within days of taking office to allocate unprecedented public funds to poor minority communities in the name of environmental justice.

The multi-million-dollar EV charger restoration project will operate under a Justice40 initiative known as National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program that provides states with money to strategically deploy charging stations and establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access and reliability. “The Biden-Harris Administration has set a goal of building a convenient, affordable, reliable, equitable, and Made-in-America electric vehicle (EV) charging network along the Nation’s highways and within our communities,” according to the grant announcement issued this month by the DOT. Because it is a Justice40 program the feds will use a White House Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to track how assisted chargers aid needy communities. “Recipients of awards under this program can also use the tool to ensure disadvantaged communities benefit from upgraded charging infrastructure,” the grant document states, adding that “the tool can be used to help prioritize and sequence projects to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities.”

The White House launched the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool in response to the president’s January 2021 order to tackle the “climate crisis at home and abroad.” The directive includes an extensive section dedicated to securing environmental justice for disadvantaged, historically marginalized and overburdened communities, by among other things, creating a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council consisting of top government leaders.

The heads of key federal agencies—including the attorney general, secretaries of defense, labor, transportation and energy—were essentially ordered to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations. “Agencies shall make achieving environmental justice part of their missions by developing programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionately high and adverse human health, environmental, climate-related and other cumulative impacts on disadvantaged communities, as well as the accompanying economic challenges of such impacts,” according to Biden’s order.

It is not clear what the EV ownership rate is in marginalized or overburdened communities or the demand for chargers because the government has failed to provide that information. However, the administration does reveal that as of this month, 6,261 public charging ports out of 151,506 nationwide were identified as being temporarily unavailable. California has the largest number (1,707) of broken chargers followed by New York (541), Texas (379), Florida (356) and Massachusetts (265). The objective of the administration’s $100 million investment is to enhance and maintain the reliability of the charging network by focusing on the repair or replacement of existing chargers that are currently non-operational, a goal it asserts “will be aligned with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative.” The connection is not fully explained.

Just weeks before the charger allotment the administration announced that, as part of the president’s Investing in America agenda, the Department of Energy is disbursing $15.5 billion to “support a strong and just transition to electric vehicles.” The money will focus on “retooling existing factories for the transition to electric vehicles,” according to the agency. Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s energy secretary, claims the funding shows that the president “understands that building the cars of the future also necessitates helping the communities challenged by the transition away from the internal combustion engine.”

 

Biden Homeland Security Department Greatly Inflates Number of Transnational Criminal Organizations It Dismantles

The massive Department of Homeland Security is enabling a literal invasion is also dropping the ball on related criminal threats on our unsecured borders. Our Corruption Chronicles blog explains.

The U.S. government has long assessed that Mexican drug cartels are the greatest criminal threat to the country and earlier this year federal sources in counterterrorism, intelligence and drug enforcement confirmed in a congressional hearing that the illicit operations have seized unprecedented control of the southwest border. They are officially known as Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) and the Biden administration’s reckless open border policies are facilitating their business model, which includes operating in cities throughout the nation with the help of U.S.-based street gangs that have overrun American communities with drugs.

To address the crisis President Trump issued an executive order in 2017 to dismantle TCOs and prevent international trafficking by, not only strengthening the enforcement of federal law, but also ensuring that Homeland Security agencies devote sufficient resources to identifying, interdicting and disrupting TCOs. “These organizations derive revenue through widespread illegal conduct, including acts of violence and abuse that exhibit a wanton disregard for human life,” Trump’s order states. “They, for example, have been known to commit brutal murders, rapes, and other barbaric acts.” In the document the former president also directs federal agencies to share information and coordinate with each other to identify, interdict and destroy TCOs. This includes improvements in the collection, reporting and sharing of relevant data as well as quarterly reports detailing convictions in the U.S. relating to TCOs and their subsidiaries.

All these years later the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has no clue how many TCOs it has dismantled and, even worse, the agency created after 9/11 to safeguard the country inflates the figures markedly. During a recent five-year period Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), DHS’s principal investigative arm responsible for disrupting terrorist and transnational threats, failed to accurately measure and publicly report its progress dismantling TCOs, according to a report issued this month by the DHS Inspector General. The watchdog reviewed a sample of 422 Significant Case Reports (SCR) and determined that 253 (60%) did not describe an entity that aligned with HSI’s definition of a TCO. “From FY 2017 through FY 2022, HSI did not accurately publicly report its progress against its established performance measure of disrupting or dismantling TCOs,” investigators write in the report. “Instead, the results that HSI publicly reported included cases that did not involve entities meeting itsdefinition of a TCO.” Specifically, many of the approved case reports identified in the probe as not TCO-related involved one individual committing a crime in the United States and not crossing any international borders. “HSI included 171 of these non–TCO-related SCRs in its public reporting of TCO disruptions and dismantlement’s,” the IG found.

HSI created the SCR process over a decade ago to identify its most important cases and measure its success in disrupting criminal organizations such as TCOs as well as to justify more congressional funding. The DHS IG found that the embellished stats occurred because the agency relied on data in the case reports which conveniently failed to distinguish between TCO-related and non-TCO-related probes. Nevertheless, the agency repeatedly reported them as successful TCO disrupting investigations. As a result, the report states that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Congress and the public do not know how many TCOs HSI succeeded in dismantling or interrupting during the period examined. The DHS watchdog reveals that “to be considered significant, the investigation must involve a high-threat TCO engaged in criminal activity related to child exploitation; travel or finance (both drug-related and non– drug-related); illicit trade; counterterrorism; worksite enforcement; gangs; or national security.”

Nine Mexican TCOs have the greatest drug trafficking impact on the U.S. according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Among them are the Sinaloa and Juárez cartels, Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacána, Los Rojos and Guerreros Unidos. The TCOs maintain drug distribution cells in cities across the U.S. that report to leaders in Mexico and dominate the nation’s drug market. In a  DHS identifies Mexican cartels as the greatest threat to the U.S. because of their ability to control territory and co-opt parts of government, particularly at a state and local level. “They represent an acute and devastating threat to public health and safety in the Homeland and a significant threat to U.S. national security interests,” the DHS writes in the document. Just this week the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned several Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and fugitives.

 

Until next week,

Source

From The Washingtonian:

President Joe Biden’s two-year-old German Shepherd, Commander, has reportedly bitten another Secret Service agent at the White House. The incident, which happened last week, marks the 11th time Commander has nipped an officer since October 2022. One agent had to go to the hospital after an attack last November. 

After the watchdog group (no pun intended) Judicial Watch uncovered emails about some of the incidents in July, Jill Biden’s communications director Elizabeth Alexander shared that the family was “partnering with the Secret Service and Executive Residence staff on additional leashing protocols and training.” In a recent statement to Washingtonian, Alexander said, “The White House can be a stressful environment for family pets, and the First Family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often unpredictable nature of the White House grounds.” 

If this were a civilian’s dog, rather than a FDOTUS, we’d likely be telling a different story. While DC doesn’t have an explicit bite-threshold for deeming a dog dangerous, one trainer we spoke with said she doesn’t “know any dog that’s bitten 11 times and is still with us.” (The Humane Rescue Alliance declined to comment on the matter, stating they “don’t have jurisdiction over federal property.”) 

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(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 1,719 pages of records from the City of San Francisco showing the city prioritizes tax money for black/Latino transgenders (biological men) in a program which distributes free money to transgender individuals. The records show that the taxpayer-funded “Guaranteed Income for Trans People” (GIFT) program also allowed illegal aliens to apply; allowed people who “engage in survival sex trades” to apply; and the use of the funds by participants is virtually unrestricted.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a November 18, 2022, California Public Records Act (CPRA) request to the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector for:

Records and communications regarding the application and approval process for transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and intersex individuals receiving Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) benefits.

Records identifying the legality or constitutionality of using transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and intersex status as a factor in deciding who receives GIFT benefits.

Judicial Watch filed a follow-up request with the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector on January 10, 2023, for:

Records and communications regarding the administration of funds to participants of the Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) benefits.

Records and communications regarding the development of eligibility requirements for GIFT benefits.

Records and communications regarding financial literacy services and workshops associated with the GIFT program.

Mayor London Breed announced the launch of the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program on November 16, 2022. The mayor’s office stated in a press release that the city will “provide low-income transgender San Franciscans with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months to help address financial insecurity within trans communities.”

The program began disbursing funds in January 2023.

An undated document from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, titled “Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development Pre-paid Card Policies and Procedures,” states:

Selected participants in this program will identify as transgender and extremely low-income (<30% of Area Media Income, approximately less than $28,000 per year for a household of one person). Within this population, there will be a specific focus on Black and Latinx transgender women. A monthly $1,200 stipend will be provided to participants so they may focus on their basic physical and mental health and wellness without worrying about income. Pre-paid cards are being utilized because some participants may not have bank accounts.

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[The Mayor’s Office] will purchase Pre-paid cards with funding supported by the General Fund and dedicated specifically for the Transgender Basic Income pilot program.

A March 2022 city document sets the program’s intended opening date as October 2022 and is titled “Guaranteed Income Program for Transgender People.” It details the criteria for guaranteed income eligibility and sets race and sexual identity quotas:

The collaborative leading this program will focus on a target population of low-income transgender, non-binary, gender nonconforming and intersex (TGI) individuals residing in San Francisco County. The program will prioritize enrollment and retention of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous People of Color] trans and nonbinary people who also engage in survival sex trades, living with disabilities, elders, living with HIV/AIDS, undocumented, monolingual Spanish speakers, formerly incarcerated, and unhoused and marginally housed. [Emphasis in original]

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We will work collaboratively to create equity guidelines for enrollment, centered on the reality of how racism disproportionately disadvantages BIPOC, black trans women, and undocumented monolingual Spanish speakers. The program enrollment will ensure the 55 participants is 66% BIPOC, at least 30% Black Trans Women, and at least 20% Latinx Trans Women.

Lyon-Martin Health Services will provide wrap-around peer-led services such as gender affirming primary medical and holistic care, gynecological and sexual health care, mental health services, case management, crisis response services, financial literacy training and workforce development services, and outreach and harm reduction services, to the enrollees. [Emphasis in original]

A November 2022 email chain among San Francisco government and Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office (TTX) officials has the subject line “DRAFT — ReliaCard FAQ for GI [guaranteed income] recipients,” which includes concerns about the use of legal names (“dead” names) versus aliases (chosen names):

Thanks! This looks great. I’d like to see if we can provide more nuance and explanation around the legal name question as this will be very important for the transgender pilot. My understanding is that the city will allow a provider to enroll participants using their chosen name vs legal name and it may be very challenging for someone to put their dead name on the card. So I think we can provide more context – “when you use the card in person you may be asked to verify your id. If you don’t have id that matches the name on the card, you could be turned away.”

A February 2022 email from Kimmie Wu in the Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office to her supervisor, Tajel Shah, details how the office hired a firm to push “diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging” training and hiring:

TTX [Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office] has hired a firm to advance our Racial Equity initiative. TTX has budgeted for these costs. Scope of the work includes the following:

A. Executive Leadership Team Assessment and Training

1. Racial equity assessment – Assess leadership competencies in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. This assessment should be leveraged to develop capacity building and lead to clear recommendations that help leaders lead with equity in mind.

2. Customized facilitated learning sessions – Work with the varying levels of comfort and practice with concepts of structural and organizational equity including: coaching around racial equity in supervision and program delivery design, customer service, decision-making processes, communications and daily practices.

B. All Staff Training Sessions

1. Department wide training – Facilitate one to two Department-wide Racial Equity trainings for All Department Staff. The content will be based on discussions with the Core Team and the consultant assessment of the Department’s racial equity journey.

C. Restorative Justice Dialogue and Reflection

Facilitate restorative justice conversations in order to provide insight on how systemic and historic issues of racism and bias are inherently part of conversations, which is therefore limiting full participation and reflection on how work environments and systems of communication (Human Resources/Discipline/Performance) are being heard/interpreted. Garner insights from key conversations to alleviate immediate issues as well as reflect on changes to be made, which may include training.

D. Hiring, Recruitment, and Promotion Strategy

1. Address specific job classifications that lack racial diversity, including Managers, Administrative Analysts, Accountants and Auditors. The consultant shall develop recommendations for identifying barriers to application and employment within these job classifications with the aim to broaden diversity and inclusion throughout the hiring and employment cycle. Recommendations may be shared with the Central Department of Human Resources and/or Civil Service. The consultant will also interview the teams to identify group norms and biases within the sections that inhibit full participation by staff.

2. Review current hiring and recruitment policies and make recommendations to ensure they align with ORE’s racial equity framework. The consultant will make recommendations to broaden recruitment strategies to increase diversity in candidate pools.

3. Review current employee assessments tools and surveys and recommend the inclusion of questions to gauge sentiment on the department’s effort to address diversity and inclusion. The consultant will evaluate current exit interviews and recommend changes to questions to ensure a racial equity lens is applied.

4. Review any current candidate exit interviews and propose new questions to gauge sentiment on the department’s effort to address diversity and inclusion and to solicit any feedback or recommendations in this area.

E. Core Team Racial Equity Capacity Building

1. Customized learning sessions on racial equity leadership & facilitation – interactive workshops and learning sessions that build capacity to lead with equity through dialogue, analysis and reflection. The sessions should build a foundational understanding and framework for racial equity in the workplace and basic terminology and definitions. The learning sessions must help the Core Teams to push beyond this shared understanding to address topics such as: the role of team members in leading organizational antiracist changes and make recommendations to transform practices that are heavily influenced by white-supremacist culture and practices. The learning sessions should add dress the specific racial equity work to be done by the cohort within the department building on the racial equity plan.

2. Coaching, facilitation & technical assistance on racial equity plan implementation – Operationalizing the Racial Equity Action Plan as well as provide the Team with tools that help foster inclusion and racial equity across the Agency. The consultant will also provide coaching and support racial equity working groups including: barriers to hiring, supplemental questionnaires, minimum qualifications, etc.

“These disturbing new documents confirm how, among other leftist extremist policies, San Francisco is abusing tax dollars to give cash to individuals based on race and transgender quotas,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton

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