“Let’s be honest, these explicit sexual and age inappropriate materials have no place in our schools.”
Democrat state reps in New Hampshire grew uncomfortable and halted a hearing this week as a Republican rep began to read sexually graphic material from books available in public middle school libraries.
Highlighting how leftists were mischaracterizing a bill aiming to ban “obscene or harmful sexual materials” from schools as “book banning,” State Rep. Glenn Cordelli attempted to read a passage from one of the proposed banned books to illustrate the depravity of the so-called literature.
UNREAL. At a hearing in NH, State Rep Glenn Cordelli attempted to read from inappropriate books in school libraries. He gets shut down because it’s too graphic. The Democrats freak out and then all vote to not let him continue speaking.
Rep. Cordelli was barely able to read a few graphic sexual passages from a book before Democrats began loudly shouting him down, with a vote later being held on whether he could continue.
After a 201-173 vote allows him to proceed, Rep. Cordelli goes on to say:
Our fan-favorite Turbo Force Plus is now 40% off! See for yourself the delicious one-of-a-kind energy boost infowarriors CRAVE!
“Materials like I just read are available in many schools, including Bedford High School, Dover Middle School and High School, Exeter schools and many schools including the governor Wentworth School District… We need to focus on academic achievement and knowledge. The state average for English language arts in the fifth grade is just over 50%. For math, it’s below 40%.
“Let’s be honest, these explicit sexual and age inappropriate materials have no place in our schools. And I repeat, this is not about banning books. It’s making sure that your children have access to age appropriate educational materials, period.”
Despite Rep. Cordelli’s passionate efforts, House Bill 1419 was voted down in a 187-162 vote Friday, after leftists managed to disingenuously misrepresent the bill as a slippery slope towards censorship.
Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Sector 4 Joint Border Patrol has intercepted unregistered and expired pharmaceutical products along Illela border of Sokoto State.
Controller of the Sector North West Zone, Mr. Kolapo Ayodeji, at a press briefing in Sokoto while handing over the seized drugs to NAFDAC officials for onward destruction said the unregistered drugs were found in a truck at Kajiji, Shagari Local Government Area of the state.
He dislosed that upon the examination of the truck, unregistered 300,000 packets of sex enhancement drugs were found.
He said, “This seizure contravened both Nigeria Customs Service ban on the importation of pharmaceutical products through the land border without approval and further contravened NAFDAC laws as they do not have NAFDAC registration numbers.”
He noted that most of the seized pharmaceutical products have expired and worth N19.62 million.
He reiterated the commitment to fight smuggling under any guise, saying that “those trying our resolve will continue to meet their water-loo as we remain resolute at ensuring adequate surveillance of our borders.”
The Custom boss disclosed that the command also seized 35 Jerrican of 25 litres of premium motor spirit at Illela border in line with ECOWAS sanctions on Niger Republic.
He further reinforced his earlier pledge to adopt new strategies that would boost trade while enforcing the nation’s anti-smuggling laws along the borders in the North-west zone.
He stated that the food scarcity experienced in the country is as a result of illegal smuggling of food stuff to the neighbouring countries.
Mr. Ayodeji maintained that NCS has deployed technology in tracking smugglers who are bent on sabotaging Nigeria economy.
Customs Operatives Seize PMS, N19m Worth Of Expired Pharmaceutical Products In Sokoto is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Kansas City authorities announced charges Feb. 16 against two juveniles in connection with the mass shooting at a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration that killed one woman and injured 22 more.
The 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County’s Juvenile Officer did not release the names of suspects facing gun-related and resisting-arrest charges, which is typical for juvenile cases. But that didn’t stop social media accounts from running with a fictitious suspect name.
Several Instagram posts shared a photo of a man detained by police and claimed the suspect was named “Sahil Omar.” These posts went on to say he was living in the country illegally.
“At least one of Kansas City shooters identified as Sahil Omar, a 44 year old illegal immigrant,” said the photo caption of a man in a reddish orange jumpsuit detained by police. “Biden has failed to protect America from an invasion and terrorism.”
Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, reshared a post claiming “Sahil Omar” was the shooter; Brattin implored President Joe Biden to “CLOSE THE BORDER!” State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, also wrote on X that “at least one of the alleged shooters is an illegal immigrant.”
The Instagram posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Despite the backstory, this name is a frequent hoax that follows mass shootings.
The original photo, taken by Agence France-Presse, did not identify the person detained in the aftermath of the disrupted Kansas City Chiefs victory celebration.
Social media posts have previously linked a person named “Sahil Omar” to other fatal incidents in recent months.
In November 2023, after a car crashed into a U.S.-Canada border checkpoint, some social media posts claimed it was a terrorist attack by “Sahil Omar.” Two people (none named Sahil Omar) inside the car died. The FBI said no explosions were found and ruled out terrorist connections.
In December 2023, the name Sahil Omar was also falsely connected to a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, shooting that killed three faculty members and injured another. Police identified the suspect as Anthony Polito, a 67-year-old business professor, who died in a shootout with officers.
The name Sahil Omar also circulated in January on social media as the suspect behind a hotel explosion in Fort Worth, Texas. Local fire officials said the explosion was likely due to a gas leak.
We rate the claim that police arrested a shooting suspect named Sahil Omar Pants on Fire!
Para leer en español, vea esta traducción de Google Translate.
In directing the House to open a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy cited, among other things, an unverified report from a “trusted FBI informant” who alleged that a Ukrainian company gave “a bribe to the Biden family.”
But that informant has now been indicted for lying to the FBI about the bribe.
Alexander Smirnov, who was arrested Feb. 14 at the Las Vegas airport, was indicted for providing “false derogatory information to the FBI” about Biden and his son Hunter in 2020 after Biden became a presidential candidate, according to a Department of Justice press release. His bribery story unraveled after the FBI last year interviewed Smirnov and reviewed his travel records, messages and emails, which “were in direct conflict with what he reported [to the FBI] in 2020,” the indictment said.
Smirnov, who has been an FBI “confidential human source” since 2010, made his false claims about the president and his son, “despite repeated admonishments that he must provide truthful information to the FBI and that he must not fabricate evidence,” the indictment said.
Republicans and the ‘Alleged Criminal Scheme’
We have written several articles about the unverified FBI report, which was first revealed when Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. James Comer sent a letter on May 3 to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In their letter, Grassley and Comer said they learned from a whistleblower that “the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.” Comer issued a subpoena seeking the FD-1023.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky speaks with reporters outside the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 18. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images.
An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents “to record raw, unverified reporting from confidential human sources (CHSs),” the FBI explained in a message to colleagues in response to the subpoena. “FD-1023s merely document that information; they do not reflect the conclusions of investigators based on a fuller context or understanding. Recording this information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI in our investigations.”
In July, Grassley and Comer, chairman of the House oversight committee, obtained and released the unverified FBI report, which alleged that Joe and Hunter Biden each received a $5 million bribe from Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas company, when Joe Biden was vice president. Hunter Biden served on the company’s board of directors from 2014 to 2019.
Smirnov, who was not identified in the FBI document, told the FBI in 2020 about a meeting in Vienna that he claimed to have with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky in December 2015 and subsequent phone calls with the Burisma owner in 2016 and 2017. Zlochevsky allegedly told Smirnov that he was forced to pay the bribes to make sure that the Ukrainian prosecutor general at the time, Viktor Shokin, would be fired.
As we have written, then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans made the unsubstantiated claim during the 2020 election that Biden, as vice president, sought to fire Shokin to protect Burisma from prosecution. In fact, the evidence shows that the United States and its allies sought Shokin’s removal because they believed Ukraine wasn’t doing enough to clean up government corruption.
Regardless of the FBI’s warnings about the “raw, unverified reporting” in the FD-1023, Republicans claimed to have a smoking gun.
“Joe Biden is a criminal and is compromised!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, tweeting images of the unvetted FBI report on the day it was released. “IMPEACH BIDEN!!!”
On Fox News, Larry Kudlow, a former Trump aide, interviewed Sen. Ted Cruz about the release of the FBI report. “Every day, the evidence keeps mounting and the evidence that is coming in is number one, of a widespread bribery scheme of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and the entire Biden family, to extract bribes from foreign nationals,” Cruz said.
Later in July, after Hunter Biden’s business partner, Devon Archer, testified before the House oversight committee, Comer told Fox News: “Every day, this bribery scandal becomes more credible.” As we wrote when the transcript of the Archer testimony was released, Comer made the “bribery scandal” comment even though Archer testified that he was unaware of a bribe and skeptical that it happened.
When McCarthy directed the House to launch a formal impeachment inquiry, the conservative Newsmax website called the bribery allegation “the heart” of the impeachment attempt because “bribery is one of the few crimes spelled out as an impeachable offense in the Constitution.” Newsmax quoted Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, as saying: “The impeachable offense is — I think, the key thing is in Burisma.”
Contrary to the claims of Comer and other Republicans, the FBI now has evidence that Smirnov’s tale about the bribes was fabricated.
What’s in the Indictment
In the indictment, the FBI said that Smirnov first mentioned Burisma in an FD-1023 form in 2017. At that time, Smirnov recounted a March 2017 phone call with Zlochevsky “concerning Burisma’s interest in acquiring a U.S. company.” At the time, Joe Biden was no longer in office.
Smirnov mentioned that Hunter Biden was on the Burisma board, but there was no mention of bribes. The FBI report at the time described the mention of Hunter Biden as a “brief, non-relevant discussion.”
“Notably, the Defendant did not report in 2017 that in the preceding two years, Burisma Official 1 [Zlochevsky] admitted to the Defendant that he had paid Public Official 1 [Joe Biden] $5 million when Public Official 1 was still in office, as the Defendant later claimed,” the indictment said.
U.S. v. Smirnov: Three years later, in June 2020, the Defendant reported, for the first time, two meetings in 2015 and/or 2016, during the Obama-Biden Administration, in which he claimed executives associated with Burisma, including Burisma Official 1 [Zlochevsky], admitted to him that they hired Businessperson 1 [Hunter Biden] to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” and later that they had specifically paid $5 million each to Public Official 1 [Joe Biden] and Businessperson 1, when Public Official 1 was still in office, so that “[Businessperson 1] will take care of all those issues through his dad,” referring to a criminal investigation being conducted by the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General into Burisma and to “deal with [the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General].”
In the June 2020 FD-1023 form, which is the one that Grassley and Comer released, Smirnov also recounts two phone calls with Zlochevsky in which the Burisma owner mentions the bribes.
The indictment called these meetings and phone calls “fabrications.” In fact, the indictment said, Smirnov did not meet or talk with any Burisma officials prior to 2017, contrary to what he told FBI agents in 2020, and he did not travel to Vienna in December 2015, when he supposedly met Zlochevzky.
“In short,” the indictment said, Smirnov “transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against … the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against Public Official 1 and his candidacy.”
The indictment included screen grabs of messages between Smirnov and his FBI handler that indicate Smirnov’s alleged bias against Biden.
For example, Smirnov messaged the FBI agent on May 19, 2020, and said, “It’s all over the news in Russia and Ukraine as well as live calls between [Biden] and [then-Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko]. Smells bad for Biden.” Minutes later, he followed up with messages that said: “[Biden] going to jail ))))” and “Dems tried to impeach [Trump] for same. Even Less.”
Smirnov was referring to a recording of a phone call between Biden and Poroshenko that was edited and released by Andrii Derkach, who was later described as an “active Russian agent” when the Treasury Department under Trump sanctioned Derkach for interfering in the 2020 presidential election.
“From at least late 2019 through mid-2020, Derkach waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election, spurring corruption investigations in both Ukraine and the United States designed to culminate prior to election day,” the Sept. 10, 2020, Treasury press release said.
Origins of Smirnov’s Bribery Allegation
Smirnov’s bribery allegation surfaced as part of a larger review into Biden and Ukraine that was ordered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early 2020, when Trump was still in office, the indictment said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., directed its Pittsburgh office to assess unsubstantiated allegations made by Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, about Biden and Ukraine.
“As part of that process, FBI Pittsburgh opened an assessment, 58A-PG-3250958, and in the course of that assessment identified the 2017 1023 in FBI holdings and shared it with USAO WDPA,” the indictment said, referring to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.
As part of the review, the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office in June 2020 asked Smirnov’s handler to get more information regarding Smirnov’s mention in 2017 of a “brief, non-relevant discussion” about Hunter Biden, as it was described in the 2017 FBI form.
That same day, Smirnov told his FBI handler about the bribery allegations — which were memorialized in an FD-1023 on June 30, 2020, that Grassley and Comer would later release three years later.
But the FBI could not corroborate Smirnov’s allegations at that time.
U.S. v. Smirnov: After the Defendant made these reports, the FBI asked him for travel records, which he provided, in an attempt to determine whether the information he provided was accurate.
By August 2020, FBI Pittsburgh concluded that all reasonable steps had been completed regarding the Defendant’s allegations and that their assessment, 58A-PG-3250958, should be closed. On August 12, 2020, FBI Pittsburgh was informed that the then-FBI Deputy Director and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States concurred that it should be closed.
That might have been the end of the matter if not for congressional Republicans who released the 2020 FD-1023 and accused the Biden Justice Department of bias and failing to investigate the allegations of bribery.
“I’ve repeatedly asked since going public with the existence of the 1023, what, if anything, has the Justice Department and FBI done to investigate?” Grassley, the Iowa Republican, asked in a June statement.
That month, the Justice Department convened a grand jury. A month later, it asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, which was already investigating Hunter Biden on gun and tax charges, to assist the FBI in its investigation.
On Aug. 11, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, as special counsel of the Hunter Biden investigation.
In September, FBI agents interviewed Smirnov about the bribery allegations contained in the FD-1023 from 2020, and soon after, Smirnov’s tale of bribery unraveled and charges were brought.
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One day after Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval had a positive meeting with Oakland and Alameda County officials about extending the A’s lease at the Coliseum until 2028, Sacramento emerged as the front-runner to host the A’s from 2025-27.
According to a report in The Athletic on Friday, the A’s are eyeing Sutter Health Park, the 14,000-capacity Triple-A home of the San Francisco Giants, to host them until their ballpark in Las Vegas is ready in 2028.
The A’s could not confirm the report but a club spokesperson offered the following comment: “We had a constructive and positive meeting with the City of Oakland and Alameda County and are focused on continuing conversations around a lease extension at the Coliseum.”
The A’s have already met with Sacramento officials and toured the park. They’ve also met with officials in Salt Lake City and toured Smith’s Ballpark, the 15,400-capacity Triple-A home of the Los Angeles Angels’ affiliate there.
There is incentive to continue playing at the Coliseum, given the team would retain a reported $67 million in regional broadcast rights from NBC Sports California if they remain in their media market.
But according to The Athletic, the A’s could retain some of that money by moving to Sacramento, where NBC Sports California already carries the Kings’ games.
And given the City of Oakland’s demands in exchange for a lease extension at the Coliseum, leaving town might be necessary.
Friday, the Chronicle reported that Oakland officials have begun preliminary discussions with the MLB commissioner’s office about guaranteeing the city an expansion team in exchange for a lease extension.
“Our office has been in dialogue with the Commissioner’s Office recently, and in part, I think that (the conversations) helped to support this recent meeting with the A’s,” Leigh Hanson, chief of staff to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, told the Chronicle. “I anticipate those conversations will continue.”
Hanson did not respond to this news organization’s request for comment. The MLB commissioner’s office declined to comment.
Guaranteeing an expansion team is improbable.
In November, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he could not promise an expansion team to Oakland because MLB has yet to formally decide on expansion. Owners have been discussing an increase from 30 to 32 teams, but they haven’t shown the desire to move forward with expansion until both the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays are in new stadiums.
Meanwhile, Manfred announced on Thursday that he’d be stepping down as MLB commissioner before the 2029 season, and he said earlier this month that he did not expect the league to expand before he steps down.
As it pertains to the A’s ballpark in Las Vegas, Manfred said he’s confident the team will open the 2028 season there.
“The reality of the situation is that whenever you’re leaving a market where you’ve been for decades, and you’re going to make a move to a different city where there’s not a stadium, that’s a really difficult undertaking, and it’s not going to be seamless, smooth,” he told reporters, including The Athletic.
The A’s have yet to finalize several pieces necessary to begin construction. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the A’s still haven’t filed a non-relocation agreement nor a development agreement, and they’ve submitted three different renderings for their ballpark without deciding where their nine-acre stadium will be built on the Tropicana hotel’s 35-acre lot.
“We believe that parcel’s adequate for a major-league ballpark,” Manfred said. “I think the delay in the renderings is due to the discussions between Bally’s and the A’s as to how the ballpark — and what else is going to happen there — is going to be most efficiently designed to make it the best possible experience for fans. I wouldn’t read too much into that.”
There are also several legal challenges involving a Nevada teachers’ union that could put a pause on the $380 million in public funding that the A’s are counting on.
Still, Manfred said Thursday he’s confident the deal in Vegas is “solid.”
He was asked how MLB will continue serving baseball fans in the Bay Area after the A’s leave town and implied that A’s fans could turn to the Giants.
“First of all, we do have a major-league team in the Bay Area; it’s not like there is not an available option,” Manfred said. “The Giants obviously still play there. But in terms of the other side of the Bay, the Oakland side of the Bay, our community involvement in terms of youth programming, all of the things that we do in major-league communities will continue. And I think it’s a sign of our commitment to the community that we will continue that kind of programming. And as I said, most important, there is a fan opportunity that’s not so far away.”
Written By: Jada Ingleton, Howard University News Service Reporter
What started as a publication for registration follies and campus events soon became an established and respected media source to advocate for Black voices.
In honor of the centennial anniversary, a celebratory gala was held at the National Press Club on Feb. 3. A ballroom full of past and present Hilltop journalists and supporters gathered to commemorate 100 years of The Hilltop newspaper.
Co-founded in 1924 by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston and renowned anthropologist Louis E. King, The Hilltop is the nation’s oldest and largest Black collegiate newspaper for the Howard University community and beyond.
“It’s just exciting to see that this publication has been around for 100 years,” associate professor and former news producer at the University of Alabama, Dr. George Daniels, said. “I do a lot of visits to HBCUs and other universities–they celebrate their media outlets, but there’s none like The Hilltop.”
Daniels, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief from 1991 to 1992, was just one of many Hilltop alumni present at the event. In part with the centennial year’s theme of “Honoring our Past. Celebrating our Future,” generations of Hilltoppers returned home to honor the legacy of Hurston and King’s vision.
Isabel Wilkerson, former Hilltop editor-in-chief, award-winning author, and the first Black woman in American journalism history to win a Pulitzer Prize, served as the gala’s keynote speaker.
“The great thing about this weekend [was] coming together and celebrating The Hilltop. it really was coming back and being with family [and] just being wrapped in the warm embrace of family and love,” said Desiree Hicks, senior supervising editor for enterprise at NPR, who began writing for The Hilltop under Wilkerson’s administration. “You don’t replace that. That’s everything.”
Hicks, who did not join The Hilltop until the spring semester of her freshman year, recalls having to work for her position as a staff writer after initially being turned down due to a longstanding tradition of not permitting freshmen.
She said she credits the experience with teaching her the value of perseverance–a lesson that has stuck throughout her career in journalism and life. She went on to become The Hilltop’s campus editor her senior year.
The gala consisted of guest speakers, award distributions, and even a triumphant “Hilltop!” chant as this year’s staffers gathered for pictures. Current and former Hilltoppers were celebrated with superlatives and awards in honor of the historic occasion and often could be seen embracing one another with warmth after receiving the awards.
JD Jean-Jacques, the Hilltop campus editor, won the Percy Newbie Award, an award for a student who dedicates themselves to journalism and fair, honest reporting. Jean-Jacques told HU News Service it was “such an honor” to be able to receive it.
“This is a wonderful event. It recognizes the wonderful things that The Hilltop represents,” 1984 managing editor and current communications strategist Joyce Harris said. “For the Black press, it still remains a role, and we have to keep pressing forward to not let that die. We cannot lose true stories. It’s an important part of democracy.”
“Seeing the commitment, seeing the professionalism, the love and appreciation for what The Hilltop means, what that legacy stands for, and how important it is to preserve that and pass it on to those who will come next,” Hicks said. “To have played a small part in that all these years later, it’s still humbling.”
Past and current members of The Hilltop say they hope for the next 100 years of truth and ground-breaking journalism. As current staffers try to fulfill the publication’s purpose, the protection of the
“The Hilltop has this amazing legacy, and it’s clear that it’s in good hands. It’s incumbent upon all of us to show up and be supportive of this jewel,” Hicks explained. “[We] have to do our parts to make sure that it continues to thrive for the next 100 years and beyond.”
The article The Hilltop, Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper Celebrates 100 Years originally appeared on Howard University News Service (HUNS). Howard University News Service, established in 2001, trains student journalists to provide hyperlocal and national reporting to serve media deserts and address a severe lack of diverse news coverage. Senior-level journalism students provide multimedia stories under the supervision of professional journalists and professors in the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University. As a free wire service, HUNS primarily serves the 200 African-American weeklies that are members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) with coverage of national and local events in and around the Washington area, including Congress and the White House, as well as issues of interest to multicultural audiences.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) unveiled plans Friday to build a National Guard base camp near the Rio Grande that could house up to 1,800 troops in Eagle Pass, Texas.
“[W]e are building a new Texas Military Department base camp that allows the Texas National Guard to increase and to improve operations in this area,” Abbott said Friday during a press conference in the border city.
“This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas Military Department soldiers in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and efficiently,” he added. “Before now, the Texas National Guard had been scattered across this entire region in cramped quarters, away from fellow soldiers, and sometimes traveling long distances to do their job. This base camp is going to dramatically improve conditions for our soldiers.”
According to Friday’s press release, the Texas Military Department acquired 80 acres of land in Eagle Pass “to construct a Forward Operating Base” housing 1,800 soldiers, “with the ability to accommodate an additional 500, who are deployed to respond to the open border chaos created by the Biden Administration.“
The base would also be equipped with
The construction process will include the addition of 300 beds every 30 days with the first phase expected to be completed by April, Maj. General Suelzer, the head of the Texas Military Department said, The Associated Press reported. It will also include three command posts, weapons storage rooms and a helicopter pad, per the AP.
The announcement comes amid a recent standoff between the Biden administration and Abbott over handling of the southern border and migrant crisis. The Texas National Guard appeared to disregard a recent Supreme Court decision allowing border agents to remove razor wire along the river between the U.S. and Mexico, and continued building the barriers.
“Texas would not be able to respond to President Biden’s border crisis without the brave men and women of the Texas National Guard, and it is essential to build this base camp for them,” Abbott said.
Abbott’s announcement also comes after the failure of a bipartisan border deal in Congress a week ago, which former President Trump, who the governor endorsed for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination in November, strongly opposed.
“Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social quickly after the bill’s release.
“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,” the former president added. “It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
President Trump addresses absurd $354 million verdict in New York real estate fraud trial.
Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks addressing the outcome of his witch hunt civil fraud trial in New York City, where a $350 million verdict was handed down Friday.
Watch the president’s response:
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE:
President Trump at Mar-a-Lago reacts to the outrageous ruling by New York Judge Engoron in his civil trial.
Trump commented on the civil fraud trial on Truth Social Friday evening, saying he would appeal the verdict and labeling it “election interference”:
This Election Interference and tyrannical Abuse of Power by a Crooked Judge and Crooked Attorney General cannot be tolerated. My case was already won in the Appellate Division, and more than 80% of the frivolous claims were wiped out. Yet, as I suspected, and in order to hurt me and the Republican Party politically, Crooked and Corrupt Judge Arthur Engoron ignored his loss at the Appellate Division, and came up with an outrageous $355 Million Dollar fine against me. Using a statute that has never been applied like this before, the Corrupt Judge conspired with the Crooked Attorney General, Letitia James, and punished a liquid and beautiful Corporate Empire that started in New York, and has been successful all around the world…..
There were no victims, and not one person testified there was any fraud. The actual witnesses established my Net Worth exceeded that reported in my Financial Statements as those Statements never included my most valuable Asset – the TRUMP Brand. The Highly Respected Expert Witness said my Financial Statements were among the best he has ever seen. I paid over $300 Million Dollars in taxes to New York City and State, and they want me gone. They are Crazed Lunatics who are destroying everything in their way. It all starts with Biden’s attacks on his Political Opponent!
The actual bankers who were involved in the loan transactions testified I was a highly sought-after “whale” of a client with “one of the strongest personal balance sheets” they had ever seen, and I was overqualified for the loans. Those banks earned more than $100 Million Dollars in profits doing business with me and my companies. But to justify his crazed attack on me and my family, this biased, Trump Hating Judge, ignored all this, and even said Michael Cohen told the truth, although Cohen admitted to lying hundreds of times, and lied right in front of the Judge during the trial. This shocking and corrupt Interference in the Free Markets for political gain places every New York business transaction at risk. We must make sure Corrupt Politicians and Judges cannot continue to abuse the power of their office, and violate the public trust. We have already won, and will continue the fight on appeal!
He also blasted the judge as “crooked”:
A Crooked New York State Judge, working with a totally Corrupt Attorney General who ran on the basis of “I will get Trump,” before knowing anything about me or my company, has just fined me $355 Million based on nothing other than having built a GREAT COMPANY. ELECTION INTERFERENCE. WITCH HUNT (more to follow!).
The Justice System in New York State, and America as a whole, is under assault by partisan, deluded, biased Judges and Prosecutors. Racist, Corrupt A.G. Tish James has been obsessed with “Getting Trump” for years, and used Crooked New York State Judge Engoron to get an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business. I helped New York City during its worst of times, and now, while it is overrun with Violent Biden Migrant Crime, the Radicals are doing all they can to kick me out…..
This “decision” is a Complete and Total SHAM. There were No Victims, No Damages, No Complaints. Only satisfied Banks and Insurance Companies (which made a ton of money), GREAT Financial Statements, that didn’t even include the most valuable Asset – The TRUMP Brand, IRONCLAD Disclaimers (Buyer Beware, and Do your Own Due Diligence), and amazing Properties all over the World. All the other side had was a ridiculous $18 million valuation of magnificent Mar-a-Lago, an unConstitutional Gag Order, a Consumer Fraud Statute never before used for this purpose, No Jury allowed, and a refusal to send this disgusting charade to the Commercial Division, where it would have been put to a deserving end…
This “case” is OVER ever since the Appellate Division ended it on Statute of Limitations, also letting my daughter Ivanka out of this Witch Hunt. The Democrat Club-controlled Judge Engoron has already been reversed four times on this case, a shameful record, and he will be reversed again. We cannot let injustice stand, and will fight Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized persecution at every step. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Trump attorney Alina Habba also criticized the trial as a politically charged “witch hunt.”
This verdict is a manifest injustice – plain and simple. It is the culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt that was designed to "take down Donald Trump,” before Letitia James ever stepped foot into the Attorney General’s office. Countless hours of testimony…
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has warned members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) to avoid being used by illegal miners across the country to transport mineral resources.
The chairman gave the warning through the Ilorin Zonal Commander, ACE1 Mchael Nzekwe, at a meeting with the executive members of the two transport unions at the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC.
Olukoyede said the meeting was necessary in order to sensitise members of the unions against falling prey to the law.
According to him, some truck owners and drivers have been found to be providing transport services to illegal miners.
He said: “The purpose of this meeting is to educate and enlighten you that it is an offence to mine minerals without license, just as it is an offence to possess or convey minerals without permit.
“You are therefore enjoined to warn your members not to allow themselves or release their trucks to be used for carrying out illegal activities.”
Olukoyede explained to the road transport leaders that illegal mining was an economic sabotage, and it is punishable with life imprisonment under Section 1(8) (b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, 1983.
He, therefore, asked the members of the transport unions to always demand for the mining license of any miner seeking their services to avoid being complicit in illegitimate mining.
He advised members of the two unions to deny entry into their parks, any truck loaded with solid minerals without the right authorisation papers.
The EFCC boss further urged the transport unions to report trucks conveying illegal minerals to the commission.
EFCC Warns NURTW, RTEAN Against Helping Illegal Miners Transport Minerals is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
An Instagram video featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin recycles the consistently debunked conspiracy theory that the 1969 U.S. moon landing was fake.
In the clip, a robotic narrator speaks as the video shows Putin looking at a screen showing photos of astronauts on the moon.
“Google presents its latest artificial intelligence to Vladimir Putin, and explains that basically this artificial intelligence can analyze any video to determine if it’s fake or not,” the voice says. When asked which video to verify, Putin chose the moon landing, according to the clip, and “it turns out,” the voice exclaims, “Google’s AI concluded that this video was fake” perplexing Google’s staff and Putin.
The narrator then claims that NASA released a statement admitting that the video is fake because they “lost the original.” Text superimposed on the video read: “Google proves that no one ever went to the moon.”
The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
First, the moon landing was real. The Apollo 11 spaceflight landed at Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon.
Google has never proved otherwise — nor does the company claim that it has.
Google’s press office told PolitiFact in a statement that Google’s AI did not discover that the footage from the moon landing was fake. And Google was not involved in the Russia demonstration depicted in the post’s video, the statement said.
The video clip of Putin comes from “Artificial Intelligence Journey 2023, a November conference organized by a Russian state-owned banking and financial services company, Sberbank, according to the Kremlin’s website.
Russian television station REN TV reported that the head of Sberbank’s data research department, Nikolai Gerasimenko, claimed he had analyzed a photo of the 1969 American moon landing with the help of Google’s neural network. Gerasimenko said the network found that the image could be fabricated or manipulated.
“Here, their neural network marks in red those places that it considers fake,” the Russian TV report quoted Gerasimenko as saying. “That is, almost all the objects in this photo seem unreal to it. At the same time, the photograph of the Chinese lunar rover does not raise any special questions.”
The report said neither which program Gerasimenko used, nor which photo was evaluated. There is also no evidence Putin was told that “Google’s AI” found that the entire American moon landing was fake. And, even if an AI program shows inconsistencies in an image, these tools aren’t always reliable.
PolitiFact contacted NASA for comment but did not hear back by publication.
And it was about 15 years ago — not recently, as the post claims — when NASA released restored copies of the Apollo 11 moonwalk after announcing years earlier that the original recordings were mistakenly erased and reused.
NASA’s original recordings of the moon landing were accidentally part of a batch of about 200,000 tapes that were magnetically erased and reused to save money in the mid-2000s, Reuters reported in 2009. NASA eventually found good copies in news archives and some recordings in film vaults at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which were digitized with other pieces to make new renderings.
We rate this claim False.
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