The Department of Justice has accused six members of Russia’s military intelligence agency of carrying out cyber attacks that have totaled nearly $1 billion worth of damage and disruption.
The charges were unveiled on Monday in an indictment from a Pennsylvania grand jury. The DOJ held a press conference shortly thereafter, making clear that the charges are focused on the six individuals and do not incriminate Moscow or the Russian GRU.
“No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-russian-gru-officers-charged-connection-worldwide-deployment-destructive-malware-and">statement</a>. “Today the department has charged these Russian officers with conducting the most disruptive and destructive series of computer attacks ever attributed to a single group, including by unleashing the NotPetya malware. No nation will recapture greatness while behaving in this way.”
Several members of the same group were also charged with attempting to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The new charges are not associated with U.S. election interference but with a variety of attacks on targets inside and outside the United States, including into computer systems supporting the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
While the Russian government was not included in the indictment, Justice officials made clear that the indictment was a rebuke on Moscow and its attempts to wage cyber warfare on others.
“This indictment lays bare Russia’s use of its cyber capabilities to destabilize and interfere with the domestic political and economic systems of other countries, thus providing a cold reminder of why its proposal is nothing more than dishonest rhetoric and cynical and cheap propaganda,” Demers said, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/doj-announces-charges-russian-gru-officers-allegedly-involved/story?id=73698190&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn">ABC News</a>.
The indictment covers alleged hackings from 2015 to 2019 that targeted the Ukrainian government, French elections, and hundreds of people involved in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The hackings also targeted several investigations underway by United Kingdom authorities, including one into the poisoning of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-russian-hackers-targeting-lab-thats-testing-hank-berrien">Sergei Skripal</a>. Skripal had served time in prison in Russia for allegedly acting as a spy for the U.K.
The hackers also reportedly used malware that caused “enormous financial losses” worldwide and hit two hospitals in Pennsylvania run by Heritage Valley Health System.
“The NotPetya malware impaired Heritage Valley’s provision of critical medical services to citizens of the Western District of Pennsylvania through its two hospitals, 60 offices, and 18 community satellite facilities,” the DOJ said in a press release. “The attack caused the unavailability of patient lists, patient history, physical examination files, and laboratory records. Heritage Valley lost access to its mission-critical computer systems (such as those relating to cardiology, nuclear medicine, radiology, and surgery) for approximately one week and administrative computer systems for almost one month, thereby causing a threat to public health and safety.”
“The FBI has repeatedly warned that Russia is a highly capable cyber adversary, and the information revealed in this indictment illustrates how pervasive and destructive Russia’s cyber activities truly are,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said in a statement.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

John Demers

‘Most Destructive And Costly’ In History: DOJ Charges Russian Hackers For Massive Disruption Operations

Department of Justice

hacking

Russia

The Department of Justice has accused six members of Russia’s military intelligence agency of carrying out cyber attacks that have totaled nearly $1

description

noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1

robots

‘Most Destructive And Costly’ In History: DOJ Charges Russian Hackers For Massive Disruption Operations | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/most-destructive-and-costly-in-history-doj-charges-russian-hackers-for-massive-disruption-operations/

twitter:card

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/John-Demers.jpg

twitter:image

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will file an antitrust lawsuit against Google on Tuesday after conducting a lengthy investigation into the tech giant over alleged monopolistic behavior.
The lawsuit will allege that the tech giant has engaged in anticompetitive practices to protect its search and search-advertising businesses, sources identified only as senior DOJ officials told <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-to-file-long-awaited-antitrust-suit-against-google-11603195203?mod=hp_lead_pos1">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Google has frozen out competitors through contracts between the tech giant and browsers, carriers, and mobile phone manufacturers that give Google such prime standing as the default search engine across a variety of platforms as to bar any competitors from beginning to compete with the tech giant. Googles search queries make up roughly 80% of all those in the U.S.
Google has argued in the past that billions of people choosing to use its product every day is evidence of the company’s competitive edge, not monopolistic behavior. The legal battle between the tech giant and the U.S. government is likely to span years.
The lawsuit follows an investigation into the company that lasted for more than a year and took place in a wider investigation into Silicon Valley tech giants for alleged anticompetitive practices.
President Donald Trump has long accused tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter of illegal, monopolistic behavior and hostility to conservative viewpoints. The lawsuit against Google was cheered by some of Trump’s allies, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the most outspoken members of the Senate against the influence of Silicon Valley tech giants.
“Today’s lawsuit is the most important antitrust case in a generation. Google and its fellow Big Tech monopolists exercise unprecedented power over the lives of ordinary Americans, controlling everything from the news we read to the security of our most personal information,” Hawley said in a statement.
“And Google in particular has gathered and maintained that power through illegal means. That is why I launched a sweeping antitrust investigation of Google when I was Missouri Attorney General, and that’s why I stand behind the Department of Justice’s actions today. But to be clear – this is just a first step, and I will continue to fight for the legislative solutions needed to end the tyranny of Big Tech,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
My full statement on today’s blockbuster Department of Justice antitrust suit against ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Google</a>⁩ <a href="https://t.co/gV3j4ShNNr">pic.twitter.com/gV3j4ShNNr</a>
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1318529248823488512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The DOJ began its review of Google and other tech giants in July of last year. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-starts-antitrust-review-major-tech-companies-hank-berrien">The Daily Wire</a> reported at the time:
<blockquote>After much criticism of the biggest technology firms, such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon for alleged prevention of competition in their fields, the Justice Department has commenced a huge antitrust review.
Attorney General William Barr is spearheading the effort, which is expected to penetrate more deeply into the companies’ practices than the intentions of the Federal Trade Commission. Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim stated, “Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands. The department’s antitrust review will explore these important issues.”</blockquote>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Google

DOJ Moves To Break Up Google; ‘Most Important Antitrust Case In A Generation’

Big Tech

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will file an antitrust lawsuit against Google on Tuesday after conducting a lengthy investigation into the tech giant over

DOJ Moves To Break Up Google; ‘Most Important Antitrust Case In A Generation’ | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-moves-to-break-up-google-most-important-antitrust-case-in-a-generation/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/Google.jpg

On Monday, House Republicans formally requested that Attorney General William Barr appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations arising from a New York Post story about Hunter Biden&#8217;s business dealings.
In a letter released Monday morning, eleven Members of Congress urged Barr to initiate an investigation into whether the younger Biden used his father, Joe Biden&#8217;s, position as Vice President to gain the upper hand in international business deals. The Post story, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-reverses-course-following-widespread-outrage-over-censorship-senators-announcing-subpoenas">The Daily Wire reported last week,</a> claims that emails, found on a computer allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden, substantiate such allegations.
The story remains controversial, with Democrats and other left-leaning activists suggesting, over the weekend, that the laptop &#8212; and subsequent stories about its contents &#8212; were planted by Russians, intent on upending the 2020 presidential campaign through the spread of misinformation.
Although the story has yet to be confirmed, the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-director-of-national-intelligence-confirms-hunter-biden-laptop-not-part-of-some-russian-disinformation-campaign">did say, Monday morning,</a> that there is no evidence to suggest the story is part of a &#8220;disinformation campaign.&#8221;
&#8220;Let me be clear, the intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that and we shared no intelligence with chairman Schiff or any other member of Congress that Hunter Biden’s laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” he told Fox Business. “It’s simply not true.”
House Republicans, then, want answers about &#8220;[former Vice President Joe] Biden’s reported participation with his son’s business, dealings, specifically whether the former vice president (1) received foreign monies during his tenure in the Obama administration and (2) if former Vice President Biden allowed his son to peddle access to his father with foreign business entities,” the letter notes.
The Biden campaign, of course, denies any wrongdoing. The candidate himself has yet to address the allegations, though, responding aggressively to one CBS reporter who questioned him on the story Saturday and answering only questions about preferred milkshake flavors at a campaign stop on Sunday. Late Sunday night, CBS reported that Biden will not hold any public or press events ahead of the presidential debate on Thursday.
House Republicans are also requesting information from the Department of Justice itself. According to Fox News, other GOP House Members are requesting to know whether the FBI was in possession of information about Hunter Biden&#8217;s business dealings (from the laptop in question or elsewhere) and kept the information out of the public eye.
“If the FBI was, in fact, in possession of this evidence and failed to alert the White House to its existence that would have given even more weight to the president’s legal defense, this was a gross error in judgment and a severe violation of trust,&#8221; that letter, signed by 19 House Republicans, says.
It is not likely Barr or the DOJ at large will respond to either request ahead of the presidential election, which will take place on November 3rd, but the letters initiate a paper trail that House Republicans can return to in a potential Biden administration, if necessary.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Attorney General Barr And Ivanka Trump Hold Event On Combatting Human Trafficking

House Republicans Formally Request AG Barr Appoint Special Prosecutor To Probe Biden Business Dealings

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden

William Barr

On Monday, House Republicans formally requested that Attorney General William Barr appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations arising from a

House Republicans Formally Request AG Barr Appoint Special Prosecutor To Probe Biden Business Dealings | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-formally-request-ag-barr-appoint-special-prosecutor-to-probe-biden-business-dealings/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/Barr-1200x800.jpg

Liberal media was aflutter on Wednesday after The Washington Post <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/10/13/unmasking-michael-flynn-justice-department-biden/">reported</a> an investigation concluded that looked into the “unmasking” of various Trump associates who were named in intelligence reports.
As the Post reported, it does not appear as though any criminal charges will be brought against anyone who requested information about the identities of the Trump associates, nor will a report of the investigation be released. The Post cited “sources familiar with the matter.”
The Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/10/13/unmasking-michael-flynn-justice-department-biden/">reported</a> that Attorney General William Barr ordered the investigation into the unmasking earlier this year, tapping outgoing U.S. attorney John Bash to lead the inquiry.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-list-of-obama-officials-involved-in-unmasking-michael-flynn-revealed-the-list-includes-joe-biden">reported</a> in May, the list of Obama administration officials who asked for intelligence reports related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn in the final days of the Obama era was released. Then-Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified the list. As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>CBS News’ Catherine Herridge has now received the list of names who, according to Grenell’s declassification notification, “may have received Lt. Gen. Flynn’s identity in response to a request processed between 8 November 2016 and 31 January 2017 to unmask an identity that had been generically referred to in an NSA foreign intelligence report.”
“Each individual was an authorized recipient of the original report and the unmasking was approved through NSA’s standard process, which includes a review of the justification for the request,” Grenell continued. “Only certain personnel are authorized to submit unmasking requests into the NSA system. In this case, 16 authorized individuals requested unmaskings for [redacted] different NSA intelligence reports for select identified people.”
“While the principals are identified below, we cannot confirm they saw the unmasked information,” Grenell warned. “This response does not include any requests outside of the specified time-frame.”</blockquote>
The list included former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, former Director for National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of the CIA John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
While many on the Left have jumped at this investigation’s closure as some kind of win for The Resistance, the issue, as Andrew McCarthy <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/04/susan-rice-unmasking-michael-flynn-legal-abuse-power-intelligence-foreign-targets/">wrote</a> in April 2017, was never about criminality and always about the abuse of power:
<blockquote>Was the questionable unmasking a single, isolated instance, or was it part of a pattern?
Did the communications in question have real foreign intelligence value, or were they just blather in which Americans participated or were mentioned — such that it might appear that unmasking the Americans was the objective of the collection effort, not something that was “incidental”?
Was there a series of unmaskings of a particular American or group of Americans? After all, it would not seem very “incidental” to collect and unmask the very same people again and again — that would look more like targeting.
Were standards applied consistently: Was the same unmasking protocol applied to all Americans with equal rigor, or does it appear that some Americans — like maybe . . . Americans connected to Trump — were given less protection than others?</blockquote>
The theory, as reported by Ross, was that Obama administration officials “may have leaked negative information about Flynn and other Trump associates to the media.”
The Bash investigation may not have found such evidence.
This investigation is separate from the one being conducted by U.S. attorney John Durham, who is looking into the origins of the FBI’s probe into the Trump campaign, which found no collusion between the campaign and Russia. That investigation is still ongoing.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

DOJ ‘Unmasking’ Investigation Ends, But Durham Probe Still Ongoing

John Durham

Unmasking

Liberal media was aflutter on Wednesday after The Washington Post reported an investigation concluded that looked into the “unmasking” of various Trump

DOJ ‘Unmasking’ Investigation Ends, But Durham Probe Still Ongoing | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-unmasking-investigation-ends-but-durham-probe-still-ongoing/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/GettyImages-1228732112.jpg

The U.S. Justice Department is suing former Melania Trump senior advisor and former friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement she signed while working at the White House.
Wolkoff secretly taped conversations between herself and Mrs. Trump and leaked them to the media to promote her new book “Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.”
The suit asks that profits from Wolkoff&#8217;s book put into a government trust, according to Reuters.
&#8220;The Justice Department alleged in the suit that Ms. Winston Wolkoff violated a nondisclosure agreement she had signed with the government when she agreed to volunteer to help Mrs. Trump in the early months of the administration,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/politics/stephanie-winston-wolkoff-justice-department.html">reported</a> Tuesday. &#8220;The pact forbade her from disclosing confidential details she learned during her time working for the first lady, the lawsuit said.&#8221;
According to the suit, “Wolkoff has been, and will continue in the future to be, unjustly enriched in the amount of profits, advances, royalties and other advantages resulting from publicity given to the unauthorized disclosures contained in her book.&#8221;
“This was a contract with the United States and therefore enforceable by the United States,” argued Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, the Times said.
Lorin L. Reisner, a lawyer representing Wolkoff said in a statement that the suit &#8220;is entirely meritless.”
“It represents an effort by the Trumps to enlist the D.O.J. to pursue entirely personal goals and interests,” said Reisner. “The position staked out in the lawsuit also violates the First Amendment.”
After teasing the secret recordings to the press for numerous months, Winston Wolkoff went on CNN airwaves in early October to drop some of the audio and promote her book. As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-releases-tapes-of-melania-from-private-conversation-she-winds-up-looking-great">The Daily Wire</a>, the recordings, clearly intended to hurt Mrs. Trump, inadvertently made the First Lady look good, especially to conservatives.
During the CNN interview where some of the secretly-recorded audiotapes were leaked, Wolkoff consistently insulted the First Lady and President Trump, stating that Mrs. Trump is &#8220;complicit in everything that’s going on,” adding that “we are watching our democracy turned into a dictatorship at this point. And it’s a brainwash type of cultish,” and “The traditions of First Lady and President have gone out the window with this couple,&#8221; The Daily Wire noted.
“I think that after watching the debate the other evening, and how disgraceful and how upsetting it was to see our leader act in such — I don’t even have the words to express how blatantly rude it was to act that way, like to see Melania walk on stage, to smile at him and gesture at him and to be okay with that type of behavior,&#8221; Wolkoff continued. &#8220;I mean, the most important voice right now should be Melania’s voice. She has no voice as his wife. I mean, the one woman that we need more than ever isn’t coming to the plate because she has no ability to do so.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stormy-daniels-viciously-attacks-melania-trump-after-private-conversation-leak">Stormy Daniels Viciously Attacks Melania Trump After Private Conversation Leak</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Melania Trump, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

U.S. Justice Dept. Targets Melania Tell-All Author And Her Book Profits

Melania Trump

The U.S. Justice Department is suing former Melania Trump senior advisor and former friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff for allegedly violating a

U.S. Justice Dept. Targets Melania Tell-All Author And Her Book Profits | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/u-s-justice-dept-targets-melania-tell-all-author-and-her-book-profits/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/Screen-Shot-2020-10-14-at-11.51.40-AM-1200x704.png

Cybersecurity multimillionaire John McAfee has been arrested in Spain and charged with tax evasion, allegedly earning millions in income from promoting cryptocurrencies.
The indictment alleges that McAfee, 75, has evaded U.S. taxes by having his income &#8220;paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency accounts in the names of others, while also using the names of others to conceal ownership of property and assets including a yacht,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/tech/john-mcafee-tax-evasion-sec-cryptocurrency/index.html">reported</a>.
The Justice Department (DOJ) announced the charges after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it has filed civil charges against McAfee, alleging he made more than $23 million in undisclosed compensation by recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter that the SEC claims were false or misleading.
&#8220;McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation&#8221; by recommending at least seven initial coin offerings (ICOs) to his Twitter followers, the SEC said. He tried to sell &#8220;virtually worthless&#8221; cryptocurrency tokens by urging investors to buy the securities without disclosing his own holdings, the SEC alleged.
The DOJ also said McAfee did not file tax returns from 2014 to 2018. McAfee &#8220;faces five years in prison on each count of tax evasion and a maximum of one year for each count of willful failure to file a tax return,&#8221; CNN reported.
&#8220;The SEC is also pursuing charges against Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, a bodyguard to McAfee, on charges he aided and abetted the sale of the digital currencies, among other allegations,&#8221; the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8808479/John-McAfee-arrested-Spain-charged-tax-evasion.html">reported</a>. &#8220;&#8216;Potential investors in digital asset securities are entitled to know if promoters were compensated by the issuers of those securities,&#8217; said Kristina Littman, the SEC&#8217;s cyber unit chief.&#8221;
&#8220;McAfee, assisted by Watson, allegedly leveraged his fame to deceptively tout numerous digital asset securities to his followers without informing investors of his role as a paid promoter,&#8221; The Mail said.
McAfee has a long history of interactions with authorities. In 2019, McAfee has been ordered to pay $25 million in damages over the killing of his ex-neighbor Gregory Faull in 2012. Faull&#8217;s family claims McAfee paid a hitman $5,000 to kill him.
&#8220;John McAfee&#8217;s depraved acts of plotting, financing, and directing Greg&#8217;s murder reflect that he has absolutely no respect for life or law,&#8221; Faull&#8217;s family said in a statement, <a href="https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/33284/john-mcafee-ordered-to-pay-25-million-over-neighbours-murder">according</a> to ItPro. &#8220;Although Greg cannot be replaced, today we are comforted that John McAfee&#8217;s evil acts have been officially condemned through the power of civil justice.&#8221;
<blockquote>Faull, who was one of McAfee&#8217;s neighbours in Ambergris Quay, was attacked &#8220;at least once&#8221; by McAfee&#8217;s dogs, according to the suit, and complained about them to both McAfee himself and the local Belizean authorities. Jeffrey Spiegel, one of Faull&#8217;s friends and neighbours, testified that when no action was taken to bring the dogs under control, Faull &#8220;took matters into his own hands&#8221; and poisoned the animals.
The lawsuit claims that upon discovering this, McAfee became &#8220;irate&#8221;, put the dogs down (with multiple gunshots) and began &#8220;parading up and down the beach, screaming&#8221;. It alleges that following this incident, McAfee arranged for the payment of $5,000 to &#8220;violent&#8221; local man Eddie McKoy to &#8220;subdue, torture, and murder&#8221; Faull. Faull was discovered in his home with taser burns on his torso and genitals, and a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.</blockquote>
McAfee was also detained in the Dominican Republic in July 2019 after he and five others were suspected of traveling on a yacht carrying high-caliber weapons, ammunition and military-style gear, The Mail reported.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

CUBA-US-POLITICS-MCAFEE

Anti-Virus Software Mogul John McAfee Arrested In Spain, Charged For ‘Hiding Cryptocurrency, Yacht’

cybersecurity

Cybersecurity multimillionaire John McAfee has been arrested in Spain and charged with tax evasion, allegedly earning millions in income from promoting

Anti-Virus Software Mogul John McAfee Arrested In Spain, Charged For ‘Hiding Cryptocurrency, Yacht’ | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/anti-virus-software-mogul-john-mcafee-arrested-in-spain-charged-for-hiding-cryptocurrency-yacht/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/mcafee-2.jpg

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is throwing its weight behind a prominent evangelical church in Washington, D.C., after it became the first in the nation&#8217;s capital to sue the District&#8217;s Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser for allegedly unfairly applying the city&#8217;s lockdown orders on outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people.
The DOJ said it has filed a “statement of interest” supporting the 850-member church, according to <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/doj-backs-capitol-hill-baptist-over-dc-mayor-worship-limits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Christian Post</a>.
&#8220;The Justice Department today filed a statement of interest in federal district court in Washington, D.C., arguing the Constitution and federal law require the District of Columbia to accommodate Capitol Hill Baptist Church’s effort to hold worship services outdoors, at least to the same extent the District of Columbia allows other forms of outdoor First Amendment activity, such as peaceful protests,&#8221; <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-files-statement-interest-supporting-capitol-hill-baptist-churchs-efforts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the statement read</a>.
&#8220;The statement of interest was filed in Capitol Hill Baptist Church v. Bowser, a case challenging the District of Columbia’s refusal to allow outdoor worship because of the city’s COVID-19 restrictions,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;The suit challenges the permit denial under the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The suit alleges that while places of worship are limited to 100 people at outdoor worship services, these limits do not apply to, among other things, outdoor protests and rallies accommodating thousands.&#8221;
The statement later said, &#8220;The United States’ brief explains there is no constitutional or statutory basis for allowing protests and rallies attended by thousands of people, while at the same time silencing religious worship. The brief also explains the city bears a high burden of proof to justify its actions under the First Amendment and RFRA because its actions impose a &#8216;substantial burden&#8217; on religious exercise, as the church has shown here.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prominent-evangelical-church-sues-d-c-mayor-over-selective-enforcement-of-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Daily Wire reported</a>:
<blockquote>A prominent Baptist church in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., is suing the District’s Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser and her government, alleging that the city’s lingering coronavirus lockdown orders are being unfairly applied and violate the U.S. Constitution.
In <a href="https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/eecc2501-3017-43a4-97fd-c8b7f579497c/note/2cf9ae61-0a27-41f8-aa3a-d0cc4d520c0d.#page=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a lawsuit</a> filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, attorneys representing Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) claimed that the District government is showing preferential treatment in how it enforces the <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-mayor-muriel-bowser-to-extend-state-of-emergency-into-october">repeatedly extended</a> lockdown orders.
Claiming a violation of the First and Fifth Amendments, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the suit pointed out that while they are forbidden from congregating even outdoors in excess of 100 people, Bowser herself has expressed public support for the recent mass protests in the District where tens of thousands gathered.
A portion of the lawsuit documented the repeated times over the summer when mass protests violated the city’s lockdown orders, but for which there were no consequences. Referring to the June 6 protest near the White House, the suit notes, “Mayor Bowser attended the mass protest and said to the thousands in attendance, ‘It’s so wonderful to see everyone peacefully protesting, wearing their masks.&#8217;”</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prominent-evangelical-church-sues-d-c-mayor-over-selective-enforcement-of-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prominent Evangelical Church Sues D.C. Mayor Over ‘Selective Enforcement’ Of Lockdowns</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser

DOJ Supports Capitol Hill Baptist Church In Lawsuit Against D.C. Mayor

Christianity

Muriel Bowser

Religion

Washington D.C.

The DOJ is throwing its weight behind a prominent evangelical church in Washington, D.C., that is suing the District&#039;s Mayor Muriel Bowser.

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-supports-capitol-hill-baptist-church-in-lawsuit-against-d-c-mayor/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/03/GettyImages-953841504.jpg

The Department of Justice (DOJ) warned San Francisco&#8217;s Democrat Mayor London Breed that the city&#8217;s limit of one person for houses of worship is both unconstitutional and &#8220;draconian.&#8221;
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
In <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1320076/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a letter sent to Breed</a> last week, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California David Anderson wrote, &#8220;San Francisco’s treatment of places of worship raises serious concerns about religious freedom. In particular, the limitation of indoor worship to one congregant without regard to the size of the place of worship is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San Francisco, wholly at odds with this Nation’s traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.&#8221;
Acknowledging that Breed has a duty to protect the health of citizens amid the coronavirus, the DOJ explained &#8220;there is no pandemic exception to the Constitution,&#8221; and that no U.S. government can &#8220;attack religion by transforming a house of worship arbitrarily into a place for solitary confinement.”
&#8220;Individual rights, including the protections in the Bill of Rights, are always operative and restrain government action,&#8221; the letter continued. &#8220;Thus, even in times of emergency, when reasonable, narrowly-tailored, and temporary restrictions may lawfully limit our liberty, the First Amendment and federal statutory law continue to prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. These principles are legally binding, and the Constitution’s unyielding protections for religious worshipers distinguish the United States of America from places dominated by tyranny and despotism.
The letter went on to criticize the apparent disparity between how churches are treated in San Francisco compared to other establishments such as &#8220;gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and daycares.&#8221;
“Government may not discriminate against religious gatherings compared to other non-religious gatherings that have the same effect on the government’s public health interest, absent compelling reasons,” the letter said, noting the unfairness of allowing only one person into a building such as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, which can pack in 2,400 people.
<div class="page" title="Page 3">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
The letter concluded by warning the DOJ &#8220;is reviewing its options and may take further action, as and if appropriate, to protect the religious liberty rights of the people of San Francisco.&#8221;
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera dismissed the letter, telling local CBS affiliate KPIX that the DOJ is &#8220;lobbing careless legal threats.&#8221; He also said that the city&#8217;s reopening is &#8220;consistent with San Francisco’s careful approach and follows closely behind what the State of California allows.&#8221;
</div>
</div>
</div>
Salvatore Cordileone, the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, has repeatedly rebuked city authorities for their lockdown orders against churches, claiming their onerous restrictions are &#8220;mocking God.&#8221; As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>The Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco claimed that the city’s strict coronavirus lockdown restrictions against houses of worship are “mocking God.”
According to <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/archbishop-salvatore-cordileone-says-san-francisco-mass-restrictions-are-mocking-god-72251" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Catholic News Agency</a>, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone participated in one of several outdoor Eucharistic processions on Sunday, which converged near San Francisco City Hall before proceeding to the cathedral.
“For months I have pleaded with the City on your behalf, advocating for your need of the consolation of the Mass, and the consolation you derive from the practice of your faith and connection with your faith community. City Hall ignored us,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone preached in his homily during an outdoor Mass.
“It has become clear to me that they just don’t care about you…We have been patiently putting up with unjust treatment long enough, and now it is time to come together to witness to our faith and to the primacy of God, and tell City Hall: No More!”
</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-lockdown-measures-are-mocking-god-san-francisco-archbishop-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coronavirus Lockdown Measures Are ‘Mocking God,’ San Francisco Archbishop Says</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.
</div>
</div>
</div>

London Breed

‘Draconian’: Department Of Justice Rebukes San Francisco Mayor For 1-Person Limit On Churches

Coronavirus

San Francisco

The Department of Justice (DOJ) warned San Francisco&#039;s Democrat Mayor London Breed that the city&#039;s limit of one person for houses of worship is both

‘Draconian’: Department Of Justice Rebukes San Francisco Mayor For 1-Person Limit On Churches | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/draconian-department-of-justice-rebukes-san-francisco-mayor-for-1-person-limit-on-churches/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/GettyImages-1212812771.jpg

The Department of Justice sent a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1320076/download">letter</a> to the city of San Francisco on Friday warning them that their &#8220;one congregant&#8221; policy, under which only one member of the public is allowed in a place of worship at a time, regardless of the size of the building, was raising questions about the right to exercise religious freedoms in the city.
“San Francisco’s treatment of places of worship raises serious concerns about religious freedom,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband and U.S. Attorney David Anderson in the letter. “In particular, the limitation of indoor worship to one congregant without regard to the size of the place of worship is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San Francisco, wholly at odds with this Nation’s traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
“No government in this free country can attack religion by transforming a house of worship arbitrarily into solitary confinement,” said Dreiband in a separate <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-calls-san-francisco-mayor-end-one-congregant-rule-places-worship-comply">DOJ statement</a> posted on Friday, later adding: “That we are dealing with a very serious public health crisis does not permit government to discriminate against religious worshipers by imposing a one-person-per-house of worship rule while permitting larger numbers of people to gather in tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and other places. There is no pandemic exception to the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
To bolster its claim that San Francisco appears to be discriminating against people of faith, the department pointed to the fact that gyms are allowed to be open at 10% capacity indoors, and many retail stores are allowed to open at 50% capacity.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera told the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Justice-Department-urges-S-F-Mayor-London-Breed-15598284.php">San Francisco Chronicle</a>, in response to the letter, that the federal government should consider focusing “on an actual pandemic response instead of lobbing careless legal threats.”
Herrera also argued that San Francisco is due to expand its coronavirus restriction guidelines for houses of worship in several days because there hasn’t been a surge of infections in the city, reports the news agency.
According to the DOJ letter to the city, the federal government will be “reviewing its options and may take further action” in order to protect religious liberties.
San Francisco was the first U.S. city to issue a shelter-in-place order for the coronavirus back in March and has been subject to restrictions for longer than many other U.S. cities.
Back in mid-September, Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, the archbishop of San Francisco, published an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/16/archibishop-salvatore-cordileone-right-to-worship/">The Washington Post saying</a> he “never expected” that the right to worship would be “unjustly repressed by an American government.”
<blockquote>But that is exactly what is happening in San Francisco. For months now, the city has limited worship services to just 12 people outdoors. Worship inside our own churches is banned. The city recently announced it will now allow 50 for outdoor worship, with a goal of permitting indoor services up to a maximum of 25 people by Oct. 1 — less than 1 percent of the capacity of San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Cathedral.
This is not nearly enough to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Catholics in San Francisco. In imposing these restrictions, the city is turning a great many faithful away from their houses of prayer.</blockquote>
The San Francisco city attorney has since told the Chronicle that indoor worship services may host as many as 50 people at a time beginning in October.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

SFChronicleVirusDaily

DOJ Warns San Francisco Over Its ‘One Congregant’ Policy In Letter

freedom of religion

The Department of Justice sent a letter to the city of San Francisco on Friday warning them that their &quot;one congregant&quot; policy, under which only one

DOJ Warns San Francisco Over Its ‘One Congregant’ Policy In Letter | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-warns-san-francisco-over-its-one-congregant-policy-in-letter/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/San-Francisco-Cathedral.jpg

The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating how the FBI dealt with claims of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/us/politics/durham-clinton-foundation-investigation.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage">The New York Times</a>.
U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was assigned to lead the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, “has sought documents and interviews about how federal law enforcement officials handled an investigation around the same time into allegations of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Times reported.
In August, South Carolina GOP senator Lindsey Graham, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/newly-declassified-fbi-materials-demonstrate-clear-double-standard-for-clinton-trump-campaigns">stated</a>:
<blockquote>There was a clear double standard by the Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump and Clinton campaigns in 2016. … the Bureau, as it is supposed to do, required that Hillary Clinton be defensively briefed about the matter so she could engage in corrective action. When it came to the Trump campaign, there were four counterintelligence investigations opened against Trump campaign associates.  Not one time was President Trump defensively briefed about the FBI’s concerns.</blockquote>
The Clinton Foundation released a statement about the possible investigation by Durham, asserting, “The Clinton Foundation has regularly been subjected to baseless, politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false.”
The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?auth=login-email&amp;login=email">reported in 2015</a> that a Pravda 2013 article delineated how Rosatom, the Russian atomic energy company, had acquired a Canadian company with huge uranium-mining stakes; the deal handed Moscow one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. The State Department, headed by Hillary Clinton, had to approve the deal.
The Times continued:
<blockquote>As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. … And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.</blockquote>
In 2016, when F.B.I. managers wanted a subpoena, Obama Justice Department criminal division denied the request, claiming there was not enough evidence to justify the subpoena. The Times noted, “Ultimately, the Clinton Foundation dispute embroiled Andrew G. McCabe, then the F.B.I. deputy director, who was accused of leaking information about the case to a reporter and later lying about it to the Justice Department inspector general.”
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/laptop-may-include-thousands-of-emails-linked-to-hillary-clintons-private-server-1477854957">The Wall Street Journal</a> noted in October 2016:
<blockquote>The FBI field office in New York had done the most work on the Clinton Foundation case and received help from the FBI field office in Little Rock, the people familiar with the matter said. In February, FBI officials made a presentation to the Justice Department, according to these people. By all accounts, the meeting didn’t go well.
Some said that is because the FBI didn’t present compelling evidence to justify more aggressive pursuit of the Clinton Foundation, and that the career anticorruption prosecutors in the room simply believed it wasn’t a very strong case. Others said that from the start, the Justice Department officials were stern, icy and dismissive of the case.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Key Speakers At The Atlantic Festival

DOJ Investigating How FBI Handled Allegations Of Clinton Foundation Corruption, Report Says

Clinton Foundation

corruption

The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating how the FBI dealt with claims of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to The

DOJ Investigating How FBI Handled Allegations Of Clinton Foundation Corruption, Report Says | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-investigating-how-fbi-handled-allegations-of-clinton-foundation-corruption-report-says/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/GettyImages-1044606772.jpg

The Department of Justice released details early on Monday morning explaining why three Democrat-controlled cities have been designated &#8220;anarchist jurisdictions.&#8221;
The DOJ identified the cities as being cities that permitted extremist violence and destruction of property to continue while taking action to stop the criminal acts. The department designated New York City, Portland, and Seattle as being &#8220;anarchist jurisdictions.&#8221;
The DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-identifies-new-york-city-portland-and-seattle-jurisdictions-permitting">released</a> the following criteria for evaluating whether a U.S. city is a &#8220;anarchist jurisdiction&#8221;:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Whether a jurisdiction forbids the police force from intervening to restore order amid widespread or sustained violence or destruction.</li>
<li>Whether a jurisdiction has withdrawn law enforcement protection from a geographical area or structure that law enforcement officers are lawfully entitled to access but have been officially prevented from accessing or permitted to access only in exceptional circumstances, except when law enforcement officers are briefly withheld as a tactical decision intended to resolve safely and expeditiously a specific and ongoing unlawful incident posing an imminent threat to the safety of individuals or law enforcement officers.</li>
<li>Whether a jurisdiction disempowers or defunds police departments.</li>
<li>Whether a jurisdiction unreasonably refuses to accept offers of law enforcement assistance from the Federal Government.</li>
<li>Any other related factors the Attorney General deems appropriate.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
The Department then released information on the three cities to receive the designation of being an &#8220;anarchist jurisdiction.&#8221;
New York City:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Shootings in New York City have been on the rise since looting and protests began on or about May 28, 2020.  For July 2020, shootings increased from 88 to 244, an increase of 177% over July 2019.  In August 2020, shootings increased from 91 to 242, a 166% increase over August 2019.</li>
<li>While the city faced increased unrest, gun violence, and property damage, the New York City Council cut $1 billion from NYPD’s FY21 budget.</li>
<li>The budget resulted in the cancellation of the new police recruiting class, cuts to overtime spending, and the transfer of certain police functions, including school safety, out of the NYPD.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, the Manhattan and Brooklyn District Attorneys have declined to prosecute charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly arising from the protests, and the District Attorneys in Queens and the Bronx have declined to prosecute other protest-related charges.</li>
<li>Both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo have forcefully rejected federal law enforcement support.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Portland:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>This month, Portland marked 100 consecutive nights of protests marred by vandalism, chaos, and even killing.</li>
<li>Those bent on violence regularly started fires, threw projectiles at law enforcement officers, and destroyed property. Numerous law enforcement officers, among others, suffered injury.</li>
<li>Shootings increased by more than 140% in June and July 2020 compared to the same period last year.</li>
<li>In the midst of this violence, the Portland City Council cut $15 million from the police bureau, eliminating 84 positions. Crucially, the cuts included the Gun Violence Reduction Team, which investigates shootings, and several positions from the police team that responds to emergency incidents.</li>
<li>In August, Portland Mayor Wheeler sent a letter to President Trump expressly rejecting the Administration’s offer of federal law enforcement to stop the violent protests.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Seattle:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>For nearly a month, starting in June, the City of Seattle permitted anarchists and activists to seize six square blocks of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, naming their new enclave the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) and then the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” (CHOP).</li>
<li>Law enforcement and fire fighters were precluded from entering the territory.  The Seattle Police Department was ordered to abandon their precinct within the CHOP.</li>
<li>Person-related crime in the CHOP increased 525% from the same period of time in the same area the year before, including by Mayor Durkan’s own count “two additional homicides, 6 additional robberies, and 16 additional aggravated assaults (to include 2 additional non-fatal shootings).”</li>
<li>The CHOP was allowed to stand for nearly a month, during which time two teenagers were shot and killed in the zone.</li>
<li>The Seattle City Council, Mayor Durkan, and Washington Governor Jay Inslee publicly rejected federal involvement in law enforcement activities within the city of Seattle.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
“When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance. It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

DOJ Releases Details On Why 3 U.S. Cities Were Designated ‘Anarchist Jurisdictions’

Anarchism

New York City

Portland

Seattle

The Department of Justice released details early on Monday morning explaining why three Democrat-controlled cities have been designated &quot;anarchist

DOJ Releases Details On Why 3 U.S. Cities Were Designated ‘Anarchist Jurisdictions’ | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/breaking-doj-releases-details-on-why-3-u-s-cities-were-designated-anarchist-jurisdictions/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Trump-Barr-1200x800.jpg

Attorney General William Barr reportedly told U.S. federal prosecutors during a conference call last week that they needed to be aggressive in charging the violent rioters terrorizing American cities, adding that prosecutors should consider going after them for plotting to overthrow the U.S. government.
The conference call comes as the U.S. is just weeks away from the upcoming November elections, which Barr warned could spark even more violent riots than the ones that have already <a href="https://www.axios.com/riots-cost-property-damage-276c9bcc-a455-4067-b06a-66f9db4cea9c.html">caused</a> billions of dollars in damage. Barr reportedly encouraged prosecutors to consider charging the far-left extremists behind the violence with a rarely used sedition law.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/barr-tells-prosecutors-to-consider-charging-violent-protesters-with-sedition-11600276683">reported</a>:
<blockquote>In more recent months, police officials say they are alarmed by the presence of armed fringe groups from both sides of the political spectrum. Mr. Barr has blamed much of the violence on leftist extremists including antifa, a loose network of groups and people that describe themselves as opposing fascism and which Mr. Barr has described as a movement advocating revolution.
In the call last week, Mr. Barr urged prosecutors to seek federal charges whenever possible, two of the people said. He listed a number of additional statutes they could potentially use, including one addressing conspiracies or plots to overthrow the government.</blockquote>
Earlier this week, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-has-overwhelming-intel-that-portland-violence-organized-by-violent-antifa-anarchists-leaked-email-says">leaked email</a> from a former top official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that the department has “overwhelming intelligence” that the extremist violence in Portland was “organized” by individuals with an ideology categorized as “Violent Antifa Anarchist Inspired” (VAAI).
One step that the feds have taken to get around local leftist prosecutors who are <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/hundreds-of-portland-protesters-will-see-their-criminal-cases-dropped-as-da-announces-plan-to-recognize-the-right-to-speak.html">dropping</a> many of the charges against those charged during the violent riots was deputizing police in Oregon so that federal charges could be sought against those who might escape local charges.
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oregon-state-police-now-federally-deputized-giving-us-attorney-power-to-prosecute-portland-rioters-even-if-da-wont">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Oregon State Police who are now charged with keeping the peace in Portland and its surrounding suburbs have been “cross-deputized” by the federal government, a local news organization revealed Wednesday, meaning that those arrested by Oregon state police officers can be prosecuted by the United States attorney for crimes stemming from the ongoing unrest even if the local prosecutor refuses to.
&#8230;
Federal officials would not reveal the full list of crimes they may prosecute even if the Multnomah County DA refuses, but federal officers did make a number of arrests while they were assigned to protect federal property in downtown Portland, including “trespassing on federal property, arson, assaulting federal officers, failing to comply with a lawful order and creating a disturbance.”
It is also possible that the federal deputization will allow the U.S. Attorney’s office to investigate those individuals arrested for ties to larger, national organizations. Attorney General William Barr announced, back in June, that the federal government is treating “Antifa” — or “anti-fascists” — as a domestic terror organization and is seeking information on how the group organizes and moves money and supplies across state lines.</blockquote>
During a Fox News interview late last month, DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said that the feds were “targeting and reviewing” the heads of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and those who fund them in response to the violent riots and looting that have plagued America&#8217;s inner cities for most of the summer.
“Department of Justice is also targeting and investigating the head of these organizations, the individuals that are paying for these individuals to move across the country,” Wolf <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-chief-feds-targeting-and-investigating-heads-of-blm-antifa-and-those-who-fund-them">said</a>. “What we know…is that we have seen groups and individuals move from Portland to other parts of the country. We had about about 175 arrests in Kenosha, almost 100 of them were from out of state. So, we know they are moving around. We have seen them in D.C., in Sacramento, and elsewhere. They are organized. We have seen similar tactics being used from Portland and other cities across the country as well. So, we know that there is organization. I know the Department of Justice is also looking at that as well.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Daily Protests In Portland Continue Into Third Month

AG Barr Orders Feds To Crack Down On Violent Rioters, Including Pursuing Sedition Charges: Report

Riots

Attorney General William Barr reportedly told U.S. federal prosecutors during a conference call last week that they needed to be aggressive in charging

AG Barr Orders Feds To Crack Down On Violent Rioters, Including Pursuing Sedition Charges: Report | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/ag-barr-orders-feds-to-crackdown-on-violent-rioters-including-pursuing-sedition-charges-report/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/ritoers-1200x800.jpg

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday unsealed an indictment that charged three Iranian nationals with hacking U.S. computers, stealing “hundreds of terabytes of data” relating to national security.
“For the third time in three days, the Department has charged Iranian hackers,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/state-sponsored-iranian-hackers-indicted-computer-intrusions-us-satellite-companies">a press release</a>. “This case highlights the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ efforts to infiltrate the networks of American companies in search of valuable commercial information and intellectual property. It is yet another effort by a rogue foreign nation to steal the fruits of this country’s hard work and expertise.”
The indictment alleges that the three hackers began their campaign around July 2015 and continued through at least February 2019. At one point, the DOJ press release said, the hackers had “a target list of over 1,800 online accounts, including accounts belonging to organizations and companies involved in aerospace or satellite technology and international government organizations in Australia, Israel, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom.”
Over the half-decade in which the hackers operated, they &#8220;stole hundreds of terabytes of data, which typically included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research,&#8221; the indictment alleges.
In order to do this, the hackers “engaged in a coordinated campaign of social engineering to identify real U.S. citizens working in the satellite and aerospace fields whose identities the defendants could assume online,” the DOJ said, adding:
<blockquote> The defendants then impersonated those individuals and used their stolen identities to register email addresses and fraudulently purchase domains and hacking tools for use in the scheme.  The defendants then created customized spear phishing emails that purported to be from the individuals whose identities the defendants had stolen, in an attempt to entice the recipients to click on malicious links embedded in the emails.  Once a recipient clicked on a malicious link, malware would be downloaded to the individual’s computer, giving the defendants unauthorized access to the recipient’s computer and network.  The defendants then used additional hacking tools to maintain unauthorized access, escalate their privileges, and steal data sought by the IRGC.  Using these methods, the defendants successfully compromised multiple victim networks, resulting in the theft of sensitive commercial information, intellectual property, and personal data from victim companies, including a satellite-tracking company and a satellite voice and data communication company.</blockquote>
The three Iranians charged with the hacks are 34-year-old Said Pourkarim Arabi, 34-year-old Mohammad Bayati, and Mohammad Reza Espargham, whose age is unknown. Arabi was a member of the IRGC.
Each one faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for their alleged crimes.
“Today’s charges are yet another example of the FBI’s dedication to investigating those who target and attempt to steal data and proprietary information from the U.S.,” said James A. Dawson, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Today’s charges allege that these individuals conspired in a coordinated campaign with known IRGC members and acted at their direction. The defendants targeted thousands of individuals in an attempt to steal critical information related to U.S. aerospace and satellite technology. The FBI remains dedicated to protecting the U.S., and we continue to impose risk and consequences on cyber adversaries through our unique authorities, world-class capabilities, and enduring partnerships.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Man typing at his laptop

Iranians Charged With Hacking U.S. National Security And Nuclear Information, ‘Hundreds Of Terabytes Of Data’ Stolen

Crime

Iran

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday unsealed an indictment that charged three Iranian nationals with hacking U.S. computers, stealing “hundreds of

Iranians Charged With Hacking U.S. National Security And Nuclear Information, ‘Hundreds Of Terabytes Of Data’ Stolen | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/iranians-charged-with-hacking-u-s-national-security-and-nuclear-information-hundreds-of-terabytes-of-data-stolen/

On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/us/politics/john-bolton-book-criminal-investigation.html">The New York Times</a> reported that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation targeting former national security adviser John R. Bolton for possibly disclosing classified information in his memoir, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/books/review-room-where-it-happened-john-bolton-memoir.html">“The Room Where It Happened</a>.”
In June, after the Trump administration had filed a lawsuit to stop the book’s publication, Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/politics/john-bolton-book-ruling.html">ruled</a> that Bolton could proceed with the publication of the book, arguing, “With hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe — many in newsrooms — the damage is done. There is no restoring the status quo,” but Lamberth also added, “Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability. But these facts do not control the motion before the court. The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm.”
Lamberth also stated he was “persuaded that defendant Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations.”
In August, John Ratcliffe, the newly installed Director of National Intelligence, referred the matter to the Justice Department, two sources told the Times, which added, “John Demers, the head of the department’s national security division, then opened the criminal investigation, according to a person briefed on the case.”
“Bolton had agreed to let national security officials review any book he might eventually write before publication in order to make sure that it contained no classified information. The department accused Mr. Bolton of giving Simon &amp; Schuster permission to publish his book before he had official signoff that his prepublication review was complete,” the Times noted.
Charles J. Cooper, Bolton’s attorney, said that the Trump administration had dallied in their efforts to deem if the information revealed was classified, the Times reported, noting that the National Security Council’s top official for prepublication review said Bolton had made appropriate edits regarding classified information and that the White House conducted another review. The affidavit from that review stated that the book displayed multiple instances of classified information in the manuscript.
The Times reported, “Even though Mr. Bolton did not receive a final approval letter from the White House, he told Simon &amp; Schuster to publish anyway.”
Lamberth concluded, “This was Bolton’s bet: If he is right and the book does not contain classified information, he keeps the upside mentioned above; but if he is wrong, he stands to lose his profits from the book deal, exposes himself to criminal liability, and imperils national security. Bolton was wrong.”
In June, Trump tweeted, “Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information. Remember what they did to the young submarine sailor, but did nothing to Crooked Hillary. I ended up pardoning him &#8211; It wasn’t fair.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information. Remember what they did to the young submarine sailor, but did nothing to Crooked Hillary. I ended up pardoning him &#8211; It wasn’t fair!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1275375135483146241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

SiriusXM’s Coverage Of The Republican National Convention Goes Gavel-to-Gavel On Wednesday, July 20

DOJ Opens Investigation Targeting Bolton Over Allegedly Revealing Classified Info, Report Says

John Bolton

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation targeting former national security adviser John R.

DOJ Opens Investigation Targeting Bolton Over Allegedly Revealing Classified Info, Report Says | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/doj-opens-investigation-targeting-bolton-over-revealing-classified-info-report-says/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2019/09/gettyimages-578126096.jpg

Numerous cell phones from special counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s team were &#8220;accidentally wiped&#8221; before the Department of Justice inspector general was able to review the devices, according to newly released government records.
&#8220;The records show at least several dozen phones were wiped of information because of forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damage, loss of the device, intentional deletion or other reasons — and came before the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) could review the devices,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-records-mueller-team-wiped-phones">reported</a>. &#8220;The OIG opened an investigation into possible bias in the origins of the Russia Investigation, but determined that the FBI complied with policies in launching the politically explosive probe. Still, the OIG flagged &#8216;significant concerns with how certain aspects of the investigation were conducted and supervised.'&#8221;
The OIG&#8217;s investigation into possible political bias that was involved in the origins of the FBI&#8217;s counterintelligence surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016 was limited in scope. U.S. Attorney John Durham launched a full-scale administrative review over what happened, which quickly turned into a criminal investigation after he reportedly uncovered evidence of misconduct.
Federalist co-founder Sean Davis was the first to release the new records showing that Mueller&#8217;s team wiped their phones.
&#8220;Newly released DOJ records show that multiple top members of Mueller&#8217;s investigative team claimed to have &#8216;accidentally wiped&#8217; at least 15 (!) phones used during the anti-Trump investigation after the DOJ OIG asked for the devies to be handed over,&#8221; Davis wrote. &#8220;Federal records show that Mueller deputy Andrew Weismann claims to have &#8216;accidentally&#8217; wiped, via wrong passwords at least 2 phones detailing his activity during the anti-Trump probe. James Quarles&#8217; phone &#8216;wiped itself.&#8217; Greg Andre also made the same wrong password claim.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Federal records show that Mueller deputy Andrew Weismann claims to have &quot;accidentally&quot; wiped, via wrong passwords at least 2 phones detailing his activity during the anti-Trump probe. James Quarles&#39; phone &quot;wiped itself.&quot; Greg Andre also made the same wrong password claim&#8230;
&mdash; Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1304132463527067649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Mueller deputy Kyle Freeny similarly claimed that his phone was accidentally wiped after too many wrong passwords were entered. Same with Mueller deputy Rush Atkinson. At least a 12 other officials whose names are redacted also claimed to have &#8216;accidentally&#8217; nuked their phones,&#8221; Davis continued. &#8220;The newly released DOJ records from the OIG investigation of corruption during the Mueller probe shows that a key tactic used by the Mueller team was to put the phones in airplane mode, lock them, and then claim they didn&#8217;t have the password.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The newly released DOJ records from the OIG investigation of corruption during the Mueller probe shows that a key tactic used by the Mueller team was to put the phones in airplane mode, lock them, and then claim they didn&#39;t have the password. <a href="https://t.co/KrRx99OU4u">pic.twitter.com/KrRx99OU4u</a>
&mdash; Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1304134727570468864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Davis later <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1304135769490173953">added</a>: &#8220;What are the actual probabilities of more than a dozen top Mueller officials all &#8216;accidentally&#8217; nuking their phones or accidentally putting them in airplane mode, locking them, and &#8216;forgetting&#8217; their passwords so the DOJ OIG couldn&#8217;t access and examine them? Negative 100,000%?&#8221;
Durham&#8217;s criminal investigation has already netted at least one guilty plea as attorney Kevin Clinesmith admitted to a judge that he &#8220;had intentionally inserted words into the text of the email, which discussed past relations between the C.I.A. and Carter Page,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/politics/kevin-clinesmith-guilty.html">reported</a>.
&#8220;The alteration was uncovered last year by an inspector general report laying out a litany of errors and omissions in the Page wiretap applications,&#8221; the Times added. &#8220;They included the F.B.I.’s failure to tell judges about Mr. Page’s history of talking to the C.I.A. about his interactions with Russian intelligence officials, a fact that might have made him look less suspicious. The report suggested that Mr. Clinesmith’s move prevented a colleague from recognizing the problem.&#8221;
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Mueller Testifies On Investigation Into Election Interference Before House Committees

Dozens Of Cell Phones Used By Mueller Team Were ‘Accidentally Wiped’ Before DOJ Could Review

Federalist

Robert Mueller

Numerous cell phones from special counsel Robert Mueller&#039;s team were &quot;accidentally wiped&quot; before the Department of Justice inspector general was able to

Dozens Of Cell Phones Used By Mueller Team Were ‘Accidentally Wiped’ Before DOJ Could Review | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/dozens-of-cell-phones-used-by-mueller-team-were-accidentally-wiped-before-doj-could-review/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Mueller-scaled-e1599824013765.jpg

The Department of Justice on Wednesday requested data from the governors of four states who issued orders requiring coronavirus-patients be accepted at nursing homes, potentially resulting in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of elderly patients.
The DOJ singled out Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania for its policies, but it focused heavily on New York, whose governor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, has come under fire for the policy. On March 25, Cuomo’s health department issued an order saying: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, New York has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States, with 32,592 victims, many of them elderly. New York’s death rate by population is the second highest in the country with 1,680 deaths per million people. New Jersey’s death rate by population is 1,733 deaths per million people – the highest in the nation. In contrast, Texas’s death rate by population is 380 deaths per million people; and Texas has just over 11,000 deaths, though its population is 50 percent larger than New York and has many more recorded cases of COVID-19 – 577,537 cases in Texas versus 430,885 cases in New York. Florida’s COVID-19 death rate is 480 deaths per million; with total deaths of 10,325 and a population slightly larger than New York,” the DOJ said in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-requesting-data-governors-states-issued-covid-19-orders-may-have-resulted">a statement</a>.
In addition to New York’s nursing home mandate, the state also only counted coronavirus deaths that actually occurred in nursing homes as nursing home deaths. Patients who were transported to a hospital and died there of the coronavirus were not counted as nursing home deaths, even though they were infected in their previous care facility.
This resulted in New York reporting about 6,600 nursing home deaths due to the coronavirus, but as The Associated Press reported earlier this month, the number is likely much, much higher due to those being moved out of facilities to die in hospitals.
“New York’s coronavirus death toll in nursing homes, already among the highest in the nation, could actually be a significant undercount,” the AP <a href="https://apnews.com/212ccd87924b6906053703a00514647f">reported</a>. “Unlike every other state with major outbreaks, New York only counts residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.”
Cuomo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cuomo-on-nursing-home-deaths-its-trumps-fault">blamed</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cuomo-administrations-investigation-blames-health-care-workers-for-nursing-home-covid-deaths-not-governors-order">everyone</a> but his own administration for the nursing home deaths, including President Donald Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nursing home workers, and alleged greed on the part of nursing home facilities.
As for blaming the CDC, the agency guidance said facilities accepting coronavirus-positive patients must follow strict guidelines including separating patients. Cuomo’s mandate went into effect with little to no warning for nursing home facilities in the state, many of whom were ill-equipped to treat patients safely.
“Protecting the rights of some of society’s most vulnerable members, including elderly nursing home residents, is one of our country’s most important obligations,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband. “We must ensure they are adequately cared for with dignity and respect and not unnecessarily put at risk.”
The DOJ said its Civil Rights Division is “evaluating whether to initiate investigations under the federal “Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act” (CRIPA), which protects the civil rights of persons in state-run nursing homes, among others.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

New York Nursing Home

BREAKING: Justice Department Seeking Data From States That Implemented Policies Mandating Nursing Homes Couldn’t Reject Coronavirus Patients

Andrew Cuomo

COVID-19

Nursing homes

The Department of Justice on Wednesday requested data from the governors of four states who issued orders requiring coronavirus-patients be accepted at

BREAKING: Justice Department Seeking Data From States That Implemented Policies Mandating Nursing Homes Couldn’t Reject Coronavirus Patients | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-justice-department-seeking-data-from-states-that-implemented-policies-mandating-nursing-homes-couldnt-reject-coronavirus-patients/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/GettyImages-1210396110.jpg

A former U.S. Army captain has been charged for allegedly conspiring to deliver defense information to Russian agents working for the country’s military intelligence agency after they first established contact with him back in the mid-1990s.
According to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-army-special-forces-officer-charged-russian-espionage-conspiracy">Department of Justice</a>, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, started traveling to Russia beginning in 1994 and, while on an independent study program in 1996, held meetings with at least one foreign intelligence agent. He allegedly told the agent he was a “son of Russia,” and the DOJ says he subsequently met with at least six other foreign intelligence agents up until about 2010.
In meetings over the years, Debbins allegedly received an official nickname from the Russian intelligence agency, signed a statement pledging to “serve Russia,” and forwarded U.S. military information to the Russian agents, according to an indictment.
“Debbins violated his oath as a U.S. Army office, betrayed the Special Forces and endangered our country’s national security by revealing classified information to Russian intelligence officers, providing details of his unit, and identifying Special Forces team members for Russian intelligence to try to recruit as a spy,” said John Demers, assistant attorney general for National Security, in a statement Friday.
“Our country put its highest trust in this defendant, and he took that trust and weaponized it against the United States,” he said.
While the Department of Justice alleges Debbins acted out of fealty toward Russia and disgust over the role of the United States military in the world, Debbins also signed for a $1,000 payment from the Russian agents using his codename, “Ikar Lesnikov.”
Around 2003, Debbins allegedly accepted a bottle of cognac and a Russian military uniform as a gift from two Russian agents, who also offered to train him to deceive polygraph tests, according to the indictment.
After Debbins left the active duty military in the mid-2000s, he allegedly again traveled to Russia to meet with the foreign agents and discussed potential business opportunities, but one agent suggested he pursue U.S. government work instead.
In the final 2010 meeting outlined by the indictment, prosecutors suggest Debbins told the Russian agents he didn’t bring a flash drive of U.S. military field manuals with him because he was scared the Department of Homeland Security would find them. 
&#8220;The facts alleged in this case are a shocking betrayal by a former Army officer of his fellow soldiers and his country,&#8221; said Alan Kohler Jr., assistant director for counter intelligence at the FBI.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the DOJ charged a former CIA official, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 67, earlier this week for allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-officer-from-hong-kong-charged-for-allegedly-giving-classified-info-to-motherland-china">sending top secret information</a> to Chinese officials over the course of a decade, a conspiracy that the department accused him of beginning in 2001.
“Two espionage arrests in the past week — Ma in Hawaii and now Debbins in Virginia — demonstrate that we must remain vigilant against espionage from our two most malicious adversaries — Russia and China,” said Demers.
Both Ma and Debbins face up to life in prison if convicted.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Justice Department Inspector General Releases Report On Investigation Into FISA Warrant Process During The 2016 Election

Former Army Officer Charged With Espionage, Described Himself As ‘Son Of Russia,’ Says DOJ

espionage

A former U.S. Army captain has been charged for allegedly conspiring to deliver defense information to Russian agents working for the country’s military

Former Army Officer Charged With Espionage, Described Himself As ‘Son Of Russia,&#039; Says DOJ | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-army-officer-charged-with-espionage-described-himself-as-son-of-russia-says-doj/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/DOJ.jpg

Federal authorities have charged former White House adviser Steve Bannon with defrauding “hundreds of thousands of donors” with a campaign purportedly set up to build a wall along the U.S. southern border.
Along with Bannon, authorities arrested three other We Build The Wall organizers and executives: Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea. The We Build The Wall nonprofit has raised over $25 million since it was announced in early 2019.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) announced the indictments and arrests in a press release on Friday. Each man involved is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands">statement</a>. “While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle. We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case, and we remain dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting fraud wherever we find it.”
Kolfage, a disabled Air Force veteran, worked with Bannon to sell We Build The Wall’s mission and raise massive amounts of money, much of which was then used to pay for the men’s lifestyles and settle personal expenses, according to the SDNY. Kolfage allegedly took $350,000 from donor funds while Bannon allegedly misdirected over $1 million.
We Build The Wall was sold to donors first as a way to fund President Trump’s push to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, then as a private venture to build the wall after <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/27/border-wall-gofundme-cancer-dox/">Kolfage</a> said the federal government would not accept the funds. Kolfage claimed that his nonprofit’s bylaws barred him from taking a salary, and Bannon sold the campaign as “a volunteer organization.” Early reports raised skepticism about the operation, however, after Kolfage <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/14/brian-kolfage-gofundme-questions/">refused</a> to make public the bylaws of his organization that he had cited.
The New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) aided the SDNY in the investigation.
“The defendants allegedly engaged in fraud when they misrepresented the true use of donated funds,” said Philip Bartlett, inspector-in-charge of the USPIS’s New York office. “As alleged, not only did they lie to donors, they schemed to hide their misappropriation of funds by creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth. This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Steve Bannon

Steve Bannon Indicted In DOJ Crackdown On ‘We Build The Wall’ Fundraiser

Federal authorities have charged former White House adviser Steve Bannon with defrauding “hundreds of thousands of donors” with a campaign purportedly set

Steve Bannon Indicted In DOJ Crackdown On ‘We Build The Wall’ Fundraiser | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/steve-bannon-indicted-in-doj-crackdown-on-we-build-the-wall-fundraiser/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Steve-Bannon.jpg

A Republican congressman formally asked the Department of Justice on Wednesday to investigate the recent spike of vandalism against Catholic churches and religious icons in the United States.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr urging the DOJ &#8220;to continue to protect religious freedom and combat religious discrimination in the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, I sent a letter to AG Barr urging the DOJ to protect religious freedom &amp; combat religious discrimination in the U.S. My letter comes after numerous reports of vandalism at Catholic churches across the nation, including an incident in Chattanooga,&#8221; Fleischmann tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today, I sent a letter to AG Barr urging the DOJ to protect religious freedom &amp; combat religious discrimination in the U.S.
My letter comes after numerous reports of vandalism at Catholic Churches across the nation, including an incident in Chattanooga.<a href="https://t.co/LFyLdEzFbi">https://t.co/LFyLdEzFbi</a> <a href="https://t.co/YuIRBkBu2m">pic.twitter.com/YuIRBkBu2m</a>
&mdash; Chuck Fleischmann (@RepChuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChuck/status/1291039097969168389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Attached to his tweet was the letter, which reads in part:
<blockquote>Since June, there have been nearly a dozen reported attacks on Catholic churches around the nation. These disturbing attacks range from arson to the beheading of a statue of the Virgin Mary.
I find these attacks to be a disturbing trend, happening in multiple areas across the nation, including within my own congressional district.
In times of uncertainty we naturally turn to religion for comfort and peace, something many Americans are seeking as we combat COVID-19, but these attacks add another level of distress for many across our nation.</blockquote>
Fleischmann concluded by commending the DOJ&#8217;s commitment under Barr&#8217;s leadership to combatting religious discrimination.
Fleischmann expanded on his views to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-congressman-calls-for-doj-investigation-into-anti-catholic-vandalism" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Washington Examiner</a>, saying, &#8220;These people who would desecrate any house of worship — whether it is a Catholic church or any other house of worship — need to know that it won’t be tolerated. And I think it rises to the level of a hate crime.&#8221;
“I would like to have a recognition that this problem exists, it persists, and sadly, it is not isolated to one city or one state,&#8221; Fleischmann continued. &#8220;I think it needs to be looked at very carefully and addressed for the danger that it is.”
Amid the vandalism of historical statues that has taken place this summer in the wake of George Floyd&#8217;s death, houses of worship have not been spared. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/catholic-churches-across-the-country-burned-vandalized-over-the-weekend" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> on July 13, &#8220;At least four Catholic churches in four states were vandalized over the weekend in a string of attacks that have authorities wondering whether religious icons and statues are next to be targeted by anti-racism and &#8216;anti-fascist&#8217; protesters.&#8221;
Among those attacked that weekend was a statue of the Virgin Mary at St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Bishop Rick Stika. Fleischmann responded to Stika, tweeting, &#8220;This is a disturbing attack on Catholicism and religion. Sadly, it is among a series of attacks on Catholic churches that have happened in recent days. I hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, but I also pray that they will find their way to God as well.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is a disturbing attack on Catholicism and religion.
Sadly, it is among a series of attacks on Catholic churches that have happened in recent days.
I hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, but I also pray that they will find their way to God as well. <a href="https://t.co/MFPHZhqn3h">https://t.co/MFPHZhqn3h</a>
&mdash; Chuck Fleischmann (@RepChuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChuck/status/1283420188835287040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In April, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a <a href="https://apnews.com/4c26cee04913a946594c8f18a4de1f14" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">similar letter</a> to Barr, urging him to remain vigilant against potential religious discrimination in New York City, especially instances of anti-Semitism, after Mayor Bill de Blasio personally helped to <a href="https://apnews.com/0a1ed0c5f78034da35091985e96e76f5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">disperse</a> a Hasidic funeral in Brooklyn for the sake of social distancing.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/connecticut-catholic-church-vandalized-with-satanic-symbols-sacred-statues-desecrated-in-florida-colorado" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Connecticut Catholic Church Vandalized With ‘Satanic Symbols,’ Sacred Statues Desecrated In Florida, Colorado</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Chuck Fleischmann

‘A Disturbing Trend’: GOP Congressman Asks DOJ To Investigate Alleged Anti-Catholic Vandalism

Catholicism

Tennessee

A Republican congressman formally asked the Department of Justice on Wednesday to investigate the recent spike of vandalism against Catholic churches and

‘A Disturbing Trend’: GOP Congressman Asks DOJ To Investigate Alleged Anti-Catholic Vandalism | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-disturbing-trend-gop-congressman-asks-doj-to-investigate-alleged-anti-catholic-vandalism/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/GettyImages-512251744.jpg

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/operation-legend-expanded-cleveland-detroit-and-milwaukee">announced</a> it was extending Operation Legend, an initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime and was already in place in Kansas City, Missouri, Chicago, and Albuquerque, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee.
The initiative was named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City. It was first launched in Kansas City and extended to Chicago and Albuquerque. The operation announced its first arrest on July 20.
On July 22, President Trump spoke of Operation Legend. He <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-operation-legend-combatting-violent-crime-american-cities/">stated</a>:
<blockquote>My first duty as President is to protect the American people, and today I’m taking action to fulfill that sacred obligation. In recent weeks, there has been a radical movement to defund, dismantle, and dissolve our police departments. Extreme politicians have joined this anti-police crusade and relentlessly vilified our law enforcement heroes. To look at it from any standpoint, the effort to shut down policing in their own communities has led to a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders, and heinous crimes of violence.  This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end.
Today, I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime. We’ll work every single day to restore public safety, protect our nation’s children, and bring violent perpetrators to justice. We’ve been doing it, and you’ve been seeing what’s happening all around the country. We’ve just started this process, and, frankly, we have no choice but to get involved.</blockquote>
“The most basic responsibility of government is to protect the safety of our citizens,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Today, we have extended Operation Legend to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, three cities that have seen disturbing increases in violent crime, particularly homicides. For decades, the Department of Justice has achieved significant success when utilizing our anti-violent crime task forces and federal law enforcement agents to enforce federal law and assist American cities that are experiencing upticks in violent crime. The Department of Justice’s assets will supplement local law enforcement efforts, as we work together to take the shooters and chronic violent criminals off of our streets.”
The DOJ stated, “Cleveland is currently experiencing a significant increase in violent crime, with homicides currently up more than 13 percent and shootings up over 35 percent over 2019. Similarly, homicides are up in Detroit nearly 31 percent and shootings resulting in wounds are up over 53 percent. In Milwaukee, homicides are up 85 percent this year, and non-fatal shootings are up 64 percent.&#8221;
25 federal investigators from the FBI, DEA, and ATF are being sent to Cleveland and are supported by $1 million from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The DOJ noted, “The COPS Office has also made almost $10 million available to the Cleveland Police Department to fund the hiring of 30 officers, five Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, and four Adult Parole Authority officers.”
42 federal agents from the FBI, DEA, and ATF will be sent to Detroit; supported by $1.4 million from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Ten more ATF agents from Detroit will be reassigned to work on violent gun crimes. The COPS Office will offer $2.4 million to the Detroit Police Department to hire 15 officers.
25 federal investigators from the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals Service will be sent to Milwaukee. The DOJ stated, “The Bureau of Justice Assistance will make available $1.9 million in funding to support Operation Legend’s violent crime reduction efforts in Milwaukee, and the COPS Office has also made $10.2 million available to the Police Departments of Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and Cudahy to fund the hiring of 29 officers.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

DOJ Initiative To Fight Violent Crime Extended To Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee

Cleveland

Detroit

Milwaukee

Violent crime

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced it was extending Operation Legend, an initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in

DOJ Initiative To Fight Violent Crime Extended To Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-initiative-to-fight-violent-crime-extended-to-cleveland-detroit-milwaukee/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/03/GettyImages-826386950.jpg

Menu