Washington, D.C., Mayor Democrat <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/muriel-bowser">Muriel Bowser</a> appeared to avoid addressing a question on why she will not allow unvaccinated black school children back in the classroom this fall by claiming that the statistics she was provided with were inaccurate.
Though many school districts have moved away from such restrictive measures, Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/d-c-s-vaccine-mandate-might-disproportionately-affect-black-students-exacerbate-racial-inequity">mandates</a> that children 12 and older be “up-to-date on required vaccinations before returning this August.”
A significant portion of D.C.&#8217;s black students is not vaccinated, sparking concerns that the mandate disproportionately impacts these children. And on Monday, The Daily Signal&#8217;s Douglas Blair questioned the D.C. mayor about &#8220;how she could justify forcing 40% of unvaccinated black students to stay home from school.&#8221;
&#8220;Why is the District continuing with this policy when it seems to disproportionately impact black students?&#8221; he asked.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think that number is correct,&#8221; Bowser responded, though the numbers Blair cited appear to coincide with those put forth by the D.C. Department of Health. &#8220;We have substantially fewer number of kids that we have to engage with vaccination. And I explained why it&#8217;s important. It&#8217;s important for the public health of our students and that we can maintain safe environments.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I asked D.C. <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorBowser?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorBowser</a> how she could justify forcing 40% of unvaccinated black students to stay home from school. She said my numbers were wrong. They&#39;re her numbers. <a href="https://t.co/Gmoidu1YuU">pic.twitter.com/Gmoidu1YuU</a>
&mdash; Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) <a href="https://twitter.com/DouglasKBlair/status/1559226039670284289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
On Monday, the office of the deputy mayor for education told The Daily Wire  that approximately 85% of students 12 and older have completed their primary series of COVID vaccination, noting that 95% of students have received at least one shot. The office of the deputy mayor for education believes actual coverage is higher than this due to incomplete data.
D.C. Department of Health spokeswoman Kelsey Felton also confirmed to The Daily Wire on Monday that while approximately 85% of children age 12-17 are vaccinated, 60% of African-American children age 12-17 are known to have already received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
&#8220;The actual percentages are likely higher because not all vaccines administered outside of the District are known to DC Health,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;The race-specific coverage number is particularly likely to be an underestimate because the COVID-19 vaccination records DC Health does receive from outside of the District often do not include both age and race.&#8221;
&#8220;In the District of Columbia, as in every state in the U.S., children are required to be vaccinated against many diseases to attend school, with exemptions granted for medical or religious reasons,&#8221; Felton continued. &#8220;For the upcoming 2022-23 school year, vaccination against COVID-19 is included among these requirements for children over the age of 12.   DC Health believes that vaccinating children against COVID-19 is an important action to protect them and their families from this virus.&#8221;
D.C.’s Council, rather than a school board, <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/12/dc-council-approves-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-students/">made</a> the decision to mandate the vaccine despite a Council Office of Racial Equity (CORE) <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/12/report-warns-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-dc-students-could-increase-racial-inequity/">report</a> on the legislation that found “enforcement of the bill will exacerbate racial inequity by disproportionately removing Black students from school.”
“This may result in increased learning loss, additional negative social and educational outcomes and in blocking students from vital school resources,” the report found.
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-july-2022/">released in late July</a> found that many parents don’t plan to get their child vaccinated against COVID, citing “concerns about the newness of the vaccine and not enough testing or research, concerns over side effects, and worries over the overall safety of the vaccines.”
The survey also found that “about one in ten parents say they do not think their child needs the vaccine or say they are not worried about COVID-19.”
Additionally, the survey reported that 44% of black parents with unvaccinated kids between six months and four years old are concerned that getting their child vaccinated would mean that they take time off work (or that the vaccine would give the child side effects that would require the parent to take time off work).
Similarly, 45% of Hispanic parents expressed fears that they would not be able to get their children vaccinated at a trustworthy place.
Some parents (53%) even view the vaccine as a greater danger to their child’s health than COVID itself. The survey found that 67% of those whose children have previously tested positive for COVID believe this.

Screen Shot 2022-08-15 at 2.33.25 PM

D.C. Mayor Dodges Question On Why She Won’t Allow Unvaccinated Black Students In Schools This Fall

D.C. Mayor Dodges Addressing Why She Won't Let Unvaccinated Black Kids In Schools

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

Muriel Bowser

Students

Unvaccinated

Washington D.C.

A man reportedly drove a vehicle into a barrier near the U.S. Capitol Building before firing into the air and fatally shooting himself, according to Capitol Police.
The incident occurred early Sunday morning at approximately 4 a.m. at the street barrier at East Capitol Street and 2nd Street in Washington, D.C.
The man has been identified as 29-year-old Richard A. York III of Delaware, according to an updated <a href="https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/law-enforcement-investigating-car-crash-gunshots-and-suicide-east" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the Capitol Police.
&#8220;It is still not clear why he chose to drive to the Capitol Complex,&#8221; authorities said.
The initial police report described the scene of the vehicle crash and its aftermath.
&#8220;While the man was getting out of the car, it became engulfed in flames,&#8221; the release said. &#8220;The man then fired several shots into the air along East Capitol Street.&#8221;
&#8220;When our officers heard the sound of gunfire, they immediately responded and were approaching the man when he shot himself,&#8221; it added. &#8220;Nobody else was hurt.&#8221;
The initial report noted that the man did not appear to be targeting any member of Congress, as U.S. lawmakers are currently on recess. Officers reportedly did not fire their weapons.
Investigators are looking into the driver’s background, according to the police report.
“We don’t have any information that would indicate his motivation at this point,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger stated at a news conference following the event, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/14/capitol-barricade-rammed-shots-fired/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Washington Post.
The incident comes as threats reportedly escalated against law enforcement nationwide following the FBI&#8217;s search of former President Donald Trump&#8217;s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The crash occurred more than a year after another vehicle drove into a Capitol barricade in April 2021. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/media-quickly-moves-on-from-man-who-killed-capitol-police-officer-after-learning-he-supported-louis-farrakhan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attacker</a>, Noah Green, killed one officer and injured another before authorities fatally shot him.
Green, a follower of Louis Farrakhan&#8217;s Nation of Islam, reportedly exited the crashed car with a knife before being fatally shot.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.
This is a developing story. Updates may be added.

U.S. Capitol barrier

Man Fatally Shoots Himself After Ramming Into U.S. Capitol Barrier

Capitol Police

Shooting

US Capitol

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/texas">Texas</a> officials have released the consent form the state is giving <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/immigration">migrants</a> to sign before busing them north to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city">New York City</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington-d-c">Washington, D.C.</a>
Republican Texas Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/greg-abbott">Greg Abbott</a> began <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-texas-to-start-busing-illegal-immigrants-to-washington-d-c-as-biden-scraps-trump-era-border-policy">busing</a> migrants who crossed the southern border illegally up to the nation&#8217;s capital as well as New York City, citing the city&#8217;s promise to be a “sanctuary city” for migrants, in April.
The waivers, released to media group Nexstar by state officials on Wednesday in both English and Spanish, ask for the migrant&#8217;s consent to be transported &#8220;by the State of Texas or its designated agency officials&#8221; to destinations outside of Texas “such as Washington, D.C. or New York, New York,” <a href="https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/texas-is-giving-migrants-these-consent-forms-before-busing-to-nyc-washington-dc/">according</a> to Border Report.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-423547 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/English-waiver-553x576.jpg" alt="" width="553" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/English-waiver-553x576.jpg 553w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/English-waiver-288x300.jpg 288w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/English-waiver-768x799.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/English-waiver.jpg 1224w" sizes="(max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px" /></div>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-423548 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/spanish-waiver-568x576.jpg" alt="" width="568" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/spanish-waiver-568x576.jpg 568w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/spanish-waiver-296x300.jpg 296w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/spanish-waiver-768x779.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/spanish-waiver.jpg 1348w" sizes="(max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px" /></div>
The forms ask migrants for their name, signature, date of birth, the current date, the location of departure, and the location of arrival. Below the signature lines, Washington, D.C., and New York City are listed as the two &#8220;available destinations.&#8221;
Democrat New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/eric-adams">Eric Adams</a> has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-migrants-eric-adams-slams-greg-abbott-today/">called</a> Abbott’s migrant busing plan “horrific” and <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1556287447243411458">accused</a> Abbott of using the migrants as “political pawns” to “manufacture a crisis.” 
Adams claimed that some of the migrant families wanted to go to other locations but were forced on the buses to New York.
The mayor has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-city-mayor-warns-everyones-block-is-going-to-be-impacted-by-influx-of-illegal-aliens">said</a> the city’s goal is to find out each family’s needs and help them with whatever assistance they want, but the city has struggled to place families in homeless shelters in a timely manner. Last week, New York estimated that <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/home/downloads/pdf/press-releases/2022/Asylum-Seeker-Services-Shelter-Emergency-Deck.pdf">about</a> 4,000 asylum seekers have been sheltered in New York’s homeless system since May. 
The first bus of migrants arrived in Washington, D.C., on April 13, and migrants just started arriving in New York on Friday. So far, more than 6,500 migrants have been bused to Washington, D.C., and New York, Abbott&#8217;s office <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/operation-lone-star-ramps-up-busing-of-migrants-to-nyc-d.c-to-provide-relief-to-border-communities">said</a>. Arizona has also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/us/migrants-buses-washington-texas.html">bused</a> about 1,000 migrants to other states.
The border crisis is continuing to overwhelm authorities in Texas. As of the end of June, there have been a <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/18/us-shatters-record-for-migrant-border-stops-in-single-year/">record </a>1.75 million stops along the southern border since October 1, the most Customs and Border Protection has recorded since 1960.
Abbott <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/07/eric-adams-texas-migrants-new-york-00050235">said</a> in a statement Friday that Texas has had to take “unprecedented action” to keep its communities safe. The governor said that along with D.C., New York is the “ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.” 
Abbott added that he hopes Adams “follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.&#8221;
&nbsp;

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-MIGRANTS

Here’s The Consent Form Texas Gives Migrants Before Busing Them To NYC, DC

Here's The Consent Form Texas Gives Migrants Before Busing Them To NYC, DC

Eric Adams

Greg Abbott

New York City

Texas

A third person died Friday after a bolt of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/weather">lightning</a> struck near the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house">White House</a> in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington-d-c">Washington, D.C.</a>, Thursday evening.
The bolt hit a tree in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House during an evening storm, according to authorities. On Friday, D.C. police <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/08/4-people-in-critical-condition-after-lightning-strike-near-white-house/">announced</a> that a 29-year-old man had died due to injuries from the strike. He was one of four victims rushed to the hospital in critical condition after the strike.
Victims James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, both died on Friday after the incident as well. The married couple was visiting the nation&#8217;s capital to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary
According to WTOP news, the Muellers <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/08/4-people-in-critical-condition-after-lightning-strike-near-white-house/">had</a> five children, 10 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
The fourth victim is reportedly in critical condition.
“We are saddened by the tragic loss of life after the lightning strike in Lafayette Park. Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones, and we are praying for those still fighting for their lives,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said after the Muellers&#8217; deaths in a statement, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/05/1115883444/lightning-strike-near-white-house">NPR</a>.
Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist and lightning expert who works as an analyst for a company that makes weather instruments, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/04/lightning-strike-white-house-injuries/">told</a> The Washington Post that there was a “6 stroke flash near the White House that hit the same point on the ground” which means that six separate lightning strikes hit the same exact spot in a fraction of a second.
According to the National Weather Service, the average number of annual deaths recorded from lightning strikes (based on data from 2009 – 2018) is 27.
“Over the last 30 years (1989 – 2018) the U.S. has averaged 43 reported lightning fatalities per year,” National Weather Service noted. “Only about 10% of people who are struck by lightning are killed, leaving 90% with various degrees of disability.”
Immediately after the tragedy occurred, a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services department issued a statement thanking United States Park Police members and Secret Service agents for their assistance.
“This statement is being made inside of a vehicle due to was significant storm conditions that are currently taking place in the area,” the spokesman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-video-captures-moment-lightning-critically-injured-several-outside-white-house">said</a>. “At 6:52pm, DC fire and EMS received a report of a lightning strike in Lafayette Park with multiple patients. When we arrived, we found a total of four patients. There were two adult males and there were two adult females. All four were suffering from critical life threatening injuries.”
“We were able to quickly treat and transport all four patients and they were all taken to area hospitals,” the spokesman continued. “We want to make note of the fact that uniformed officers from both the United States Secret Service uniformed division, as well as the United States Park Police who witnessed this lightning strike, we want to thank them for immediately responding to the scene and rendering aid to the for injured individuals.”
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.

President Biden Hosts The White House Congressional Picnic On The South Lawn

Third Person Dies After Being Struck By Lightning Near White House

Weather

White House

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christopher-wray">Christopher Wray</a> said he found a whistleblower report on allegedly improper FBI handling of a federal probe of Hunter Biden “deeply troubling.&#8221;
Wray <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-head-disciplinary-action-over-crossfire-hurricane-has-slowed-down">testified</a> in front of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate">Senate</a> Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The hearing comes after recent whistleblower accounts accused officials at the bureau of wrongly dismissing potentially incriminating evidence against Hunter Biden during the 2020 election.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) brought up a letter Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the committee, sent to Wray last month detailing whistleblower allegations that FBI intelligence analyst Brian Auten and other officials wrongly dismissed verifiable and potentially damning information about Biden as disinformation in the months prior to the 2020 election.
“I want to be very careful not to interfere with ongoing personnel matters. I should say that when I read the letter that describes the kinds of things that you are talking about, I found it deeply troubling,” Wray said.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before Senate committee" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x7VhzAbr2fM?start=11026&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Grassley <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/whistleblowers-reports-reveal-double-standard-in-pursuit-of-politically-charged-investigations-by-senior-fbi-doj-officials">wrote</a> Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland on July 25 outlining whistleblower allegations against Auten and other FBI officials.
In August 2020, Auten, as part of his responsibilities vetting information, created an assessment which a team of FBI agents used to discredit potentially damaging information the bureau had received on Hunter Biden, according to the letter.
“FBI Headquarters” used Auten’s report to “improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote. “[T]he allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”
Another FBI official, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault, &#8220;allegedly ordered the matter closed without providing a valid reason as required by FBI guidelines,&#8221; Grassley stated.
&#8220;Despite the matter being closed in such a way that the investigative avenue might be opened later, it’s alleged that FBI officials, including ASAC Thibault, subsequently attempted to improperly mark the matter in FBI systems so that it could not be opened in the future,&#8221; the senator wrote.

Christopher Wray

FBI Head Wray Found Reports On ‘Improperly’ Dismissed Hunter Biden Info ‘Deeply Troubling’

FBI Head Wray Found Reports On 'Improperly' Dismissed Hunter Biden Info 'Deeply Troubling'

U.S. Senate

Two people are dead and two others are injured after a bolt of lightning struck near the White House in Washington, D.C., Thursday evening.
The bolt hit a tree in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House during an evening storm. James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, died from injuries sustained in the incident, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/white-house-lightning-strike/index.html">CNN</a>. The couple was visiting the nation’s capital from Wisconsin.
The condition of the two others injured is not immediately clear. The party was sheltering from the storm under the tree when the lightning struck.
“We are saddened by the tragic loss of life after the lightning strike in Lafayette Park. Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones, and we are praying for those still fighting for their lives,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/05/1115883444/lightning-strike-near-white-house">NPR</a>.
D.C. Fire and EMS official Vito Maggiolo urged people to shelter indoors during a storm.
“If you see lightning or hear thunder, you should seek shelter inside of a building or a vehicle. Do not attempt to seek shelter under a tree,” he said, according to NPR.

Two Dead After Lightning Strikes Near White House

A retired <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington">Washington, D.C.</a> police lieutenant shot and killed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/police">police officer</a> Thursday during a training session inside a city library, police said.
In a news conference Thursday afternoon, a Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said said the shooting happened in the city&#8217;s Anacostia Library, a public branch of the city&#8217;s library system. Maurica Manyan, 25, of Indian Head, Maryland, who worked as a public library special police officer, was allegedly shot by Jesse Porter, 58, in the incident. Porter was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ex-officer-charged-in-fatal-shooting-at-dc-special-officer-training/ar-AA10lGpR">police told News4</a>.
&#8220;Officers arrived at this location and found a library police officer unconscious suffering from a gunshot wound,&#8221; Contee said. &#8220;What we&#8217;ve learned so far, is that there was a training that was taking place.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="News Conference About Library Police Officer Shot and Killed in DC" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HBdRmfdHZv4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The female officer, described as a &#8220;library police officer,&#8221; was pronounced dead at an area hospital. Other library police officers, as well as the retired lieutenant, were being interviewed late Thursday afternoon, according to officials.
Metropolitan Police officials were working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in the investigation into exactly what happened. Porter was conducting training on how to use an extended baton made by a company called ASP, Contee said.
&#8220;The training was being conducted by a retired member of the Metropolitan Police Department, a retired lieutenant, who was conducting training in one of the training rooms, and at some point &#8230; at the end of the training, the retired lieutenant fired a shot from a weapon that struck this police officer,&#8221; Congee said.
Sources told News4 that Porter drew a handgun to illustrate how quickly it could be done, but fired one shot, striking the special police officer in the chest. Homicide detectives were called to the scene and were looking into why the trainer had live ammunition.
“I don’t have answers as to why the live firearm was in ASP baton training,” Contee said.

Crime Scene

Retired D.C. Police Lieutenant Shoots, Kills Fellow Cop in Library Training Session: Police

Guns

Police

The disciplinary process of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> agents who mishandled the 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation has “slowed” while special counsel John Durham&#8217;s investigation continues, according to FBI Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christopher-wray">Christopher Wray</a>.
Wray testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The director’s testimony comes as the bureau is again mired in controversy over recent whistleblower allegations that it wrongly dismissed potentially incriminating evidence against Hunter Biden during the 2020 election. Whistleblowers also accused the bureau of exaggerating the threat from domestic extremists.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) questioned the FBI director on the apparent lack of movement on disciplining staff involved with the seriously flawed investigation into false claims of Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
“Well, we’ve taken a whole slew of actions in response to the Crossfire Hurricane report. I think over 40-plus corrective measures and so forth,” Wray said.
The senator from North Carolina responded: “Has anybody in the bureau been fired or disciplined?”
“There are a number of people who are currently in what we call the office of professional responsibility, which is our disciplinary arm. You may wonder why has that not yielded its results yet, and that is because we are working closely with, cooperating closely with, and assisting the Durham investigation,” Wray answered. “And so that whole process, which is not unusual, has been sort of slowed down to make sure that it does not interfere with the Durham investigation.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before Senate committee" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x7VhzAbr2fM?start=9128&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz released the <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2019/o20012.pdf">findings</a> of his investigation into the origins of Crossfire Hurricane in December 2019, identifying “at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the [former Trump campaign adviser] Carter Page FISA applications, and many additional errors in the Woods Procedures.”
After the release of the report, Wray, who became the FBI’s director in 2017 after the firing of his predecessor James Comey, pledged to prioritize institutional reform and accountability.
“[W]e will review the performance and conduct of certain FBI employees who were referenced in the Report’s recommendations — including managers, supervisors, and senior officials at the time. The FBI will take appropriate disciplinary action where warranted,” Wray wrote in a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-director-christopher-wray-response-to-inspector-general-report">letter</a> to the inspector general.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/whistleblowers-reports-reveal-double-standard-in-pursuit-of-politically-charged-investigations-by-senior-fbi-doj-officials">wrote</a> Wray last month detailing whistleblower allegations that at least one person at the FBI ostensibly under review for mishandling the Crossfire Hurricane investigation is involved with further misconduct involving the bureau’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
In August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten falsely assessed the damaging information that the bureau had received on Biden as fake. Auten dismissed the verifiable and potentially damning reports on Biden as disinformation, whistleblowers allege, according to Grassley.
“FBI Headquarters” used Auten’s report to “improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote. “[T]he allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”

FBI Head: Disciplinary Action Over Crossfire Hurricane Has ‘Slowed Down’

Crossfire Hurricane

Thom Tillis

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christopher-wray">Christopher Wray</a> is expected to testify in front of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate">Senate</a> on Thursday as he leads an agency battered by controversy and whistleblower allegations that the bureau’s work is deeply tainted by politics.
Some of the most pertinent questions Wray is expected to field involve allegations that high-up officials in the FBI meddled in the 2020 election, from covering up incriminating information about President Joe Biden’s family to overemphasizing the threat of domestic terrorism. Whistleblower accounts made public in recent weeks suggest the allegations have weight.
Wray took over as head of the FBI in August 2017 after the firing of former Director James Comey, whose legacy was marred by the FBI’s handling of investigations of both of the major candidates in the 2016 presidential election.
As FBI head, Wray <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-director-christopher-wray-response-to-inspector-general-report">said</a> institutional reform is a priority. The FBI is dedicated to cleaning out internal bad actors and erecting safeguards to prevent a repeat of the failings of 2016, he told the inspector general of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Accounts from whistleblowers and others suggest Wray has fallen short on his pledge to protect the FBI’s credibility.
Covering for Hunter Biden
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_justice_deptfbipoliticalbiasfollowup.pdf">letter</a> to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland last month detailing whistleblower allegations that the FBI wrongly, and duplicitously, classified potentially damning information about Hunter Biden, the president’s son, as disinformation.
“The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI’s receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI’s false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation. The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter,” Grassley wrote.
Whistleblowers told Grassley that the FBI obtained information in 2020 — just months before the November election — suggesting the younger Biden may have committed financial fraud and other crimes. In August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten falsely assessed the information on Biden as fake.
Before reviewing the Biden information, Auten seemingly went under official review for his role in the botched 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Auten “failed to advise” others at the FBI of inconsistencies and false information in the notorious Steele Dossier, according to an inspector general report of Crossfire Hurricane failings. Wray told the DOJ inspector general that the bureau would “review the performance and conduct” of all agents who played a role in the failings identified in the inspector general’s report.
“FBI Headquarters” used Auten’s report to “improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote. “[T]he allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”
In December 2020, months after Auten’s audit and one month after the election, Hunter Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-biden-says-tax-affairs-under-federal-investigation">revealed</a> that his “tax affairs” are under investigation by the DOJ.
Playing up right-wing extremism
In April, a West Michigan jury acquitted two men and hung on charges against two others that federal prosecutors alleged to have conspired to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The jury’s decision was a harsh rebuke of a seven-month long FBI investigation that defendants claimed was riddled with misconduct and amounted to entrapment.
Federal agents arrested the defendants and two others in October 2020, a month before the presidential election. The FBI claimed to have busted a group of armed conspirators that had been plotting for months to kidnap and potentially assassinate the governor of Michigan. The FBI had hundreds of hours of recordings and footage of secret meetings, militia training sessions, and even recon trips to Whitmer’s cottage in northern Michigan.
The bust was hailed as “one of the most important domestic terrorism prosecutions in a generation,” according to <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/fbi-michigan-kidnap-whitmer">BuzzFeed</a>. The federal government’s case began to unravel, however, after it barred three of the FBI agents who worked on the case from testifying at trial over allegations of misconduct and criminal activity. An FBI confidential human source was barred from trial after the government accused him of being a “double agent” for the alleged conspirators.
The four defendants — two others charged pleaded guilty — said that FBI agents and sources pushed the alleged conspirators to greater lengths, led key aspects of the alleged conspiracy, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-worked-to-keep-alleged-conspiracist-in-violent-group-headed-for-split">kept</a> the group of defendants together when the inner circle was on the verge of rupturing. As the trial concluded in April 2022, not a single defendant who contested the charges was convicted.
At the time of the bust, the alleged conspiracy was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/us/verdict-whitmer-kidnapping-case.html">used</a> to stoke fears of a right-wing domestic extremism that wanted to use violence to spark a civil war. After the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the warnings grew more ominous as the Biden administration made combatting domestic extremism one of its top priorities.
Another FBI whistleblower letter, this one from Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblowers-accuse-fbi-of-padding-domestic-terrorism-stats-to-play-up-threat-report">said</a> the bureau is “padding domestic terrorism data” to make the threat seem larger than it is. The FBI is using inflated domestic terrorism data to give a false impression of the extremism originating on the Right, the letter suggests.
“From recent protected disclosures, we have learned that FBI officials are pressuring agents to reclassify cases as ‘domestic violent extremism’ even if the cases do not meet the criteria for such a classification. Given the narrative pushed by the Biden administration that domestic violent extremism is the ‘greatest threat’ facing our country, revelation that the FBI may be artificially padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous,” Jordan wrote in his July letter.

FBI 2020 Election Meddling Takes Center Stage As Director Chris Wray Readies Senate Testimony

2020 Election

Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott, throwing down the gauntlet to two Democrat mayors who have recently complained about illegal immigrants, invited them to come to Texas and have a first-hand look at the crisis at the southern border.
Abbott addressed New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. Adams recently <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/mayor-adams-influx-of-illegal-aliens-a-real-burden-on-new-yorkers/">complained</a> that the burgeoning number of illegal immigrants in his city comprised a “real burden” on his city; Bowser has been complaining for weeks that the number of immigrants arriving in buses sent by Abbott and Arizona GOP Governor Doug Ducey “have reached tipping points.”
“This crisis was created by President Biden and is one that requires immediate and decisive action to be stopped,” Abbott charged in a <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/O-MayorAdams_MayorBowser202208012153.pdf">letter</a> to Adams and Bowser. “As Governor of a southern border state, I have watched illegal crossings hit record highs over and over again since President Biden took office.”
“Unfortunately, President Biden and his ‘Border Czar’ Vice President Harris have refused to see this crisis for themselves—remaining willfully ignorant of the crisis that they have created,” Abboitt continued. “In fact, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas recently testified that the border is ‘safe and secure.’ It is neither safe nor secure, as you can both attest to.”
Then he offered, “As Governor, I invite you to visit our border region to see firsthand the dire situation that only grows more urgent with each passing day, and to meet with the local officials, who like yourselves, realize this matter deserves immediate federal action.”
&#8220;We agree that this crisis demands immediate federal action to prevent the flood of deadly fentanyl, now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, the unimaginable horrors caused by human smuggling and trafficking, the known terrorists from entering our country, and the countless other crimes that have been committed by the hundreds of thousands of ‘gotaways’ that the Biden Administration has let slip through,” Abbott declared in his letter to the mayors, concluding, “I look forward to welcoming you the Texas-Mexico border so that you can see this crisis for yourself.”
Adams had said that public services in New York were becoming &#8220;overburdened.&#8221;
“This is a real burden on New Yorkers as we’re trying to do the right thing. We already have an overburdened shelter system. So now we’re talking about food, clothing, school. This is going to impact our schools because we do not turn away individuals because they are undocumented,” he stated of the soaring number of illegal immigrants in his city.
On June 22, Abbott fired back at Adams after Adams had intimated that Abbott and Ducey were “cowards” for sending buses full of illegal immigrants to Washington D.C. “Our country is home of the free, land of the brave,” Adams <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/21/eric-adams-govs-abbott-ducey-cowards-for-sending-migrants-to-dc/">said</a>. “We do not become cowards and send people away who are looking for help.”
Abbott replied, “Mayor Adams&#8217; problem is not with Texas. It is with President Biden&#8217;s refusal to stop this border crisis and secure our southern border.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Mayor Adams should address his frustration w/ migrants to the root cause: Joe Biden.
I launched our border busing mission in April to help our local communities.
Biden has flown planeloads of migrants to NY.
The problem is not Texas. It&#39;s Biden&#39;s REFUSAL to secure our border. <a href="https://t.co/cPGgoL8n9B">pic.twitter.com/cPGgoL8n9B</a>
&mdash; Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1550587145538109441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

Texas Governor Greg Abbott Holds Get Out The Vote Event

Abbott Throws Down Gauntlet To NYC, D.C. Mayors On Illegal Immigration: Try Seeing The Border Up Close With Me

Illegal Immigration

A federal judge on Monday handed down the heaviest sentence yet to a defendant who was at the Capital riot — seven years to a Texas man who never entered the building.
A Washington, D.C., jury <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/texas-man-found-guilty-jury-felony-charges-actions-related-capitol-breach">convicted</a> Guy Reffitt, 49, of five felonies in March, including carrying a gun on U.S. Capitol grounds and threatening his children against reporting him to law enforcement. Reffitt was also convicted of two counts of civil disorder, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.
U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich declined a Department of Justice request to sentence Reffitt as a domestic terrorist, stating it would create an “unwarranted sentencing disparity,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/01/jan-6-terrorism-sentencing-penalty-00048922">Politico</a>. Treating Reffitt’s crimes as terrorism would have substantially increased Reffitt’s potential sentence; prosecutors had asked for a 15-year term.
“There are a lot of cases where defendants possessed weapons or committed very violent assaults,” Friedrich said, noting that the longest January 6 riot-related sentence to date is just over five years. “The government is asking for a sentence that is three times as long as any other defendant and the defendant did not assault an officer.”
Reffitt, a member of the militia group Texas Three Percenters, traveled to Washington D.C. with another militia member to protest the results of the 2020 election. Both men traveled to the nation’s capital armed with handguns and rifles.
On January 6, Reffitt arrived at the U.S. Capitol wearing a pistol on his hip, body armor, and a helmet with a camera on his head. Reffitt made it as far as the steps outside the Capitol’s Senate wing, but he never entered the building. He used a bullhorn to urge other protesters to storm inside.
“I didn’t come here to play — I’m taking the Capitol,” his camera <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/us/politics/guy-reffitt-january-6-trial.html">recorded</a> him saying. “I just want to see Pelosi’s head hitting every stair on the way out.”
The judge did grant that Reffitt was “in a class of his own so far as I’m aware in terms of what he was doing there that day, and what he claimed what he was there to do,” she said, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/01/reffitt-sentence-jan6/">The Washington Post</a>. Friedrich also said that the fact that Reffitt was armed was “huge,” but asked, “does the firearm deserve three times the sentence if it was not brandished or used in any way?”
Reffitt’s January 6 activities also caused a rift in his household.
His son testified against him during his March trial and supported prosecutors’ sentencing request with the caveat that Reffitt could receive rehabilitation and counseling in prison. The 19-year-old son, Jackson, told the jury at trial that his father threatened him and his sister about reporting the older man to the authorities.
“He said, ‘If you turn me in, you’re a traitor,’” Jackson recounted. “‘And traitors get shot.’”
Reffitt’s teen daughter sided with her father at his sentencing hearing, writing a letter to the judge asking for leniency. She placed the blame for the riot on then-President Donald Trump.
“My father’s name wasn’t on the flags that everyone was carrying there that day … There was another man’s name,” Peyton Reffitt wrote to the court, according to the Post. “He was not the leader.”

January 6

J6 Defendant Receives Harshest Sentence Yet After Son Testifies Against Him At Trial

Texas Republican Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/greg-abbott">Greg Abbott</a> effectively told Washington, D.C., Democrat Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/muriel-bowser">Muriel Bowser</a> to pound sand Thursday afternoon after she complained that the border state was flooding her city with illegal aliens.
The exchange comes as critics and many experts have said that Democrat President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden&#8217;s</a> policies have led to the unprecedented <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/border-crisis">border crisis</a> that has seen hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens flood southern border states for the overwhelming majority of Biden&#8217;s presidency.
“With pledges from Texas and Arizona to continue these abhorrent operations indefinitely, the situation is dire, and we consider this a humanitarian crisis — one that could overwhelm our social support network without immediate and sustained federal intervention,” Bowser wrote in requesting help from the National Guard.
“We’ve had a number of discussions,” she said. “We’ve facilitated FEMA’s involvement with a million dollar grant that has now been increased to work with a lead nonprofit agency. We’ve facilitated using those grant funds to set up respite center in a neighboring jurisdiction and I’ve also asked the Secretary of the Army to deploy the D.C. National Guard to help lead that effort.”
Abbott responded on Twitter, writing: &#8220;D.C. is experiencing a fraction of the disastrous impact the border crisis has caused Texas.&#8221;
&#8220;Mayor Bowser should stop attacking Texas for securing the border &amp; demand Joe Biden do his job,&#8221; Abbott added.
Bowser said in her letter that she expects the &#8220;crisis&#8221; in D.C., a term that Democrats have <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/19/white-house-backtracks-bidens-comment-crisis-border/7288376002/">resisted</a> using when talking about Biden&#8217;s border crisis, &#8220;to escalate.&#8221; “The number of people crossing the border seeking asylum, we expect to only go up, we need to make sure that there is a national response, not an ad hoc city by city, state by state response,” she continued.
Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mayor-bowser-requests-dc-national-guard-migrant-buses">told</a> the Washington Examiner that the nation&#8217;s capital, which is overwhelmingly deep blue, &#8220;finally understands what Texans have been dealing with every single day, as our communities are overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal immigrants thanks to President Biden’s open border policies.”
Bowser had sent letters to President Joe Biden’s administration and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency asking that the National Guard be indefinitely activated and for permission to use the D.C. Armory as a processing center.
Over the past three months, more than 150 buses have reportedly transported over 4,000 migrants to D.C. from Arizona and Texas.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.

Greg Abbott Muriel Bowser

Governor Abbott Blasts Mayor Bowser For Whining About Illegal Alien ‘Crisis’ Coming To D.C. From Texas

Biden Administration

Border Crisis

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