Two California boys were in critical condition after they were shot by a maniac at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo, California, on Friday.

The maniac, Glenn Litton, took a tour of the school with school administrators pretending to be a grandparent for a child who was interested in attending the school.

After the tour, the shooter headed to the parking lot but then turned around and started firing on the playground, hitting the two little boys.

One of the little boys was shot three times, and the other was hit one time. They are in critical condition.

The shooter turned the gun on himself and died on the school grounds.

The boys are in critical but stable condition.

12/5/24 UPDATE- The five and six-year-old victims from yesterday’s shooting are in critical but stable condition as they continue to receive treatment at an area hospital.

We have positively identified the suspect and are diligently working to establish the motive. pic.twitter.com/43hT12EgwP

— Butte County Sheriff (@ButteSheriff) December 5, 2024

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com.

In August, the nation’s second-largest school district announced a major policy shift that caused the soon-to-be-unemployed minds at the Los Angeles Times editorial board to collectively explode last month. Why?

Because in the wake of a federal civil rights complaint filed by Parents Defending Education in 2023, the U.S. Department of Education forced the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to open up its $120 million Black Student Achievement Plan tutoring program to all students with academic need – no longer conditioning participation on skin color alone.

Read that again: a public school system – underwritten by public tax dollars – is no longer allowed to discriminate on the basis of race. In 2024.

The horror!

Just what was this program, though? Depending on a learner’s skin color, totally different courses were offered; for example, during the 2020-2021 school year, students of color were given exclusive resources including a “Black Cultural Arts Passport,” “STEM Makerspace Labs,” and “Parent Workshops and Community Fairs.” Students of other racial backgrounds, however, were left out of these learning opportunities altogether. Change black to white and this system is something the KKK would applaud.

How, exactly, was such an obviously illegal program able to take root?

Look no further than AFT/NEA affiliate the United Teachers Los Angeles, which bragged that “as part of our last contract fight, we successfully pushed the district to codify BSAP into our 2022-25 contract, winning agreements for more resources, staffing, and professional development for BSAP schools.”

To be clear, the program hasn’t been shuttered; as Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Times, “Our solution is one that preserves the funding, the concentration of attention and resources on the same students and same schools … We were able to reformat the program without sacrificing impact.”

Yet far too many see the end of the race-based program – which should be considered a civil rights victory –as a defeat, exposing their own support for racial discrimination in K-12 schools. Students protested at an October school board meeting, while an online campaign demanded not only the expansion of the program but also a formal apology.

Sure, excluding students from educational programming based on race is – and has been! – illegal since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and immoral since… forever. Yes, proficiency scores for all children of all races in LAUSD are below the national average. And yes, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023’s Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision that “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

Man, that pesky Constitution and its insistence on “equality before the law!”

LAUSD’s revision of the race-based grant program frees up the $120 million in funding for use among needy students or those suffering from genuine socioeconomic disadvantages – of whom there are many. In 2023, more than half of California students were unable to meet grade-level reading standards, setting them up for a lifetime of failure. It would be far more beneficial to students if LAUSD’s grant was directed towards actually improving subject matter proficiency for all students – and now, it can be. This is a momentous achievement coming from LAUSD, which has an otherwise shameful track record of centering racial differences in nearly every student interaction.

Much to the chagrin of DEI activists, the program was revised in a way that brings it into compliance with federal antidiscrimination law – and not simply given a cosmetic lift, as so many similar programs receive when they are challenged outside of court.

As the saying goes, “the price of eternal liberty is vigilance” – and in Los Angeles and other cities, ensuring that the program doesn’t backslide will be an ongoing effort. In an interview with The 74, University of Southern California education professor Julie Slayton noted that “They’ll take away the language of ‘Black,’ … But it doesn’t have to change, profoundly, the way that they’re thinking about the distribution of these resources and the schools that will receive them.” Meanwhile, the much-aggrieved LA Times editorial board asserted, “There are grounds to defend the program, even in California, which bans affirmative action in the public sector. … government agencies are constitutionally allowed to use ‘race-conscious remedies’ to make up for past race-based discrimination. District leaders certainly should be able to do this.”

But remember: this complaint was resolved by a Biden Administration Office for Civil Rights – which has loudly and clearly telegraphed its support for identity politics over the past four years but still found LAUSD’s program to be a bridge too far. An incoming Trump Administration is likely to have far less tolerance for taxpayer-funded discrimination in America’s public schools. Let the administrators beware.

A sheriff whose department several years ago implemented a program to predict crime, a move that resulted in the harassment of individuals in the county, has conceded its failure, its violation of the Constitution, and promised it will never return.

The decisions are the result of a lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice over the schemes by the sheriff in Pasco County, Florida.

According to a report from the IJ, “For more than three years, the Pasco County, Fla., sheriff vigorously resisted a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ) challenging a controversial policing program that resulted in repeated harassment of children and their families. Today, on the eve of trial, the sheriff capitulated—admitting that the program resulted in repeated constitutional violations and pledging that it will never resume. ”

The legal team explained the challenged program “has been compared to a real-life version of ‘Minority Report.’ Using a crude computer algorithm, designed to predict who would commit future crimes, the Pasco sheriff’s office identified a list of ‘prolific offenders.'”

Without evidence, people, many under 18, were placed on the list and their families “were subjected to ‘prolific offender checks,’ during which deputies looked to cite them for issues like having grass that was too long, missing house numbers, unvaccinated pets, and excessive window tint on parked cars.”

It’s now gone, the IJ confirmed.

“For years, the Pasco sheriff ran an unconstitutional program, harassing kids and their parents because a glorified Excel spreadsheet predicted they would commit future crimes,” charged IJ lawyer Rob Johnson, “Today the sheriff acknowledged that dystopian program violated the Constitution and agreed never to bring it back.”

In the agreement settling the dispute, the sheriff confirmed his program violated the Fourth Amendment because while law enforcement has an “implied license” to knock on any resident’s door, the scheme involved officers who “exceeded” that by repeatedly confronting their targets.

”Second, the sheriff admitted that the program violated the First Amendment, which protects people from being punished for their ‘intimate associations,’ like with their family members,” the IJ said.

Finally, the program violated the due process requirements of the 14th Amendment because the program interfered with the targets’ “liberty interests.”

The agreement also includes a “six-figure settlement for the plaintiffs,” the IJ reported.

“For years, the Pasco sheriff’s office treated me like it could do anything it wanted,” Darlene Deegan said. “But today proves that when ordinary people stand up for themselves, the Constitution still means what it says.”

Evidence uncovered during the development of the case found that one deputy stated as his agenda against one target, “The goal is to get them to move away or go to prison.”

Another deputy bragged about getting his targets evicted from their homes.

The institute also confirmed it found “hundreds of hours of body camera footage, vividly depicting the harassment of plaintiffs and their families. In one video, deputies walk around the back of a plaintiff’s house late at night and knock on his window, telling him to come out of the house so they can write him a code citation. In another video, a deputy expressly tells a plaintiff that they are writing her citations because her son was on their offender list. In another, one deputy tells another they are going to ‘keep on harassing them, every single day.'”

(FOX NEWS) – Jurors on the Daniel Penny chokehold trial returned to deliberations for a fourth day Friday for just an hour before telling the court they could not come to an agreement on the top charge, manslaughter, as they weigh the fate of a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student accused of killing a mentally ill homeless man who threatened to kill people on a Manhattan subway car.

Around 11 a.m., the jurors sent a note to the court stating, “We the jury request instructions from Judge [Maxwell] Wiley. At this time, we are unable to come to a unanimous vote on count 1 – manslaughter in the second degree.”

The judge sent them back to deliberate more, but they told the court shortly after 3 p.m. that they still could not reach a unanimous decision.

Adam Schiff, one of the most devoted adherents to the false narrative created by Democrats two elections ago that then-candidate Donald Trump was colluding with Russia, and then a devotee of ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s failed agendas to impeach and remove him, is quitting his House seat.

He’ll be taking up a role in the U.S. Senate after November’s election,.

BREAKING: Rep. Adam Schiff has resigned as a member of the House of Representatives, effective December 8, 2024 https://t.co/019wkC8oPf

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) December 6, 2024

The Washington Examiner said Schiff is to be sworn into the Senate next week.

The report said Schiff ends a 24-year tenure in the House “with a reputation as a chief antagonist to President-elect Donald Trump, leading the first House impeachment involving withholding aid to Ukraine in return for investigations of Hunter Biden.”

Because he “misused intelligence for political purposes,” according to then-Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Schiff was stripped of his position on the intelligence committee.

“In June 2023, Republicans voted to censure Schiff, and McCarthy delivered a public reprimand that said Schiff misled the public during congressional investigations into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump this year referred to Schiff as ‘an enemy from within,’ fueling speculation that President Joe Biden should issue preemptive pardons for Schiff and others to shield them from Trump’s possible legal retribution,” the report explained.

Schiff beat Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., in a primary and then won the election to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Because the position was open, Schiff is being installed before the rest of the newly elected senators, meaning he will have “seniority” over others who will be installed in January.

A few weeks ago, columnist Rachel Alexander in a commentary at WND said, “It is no secret that far-left California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff uses sleazy tactics to go after his political opponents. While most members of Congress usually skate on ethics charges or receive light penalties, once in a great while their behavior is so overtly criminal that they end up prosecuted. Although Democrats are far more likely to use lawfare against Republicans than vice versa, when the behavior is so criminal, even Democrats – such as New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez who is being prosecuted for bribery – can’t escape justice.

She continued, “Schiff is getting dangerously close to this stage. When he became chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, he made it a personal mission to investigate Donald Trump’s supposed connections to Russia, completely separate from and in addition to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“When Mueller concluded there was no collusion between Trump and Russia, Schiff dismissively blew off the exoneration, hinting that he would continue his own investigation. ‘[T]here may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,’ he said during an interview in February 2019.”

Schiff’s agenda has triggered complaints to the Office of Congressional Ethics, and the full House noted he “misled the public by reading a false retelling of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

The column also noted Schiff “paid the daughter of the judge handling New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Trump $4 million to push the Russia collusion hoax. Loren Merchan’s hatred of Trump is so extreme that she used a photo of Trump behind bars as her profile picture on X. She runs a digital marketing agency that works with Democrats and progressive groups.

And he hasn’t changed, the commentary said.

“While running for the U.S. Senate, Schiff has brazenly engaged in sleazy tactics. He spent $10 million promoting his Republican opponent during the primary. Since California uses ‘top 2’ voting, which means the top two vote getters in the primary move on to the general, he wanted to ensure that Republican Steve Garvey ended up with the second-most votes instead of his two Democratic challengers. On the campaign trail, Schiff brags about his political persecution of Trump as a campaign platform.”

Previously, Schiff admitted he feared that a Trump administration might prosecute him.

A constitutional expert is issuing a warning about this being the season for a “smash-mouth Santa” after a coalition of leftists launched a promotion of merchandise that celebrates Antifa.

That’s the far left ideology that is personified in militant rioters who, following the death of George Floyd, inflicted billions of dollars in damages on America cities from coast to coast, for a political cause.

It is law professor, legal commentator and constitutional expert Jonathan Turley who cited the sales gimmick, and said right now, with tensions following the 2024 presidential election, it “is not the time to go full naughty list to celebrate a group that regularly beats reporters and others with opposing viewpoints. While this may appeal to your own special smash-mouth Santa, tis the season for political violence.”

Antifa is characterized as left-wing and anti-fascist and anti-racist, although some of its agenda points would inflict more racism in order to address the racism it sees.

It has no control center, as it involves a multitude of decentralized groups that use incivility and violence to achieve their aims.

Doxing, harassment and property damage often are associated with the “left-wing ideologies” as they are described online, and their “anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, and anti-state views.”

Fox News earlier documented the products, including an “ANTIFA Baby Onesie” being offered by an organization of former staffers for Barack Obama.

Fox reported, “The items can be bought via a digital merchandise store run by Crooked Media, which was co-founded in 2017 by former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor. Oftentimes referred to as the ‘Obama bros,’ the three communications professionals co-host ‘Pod Save America,’ one of the most listened-to political podcasts in the nation, per Apple Podcasts U.S. rankings.”

The report noted the violence associated with the political agenda: “‘ANTIFA’ is a common term used to refer to far-left ‘anti-fascists’ who were at the forefront of the George Floyd protests during the summer of 2020. Many of those protests devolved into violent riots, even resulting in the deaths of dozens of people and billions of dollars in property damage because of the unrest. Following that summer, ANTIFA continued to deploy violent tactics.”

Turley said, “It appears no liberal Christmas is complete without the ultimate stocking stuffer: an actual stocking to wear over your face while rioting. While not yet selling face coverings for anonymous violence, Crooked Media … is selling a line of Antifa items for liberals wanting to make a statement against any ‘Peace on Earth.'”

He explained, “There is no apparent backlash for their support of one of the most violent groups in the world, which routinely attacks journalists and anyone who holds opposing views. Imagine the media response if a conservative site started selling ‘Proud Boy’ items.”

He explained, “As discussed in my new book, ‘The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,’ I explore the history of Antifa as a movement that began in Germany:”

That is: “Antifa originated with European anarchist and Marxist groups from the 1920s, particularly Antifaschistische Aktion, a Communist group from the Weimar Republic before World War II. Its name resulted from the shortening of the German word antifaschistisch. In the United States, the modern movement emerged through the Anti- Racist Action (ARA) groups, which were dominated by anarchists and Marxists. It has an association with the anarchist organization Love and Rage, which was founded by former Trotsky and Marxist followers as well as offshoots like Mexico’s Amor Y Rabia. The oldest U.S. group is likely the Rose City Antifa (RCA) in Portland, Oregon, which would become the center of violent riots during the Trump years. The anarchist roots of the group give it the same organizational profile as such groups in the early twentieth century with uncertain leadership and undefined structures.”

He noted the movement has threats built in.

“Former Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison, now the Minnesota attorney general, once said Antifa would ‘strike fear in the heart’ of Trump. This was after Antifa had been involved in numerous acts of violence, and its website was banned in Germany. Ellison’s son, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison, declared his allegiance to Antifa in the heat of the protests this summer. During a prior hearing, Democratic senators refused to clearly denounce Antifa and falsely suggested that the far right was the primary cause of recent violence. Likewise, Joe Biden has dismissed objections to Antifa as just ‘an idea.'”

Liberals, this season, “can bring a small part of that political violence into their homes for the holiday to pledge that there will be no peace or silent nights so long as opposing views are heard,” he warned.

.

It was a blustery December day in Washington, D.C., as hundreds of pro-LGBTQ+ protesters and conservative activists opposed to medical gender transitions for minors clashed outside the Supreme Court. Both sides showed up Wednesday to try to influence the high court’s decision-making in a landmark case that will determine whether states can ban puberty-blocking drugs, hormone treatments, and gender surgeries for minors.

The case landed in the high court after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Tennessee over its spring 2023 passage of a measure banning medically assisted gender transitions for minors. The Biden administration intervened on the ACLU’s behalf, claiming the law violates the Constitution. The case began as L.W. v. Skrmetti, with parents Samantha and Brian Williams and their trans teen, known as L.W., and two other children squaring off against the state of Tennessee, represented by its attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti.

Inside the court room Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito cited several European countries that have placed restrictions on medically induced gender transitions for minors and calmly dissected the common argument from advocates of the practice that the drugs and surgeries help prevent suicides of children and teens with gender dysphoria.

Alito asked about the Cass Review of England’s gender services for children and young people, which called for more caution in providing medically assisted gender transitions and was used as the basis to restrict the prescribing of puberty blockers to children under 18 years old in the U.K.

“On page 195 of the Cass report, it says there is no evidence that gender affirmative treatments reduce suicide,” Alito stated.

ACLU attorney Chase Strangio conceded that there are no studies showing a reduction in “completed suicides,” which he said are thankfully rare, but argued that other studies do show a reduction in suicidal ideation, which he described as a “positive outcome to this treatment.”

The obvious skepticism by the court’s conservative majority spurred headlines that the high court would likely uphold the Tennessee ban, meaning similar restrictions in 25 other states also would remain protected from legal challenges.

Alliance Defending Freedom CEO, president and general counsel Kristen Waggoner was in the room for the oral arguments and afterward appeared buoyed by the direction the decision appeared to be headed.

“We felt good about it,” Waggoner told CNN. “We’ve had a number of constitutional cases before the court, and you never want to speculate about what it will do. But in listening to the questions, I think what was very clear was that the U.S., the Department of Justice, was quickly walking back any allegation or suggestion that there’s overwhelming scientific support for this, because there’s not.”

The Alliance, or ADF, describes itself as the “world’s largest legal organization” fighting for parental rights and against abortion, censorship, trans individuals participating in women’s sports, and legal challenges to religious liberty. ADF filed an amicus brief in support of the Tennessee law, and the group also is serving as co-counsel in defending similar laws in Alabama and Idaho against the Biden administration’s challenges.

Waggoner, perhaps best known for serving on Mississippi’s legal team in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe. v. Wade, has prevailed in 13 other Supreme Court cases in recent years. Her courtroom success in arguing thorny, high-profile conservative cases has earned her plaudits among Donald Trump’s advisers and a coveted spot on the president-elect’s shortlist for key judicial appointments or even the Supreme Court, if Alito, 74, or Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, decide to retire.

Waggoner sat down with RealClearPolitics shortly after the election to reflect on Trump’s win and what it means for the cultural fights she and ADF have been waging in recent years.

RCP: Did you feel your organization played a role in the election of Donald Trump and the successful Senate races that handed Republicans majority control of that chamber?

Waggoner: I think it depends on what you mean by that. I think that our issues that we’ve been working on for many, many years, in the election and with polling seem to have been determinative for some voters. You know, to see that the issue of gender ideology played such a prominent role for many Americans was satisfying and in many ways reinvigorating. I mean, we’ve been doing this work for so long to see that people are starting to hear it, to see it, to know that there’s an ideological war being waged against our children, and that we have to put an end to it, is incredibly encouraging in this moment.

RCP: Are you and ADF playing any kind of a role in Trump’s presidential transition plans or nominations?

Waggoner: That’s not something that we traditionally talk about. There are a number of groups that are doing all they can to assist in the transition team and also to get the right people in the right places. [We’re] committed to doing all we can, not just in terms of a list of potential jurists, but in the right seats in the federal government to make meaningful change.

I think Americans are getting tired of the whiplash of different administrations and policies just changing 180 degrees, particularly in the areas that we work on with regard to parental rights, with regard to gender identity and censorship. I was pleased to hear in both the run-up to the election and after the election, President Trump continue to commit to those three areas as very significant areas for his administration.

RCP: President Trump reportedly had a falling out with the Federalist Society, an influential conservative legal organization that played a key role in helping him choose judicial appointments during his first term. Do you think ADF will help fill that vacuum and play a bigger role in those decisions during Trump’s second term?

Waggoner: My hope is that President Trump will keep the promises that he made, and those promises focus on stopping censorship and stopping gender ideology in all the ways that it plays out through the federal government and in the way that it is devastating families and children, and in reinforcing parental rights in this country. And I am hopeful that the appointments that he will make will confirm that. What I told our team and what I tell our ministry friends, is what’s most important now is what happens next. And we don’t know what will happen next. I only know what we will do, and that is that we will make every effort to ensure that those promises are kept, and we will continue to litigate, and we will continue to try to pass good laws that protect the rights of Americans, and to do all we can to encourage others to do the same. I think our track record speaks for itself in in how that will play out.

I continue to be encouraged that we are at a tipping point, and that tipping point didn’t come by happenstance. It came through intentionality, the power of Americans telling the stories and saying enough is enough. So, we need to keep that momentum going.

RCP: Can you give me an update on some of the cases you have pending at the Supreme Court right now? I know you have several petitions for certiorari, or cert petitions, asking the high court to weigh in after ADF exhausted legal options at the state level.

Waggoner: We have six cert petitions that are pending right now, which is the most that we’ve ever had at the Supreme Court. Two of those have to do with women’s sports. When we started this, not only were there no laws in place, [some of our clients were] getting brutally canceled in so many different ways. So, we’re hopeful that the court will uphold these laws where states have taken action to protect women and girls …

We also have this Skrmetti case. When we started working with state legislatures to ensure that these dangerous drugs and medical experiments weren’t taking place on minors, legislators were reluctant to stand up because they were uncertain. And of course, we want to treat everyone with dignity and respect. But I think there was a reluctance to really understand that you’re actually harming these kids, and you’re treating the women and girls – you’re disrespecting their rights.

… One caution that we have raised with anyone who would listen to us is that the federal government – it’s supposed to be a government of limited power, and that these battles will continue beyond an administration, because the federal government can’t resolve all of them, which means that it’s more important, more and more important, for Americans who now understand these issues to insist that we are protecting these rights at our state and local level.

RCP: After the election, Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and father of two girls, pressed his party to rethink its approach to transgender issues, especially as it relates to transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s sports. Do you think the Democratic Party is capable of changing their positions on these issues? So, do you think some Democrats are more amenable to working across the aisle with groups like yours on the issue of protecting girls’ and women’s sports and possibly other areas of agreement?

Waggoner: I hope there are people we can work with in that party. I long for the days when you could reach across the aisle and agree on some of these core issues. It’s deeply troubling about what it signals for the future of our nation that we can’t agree that we should all be able to speak freely, that the First Amendment means that the government can’t silence or punish dissent, that we are going to weaponize the justice system. We have to get back to a place where we recognize that there are core rights that all Americans have, including those who are opponents, and so I hope for that day.

RCP: What is your reaction to California Gov. Newsom and other blue-state governors threatening to engage in a legal war against the Trump administration when it comes to transgender rights, among several other issues? Newsom has been aggressively fighting school boards across California, threatening them with civil rights investigations and lawsuits if they pass policies requiring schools to notify parents if their children are gender transitioning at school. Newsom this year also signed two bills that punish social media platforms for allowing certain political commentary and forces them to monitor and remove the content.

Waggoner: We intend to make states pay for violating the rights of Americans. Our recent settlement in the 303 Creative case, which was at $1.5 million [and which centered on whether states’ anti-discrimination laws can force web designers and other businesses to create works recognizing same-sex marriages in violation of their religion or values], demonstrates that we will be seeking damages whenever we can in lawsuits, because this has to stop. There has to be a price to pay to silence people, to punish them for expressing their view, and California has been at the tip of the spear in terms of censorship.

Our lawsuit related to the [political satire website and X.com account] Babylon Bee, which was just a few weeks ago. We got a preliminary injunction on that. What a draconian law California passed to try to censor speech and only protect politicians as they do so. So again, we are committed to continuing to ensure that good laws are passed, but also to ensure officials and local officials have to pay a price for violating the Constitution. I think that’s the one of the main ways we’ll see this stop.

But another way is Americans have to stop being willing to be silenced because of fear of cancel culture. And that may be one of the best things that happened in this election, is that the lid is blown off, and people [are saying] I’m no longer going to be shamed for believing in biological reality or common sense, and I’m going to speak out, because there’s too much at stake.

RCP: On a more personal note, what do you think about the closer relationship developing between Speaker Mike Johnson, a former longtime ADF attorney, and President-elect Trump?

Waggoner: It’s a wonderful opportunity in this moment to ensure that we are advancing the right to be able to live and speak the truth. And I believe that Speaker Johnson is committed to that, as President Trump is. I’m hopeful [Trump] will again keep the promises that he’s made, and my hope is that Speaker Johnson will help him do that in the areas that we’ve discussed.

Speaker Johnson was an ADF attorney and on our team for a number of years. We’re delighted that he is in the position he’s in so that he can protect the American people. I hope that he stays strong and keeps his focus on the North Star, which is protecting the constitutional rights of Americans.

RCP: Your name has been mentioned in several media reports as being on Trump’s shortlist for several key judicial appointments and even the Supreme Court if a vacancy occurs during Trump’s second term.

Would that be something you would accept if offered?

Waggoner: Yes, absolutely. It’s just a privilege to be among such quality individuals who are also on the list.

After a screaming match between acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe and Texas Rep. Pat Fallon erupted at a Thursday House hearing on the attempted assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump, new details are emerging about the circumstances that sparked the outburst.

Several Secret Service sources question whether Rowe has perjured himself during the explosive exchange.

The face-off occurred during the final meeting of the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Trump when Fallon produced a photo of Rowe standing behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at a 9/11 memorial event in New York City in September. Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance appeared on the right side of the photo.

The congressman, a Texas Republican, pressed Rowe on why he had positioned himself behind Biden when normal Secret Service protocol would place the most senior member of the president’s detail in that position to provide the best protection to the president. The event took place on Sept. 11, just days before the second assassination attempt against Trump at one of the president-elect’s golf courses in Florida.

At the time, the outcome of the election was still unknown, and Rowe was trying to prove that he could quickly rehabilitate the agency’s image after the cataclysmic failures during the July 13 Butler rally that nearly led to Trump’s assassination and did result in the death of Corey Comperatore, a retired local fireman.

Fallon accused Rowe of endangering Biden’s and Harris’ lives by taking their top two agents out of position because he “wanted to be visible because you were auditioning for the job.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promoted Rowe from deputy director to interim chief of the agency in the wake of the Butler rally. The previous director, Kimberly Cheatle, had resigned after disastrous testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Rowe responded swiftly and angrily to Fallon’s line of questions.

“Congressman, what you’re seeing is the [Special Agent in Charge of the Detail] out of the picture’s view,” Rowe said. “And that is a day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that died on 9/11,” Rowe added. “I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills,” Rowe added, referencing a Staten Island landfill where debris was taken.

Fallon quickly interjected: “I’m not asking you that.”

“I was there, congressman!” Rowe bellowed while pointing aggressively at Fallon before accusing him of acting like a “bully” and politicizing 9/11.

Rowe was already on edge from Fallon’s pointed questioning just minutes before. The congressman asked Rowe whether he knew that Trump was facing a threat from a foreign actor while the Secret Service advance team was preparing for the Butler rally, a likely reference to assassination plots by Iran against Trump’s life. If he did know, the congressman asked why he didn’t intervene to provide a counter-surveillance unit or a full Counter Assault Team, top Secret Service security assets, in addition to the counter snipers the agency provided These additional assets, Fallon asserted, could have prevented the assassination attempt from taking place.

An eyewitness to the 9/11 memorial this year tells RealClearPolitics that Rowe’s decision to take the place of the top two agents in charge of the president’s and vice president’s detail spurred resentment among the ranks. The source said there were toe marks placed on the ground with every attendee’s name and title. Rowe’s original toe mark was three rows back.

Instead of simply standing where he was designated, Rowe disregarded the arrangement and placed himself behind Biden and Harris. The leaders of those details then had to squeeze in so they could be within arm’s reach of the president and vice president if they faced any threats. The source also noted that Rowe’s wife, a longtime Secret Service employee, was the photographer for the event that day and was snapping “a ton of action shots of Ron standing in his place of prominence.”

During Thursday’s testy shouting match, Fallon demanded to know whether Rowe had a gun and radio on him during the ceremony, an apparent reference to whether he was operational and equipped to respond to a threat against Biden’s or Harris’ lives if any arose.

Rowe retorted that he did have a radio and a gun on him at the ceremony and insisted that the protective mission was not compromised by his decision to move to a more prominent position. The Secret Service press office provided a lengthy explanation of his Secret Service roles in New York City after the 9/11 attacks but didn’t respond to a follow-up question from RealClearPolitics on whether he stood by those remarks about having a gun and radio on him during the ceremony.

Rank-and-file agents were incensed over Rowe’s screaming match and said they doubted the acting director’s testimony that he had a radio during the 9/11 ceremony this year because he wasn’t wearing an earpiece to hear the intelligence chatter on a radio. They also said top Secret Service officials usually do not wear earpieces or ballistic missile vests to ceremonies like the one on 9/11 because they spend most of their time meeting with other officials, not monitoring radio traffic for threats.

After the blow-up went viral on social media, the Secret Service provided a statement clarifying Rowe’s work in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Acting Director Ronald Rowe volunteered to support the U.S. Secret Service’s official response efforts in New York following 9/11,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “He was a part of the second response rotation, which occurred in mid-October 2001. As part of his duties, he worked to support recovery efforts at both Fresh Kills Landfill and Ground Zero.”

“Acting Director Rowe joined the U.S. Secret Service in 1999 and was working as a shift agent assigned to protect a visiting foreign dignitary in Washington, D.C. on the day of the 9/11 attacks,” Guglielmi added.

“In reference to your questions about the 9/11 memorial, all detail personnel were present and had complete access to their protectees during the memorial,” he concluded.

While most of the hearing recycled previous revelations about the agency’s failures during the Butler rally, Rep. Mark Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, also expressed outrage in expletive-laced questions over how the agency missed such obvious security vulnerabilities.

Green said the agency’s conduct during the July shooting seemed “lackadaisical” and slammed the agents in charge of the Butler rally, whom he said showed up to the event and “didn’t give a shit.”

The Tennessee Republican who previously served as an Army doctor argued that the Secret Service has a “command-climate” problem. “There was apathy and complacency, period, and that’s your mission,” Green told Rowe.

Rowe provided a vague response to Green’s concerns.

“So, we are reorganizing, reimagining the organization that includes making sure that we are developing leadership programs,” he said.

In his opening statement, Rowe said he spent the months since the assassination items focused on implementing reforms to ensure that the failures at Butler never happen again.

“I have reflected extensively on the agency’s substandard performance during the advance for the Butler rally,” he said. “It has been my singular focus to bring much-needed reform to the Secret Service, to be an agent of change, to challenge previous assumptions – [to ensure that] the brave men and women of the Secret Service have the resources, leadership, and assets that they need to be successful in carrying out our protective mission.”

Addressing criticism that the agents involved in the poor planning for and execution of the Butler rally, have not been held accountable, Rowe expressed frustration with the length of time it takes to provide “accountability” for the failures.

“Let me be clear: There will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring,” he said. “It is an extensive review that requires time to ensure due process and the pace of this process, quite frankly, it does frustrate me, but it is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure.”

A union official for the organization representing U.S. Capitol Police has blasted the special treatment given by the government to the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the protest-turned-riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

That was the day hundreds of people mostly walked into the Capitol and looked around in their protest of what they saw as Joe Biden’s illicit presidential race victory, a race that was under significant undue influences such as the FBI’s interference.

Among those protesters, a few rioted, vandalizing the building.

Just the News reports that a statement it obtained from U.S. Capitol Police union chairman Gus Papathanasiou said the special treatment for Michael Byrd was wrong.

“What a slap in the face to the rank and file officers of the USCP, especially all who were on duty on J6,” he said.

The publication earlier had reported that House Democrats had pushed the police department to give special benefits to Byrd, including a $37,000 retention bonus, help with $160,000 in fundraising, housing, and a promotion from lieutenant to captain.

All that surpassed the help given other officers who were at the Capitol that day.

The report said Papathanasiou demanded that Byrd be forced to repay the benefits that were more than what other officers got.

“Not sure what makes Mike Byrd so special that he thinks he needed to be ‘taken care of’ by the Department. USCP should give every officer a $37k bonus or have Mike Byrd pay it all back,” he said.

Byrd’s lawyer and Capitol Police officials didn’t return messages seeking comment.

The publication said it reviewed internal emails and found Byrd was unhappy with all the benefits and was dealing with at least one Democrat in the administration to get even more.

“We play the game as you request and then once we’re in compliance You guys change the rules on us,” he wrote to Thomas DiBiase, general counsel for the Capitol Police, after he was told he couldn’t access cash from a memorial fund right away.

Byrd also has been a controversial figure over his extensive record of rules infractions, including firing a gun at a stolen vehicle in a residential neighborhood while off duty and leaving his gun unattended in a public restroom.

The report explained Rep. Barry Loudermilk of the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee confirmed there were at least three other referrals to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but those records now are missing.

In an interview on the “Just the News, No Noise,” TV show, Loudermilk explained the political pressure on Capitol Police to provide Byrd benefits was “highly inappropriate.”

Papathanasiou said an investigation by the incoming Congress would be appropriate.

“I’m curious, what else is the USCP covering up? I truly hope the new Congress comes in to conduct a deep dive investigation into all of this and the top brass of the USCP, to include the IG office and OGC,” he said.

A separate wrongful death case has been filed against the government on behalf of Babbitt’s family by Judicial Watch.

Spokesman Tom Fitton told Just the news Byrd never should have had a firearm in the first place.

Byrd has claimed Babbitt, trying to climb through a broken window, was a “threat” to the House of Representatives.

He also admitted he didn’t know whether she was armed or unarmed. She was unarmed.

A Texas federal judge on Thursday struck down a plea deal between Boeing and the Justice Department concerning two 737 MAX crashes, ruling that the agreement inappropriately imposed diversity considerations when selecting a compliance monitor.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the agreement between the Justice Department and Boeing improperly limited the court’s decision-making power and inappropriately focused on diversity when choosing a supervisory monitor, according to a court document. O’Connor said that the Justice Department’s reasons for considering race and diversity when appointing a compliance monitor didn’t quite add up.

“These provisions are inappropriate and against the public interest,” O’Connor wrote.

Boeing entered a guilty plea in July for criminal fraud charges stemming from incidents in 2018 and 2019 that collectively claimed 346 lives. The plea deal also involved a $244 million criminal fine and a continuation of corporate probation for Boeing.

O’Connor also criticized how the Justice Department handled the original probationary agreement, suggesting it wasn’t effective in making sure Boeing followed safety standards. He insisted that any appointed monitor should report directly to the court rather than to the Justice Department, to enhance oversight and public trust.

‘Sticking It To Your Employees’: Josh Hawley Tells Boeing CEO Point Blank It’s A ‘Travesty’ That He Still Has His Job pic.twitter.com/FuNjFnG9b4

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 18, 2024

This ruling comes in the wake of renewed scrutiny over Boeing’s safety practices, reignited by an incident in January involving a fuselage panel blowout on a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines. In response, the Justice Department accused Boeing of violating its probation terms earlier this May.

Boeing axed its global diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) division in October in response to severe financial setbacks, ongoing union strikes, and mounting concerns over safety and production. The company has reallocated the DEI division’s staff to enhance the employee experience, aiming to streamline operations amid various challenges.

Boeing also announced in October a 10% reduction in its workforce, cutting around 17,000 jobs due to an extended machinist strike. CEO Kelly Ortberg announced the layoffs as part of a strategy to streamline operations and prevent further furloughs, responding to ongoing financial and operational challenges.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

For years, as his son Hunter engaged in a series of wild escapades, bought a gun after lying on a government form, and refused to pay taxes on his income, Joe Biden pledged to allow the justice system, judges and juries, to decide what penalty Hunter would pay.

Then he flip-flopped, claiming against the evidence that Hunter was “singled out” for prosecution, and handed him a get-out-of-jail free card for any and all crimes for a decade.

Americans aren’t pleased.

Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard wrote about the results of a poll by Napolitan News Service.

A large majority of respondents, 62%, said they objected to the pardon, including 41% who said they objected “strongly.”

Only 30% agreed with the special handout.

And the survey, the report said, “may have sparked the beginning of Democratic anger at the failed presidency.”

Bedard explained, “Biden had repeatedly promised not to pardon his son, who has faced gun and tax charges. But he flip-flopped this week and made the pardon good for an 11-year span.”

The report noted Joe Biden “said that he believed Hunter was unfairly targeted by prosecutors, a claim that echoed what President-elect Donald Trump has said about the weak cases he faced.”

Judges in the cases involving Hunter Biden immediately responded, objecting to Joe Biden’s negative characterizations of them, and the judicial system. One submitted a court document that said Joe Biden was just wrong.

The poll said 54% disagreed with the president’s excuse, in contrast to the responses when asked about Trump, when 46% did believe that the Justice Department unfairly targeted him.

“Pollster Scott Rasmussen told Secrets that his poll also suggested that Democrats are reevaluating Biden, who currently sits at his lowest approval rating ever. The New York Times on Thursday, for example, slammed the pardon, calling it ‘a significant misstep that could leave lasting damage,'” Bedard explained.

Rasmussen’s conclusion? “In this hyper-partisan world, it’s stunning that only 52% of Democrats support the president’s pardon. This is just the beginning of partisan re-evaluation. I suspect the anger at Biden among Democrats is ready to bubble over. Over time, the party will come to believe that the only reason they lost in 2024 is because Biden selfishly tried to run for re-election.”

A House task force probing the attempted assassination in July of Donald Trump held a final hearing Thursday that contained some fireworks, promises to improve, and unanswered questions.

Ronald L. Rowe Jr., acting director of the Secret Service, was the only witness to appear before the task force, which includes eight Republicans and six Democrats. Rowe replaced Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned after the first assassination attempt against Trump on July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The panel, formally called the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, focused primarily on the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania. A second assassination attempt occurred Sept. 15 at the former president’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

After the hearing, the panel voted unanimously to make its final report available to the full House. It wasn’t expected to be made public immediately, however.

Here are key highlights from the task force’s final hearing.

1. ‘Accountability Is Occurring’
Rowe opened by saying that the July 13 shooting was an “abject failure [that] underscored critical gaps in Secret Service operations.”

“President-elect Trump was wounded,” Rowe said, a month after the Nov. 5 election victory that will send Trump back to the White House. “A cowardly and despicable act killed one person and critically injured two others.”

The 21-year-old shooter killed one man in the crowd at the Trump rally and seriously wounded two other men.

“The recently completed mission assurance inquiry thoroughly investigated the specific actions and inactions that led to the assassination attempt,” Rowe said. “Four areas of deficiencies were identified: communications, protective advance processes, command and control processes, and coordination with external entities.”

The “mission assurance inquiry” is bureaucratese for the Secret Service’s internal investigation of what happened.

“Let me be clear, there will be accountability and that accountability is occurring. It is an extensive review that requires due process and the pace of this process, quite frankly, it does frustrate me,” Rowe added. “But it is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure. I personally carry the weight of knowing that we almost lost a protectee and that our failure cost a father and husband his life.”

Task force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., later asked Rowe: “Of all the areas the Secret Service reviewed after July 13, what do you think is most concerning about that day?”

Rowe said it was the failure to recognize the proximity of the AGR building, atop which the shooter took his shots, and the failure of communication among Secret Service agents and local law enforcement. (AGR stands for American Glass Research.)

“That to me is glaring, those are basic tenets, fundamentals of what advance teams are supposed to identify,” Rowe said. “They are supposed to identify hazards [and] risks and then mitigate those risks effectively—either by using law enforcement and coordinating assets, or taking matters and making sure that risk is taken out of play. We did not do that on the 13th. Post-July 13, there was a renewed focus on that.”

2. ‘You’re Out of Line’ … ‘Don’t You Bully Me’
The task force’s hearing was mostly calm until Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, asked Rowe about the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York City this year, where Rowe stood just behind President Joe Biden.

Rowe reportedly switched places to stand closer to Biden at the 9/11 event. That would go against normal operating procedures, which are to have the Secret Service’s special agent in charge of the president’s regular protective detail stand next to him at major events, since that agent is most familiar with the protectee.

Fallon asked Rowe whether he was the special agent in charge when standing close to Biden. Rowe didn’t directly answer the question.

“That is the day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11,” Rowe shouted at Fallon. “I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there, Congressman.”

Fallon followed up, saying: “I’m not asking that. I’m asking if you were the special agent in charge.”

Rowe repeated: “I was there, Congressman, to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11. Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes.”

Fallon said, “I’m not.”

Rowe shouted, “You are out of line!”

Fallon shouted back, saying: “Don’t you bully me. I’m an elected member of Congress, and I’m asking you a serious question.”

Rowe again shouted, saying, “I’m a public servant who has served this nation and spent time on our darkest day.”

Fallon said, “You won’t answer the question.”

Kelly jumped in with the gavel and said, “This committee will come to order.”

Fallon said: “I’m asking a serious question for the American people. They are very simple. They are not trick questions. Were you the special agent in charge that day?”

Finally, Rowe replied: “No, I wasn’t. I was there representing the United States Secret Service. It did not affect protective operations.”

3. ‘Why Aren’t People Saying Something?’
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the task force’s ranking member, noted that a tree blocked countersnipers’ vision of substantial parts of the rooftop of the AGR building, from where the shooter fired.

When he was in the Army, Crow said, there was a culture of “See something, say something” in case of a suspected life and safety issue. Commercial airline pilots have a similar responsibility, he said.

“I’m struck by the lack of that culture on July 13,” Crow said of the Butler rally, where a bullet grazed Trump’s right ear shortly after he began to speak. “If you’re a countersniper and you’ve been placed in a position that doesn’t allow you to see entire sectors of the position that you are responsible for, why aren’t people saying something? And it happened on numerous occasions.”

Rowe said that “it starts with training, a retraining, a reeducation of folks.”

“I’ve directed the Office of Protective Operations to initiate and stand up an auditing capability to regularly send out folks to evaluate how we are doing and also share findings with our office of training,” Rowe said.

The Secret Service head added: “We have to do after-action reports and we have to retrain our people to see something and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, why don’t we have that hallway covered?”

4. ‘Apathy or Complacency’
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., also a task force member, appeared indignant as he recalled his own time in the military.

Green asserted: “Going to war, I didn’t give a s— if I died. What I didn’t want to do was fail. Your guys showed up that day [in Butler] and didn’t give a s—.”

What happened July 13 demonstrates apathy in the agency, Green argued.

“It speaks of an apathy or complacency that is really unacceptable in the Secret Service,” Green said, adding: “It speaks of a culture of lack of attention to detail, lack of sense of urgency, complacency. These are leadership issues. These are command climate issues. What is the command climate of the Secret Service?”

Rowe insisted that the agency is addressing leadership issues, including by providing training for the equivalent of a military captain before an agent may rise to a position of higher leadership.

“We are reorganizing and reimagining this organization,” Rowe told Green. “That includes making sure we are developing a leadership development program so that we are touching people at the GS-13 level, which is right before—the equivalent of a captain—touching them before they get promoted to [GS-14]. … We need to hit people and identify leaders early on.”

5. ‘Information That This Committee Does Not Have’
Task force members and staff visited the site of the first assassination attempt against Trump in Butler. Staff interviewed over 45 law enforcement officials, examined thousands of documents and transcripts, met with FBI and Secret Service officials, and subpoenaed other federal agents who were on the ground July 13in Butler, said Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla.

“It is important to note information that this committee does not have from the Department of Justice, including components of the Department of Justice: the FBI, the ATF,” Lee said, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The unexamined evidence includes digital analysis of electronic devices belonging to the rooftop shooter in Pennsylvania, who was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper, and the gunman at Trump’s golf course in Florida, who was stopped in his vehicle and arrested. The task force also didn’t have any financial information about the would-be assassins, Lee said.

Lee said the task force has a thorough analysis of what security procedures could have been improved from the Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. But, he said, almost no information came from the Justice Department.

“In a very real sense, we do not have some of the critical intelligence information that might have helped us even better understand the needs of your agency going forward,” she told Rowe.

“Our mission on this task force is to understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination, ensure accountability, and prevent such a failure from ever happening again,” Lee said. “I would assert that preventing such a failure from ever happening again necessitates that this Congress has access to all of the relevant information related to this day, related to the actual threat landscape that affects not only President Trump but other protectees under your care.”

6. Robot Dogs aka ‘Autonomous Canines’
On what would seemingly be a lighter note, Rowe spoke with a serious tone and straight face about the robot dogs—or “autonomous canines”—at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“Right now at Mar-a-Lago, we’ve started using a sensory array, an autonomous robot, that’s out there walking the seawall right now,” Rowe said. “It has a sensor package. We will use it at sites. We started using it.”

The acting Secret Service chief said the Defense Department has used similar technologies.

“Those are the types of technologies that have been out there, that have been in DOD world for years,” Rowe added. “We need to start leveraging those resources. So, the usage of autonomous canines down there right now is just one example of that.”

7. ‘That Cost Seconds’
Secret Service agents didn’t retrieve radios to communicate with local law enforcement that were set aside for them by the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, noted Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.

“You had isolated assets on rooftops that had no direct radio communication other than the relay through their command post and their cellphones,” Higgins said. “It would have been very easy for them to have a local radio up on the roof. That didn’t happen. That costs seconds, and impacts the results of the entire day.”

Rowe replied that the Secret Service is working to improve that.

“We’ve implemented a PACE—primary alternate contingency and emergency,” he said. “And also making sure, for example, the snipers—our countersnipers—and local snipers are co-located. That’s to cut down on that, to make sure they are standing next to each other so that there is communication between them. Also, we are exchanging radios and making sure we have their radios and can hear what they say.”

Higgins responded, “So sharing radios was part of your pre-mission plan for Butler on J13. So the failure to execute the pre-mission plan has impacted us here.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Thursday that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney recently did damage to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her 2020 election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump.

McBurney on Monday mandated Willis hand over any communications records she has with special counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Select Committee within five business days, according to a court order. Turley, on “The Faulkner Focus,” said the case has numerous issues and that McBurney’s order was a “fairly large blow to Willis.”

WATCH:

“This entire case is leaking like a sieve. And it always has because it was based on, in my view, a ridiculous RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] theory to get to the president,” Turley said. “There are some crimes in this case, I think they’re relatively minor, against some defendants, like unauthorized access, but to get the president, they had to create this real Rube Goldberg type of racketeering theory that I don’t think will hold up upon review. And on top of that, you have Willis’ own conduct and whether she should be removed from the case.”

“So it’s a big debate as to what will bring the case down, but there are a lot of possibilities here. Now, the fact is that courts tended to try to leave these to juries, leave these to fact finders and so Willis knows she has an advantage,” he continued. “But just keep in mind that this entire case is teetering in my view legally. And I just can’t see even if she was able to secure a conviction that she would be able to sustain it on appeal. But I don’t believe the case should go to jury. I don’t think it should go to trial. I think it’s a laughable case against the former president.”

Host Martha MacCallum asked Turley for his opinion of Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee, prompting the law professor to not discuss McBurney’s order.

“He has shown, I think, a fair degree of balance here,” Turley added, appearing to reference McAfee. “I’ve had a lot of respect for some of the decisions he’s reached. So I have no objection to him as a judge. My objection is the underlying case.”

Trump’s attorneys requested that the state of Georgia dismiss Willis’ indictment against him in a Wednesday filing. Willis charged Trump, along with 18 others, in August 2023 for breaching its RICO Act by allegedly attempting to reverse the state’s 2020 election outcome.

The president-elect’s attorneys argued that maintaining the case is unconstitutional and “lacks jurisdiction” as presidents are “completely immune” from state or federal indictments while in office.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

JERUSALEM – The hits from international organizations keep on coming at Israel; the latest iteration in the form of a nearly 300-page report from the supposed human rights organization Amnesty International, which accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza.

Amnesty International pulled no punches, titling its report, “‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza” on the organization’s website under the headline: “Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.” Amnesty said Israel sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.

The report grudgingly admitted Hamas committed atrocities, the brutal murders of some 1,200 civilians of Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, although it was quick to denounce Israel, and claimed the response to the onslaught could not be justified.

However, this fails to take into consideration a number of factors. There was a ceasefire at 6:28 on Oct. 7, which Hamas, and the thousands of Gazans who poured through the gaps in the border fence, obliterated in their videoed campaign of murder, pillage, rape, and destruction, as the terrorist group orchestrated the largest single most deadly massacre of Jews in some 80 years. It also ignores Hamas leaders’ own words, when they exclaimed repeatedly that given half a chance they would gladly and willingly carry out further atrocities. Israel has pointed out it was Hamas’ actions and intentions which should be described as genocide, not the war it has fought to dismantle Gaza’s terrorist infrastructure.

Amnesty said the United States and other allies of Israel could be complicit in genocide, and called on them to halt arms shipments.

“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Amnesty International chief Agnès Callamard said in the report. Callamard was previously the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the former director of the Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression project. Given both of these two institutions’ animus toward the Jewish state, it should come as no surprise she has given her name to a report such as this.

.@amnesty international literally redefined the legal term of genocide to suit their accusation, stripping the term of its actual meaning in the process. The craziest part? They admit this in their report, correctly assuming that most people won’t read all the way to p. 101: https://t.co/lqJYrjkidU

— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) December 5, 2024

The report makes multiple suggestions for how the international community should heap pressure on Israel, yet it makes no mention of the 100 hostages still held in Hamas captivity. It is thought only about 50 of them are still alive; and the fate of the youngest of them – Kfir Bibas – who was only nine-months old when abducted is still unknown.

Amnesty International said it reviewed over 100 statements by Israeli government and military officials and others since the start of the war that “dehumanized Palestinians, called for or justified genocidal acts or other crimes against them,” as part of its self-appointed remit to investigate the genocide claims. It clearly solicited information and data from workers – likely Hamas-aligned on the ground in Gaza – yet it did not interview or seek comment from those on Israel’s side.

Predictably, the backlash has been swift against the organization, with even the Israel branch of the group, a locally registered non-profit which is legally independent from the parent organization, distancing itself from the findings. It did concede the IDF’s actions in Gaza “establish suspicions of widespread violations of international law and may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing,” but it quite explicitly stopped short of described the conduct of the war as tantamount to genocide.

It echoed what many commenters on the X platform noted, namely that Amnesty International needed to alter the accepted definition of the term genocide to be able to make the claims of genocide. “Our careful analysis does not accept the findings meet the definition of genocide, as carefully formulated in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” it added. Furthermore, it doesn’t appear Amnesty International even consulted with Amnesty Israel over any of its so-called findings.

אמנסטי אינטרנשיונל הוציאה הלילה דו”ח שמאשים את ישראל בג’נוסייד. הסניף הישראלי אינו מקבל את הטענה כי הוכח שמתבצע בעזה ג’נוסייד, אולם מתבצעים פשעים חמורים.
יש לציין שמיעוט מחברי אמנסטי ישראל סבורים שניתן לקבוע כי ישראל מבצעת או ביצעה ג’נוסייד.
קראו עוד >> https://t.co/MwIYO7qBEx pic.twitter.com/OiasLG9apJ

— Amnesty Israel (@AmnestyIsrael) December 5, 2024

Israel’s Foreign Ministry excoriated the report labeling the group “deplorable and fanatical.” It accused the organization of producing a “fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies.”

Here is our official response to @amnesty’s recent report:

The deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies. The genocidal massacre on October 7, 2023, was carried out by the… pic.twitter.com/GXsRJn5kVn

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 5, 2024

NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based institute that works to hold organizations such as Amnesty International to account, called the report “a sham,” and labeled it an “immoral attack” and “blatant genocide inversion.” It alleged even some of Amnesty’s own employees admitted the research was highly questionable and that it was effectively attempting to shoehorn an “investigation” into a conclusion it had already drawn.

“The allegation that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip is unfounded and the process of writing the report has been flawed.”

Even employees from @amnesty admit that the report’s “research” is a sham, with conclusions fabricated in advance to push an anti-Israel… https://t.co/y8k7sYs0Tc pic.twitter.com/9CtYE87CYS

— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) December 5, 2024

Taylor Lorenz, an ex-Washington Post writer, posted online a comment after United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed this week: “And people wonder why we want these people dead.”

Her comment, on the alternative social media page Bluesky, was atop a comment about a Blue Cross Blue Shield division beginning limits on payments for anesthesia in some cases.

Lorenz then posted an image of Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim Keck.

https://t.co/RphaBEugSe pic.twitter.com/tVKzL2hwWC

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) December 4, 2024

A report at Zerohedge explained, “‘People have very justified hatred toward insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering,’ Lorenz said in another post. ‘As someone against death and suffering, I think it’s good to call out this broken system and the ppl in power who enable it.'”

The report noted bullet casings found at the scene were inscribed with the words, “Delay, “Deny,” “Depose.”

The hunt for the shooter, who fled the scene on a bicycle, continues.

The report said the labeling could be linked to a book from more than a decade ago that criticized the insurance industry. It was called, “Delay, Deny, Defend.”

The report noted other “left-leaning” commenters shared equally strong opinions, including Ken Klipperstein and Kylie Cheung.

the way we’re socialized to see violence only as interpersonal—not see state violence (policies that create poverty/kill), structural violence, institutional violence—is very deliberate. same w/ panics about ~shoplifting~ vs how much corporations steal from every single one of us https://t.co/ZS3dH23Upp

— Kylie Cheung (@kylietcheung) December 4, 2024

Editor’s Note: Be aware of offensive language:

No sh*t murder is bad. The jokes about the United CEO aren’t really about him; they’re about the rapacious healthcare system he personified and which Americans feel deep pain and humiliation about

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 4, 2024

A report the Gateway Pundit noted Thompson reportedly was under investigation on allegations of insider trading.

“What type of person writes something like this as a first reaction to a public assassination?” the article wondered. “Lorenz, the ‘Queen of Doxxing,’ left the globalist rag The Washington Post in October after letting her true feelings about Joe Biden slip in a revealing tweet.”

Thompson was shot outside a hotel in New York, where he had gone for a business meeting. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information on the homicide.

$10,000 reward offered for information on the United Healthcare CEO’s homicide pic.twitter.com/RpqFHjWFNy

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) December 5, 2024

Alan Dershowitz: ‘I have a theory about why this CEO was killed’

‘There was an investigation about insider trading. And if he was being investigated, there were people out there who would be afraid he would flip and turn against THEM.’ #Unitedhealthcareceo @AlanDersh pic.twitter.com/UZSdDecTNV

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) December 5, 2024

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst unveiled a scathing report on the effects of telework on the federal government Thursday, citing multiple instances of abuse and failures stemming from the widespread use of the practice.

President-elect Donald Trump named Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as co-chairs of DOGE on Nov. 12. Ernst’s 60-page report covered findings from Ernst’s investigations into telework since she sent an August 2023 letter to 24 government agencies seeking a review of the issues involved with telecommuting and was released at the meeting that Musk and Ramaswamy attended.

“If federal employees can’t be found at their desks, exactly where are they?” the report asked earlier, before noting the effects of the absences from the office.

Ernst called out multiple high-ranking Biden administration officials for being away from the office, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and revealed performance issues in agencies like the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

“Federal employees are on the beach and in bubble baths but not in office buildings,” Ernst told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Even members of President Biden’s cabinet claimed to be on the clock while being out of office and unreachable. Unlike Biden’s bureaucrats, I am about to be very busy making Washington work for taxpayers.”

Ernst previously raised concerns about the vacancy rate at federal office buildings, noting that the Transportation Department has used less than 15% of its office space in its Washington, D.C., headquarters complex. In the report, Ernst described how the shift to telework delayed the response to a complaint about conditions at a baby formula factory that led to a recall after the contaminated formula killed nine children.

“The whistleblower complaint detailing safety concerns at an infant formula plant was delivered to the FDA in October 2021,” the report says. But ‘mailroom staffing issues due to COVID-19,’ namely employees working remotely, ‘prevented the hardcopies from reaching FDA senior leaders’ until February, when the plant was then shut down.”

Naysayers to @DOGE are probably eating the pork out of the trough.

But @elonmusk, @vivekgramaswamy, and I are going to trim the fat and #makeemsqueal! pic.twitter.com/ID1KHCzrvn

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) November 28, 2024

“A backlog of food facility inspections caused by COVID-19 era policies is currently being reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). The findings are expected to be released in 2025,” the report adds. “Thousands of pharmaceutical plants that manufacture antibiotics, cancer therapies, and other medicines have also not been inspected since prior to the pandemic. The Associated Press reports the FDA ‘began using video and other online tools to evaluate plants remotely during COVID-19, although those aren’t equivalent to physical inspections.’ And even with remote inspections, almost 40 percent fewer inspections are being conducted now than before the pandemic.”

The Ernst report described issues telework created involving locality pay, an adjustment to the basic pay of civilian employees in the federal government intended to make sure that federal employees have comparable compensation to private-sector counterparts in a given area of the country. The report noted that as many as 68% of employees were receiving incorrect locality pay.

“A number of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees have also been busted fraudulently collecting Washington, D.C. locality pay while living elsewhere,” the report states. “One senior USAID employee lived in Florida for the duration of her employment but used an office supply store in Virginia for work-related correspondences to deceptively collect D.C. locality pay. Despite being required to report to the USAID office in Washington, D.C. twice every pay period, she was permitted to violate the telework agreement by her supervisor.”

The report also detailed how an employee of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was arrested for driving under the influence while supposedly being on the clock and how a Social Security Administration employee was launching a home-inspection business on government time.

The report also noted issues with largely vacant office buildings stemming from the widespread authorization for telework that extended to as many as 90% of employees, depending on the agency. The report said that in addition to wasting taxpayer dollars, the vacant building created an unsafe environment.

“The [Public Buildings Reform Board] adds, ‘In addition to high costs, other problems with low utilization rates include environmental and health impacts,” the report states. “The per person carbon emissions from heating and cooling nearly empty buildings, not to mention energy costs, are indefensible. Severely underutilized buildings can also pose health risks to their occupants as GSA recently discovered with Legionella outbreaks in many of its buildings when water stagnated in their plumbing systems from underutilization.’”

“Legionella is a bacterium that can cause Legionnaires’ Disease, a severe form of pneumonia with a 33 percent mortality rate in pediatric cases, and up to 80 percent mortality rate in at-risk adults,” the report continues. “While most healthy people exposed to the bacteria don’t get sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, ‘there’s no known safe level or type of Legionella.’”

Ernst wrote the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the agency to take emergency action in an August 28 letter sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan about contaminants that built up in the drinking water of federal buildings left unoccupied by a shift to remote work.

Ernst introduced the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act, in September 2023 as part of a package of legislation to rein in the “administrative state.”

The Trump-Vance Transition Team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

JERUSALEM – The United Nations, which has found ways – almost daily – to cover itself in ignominy, succeeded yet again when it passed three recent non-binding resolutions related to Israel, highlighting again it has an unhealthy obsession with the Jewish state.

On December 3, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. In doing so, it perfectly mirrored maximalist Palestinian demands… short of getting rid of the whole of the State of Israel entirely. The resolution also implemented the establishment of a June 2025 conference, whose sole purpose is to “urgently chart an irreversible path toward” a Palestinian state.

It’s been more than a year since toddlers hugged their fathers.

More than a year since mothers embraced their daughters.

Is it not time the #UNGA held #Hamas accountable? pic.twitter.com/XsgZUQIkLL

— Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly (@ReutSBN) December 3, 2024

Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, Israel’s U.N. political coordinator, called the measures a “reckless disregard for the truth” and declared that “the U.N.’s entrenched anti-Israeli bias has been laid bare for all to see,” according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

In addition to this resolution, the UNGA also decreed Israel has no business being on the Golan Heights and passed a motion saying it should withdraw. There is much about this resolution that is truly astonishing. The U.N. estimates Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is currently fighting a rearguard action – along with his Russian and Iranian backers – to repel the advance of Sunni Muslim jihadists – has killed some 300,000 people in the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. Other estimates put the more likely figure at double that; it is interesting to note the U.N. will accept inflated casualty figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, i.e. Hamas, about allegedly entirely non-combatants “indiscriminately killed by a genocidal army,” but will massively underplay the number of deaths when Israel is not involved. Additionally, the war has displaced – both internally and externally – approximately half of Syria’s pre-war population of 20 million people.

Furthermore, this ignores returning U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral acknowledgement of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in March 2019, which the country seized in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which it annexed in 1981, and which was won at an extremely high cost in terms of men and materiel. Israel only has control of about seven percent of the Golan Heights’ area; Syria still controls the vast majority – although not the part where they would be able to more easily fire directly into Israel’s Galilee, including the fertile Jezreel Valley. Considering the instability sweeping throughout Syria, the UNGA’s decision seems irrational at best, unless one takes the view it would like to either a) prop up the Assad regime and/or b) allow jihadists easier access to Israeli targets.

WATCH: Trump formally recognizes Israel’s annexation of Golan Heights

The third and final piece of this puzzle was the move to fund a division dedicated to pushing the Palestinian agenda. The division oversees the International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People, which has featured speakers at U.N. events calling for the elimination of Israel, and UNISPAL, a body dedicated to disseminating pro-Palestinian information.

There is also a deep irony that on Wednesday, the United Nations unveiled a new photographic exhibit that includes entries from so-called journalists who embedded themselves with Hamas fighters who broke into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and witnessed some of the worst of the massacres. It would be one thing if they were merely recording events for posterity, however, one has to question a tweet, which crowed, “We have sex slaves,” followed by a laughing emoji.

OUTRAGE: UN headquarters today inaugurated an anti-Israel photo exhibit featuring the work of @hamda_mahmoud, who laughed about Hamas kidnapping “sabayas” (sex slaves) on October 7th. https://t.co/yMxvCBfNAm pic.twitter.com/ME0XRqmk3l

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) December 4, 2024