The Patriot Post® · Wednesday: Below the Fold
Government & Politics
DOJ spied on FBI director nominee Patel: The revelation that the Department of Justice spied on Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, isn’t exactly surprising. What might be more surprising, though, is that the spying occurred not during Joe Biden’s presidency but Trump’s. Patel “previously sued former Trump Justice Department officials and FBI Director Christopher Wray, accusing them of violating his Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures when they tried to obtain Patel’s personal records,” reports Just the News. All this is part of a newly released DOJ inspector general’s report, which notes that the spying was meant to investigate leaks surrounding the Russia collusion hoax and was conducted “in bad faith,” as Republican Senator Chuck Grassley put it. The Washington Times reports, “Federal prosecutors skirted their own rules when they seized phone records from reporters while investigating congressional leaks to the media about the probe into suspected Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.” Furthermore, the equal-opportunity spying included several congressional staffers and two Democrat House members, Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, as well as reporters from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
ActBlue confesses its foreign influence election scheme: Time was when Democrats routinely decried the influence of money in politics. Indeed, it’s the Democrats who continuously complained about the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which protects paid political speech for those on the Left as well as the Right. Lately, though, the Democrats’ silence is deafening, and this silence is no doubt due to the gross imbalance in fundraising that they’ve enjoyed in recent presidential and down-ballot elections. And now, we’re getting some insight into how they’re doing it. Just the News reports, “ActBlue, the massive online fund-raising platform for liberal causes, has informed Congress it did not automatically block donations made with foreign-bought gift cards until recently, a potentially significant revelation in an ongoing investigation into whether China, Russia, Iran or Venezuela routed illicit money to Democrat candidates.” According to Republican Congressman Brian Steil, whose committee oversees election integrity, only on September 9 did ActBlue update its money-grubbing standards to “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined.”
Ignorant Americans want government oversight of healthcare: A recent Gallup survey found that 62% of Americans believe it should be the federal government’s responsibility to ensure that everyone has health coverage. That is the highest percentage in over a decade. Back in 2013, after the rollout of ObamaCare, just 42% of Americans believed the federal government should be involved in healthcare, though prior to the insurance exchange, a majority of Americans believed that Big Brother should guarantee that people had health coverage. Tellingly, after experiencing ObamaCare, the majority opinion changed. ObamaCare did nothing to lower healthcare costs; indeed, it has made the problem more costly and complicated than ever. Yet, because of this, Americans are clamoring for someone to fix this problem, and, as usual, they turn to the government — the very entity that made the problem far worse.
Democrats in a bind over defense bill that bans transgender surgeries for minors but boosts enlisted pay (Fox News)
Economy
Annual inflation rate accelerates to 2.7% in November (CNBC)
Trump promises “expedited” approvals, permits for firms investing $1 billion+ in U.S. (Just the News)
Humor: 17 signs of poverty in a capitalist country (Babylon Bee)
Lawfare
What’s next for Daniel Penny? After his acquittal, New York City subway hero Daniel Penny must be wondering where he might go to get his reputation back. Penny doesn’t seem to be the vindictive sort, but Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is encouraging him to turn the tables on Manhattan’s woke prosecutor. “Alvin Bragg is an absolute catastrophe,” said Cruz. “First, he indicted Donald Trump in a partisan case, and then he indicted Daniel Penny for saving the lives of other subway passengers from a deranged lunatic threatening to kill everyone. Penny should sue Bragg for malicious prosecution and hold this rogue Soros prosecutor accountable.” Meanwhile, Penny sat for an interview with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who herself is a former DA and judge. “He blew me away,” said Pirro. “He is humble. He thinks that he’s serving people, and he’s willing to live with it and do it again.” As for Bragg, Pirro didn’t mince words. “It’s time for you to say goodbye,” she said. “You are a political prosecutor. You ruined this man’s life, and it’s time somebody brought a civil rights violation or investigation against him.”
NY AG refuses to end lawfare against Trump: Although the Democrats’ lawfare effort against Donald Trump failed in a spectacular fashion, likely doing little other than buoy his election victory, New York Attorney General Letitia James refuses to give up her politically motivated actions against the president-elect. Last month, Trump attorney D. John Sauer asked James to dismiss the dubious civil case against Trump “for the good of the country.” Trump is currently appealing the $454 million judgment against him handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron. James rejected Sauer’s request, stating, “Presidents do not have immunity from civil lawsuits arising from unofficial conduct, and such lawsuits may proceed while the president is in office.” Her animosity toward Trump dies hard.
Culture
Bowman, the sore-losing racist: Is there anything more spiteful and embittered than a Democrat incumbent who’s just been shown the door? If we consider the behavior of disgraced outgoing New York congressman and fire-alarm-pulling Squad member Jamaal Bowman, we’d say not. “Dear White People,” Bowman posted as part of a remarkable 12-part X rant, “I don’t know why I feel the need to keep talking to you. I don’t know why part of me still has hope for you and for us. Some of you are too far gone. But maybe enough of you aren’t and will join us in fighting to end white supremacy.” Bowman went on to list what he deemed were black victims of white people: Rodney King, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Jordan Neely. “How many times have you seen a white man killed in cold blood on camera on your newsfeed?” he asked whites. “The answer is never.” Instead, “Whenever you feel discomfort from your whiteness, Black people are harmed or killed. And there is never accountability or justice. This is the evil of white supremacy.” All we can say is, good riddance to this sore-losing racial arsonist.
Luigi Mangione, UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect, has outburst on way to court, fights extradition to NYC (CBS News)
Nancy Mace attacked by pro-transgender man at U.S. Capitol (Daily Wire)
Pelosi defies archbishop’s eucharist ban for pro-abortion politicians (National Review)
Yale students overwhelmingly pass BDS referendum (Washington Free Beacon)
Security
- Drone mystique: Who’s behind the mysterious drones seen flying over New Jersey? Well, it ain’t the military. According to Lt. Col. Craig Bonham II, “While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities.” Local media outlets report that Picatinny has noted at least 11 sightings. These large drones have been spotted all over the state near military facilities and even Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course. Federal officials have concluded that these drones are not being operated by foreign entities. And yet, no one seems to know who is behind these drones. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that they are “very sophisticated,” noting that “the minute you get your eyes on them, they go dark.” He was quick to add, “The most important point to say is we don’t see any concern for public safety.”
UPDATE: According to Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) this morning, “I’m going to tell you the real deal: Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones. … It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. … These are from high sources; I don’t say this lightly. … These drones should be shot down.” However, Deputy Defense Press Secretary Sabrina Singh countered, “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States.”
Israel strikes Syrian army’s weapons stockpiles: Nearly 500 drone strikes have been conducted by the Israel Defense Forces targeting weapons sites across Syria over the last couple of days. In the wake of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country, the IDF has acted to prevent Syrian military weapons from falling into jihadi rebel hands. “Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80–190 kilometers were destroyed. Each missile carried significant explosive payloads, posing threats to civilian and military maritime vessels in the area,” the IDF reported. “Numerous strategic weapons were neutralized, including Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and more.” The obvious concern for Israel is that if the jihadi rebels get their hands on these weapons stockpiles, they could be used against the Jewish state depending on who eventually rises to power in Syria. Israel wants to eliminate that risk.
China stages largest show of force in decades (WSJ)
U.S. intercepts ballistic missile from Guam in first for Pacific outpost (Newsweek)
Misc.
Supreme Court rules courts don’t have power in some immigration cases (Newsweek)
Bankruptcy judge rejects The Onion’s bid for Infowars (NPR)
Israel’s Netanyahu takes stand in corruption trial (CBS News)
For the Executive Summary archive, click here.