Russia releases video of suspected Moscow car bomber

Footage shows the Ukrainian citizen entering the country and leaving it after assassinating Darya Dugina

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has made public a video of Ukrainian national Natalya Vovk, identified as the prime suspect in Saturday’s car bombing that killed journalist Darya Dugina in Moscow. The footage published Monday shows Vovk and her teenage daughter entering Russia, inside the building where Dugina lived, and leaving the country in haste.

Vovk, 43, was named by the FSB on Monday as the prime suspect in the assassination of Dugina. The Ukrainian national arrived in Russia on July 23, using Donetsk People’s Republic license plates to avoid scrutiny. While in Moscow, she swapped the plates on her Mini Cooper to those of Kazakhstan, a friendly former Soviet republic. On Sunday, after the bombing, Vovk drove to Estonia with Ukrainian plates, the FSB said.

Photos of the different license plates were included as part of the video presentation.

The authorities also said Vovk may have used her teenage daughter as cover to move around Russia more easily. She rented an apartment in the same building where Dugina lived, and was captured on the doorway camera.

A photo ID of Vovk in the uniform of Ukraine’s National Guard was published in April on the Russian internet, as part of a dox of neo-Nazi Azov regiment members. It lists her surname as Shaban – the surname her daughter used when entering Russia, according to the FSB. Ukraine previously claimed it was not involved in the assassination.

Dugina, 29, was killed on Saturday evening after attending a conservative family festival near Moscow with her father, philosopher Aleksandr Dugin. Vovk allegedly planted an improvised explosive device under the Toyota SUV that belonged to Dugin, who may have been her intended target.

https://www.rt.com/russia/561318-dugina-suspect-vovk-video/

Fauci Stepping Down In December

Dr. Anthony Fauci announced on Monday that he will be stepping down from his positions as director of NIAID and Chief of the NIAID laboratory of immunoregulation.

The 81-year-old Fauci leave government service in December after more than 50 years.

He will also be stepping down from his position of chief medical adviser to President Biden.

"I am moving from my current positions, I am not retiring," Fauci said in a statement.

In a Sunday evening interview, Fauci said he was "not retiring in the classic sense," and would devote himself to a (undoubtedly profitable) circuit of traveling, writing and encouraging young people to enter government service.

"So long as I’m healthy, which I am, and I’m energetic, which I am, and I’m passionate, which I am, I want to do some things outside of the realm of the federal government," he told the NY Times. He's also got a memoir in the works.

While he has been working on a memoir, Dr. Fauci said he did not yet have a publisher. In an interview last year, he said he was precluded from contracting with a publisher while he was still employed by the government.

In a Monday statement, President Biden thanked Fauci, who he called a "dedicated public servant and a steady hand with wisdom and insight," adding "Because of Dr. Fauci’s many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved."

News of Fauci's retirement comes as the US Covid response comes under harsh scrutiny from GOP lawmakers, who have vowed to ramp up probes if they regain the house and/or Senate in November's Midterm elections.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fauci-stepping-down-niaid-director-adviser-president-biden

Judge Formally Rejects DOJ Argument to Keep Trump Raid Affidavit Sealed

Judge Bruce Reinhart on Monday formally rejected the Justice Department’s argument to keep the Trump raid affidavit sealed.

The judge last Thursday ordered the Justice Department to unseal only a portion of the probable cause affidavit.

Judge Reinhart called the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago “unprecedented.”

“The Government argues that even requiring it to redact portions of the Affidavit that could not reveal agent identities or investigative sources and methods imposes an undue burden on its resources and sets a precedent that could be disruptive and burdensome in future cases,” Reinhart wrote. “I do not need to reach the question of whether, in some other case, these concerns could justify denying public access; they very well might.”

Judge Reinhart gave the DOJ an “opportunity to propose redaction.”

The government has until Thursday, August 25 at noon to file under seal a submission “addressing possible redactions and providing any additional evidence or legal argument that the Government believes relevant to the pending Motions to Unseal.”

Reinhart said he will review the redactions and make changes if necessary.

The judge also said the media outlets who are parties to the lawsuit can appeal his ruling, Fox News reported.

Fox News reported:

Judge Bruce Reinhart on Monday admitted the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was “unprecedented” and formally rejected the Justice Department’s argument to keep the affidavit leading to the search under seal, citing the “intense public and historical interest.”

Reinhart, in a filing Monday morning, said he rejects “the Government’s argument that the present record justifies keeping the entire Affidavit under seal.”

“Particularly given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence, the Government has not yet shown that these administrative concerns are sufficient to justify sealing.”

Reinhart said he has given the Justice Department an “opportunity to propose redaction,” something he granted last week, giving the government a deadline of Thursday, Aug. 25 at noon.

“Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that by the deadline, the Government shall file under seal a submission addressing possible redactions and providing any additional evidence or legal argument that the Government believes relevant to the pending Motions to Unseal,” the motion states.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/just-judge-formally-rejects-doj-argument-keep-trump-raid-affidavit-sealed/

FBI Field Office Chief During Botched Whitmer Plot Was Moved to the District That Covers Mar-a-Lago

Steven D’Antuono just keeps falling upward.

D’Antuono was the head of the FBI’s Detroit field office as the bureau was investigating a supposed kidnapping attempt against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

As Just the News notes, trial testimony alleges the “plot” wasn’t just investigated but instigated by the FBI, with the jury hearing that the bureau’s informants gave drugs to those who were eventually charged in the plot before recording their conversations and sometimes outnumbered “plotters” during meetings.

Closing arguments in the case of two men on trial for the Whitmer “plot” are scheduled to begin Monday. Even if the government gets a conviction, however, the entire endeavor smacks of entrapment. You’d think a man with that kind of record would get shipped out to some nice, remote FBI field office with a filing job to keep him busy until he collects his pension.

Instead, he’s currently the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office — which means he’s also the guy who’s in charge of the office that’s investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion and which is responsible for raiding former President Donald Trump’s estate at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, according to Just the News.

From the FBI’s perspective, this is the worst time to remind America of this fact. On Thursday, the prosecution rested in the retrial of Barry Croft, Jr. and Adam Fox, two of the men charged in the supposed plot to kidnap Whitmer.

The two men have already been tried once, but a mistrial was declared in April after a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in their cases. Two others accused in the case were acquitted after their defense attorneys argued they’d been targeted for entrapment by the bureau.

Last week included dramatic testimony from FBI informant Dan Chappel, Just the News noted. Known as “Big Dan,” Chappel is a U.S. Postal Service delivery truck driver who was put in touch with the FBI by a police officer after Chappel shared his concerns regarding a pro-Second Amendment Facebook group.

Chappel testified that he offered Fox a credit card from the FBI with a $5,000 limit to purchase firearms and ammunition and rent hotel rooms, according to Just the News. He did this despite the fact that Fox was then unemployed and basically homeless, living in the basement of a vacuum-cleaner repair shop that didn’t have running water. Fox refused the credit card, however, according to Just the News.

As for Chappel himself, evidence the defense submitted showed he took home $60,000 in pay for seven months work with the bureau, according to Just the News. The benefits also included a smart watch, a computer worth more than $3,000 and new tires.

Chappel also brought the group of “plotters” together in the first place, according to Just the News, and testified that the FBI allowed protesters to storm the state capitol in Lansing during an anti-lockdown protest in April of 2020.

Confirmation of this can be seen in texts from Chappel’s FBI handler, who praised him for “bringing people together.”

Julie Kelly, senior writer for the conservative website American Greatness, posted a sampling on Twitter in July:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/fbi-field-office-chief-botched-whitmer-plot-moved-district-covers-mar-lago/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/fbi-field-office-chief-botched-whitmer-plot-moved-district-covers-mar-lago/

GOP Rep. Andy Barr: Constituents Don’t Care About 2020 Election

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. told far left Meet the Press on Sunday that voters in his state don’t care about the 2020 election.

Barr added that voters in his state are also not interested in the House investigation into January 6th. They are too busy dealing with inflation fallout and the opioid crisis.

Rep. Barr: “Not once have any of my constituents… talked about the 2020 election… Politicians who obsess about the past are not in touch.”

So is this the new strategy by the GOP? To lump the horrific Jan. 6 trials to the stolen 2020 election? And then insist voters don’t care about election fraud.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/gop-rep-andy-barr-constituents-dont-care-2020-election-video/

WEF Pushes Chip Implants for Children, Comparing Them to Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids

WEF suggests there are ways to "ethically make these amazing technologies a part of our lives."

The latest highly controversial technology/policy that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has set out to normalize is the idea of implanting tracking chips into humans.

It wasn’t that long ago that those speculating on a future where this is happening would get dismissed as conspiracy theorists, but now the world elites’ most vocal outlet is predicting that chip implants will eventually become just a commodity.

And the WEF makes a case that implanting chips into children could be viewed by parents as a “solid, rational” move. All of this crops up in a blog post on the organization’s website dedicated to the future of augmented reality (AR), and what is referred to as “an augmented society.”

Like in many of WEF’s other takes on the future of various types of technology, the emphasis is put on inserting the “right,” i.e., its own “vision” in the direction these should be developing, with the inevitable mention of undefined society stakeholders who will hold the key to the ethics issue of it all.

The WEF is talking up the allegedly broad usefulness of AR going forward in fields such as healthcare, education, and professional settings, with the underpinning notion of providing guidelines as to how to “ethically” regulate this vast potential power – and therefore, when all’s said and done, control it.

The WEF calls AR and similar tech transformative – but in need of “the right support, vision, and audacity.”

Once again it isn’t at all clear why “audacity” is thrown in, unless it is a euphemism to sell some pretty outrageous “visions” that the WEF is expressing, such as replacing drugs with brain implants that will manipulate the body with electrical pulses, and pairing all sorts of chips put into humans through surgery, with sensors one might find in a chair.

And so, with the human and the chair “seamlessly integrated,” the quality of life across the board shoots up, the Davos-based group promises.

“As scary as chip implants may sound, they form part of a natural evolution that wearables once underwent. Hearing aids or glasses no longer carry a stigma,” the blog post reads. “They are accessories and are even considered a fashion item. Likewise, implants will evolve into a commodity.”

But critics of these trends say their opposition has nothing to do with “stigmas” – rather with serious concerns about civil rights, privacy, and the very concept of human autonomy.

https://reclaimthenet.org/wef-rational-reasons-microchip-children/

RINO Charading As Florida MAGA Candidate Doctors Photo With Trump, Called Trump Supporters Terrorists

Cory Mills is facing up against Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (FL-32), a rising America First fighter and unashamed Trump supporter.

Florida House candidate Cory Mills has faced controversy across social media as the state’s Tuesday primary approaches.

Mills is facing up against Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (FL-32), a rising America First fighter and unashamed Trump supporter. Sabatini has received endorsements from a variety of powerful Republican figures such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Matt Gaetz, Rep. Paul Gosar, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Rep. Thomas Massie, and Rep. Louie Gohmert.

Mills’ endorsement record is full of more Republican establishment leaders like the pro-amnesty Rep. Mayra Flores, Rep. Brian Mast, and Sen. Ted Cruz. Sabatini supporters have suggested Mills is an aspiring RINO who is not a sincere America First, pro-Trump Republican.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz claimed Mills photoshopped an image with former President Donald Trump. The campaign-produced image of Mills is so poorly doctored that he has three ears.

Political operative and Conservative influencer Cliff Maloney hammered Mills, claiming he spread lies about Sabatini and “REFUSED to vote for Desantis.”

https://nationalfile.com/rino-charading-as-florida-maga-candidate-doctors-photo-with-trump-called-trump-supporters-terrorists/

Former Pakistan PM Charged Under Terrorism Act for ‘Threatening’ Judge, Police Officers: Reports

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been charged under the country’s terrorism act for allegedly “threatening” police officers and a female magistrate in his rally speech on Saturday, according to local reports.

A first information report (FIR) was filed against Khan on Sunday, stating that he “terrorized and threatened” additional sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry and police officers during a public rally in Islamabad.

Magistrate Ali Javed filed the FIR at the Margalla Police Station of Islamabad under section 7 of the anti-terrorism act, local news agency Geo TV reported. It remains unclear whether Khan was subject to an arrest warrant.

The FIR was filed in connection with Khan’s statement on Saturday that he would file charges against two police officials and Chaudhry for the alleged “gruesome torture” of his adviser Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested last week for sedition charges.

Khan blamed Chaudhry for approving Gill’s two-day detention, accusing the government of trying to intimidate his party “by torturing Gill.”

Live Speech Banned

Pakistan’s electronic media watchdog has banned satellite television channels from broadcasting Khan’s live speeches, citing what it called “hate speech” against state institutions.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said that Khan has been “continuously alleging state institutions by leveling baseless accusations” and spreading hatred through his speeches.

“All the licensees were directed to refrain from telecasting any content in any manner (either recorded or produced under its banner or aired during a live speech or press talk) against state institutions,” PEMRA stated in a video carried by Geo TV.

Soon after the television ban, Khan’s party vowed to go live on “500+ YouTube and Facebook channels.”

However, many Pakistani users reported problems in accessing YouTube on Sunday, just as Khan was about to address a gathering in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

https://www.ntd.com/former-pakistan-pm-charged-under-terrorism-act-for-threatening-judge-police-officers-reports_828515.html

Top Jerry Nadler Staffer Has Been ‘Violating’ Federal Law For Years, Complaint Alleges

A senior staffer for Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler has violated federal law in the past several years for providing legal services to the congressman’s campaign and leadership PAC, Americans for Public Trust, a watchdog, alleged in an ethics complaint Monday obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Senior staff are barred from being paid through a role involving a “fiduciary relationship, including the practice of law,” according to federal law.

“House ethics rules make this simple prohibition abundantly clear: senior staffers cannot be paid to be campaign attorneys,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told the DCNF. “But Nadler’s team has done exactly that.”

A top staffer for Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler has been violating federal law by providing legal services to the congressman’s campaign and leadership PAC, a watchdog alleged in an ethics complaint Monday obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Robert Gottheim is the district director for Nadler’s office and between 2019 and 2021 he received hundreds of thousands in pay to qualify as a “senior staffer.” However, the fact that Gottheim has also been paid for legal services by Nadler’s campaign and PAC is illegal since senior staff are barred from being paid through a role involving a “fiduciary relationship, including the practice of law,” Americans for Public Trust, a watchdog group, alleged in a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).

“House ethics rules make this simple prohibition abundantly clear: senior staffers cannot be paid to be campaign attorneys,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told the DCNF. “But Nadler’s team has done exactly that.”

Senior staff refers to congressional employees who earned over $132,000 in 2021 and over $135,000 in 2022, according to the House Committee on Ethics. Senior staff can also not be paid “as a board member or officer of a nonprofit, campaign organization or government entity,” according to federal law.

https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/22/jerry-nadler-staffer-violating-federal-law-robert-gottheim/

Fire Consumes Mexican Border City Church Days After Another Pastor Threatened

A suspicious fire consumed a church in a Mexican border city over the weekend after Gulf Cartel gunmen threatened another pastor in the same city.

The fire occurred in Miguel Aleman at the Las Americas Christian Center.

Firefighters rushed to the church to put out the flames, however, most of the building sustained heavy damage. The pastor’s family was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation and minor injuries.

“The sinister (fire) was a little strong, I think a little more so because everything in the church room was quite affected,” said Pastor Lucio Humberto Villanueva in Spanish. “Also because of the smoke, the electricity cables were burned, the walls of the church — both the temple and the floors. They burst. It was too hot.”

In an interview with Breitbart Texas, Villanueva revealed that he had been ministering in Miguel Aleman for six years and this is the first time he faced any security issues. Even though Miguel Aleman has a strong presence by cartel members, Villanueva said he has never had any issues with the criminal elements at his welcoming church.

Authorities have not determined if the case was arson, however, the fire comes days after another pastor in the same city was carjacked and threatened by cartel gunmen. Miguel Aleman has seen a rise in violence as the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas seeks turf in the region. The struggles have led to an increase in Gulf Cartel gunmen trying to violently hold control.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2022/08/22/exclusive-fire-consumes-mexican-border-city-church-days-after-another-pastor-threatened/

Facebook Fact-Check Censors Factual Claim IRS Is Arming Agents To Use Deadly Force

Facebook has deployed one of its infamous ‘fact checkers’ to suggest that the completely accurate claim that the IRS is seeking to arm more agents to use deadly force was “partly false information.”

Earlier this month, an IRS job posting was uncovered that announced the agency was looking to hire people who are ready to kill.

The job ad listed one of the “major duties” of IRS agents to be able to “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”

The IRS subsequently deleted the job posting after it stoked controversy, but then a 2021 IRS annual report also came to light which showed heavily armed agents simulating an assault on a suburban home as part of their training.

When the Heritage Foundation and Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) posted about the issue on Facebook, the Big Tech giant, relying on a ‘fact check’ carried out by Lead Stories, slapped a warning label on posts that said they constituted “partly false information.”

Fact checks have the effect of basically blacklisting content on Facebook, burying it in the algorithm and preventing large numbers of people from viewing the content.

‘Fact Check: IRS Is NOT Trying To Arm All Its Agents’ shouted the headline of the article by Lead Stories.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/facebook-fact-check-censors-factual-claim-irs-arming-agents-use-deadly-force

Barack Obama Hosting Martha’s Vineyard Fundraiser for Eric Holder’s Army of Election Workers

Former President Barack Obama will host a fundraiser for his former Attorney General Eric Holder’s redistricting committee on August 30th, in a major step forward for Democrats in the midterms.

The fundraiser for Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee will feature a dinner and a discussion about democracy, supporting legal efforts to help Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections, according to Politico’s Playbook. The event will take place at Martha’s Vineyard.

Holder spoke about his group’s midterm efforts in a recent interview with Sirius/XM host Joe Madison.

He spoke about a pressing need to draft a group of polling workers in every state to combat Republicans and that his group was focusing on the problem.

Holder also warned that teams of Republicans working to prevent voter fraud in the midterm election would “muck up the process” and “intimidate people,” which he argued was a “threat” to democracy.

“The iteration of this Republican Party just ain’t that into democracy,” he said, warning that Republican efforts to secure elections would try to “guarantee themselves a positive result” in future elections.

Holder said his committee was working on drafting teams of election monitors and polling workers in every state to fight Republicans and called for volunteers.

“In the absence of some kind of countermeasures by those of us who favor democracy, they will take our democracy from us,” he said.

Holder also spoke about the midterm elections at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.

“If we want to be at the place where we need to be, it’s up to this generation at this time to make sure these changes occur. We have that capacity,” he said. “The cavalry is not coming. We are the cavalry.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/22/barack-obama-hosting-marthas-vineyard-fundraiser-eric-holders-army-election-workers/

NYT Op-Ed: Throw out the ‘Broken Constitution’ and ‘Reclaim America’

The “broken” and “famously undemocratic” U.S. Constitution “stands in the way” of “real” freedom and democracy, according to a New York Times op-ed by two Ivy League law professors.

The pair issued a call to “radically alter the basic rules of the game” by no longer requiring us to “justify our politics by the Constitution.”

A Friday New York Times essay, titled “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed,” and penned by law professors Ryan D. Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale, claims when liberals “lose in the Supreme Court” they often blame justices for misreading the Constitution, yet in reality, “struggling over the Constitution has proved a dead end.”

“The real need is not to reclaim the Constitution, as many would have it, but instead to reclaim America from constitutionalism,” the authors assert, as they attack the “some centuries-old text.”

The essay also claims that constitutions, and “especially the broken one we have now,” direct us to the past, something that “aids the right” which tends to stick “with what it claims to be the original meaning of the past.”

Though liberals have attempted to “reclaim” the Constitution for half a century, the essay claims they have “agonizingly little to show for it” while calling to “radically alter the basic rules of the game.”

The authors also criticize progressives for attempts to “regain ownership of our founding charter,” mistakenly attributing the problem to the Supreme Court’s “hijacking” of the Constitution rather than the charter itself.

“[E]ven when progressives concede that the Constitution is at the root of our situation, typically the call is for some new constitutionalism,” they write.

Calling the current Constitution “inadequate” and “famously undemocratic,” the authors wonder why progressives bother to “justify our politics by the Constitution or by calls for some renovated constitutional tradition.”

“It would be far better if liberal legislators could simply make a case for abortion and labor rights on their own merits without having to bother with the Constitution,” they add.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/22/ivy-league-professors-reclaim-america-from-broken-constitution/

Tony Blair in US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘little black book’

Aug 14, 2019

TONY Blair was listed in Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘little black contacts book’ alongside a series of Britain’s richest and most powerful people, it has been claimed today.

The former Prime Minister was one of 301 British names and featured alongside Sir Richard Branson, Sir Mick Jagger, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Epstein was found dead in his cell in a Manhattan jail where he was being held without bail awaiting trial for allegedly abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14 in New York and Florida.

The 66-year-old, who denied the charges, was found at 6.30am on Saturday morning, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. Officials said he had hanged himself.

He was facing up to 45 years behind bars on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Epstein had built up an astonishing list of more than 1,000 phone numbers and email addresses for hundreds of famous names from both sides of the Atlantic.

There is no suggestion the names listed in the “little black book” - which is now in the hands of the FBI - were involved in any wrongdoing or even met Epstein.

The contacts also included celebrities such as Simon Le Bon, the late Sir David Frost, supermodel Naomi Campbell, socialite Tamara Beckwith, Jonathan Dimbleby, Loyd Grossman and numerous lords and ladies.

Mr Blair is recorded once in the book while former cabinet minister Peter Mandelson has 10 entries, including one marked “direct line” one for “home” and another for “country home”.

There are 16 numbers for Prince Andrew, including a mobile number, one marked “Palace ex-directory”, one for Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish residence, where the Prince invited Epstein, and one marked “Sand”, for Sandringham.

Epstein also recorded 18 numbers for Prince Andrew’s former wife Sarah Ferguson, who accepted£15,000 from the paedophile to help pay debts.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1165636/jeffrey-epstein-conspiracy-us-paedophile-tony-blair-prince-andrew-fbi-investigation

Corporate Media Mostly Mum as US Strikes Kill at Least 20 in Somalia

"This is a completely under-the-radar news story, one that was curiously absent from the headlines in all of the major newspapers this morning," wrote one expert after the latest U.S. strike on Somalia.

Conflict monitors on Friday drew attention to a series of U.S. airstrikes in Somalia in recent months, attacks that have received relatively little attention in the American corporate media despite having reportedly killed more than 20 people.

"Bottom line, it's been a long time since the United States was not bombing Somalia."

"If you were unaware that we were bombing Somalia, don't feel bad, this is a completely under-the-radar news story, one that was curiously absent from the headlines in all of the major newspapers this morning," wrote Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

On Wednesday, Antiwar.com's Dave DeCamp reported that U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) launched its second strike on Somalia in a week. AFRICOM said its initial assessment found the attack, which occurred in Beledweyne and killed 13 fighters belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al-Shabaab, and that no civilians were harmed.

AFRICOM also said it killed four al-Shabaab members in three separate airstrikes near Beledweyne on August 9, two fighters in a joint U.S.-Somali operation near Labi Kus on July 17, and five militants in a June 3 bombing outside Beer Xani.

All of these strikes have taken place since U.S. President Joe Biden approved the redeployment of hundreds of special forces troops to Somalia in May, reversing a drawdown from the war-ravaged nation implemented during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

DeCamp noted that Trump's withdrawal from Somalia merely "repositioned troops in neighboring Djibouti and Kenya, allowing the drone war to continue. But Biden has launched significantly fewer strikes in Somalia compared to his predecessor."

According to data from the U.K.-based monitor group Airwars, U.S. forces have bombed Somalia at least 16 times during Biden's tenure, killing between 465 and 545 suspected militants. On March 13, a joint U.S. drone and Somali airstrike killed a staggering 200 alleged militants.

Airwars identified civilian casualties in just one of the attacks during Biden's presidency, a June 2021 strike attributed to either U.S. or Kenyan forces, which have been battling al-Shabaab since 2011. The attack on the southern town of Ceel Cadde killed Sahro Adan Warsame and seriously injured five of her children, according to local media reports.

Since 2007, the U.S. military has carried out 260 actions in Somalia. While the Pentagon only admits to killing five civilians and wounding 11 others in a campaign it claims killed as many as 3,010 militants, Airwars estimates that 78-153 civilians, including 20-23 children, have died in U.S. attacks.

"Bottom line, it’s been a long time since the United States was not bombing Somalia," wrote Vlahos. "This comes after a particularly bloody period during the [so-called War on Terror] in which the CIA was using the country to detain and torture terror suspects from across North Africa."

"Whether this has ultimately been a good thing for the country or for the broader security of the region, one need only to look at the continued instability and impoverishment of the people," she added, "and of course, the persistent presence of al-Shabaab itself."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/19/corporate-media-mostly-mum-us-strikes-kill-least-20-somalia

US Hypocrisy and Israeli Crimes

Many people were surprised and outraged when US President Biden recently fist bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After all, as a candidate, Biden pledged to make the Saudi kingdom a pariah since the Crown Prince had been directly linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In contrast, consider the relative lack of outrage to Biden’s statement after the latest criminal Israeli attack on Gaza that began on August 5th. This air bombardment by Israel, a nuclear power with one of the world’s strongest militaries and the occupier of Palestinian land, was against a mostly defenseless people. During this attack, 49 Palestinians, including 17 children, were killed and 360 Palestinians including 151 children were wounded. In contrast, reports suggest that 13 Israelis had minor injuries. Biden said: “My support for Israel’s security is long-standing and unwavering – including its right to defend itself against attacks. … I commend Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his government’s steady leadership throughout the crisis.”

Biden’s comment ignores reality. Israel wasn’t attacked, but it had attacked Gaza. Palestinians responded to the attack by Israel. In addition, note the large number of Palestinian children who were killed or wounded. This Israeli war crime clearly did not spare Palestinian civilians. This is the leadership that Biden and many other politicians commended. Wow – this says a lot! Even worse, Biden doesn’t seem to think Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against Israel’s state terrorism.

Besides the immeasurable human cost of the Israeli attack, the damage Israel did to Palestinian infrastructure and housing makes life in Gaza ever more difficult. Just as in numerous previous horrific and devastating Israeli attacks, there is no talk of Israel paying reparations for the widespread devastation it inflicted on Gaza. Rebuilding is difficult given that Israel has maintained, with US and Egyptian support, an illegal siege on Gaza since 2007.

The US corporate-dominated media plays a role in enabling these Israeli crimes by its biased coverage. For example, it downplays the fact that Israel is an apartheid state. The US media also fails to consistently point out that Israel is occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. There are well over 600,000 Israeli settlers living illegally on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The media doesn’t stress that Israel routinely violates international law, particularly the 1949 Geneva Conventions on occupation, with impunity. The media also seldom mentions that the US has cast over 40 vetoes of UN Security Council resolutions regarding problematic Israeli behavior. These vetoes or threats of vetoes by the US enable Israel to escape accountability.

In addition, given how the US praises Ukrainians who resist the Russian military in Ukraine, it is appalling to see the US commending Israel even though it has been occupying Palestinian land for decades. Ukrainians who resist Russian forces are touted as heroes in the US corporate media whereas Palestinians who legitimately resist cruel and illegal Israeli policies are called terrorists. As this latest attack shows, Palestinians who are simply trying to live their lives are killed with impunity for the killers due to the US preventing any sanctions against Israel.

https://original.antiwar.com/Ron_Forthofer/2022/08/21/us-hypocrisy-and-israeli-crimes/

Special Counsel Durham's lead prosecutor withdraws from next up Danchenko case

Assistant special counsel Andrew DeFilippis led the prosecution of former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann in May.

Special Counsel John Durham's lead prosecutor has withdrawn from the case of Igor Danchenko, a source for the Christopher Steele dossier, less than two months before the trial is scheduled to begin.

The filing to withdraw was submitted late Sunday by Assistant Special Counsel Andrew DeFilippis, The Washington Times reported.

There are no other details offered in the filing, and the Justice Department has yet to respond to a request for comment.

Durham was appointed in 2020 by the Justice Department to be a special counsel to investigate the federal government's probe into alleged collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.

The investigation includes learning about the origins of the now-discredited Steele, created to try to find dirt on then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

DeFilippis didn't immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from Just the News.

In May, DeFilippis led the prosecution of former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, whom a Washington, D.C., jury found not guilty this summer of lying to the FBI about the alleged Trump-Russia collusion.

DeFilippis was also a top prosecutor in the special counsel's case against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that was used to justify a surveillance warrant targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Danchenko's trial is scheduled to start Oct. 16. He was charged last fall for repeatedly lying to the FBI about compiling information for the dossier. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty.

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/special-counsel-durhams-lead-doj-prosecutor-withdraws-danchenko-case

Leaked Videos: Virgin Australia Bring in “Experts” to Drum In “Vaccines are Safe and Effective” After Airline Staff Raise Safety Concerns

In recent months there has been an increased concern about Covid injections amongst Virgin Australia staff, for example, the effects on fertility and pregnancy. So, at the end of last month, Virgin Australia invited “medical specialists” to “reassure” staff that the “vaccines” were completely safe for all stages of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

CEO Jayne Hrdlicka invited several doctors to present information and to answer any questions staff may have. The online presentations were streamed live on a Facebook group as well as on the company’s intranet used by employees. All Virgin Australia staff were invited to attend. Virgin titled the series of presentations, to convince staff that “vaccines” are safe and effective, ‘The Covid Information Series’.

Included in Virgin’s Covid Information Series were presentations made by Dr. Nick Coatsworth, Dr. Anthony Byrne, Dr. Debra Kennedy and Dr Natalie Gray, copies of which have been leaked to The Exposé by an anonymous source.

The many concerns brought by staff were represented during the question-and-answer segments – particularly in Dr. Natalie Gray’s session. Concerns raised included issues around mRNA technology, AstraZeneca blood clotting deaths, thousands of reported adverse events and a lack of long-term data on fertility concerns. One of the three company doctors was pregnant with her first baby and happily took her shots while pregnant and strongly encouraged others to do so.

The repeated message throughout the presentations was the vaccine is SAFE AND EFFECTIVE.

Below is a clip from Dr. Gray’s session tweeted by Aussie Freedom Flyers in which she told airline staff:

“There have been no additional side effects found in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women. So, the vaccine is safe and effective. So, my advice would be: please, if you are pregnant or intending to be pregnant, be reassured that it is entirely safe in pregnancy … There is no indication that there is any impact on fertility, either planning to become pregnant now or down the track. We also know that side effects of vaccines only go for about eight weeks.”

Many staff members bought the “safe and effective” narrative and wholeheartedly believed if you weren’t prepared to take the vaccine – then aviation was not the right industry for you. An ideology famously announced by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce who in August 2021 told ABC’s News Breakfast: “people that are just unwilling to take the vaccine, we think aviation is not the industry for them.”

However, there were several staff who have suffered or knew someone who have suffered adverse reactions to the injections. Dozens of cabin crew were complaining of adverse effects impacting their menstrual cycles. Although Virgin kept the intranet site open for discussion, on the issue of the vaccination policy, Jayne Hrdlicka closed down the comments on the Facebook group due to significant pushback from those watching the presentations live.

https://expose-news.com/2022/08/22/leaked-videos-virgin-australia-bring-in-experts/

Israel Raids Palestinian Civil Society

The targeted groups were documenting Israeli war crimes in Palestine and collaborating with investigations into Israel’s actions, including the probe by the International Criminal Court, Tanupriya Singh reports.

In a further escalation of Israel’s ongoing campaign of repression, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ransacked and shut down the offices of seven leading Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

The early morning raids targeted Al Haq, prisoner advocacy group Addameer, Bisan Center for Human Rights, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).

The six organizations have been under constant threat ever since Israel designated them as “terrorist” organizations in 2021. The seventh target was the Union of Health Work Committees, which Israel declared “unlawful” in 2020 and whose offices it shut down in 2021.

Following Thursday morning’s raids, the organizations issued statements detailing how the IOF had broken down the doors of their offices, confiscated materials, welded and sealed their doors shut with iron sheets, and left behind a military order.

Addameer stated that the notice declared the organization “forcibly closed” on account of “security in the region and to combat the infrastructure of terrorism.”

https://consortiumnews.com/2022/08/19/israel-raids-palestinian-civil-society/

Liz Cheney Creates PAC for Sole Purpose of Removing Republicans from Office and Supporting Democrats

The latest development is a remarkable amount of sunlight on the dynamic of the Republican party. In many ways this is the ‘big ugly’ we previously discussed. Cheney represents the outlook of the ‘acceptable republican’, and after her primary defeat now turns her attention to removing the ‘unacceptable’ republican politicians.

Ms. Cheney has transferred the remaining $7 million from her leadership PAC, mostly provided by democrat donor activists and Wall Street allies, into a new Political Action Committee created to attack undesirable republican politicians and benefit Democrats.

Immediately after Donald Trump announced his candidacy as a republican in 2015, it was easily predictable that a major conflict within the republican party would result. The traditional republican party platform for trade, finance, economics and foreign policy was in direct conflict with Trump’s America First outlook. With literally trillions at stake, we called the predictable battle, “The Big Ugly.” Cheney’s moves to help democrats are part of this larger ideological war within the party.

(Daily Mail) – […] ‘I’m going to be very focused on working to ensure that we do everything we can not to elect election deniers,’ Cheney said on ABC on Sunday morning.

‘We’ve got election deniers that have been nominated for really important positions all across the country. ‘And I’m going to work against those people. I’m going to work to support their opponents.’

She singled out two senators – Ted Cruz, for Texas, and Missouri’s Josh Hawley – as obvious targets. Cheney said the pair ‘took steps that fundamentally threatened the constitutional order and structure in the aftermath of the last election. ‘So, in my view, they both have made themselves unfit for future office,’ she added. (read more)

The media narrative engineers like to ignore that it wasn’t Donald Trump or any other MAGA movement individual that removed Liz Cheney from office. Ms. Cheney was rejected by the voters in Wyoming, her own tribe, no one else.

The voters in Wyoming rejected Liz Cheney because her brand of politics was only concerned about the interests of Liz Cheney. In other words, she is a perfect representation of a traditional republican.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/08/22/liz-cheney-creates-pac-for-sole-purpose-of-removing-republicans-from-office-and-supporting-democrats/

https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1561775721160245249