DEVELOPING: Personal Information of Hundreds of Lawmakers and Staffers Stolen in Major Security Breach

Personal information of hundreds of lawmakers and staffers was stolen after a major security breach of DC Health Link.

“I have been informed by the United States Capitol Police and DC Health Link of a data breach impacting Members and staff,” CAO Catherine Szpindor wrote.

“DC Health Link suffered a significant data breach yesterday potentially exposing the Personal Identifiable Information of thousands of enrollees,” she wrote.

The size and scope of the breach is not known.

The FBI is investigating the breach.

Szpindor continued, “While we do not yet know whether other enrollees have been compromised, out of abundance of caution you may wish to freeze your family’s credit at the three major credit bureaus.”

“Speaker McCarthy and Democratic Leader Jeffries have formally requested additional information from DC Health Link on what data was taken, who was impacted, and what steps they are taking to protect House victims of this breach,” Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor wrote.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/developing-personal-information-of-hundreds-of-lawmakers-and-staffers-stolen-in-major-security-breach/

HEZBOLLAH UNCOVERED ISRAELI SPYING DEVICE IN SOUTH LEBANON

On March 6, Hezbollah announced that it had uncovered an Israeli spying device near the separation line in south Lebanon.

In a brief statement, Hezbollah said that the device, which was disguised as a rock, was planted by Israeli soldiers near the al-Abad site in the outskirts of the town of Houla. The group didn’t provide any further information on the device.

Several similar spying devices were uncovered in south Lebanon, the heartland of Hezbollah, in the past. Some of the devices included motion sensors, while others had electro-opticalinfrared imagers or even signalelectronic intelligence systems.

Such spying devices are usually planted by the reconnaissance units of the Israeli Defense Forces or intelligence operatives.

Hezbollah uncovered the spying device just a day after a rare clash between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers along the separation line, which is also known as the Blue Line. Lebanon said that its troops pushed back an Israeli patrol that violated the line at the village of Aita al-Shaab in south Lebanon by a meter.

Israel keeps a close eye on south Lebanon through all possible means, mainly to monitor the Hezbollah’s ever growing capabilities.

Tensions along the separation line remain high. Nevertheless, a military escalation is highly-unlikely as both Israel and Hezbollah understand that any confrontation could quickly develop into a full-blown war.

https://southfront.org/hezbollah-uncovered-israeli-spying-device-in-south-lebanon-video/

NT Supreme Court dismisses appeal by 'sovereign tribal man' who claimed he was not subject to the law

The Northern Territory Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by a man opposed to vaccination mandates who claimed he could not be prosecuted for alleged criminal offences because the law does not apply to a "sovereign tribal man" like himself.

Key points:

David Alan Cole was charged with multiple offences, including contravention of COVID directions

He argued that as "sovereign tribal man", he was not subject to Australian and NT law

A Supreme Court judge has dismissed his appeal against an earlier ruling rejecting his claim

David Alan Cole is facing multiple charges dating back over the past two years, including contravening a Chief Health Officer's direction, assaulting a police officer, taking part in a riot, entering Aboriginal land without a permit and breaching bail conditions.

When the proceedings went before the Darwin Local Court last year, Mr Cole, who is Indigenous, argued he was being prosecuted under a legal system that was not valid.

"[His] contention was that the Australian Constitution [and] the laws of the Commonwealth and the laws of the Northern Territory have no application to him as a 'sovereign tribal man'," Chief Justice Michael Grant said a decision handed down last week.

"The appellant asserts that, as a consequence, the Local Court has no jurisdiction or power to hear and determine the charges which have been brought against him."

Following a two-day hearing in the Local Court late last year, Judge David Woodroffe made a ruling in relation to the "preliminary issue" raised by Mr Cole.

"Judge Woodroffe determined that he was bound by authorities from the High Court to [the Supreme] Court to the effect that Indigenous Australians are subject to the laws of the Commonwealth, and the laws of the States and Territories in which they reside," the Chief Justice Grant stated.

Mr Cole subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming Judge Woodroofe's decision was contrary to other High Court decisions and was inconsistent with the United Nation's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

However, based on "preliminary observation" of the cited High Court decisions, Chief Justice Grant said there appeared to be "insurmountable barriers" to Mr Cole's contentions.

He said there was nothing in the High Court's previous decisions "which would support the notion that Australian legislatures lack competence to regulate the rights of Aboriginal people".

He also said there was nothing to validate the notion that "the laws enacted by those legislatures are subject to the acceptance, adoption, request or consent of an Aboriginal person to which they would otherwise have application."

Despite the Chief Justice's observations, he said it was not necessary for him to a make a ruling on Mr Cole's arguments.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/david-cole-sovereign-citizen-in-court-darwin/102069880

This man exposed child sex trafficking and SRA network operating in the NT government

Sydney Trains rules out cyber attack after total network shutdown

Sydney Trains has ruled out a cyber attack on the network after the system ground to a halt on Wednesday, leaving commuters stranded at peak-hour.

Key points:

According to Sydney Trains, there has never been a shutdown of this scale

The digital radio fault stopped drivers from communicating

Train services are back to normal on Thursday morning

Trains stopped for an hour at 2:45pm after drivers lost contact on the digital radio system, which is used for communication between train crews.

Some passengers were stuck mid-journey, while others were left on the platform or directed to take buses or ride-share services.

Sydney Trains chief executive officer Matt Longland said engineers worked overnight to detect the cause of the issue.

Look back at our live shutdown coverage

"We've done quite a bit of work to identify the route cause of the incident … we don't believe it was anything around cyber security," Mr Longland said.

"It's never happened before … we've never had an incident of this scale."

He said a "component failure" occurred, which would usually automatically redirect the network to a backup system but, in this case, the backup system failed.

This meant engineers had to manually find the fault and fix it, before the trains could recommence.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/sydney-trains-rules-out-cyber-attack-after-network-shutdown/102071758

Smotrich apologizes to IDF for saying Israel should ‘wipe out’ Huwara

Israel's Air Force began a protest against actions by Israel’s newest coalition government two days ago by refusing to attend training.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich took to Facebook to issue a formal apology for his March 1st comments on the West Bank Palestinian town of Huwara – in which he said Israel should ‘wipe out’ the town.

Smotrich, who drew considerable ire for his comments, explained in his apology that a friend of his in the Israeli Air Force shared his anxiety about Smotrich’s violent rhetoric – an anxiety he said is shared by many in the Israeli Air Force who fear having to carry out such a task.

Two days ago, the Air Force protested actions by Israel’s newest coalition government by refusing to attend training.

“According to this friend of mine, and I trust him one hundred percent, it's not some cynical campaign excuse of the pilots in the context of opposition to reform, but a deep and real fear that led them to do what they did,” Smotrich outlined in his apology statement.

“The IDF is the people's army and has a clear moral and value framework… This framework is important because it captures around it all the soldiers, commanders and fighters coming from different parts of the nation. These are the values necessary to establish a basic contract between the state and those who are willing to give their lives for it and activate the deadliest weapons for it,” concluded Smotrich.

Smotrich’s comments on Huwara

“I think that Huwara needs to be wiped out, but the State of Israel needs to do it, most certainly not private citizens,” he said during a March 1st interview at a conference by business news organization TheMarker.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price called his words “irresponsible,” “repugnant,” and “disgusting,” while French officials said they were “appalled” by the comment.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry called the comment a “racist” and “extremist statement" which reflected the level of violence enacted by Israel against the Palestinians, while the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said it was a breach of human rights and international law.

Smotrich, who officially retracted that statement on March 5th, faced backlash from Israeli and global politicians for his inflammatory comments, which followed a riot led by Jewish settlers in which dozens of homes and cars were burned.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Smotrich’s initial retraction, saying he wanted to “thank minister Bezalel [Smotrich] for making clear that his choice of words regarding the vigilante attacks on [Huwara] following the murder of the Yaniv brothers were inappropriate and that he is strongly opposed to intentionally harming innocent civilians.”

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-733756

Lloyd Austin to visit Israel amid concerns of Middle East violence, Iran

Netanyahu who along with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is expected to meet with Austin on Thursday has his eyes on Europe.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to arrive in Israel from Cairo on Thursday amid concerns about spiraling West Bank violence and Iran’s 84% enrichment of uranium.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for “intensive international efforts so as to achieve calm in the Palestinian territories and halt unilateral measures and escalation” during his meeting with Austin on Wednesday, according to his office.

Austin also visited Jordan and Iraq this week. Last week, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Israel.

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were in Washington this week for talks with the Biden administration.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who along with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is expected to meet with Austin on Thursday, has his eyes on Europe. Later on Thursday, he is expected to leave for Italy, where he will meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before returning to Israel on Sunday morning.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-733746

RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe received heavily-discounted, taxpayer-subsidised mortgage perk for five-bedroom house in Sydney's ritzy east

Sky News Australia can reveal Reserve Bank Governor Dr Philip Lowe enjoyed an extraordinary mortgage perk on top of his generous salary – which is now more than $1 million a year.

Dr Lowe was given a half-price loan by the RBA to buy his five-bedroom home in Sydney’s east.

For some years, his interest rate was locked at half the standard variable rate being paid by Commonwealth Bank customers across Australia.

Eleven staff are still enjoying the generous perk.

The revelation comes as 880,000 Australians brace for their fixed rate mortgages to end this year and a tenth-straight interest rate increase, announced on Tuesday, with the official cash rate now at 3.6 per cent.

Land title documents, obtained by Sky News Australia, reveal Dr Lowe took out two loans to purchase the property for $1,075,000 in 1997.

Up to $241,000 was loaned by the Reserve Bank to Dr Lowe at the heavily discounted rate and another $151,000 was borrowed directly from the Commonwealth Bank.

The documents suggest that neither of the loans have been discharged but a spokeswoman for the RBA insists they were paid off “several years ago” and Dr Lowe no longer has a mortgage.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/rba-governor-dr-philip-lowe-received-heavilydiscounted-taxpayersubsidised-mortgage-perk-for-fivebedroom-house-in-sydneys-ritzy-east/news-story/98fd8ba9821883f871a52204e910d00c

FBI whistleblowers send shockwaves with warning that threat tags used to target conservatives

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan decried the FBI's emerging "pattern" of targeting "parents, traditional Catholics, pro-lifers" with threat tags.

What do school parents, Catholic attendees of Latin Mass and pro-life activists have in common? They've all been branded by the FBI as potential domestic terrorist threats in what whistleblowers say is a growing trend of using intelligence threat tags to enforce cancel culture.

The latest revelation came this past weekend when House Republicans released testimony from an FBI whistleblower who alleged colleagues in the bureau flipped a terrorist threat tag originally created to flag threats against pro-life Supreme Court justices into a signifier that anti-abortion protesters were somehow a threat.

The revelation came months after confirmation that similar threat tags were reserved for parents raising concerns about curriculum at school board meetings and the disclosure of an FBI memo suggesting Catholics who prefer the legacy Latin Mass posed a risk of extremist violence.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee told Just the News on Tuesday the pattern is a disturbing new trend in the political weaponization of federal law enforcement that can be traced all the way back to the launch of the Russia collusion probe targeting Donald Trump in 2016 based on uncorroborated allegations from his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton's campaign.

"If it's [targeting] parents, that's one thing," Jordan said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "Traditional Catholics — okay, well, that's a concern too. But when it gets to be three, which is what we learned from a whistleblower when he said they were targeting pro-lifers, now we see a pattern, right? So it's parents, traditional Catholics, pro-lifers — all are wrong. Now it's a pattern."

In testimony released this weekend, FBI whistleblower Garret O'Boyle told congressional investigators the bureau issued guidance following the Dobbs abortion decision that overturned Roe v. Wade so agents could "look into … pregnancy centers" using the tag "THREATTOSCOTUS2022."

O'Boyle found this strange, he testified, beacuse it was pro-choice activists who were "protesting or otherwise threatening violence in front of Supreme Court Justices' houses."

He was asked to talk to a pro-life informant "about the threats to the Supreme Court," he testified. "I was like, why would this person know about those threats? He's pro-life. Like, he's not the one going and threatening the Supreme Court Justices."

O'Boyle never received guidance from the FBI to look into attacks on pro-life facilities, churches, or pregnancy resource centers, he told congressional investigators, illustrating how the threat tag was turned on its head to target pro-lifers instead of radicalized pro-choice supporters as was originally intended.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/eveare-fbis-threat-tags-being-used-another-form-cancel-culture-some

Speaker McCarthy rejects Zelensky invitation to visit Ukraine: 'No blank checks'

Zelensky, for his part, had hoped to court the California Republican with the aim of changing his mind and securing continued support for his nation.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/mccarthy-rejects-zelensky-invitation-visit-ukraine-no-blank-checks