Josh Hawley Calls on FBI to Launch ‘Full-Scale’ Probe into 85K Migrant Children Missing on Joe Biden’s Watch

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to launch a “full-scale” investigation into the whereabouts of 85,000 migrant children who have been released into the United States under President Joe Biden but whom the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has lost all contact with.

Since Biden took office, HHS officials have lost contact with some 85,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) released to adult sponsors after arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. At the same time, Biden officials have reportedly ignored warnings that many UACs are ending up in a widespread labor trafficking pipeline as well as sex trafficking.

On Friday, Hawley wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, urging him to launch an investigation into missing UACs as well as their adult sponsors who are “holding them in modern-day slavery.”

“… some 345,000 children have come across the border unaccompanied since early 2021,” Hawley writes:

We now know tens of thousands of these children have been caught up in massive child smuggling and child labor operations. I am sure you have seen recent reports in the New York Times that HHS has lost touch with as many as 85,000 migrant children. Thousands of these children are now the prey of child labor criminals. [Emphasis added]

The Biden administration is morally responsible for their fate. The President lifted Title 42 restrictions on unaccompanied children in early 2021. Reporting reveals that HHS loosened vetting processes for sponsors and retaliated against whistleblowers who raised these concerns. As a result, thousands of children have been handed over to modern-day slave traders. They are forced into factory work under punishing conditions. They are forced to make auto parts, process meat in slaughterhouses, and reroof houses. They are denied food, education, and sometimes fear for their lives. They suffer sexual violence. In a country that claims to value the rule of law and the protection of children, this is unconscionable. [Emphasis added]

In response to the scandal, Hawley wrote, “the FBI must mount a full-scale effort to locate these missing children and to bring to justice the criminals who are holding them in modern-day slavery.”

“The FBI must also investigate HHS and the Department of Homeland Security for their role in facilitating the exploitation of these children, in violation of the law,” he continued.

This week, during a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing hosted by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), an HHS whistleblower detailed how the federal government acts as a “middleman” for a “multi-billion-dollar child trafficking operation.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/04/28/josh-hawley-calls-for-fbi-probe-into-85k-missing-migrant-kids-biden/

BBC chairman Richard Sharp resigns ahead of a report on loan to Boris Johnson

BBC chairman Richard Sharp has resigned ahead of the release of an independent report finding he breached rules relating to a loan for then British prime minister Boris Johnson.

Key points:

The report by Britain's public appointments watchdog found Richard Sharp failed to disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest

Mr Sharp said the report found no evidence he played a part in facilitating a loan to Mr Johnson

Mr Sharp said staying until the end of his four-year term would be a distraction

The report, released by Britain's public appointments watchdog on Friday, found Mr Sharp failed to disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest when he was interviewed for the role.

Mr Sharp maintains the breach was inadvertent.

The country's public appointments watchdog has been investigating the way in which Mr Sharp was selected by the government in 2021 to chair the broadcaster.

The report found that while he did breach the government's code for public appointments by failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest, it was also the case that a breach did not necessarily invalidate his appointment.

But Mr Sharp said staying until the end of his four-year term would be a distraction from the broadcaster's "good work".

"I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC," he said in a statement.

"I have therefore, this morning, resigned as the BBC chair to the Secretary of State and to the board."

He said the report found no evidence he played any part whatsoever in facilitating, arranging or financing a loan to Mr Johnson.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/bbc-chairman-resigns-after-of-report-into-rule-breach/102281612