Ryan Routh, a suspected assassin who allegedly targeted former President Donald Trump, had been flagged by U.S. federal agents after returning from Ukraine last year, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to take any action.
Routh, who was accused of plotting an assassination attempt on Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club, had previously been involved in recruiting foreign fighters to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The DHS’s lack of follow-up raises concerns about missed opportunities to prevent this alleged assassination attempt.
Routh was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in June 2023 when he landed at Honolulu International Airport.
During an interview, Routh revealed that he had spent three months in Ukraine recruiting soldiers from countries like Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia.
He had previously traveled to Poland and Turkey in 2022 and 2023. Despite these revelations, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division of the DHS declined to pursue the case.
“Subject is a USC who had traveled to Kiev, Ukraine for 3 months to help recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan,” the CBP notes read. “Subject stated that he does not get paid for his recruiting efforts and all his work for the Ukrainian government is strictly volunteer work.”
Routh provided the CBP agents with a business card identifying himself as the director of an organization called the “International Volunteer Center.”
The business card listed his recruiting partners across various countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Israel.
Despite the evidence provided during the interview, HSI opted not to follow up on the information, and the case was left unresolved.
Assassin was “known to the FBI…” because of course he was. I’m grateful that Florida was running their own investigation, thanks to Gov DeSantis, or I imagine much of what we find out would never otherwise be known. pic.twitter.com/dODLVvZTyR
Routh’s foreign travel and connections to Ukraine were not the first time he had raised concerns with law enforcement. In 2019, he was under suspicion by the FBI for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri.
However, no significant action was taken at that time either.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two new bills into law on Tuesday, aiming to crack down on the use of “deepfakes” and digital disinformation during elections.
The legislation, seen as controversial, marks a direct response to the rising influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in politics, particularly as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent in social media.
I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content — including deepfakes. https://t.co/VU4b8RBf6N
The laws, known as AB 2655 and AB 2839, specifically target politically motivated deepfakes, which are digitally altered videos or images that can portray candidates saying or doing things they never did.
The first law, AB 2655, requires major online platforms to block any “materially deceptive content” related to elections in California before and after election periods.
This covers AI-generated media, including deepfakes. The law defines “materially deceptive content” as audio or visual media that is altered or digitally created, a category that includes political misinformation as well.
The second law, AB 2839, more narrowly targets deepfakes of political candidates in California.
It prohibits any deepfakes that portray a candidate for federal, state, or local office as saying or doing something they never did, if it is likely to damage their reputation or harm their electoral prospects.
The push for these laws came after social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, featured a deepfake parody of Vice President Kamala Harris.
On his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Musk voiced his discontent with the new law, calling Newsom “The Joker.” Musk, who has positioned himself as a free speech advocate, claims the legislation infringes on First Amendment rights.
You’re not gonna believe this, but @GavinNewsom just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video 🤣🤣 https://t.co/bdykNuxe6G
Following the presidential debate last week, pop singer Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election.
The climate conscious singer’s endorsement was perhaps no surprise given that her political positions have often favored Democrats. In the 2018 mid-term elections, Swift endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper. In 2020, she publicly endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket.
While predictable, the singer – whose songs often contain references to her own bad decision-making – was expected to carry some weight in convincing moderate “Swifties” to vote Democrat.
However, that’s not happening.
While Donald Trump may “hate” Taylor Swift, Harris must feel the same to some extent too following the release of a YouGov poll on Saturday. Only 8% of respondents to the poll said Swift’s endorsement is “somewhat” or “much more likely” to convince them to vote Democrat. Interestingly, 20% of respondents said they were now “somewhat” or “much less likely” to support Harris after receiving the singer’s backing. The majority of those polled said it had made no difference on their voting intentions (66%).
Many respondents were split as to whether Swift’s endorsement will have a positive effect on Harris’ campaign (32%) or no difference at all (27%). Fans made up 34% of those surveyed, with her biggest supporters being female, registered Democrats who were going to vote Harris regardless.
The poll’s results were humorous to many on social media.
Others speculated that Swift’s reputation as a wealthy celebrity failed to resonate with millions of Americans.
Andrew Cuomo does not want you to read this article. He definitely does not want you to watch the above video. He would prefer that you forget his past and let his acts and omissions during the Coronavirus pandemic be lost to posterity, far away from today’s news cycle.
Andrew Cuomo wants you to forget because remembering his past dooms his future aspirations for a political comeback, which includes growing rumblings of a possible run to become the Mayor of New York City. So, he cannot have the horrible truth of his tenure during the pandemic get in the way of his ambition.
That is why Andrew Cuomo was so angry and combative while offering public testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic this week. That is why he railed against the Subcommittee’s 48-page memorandum detailing how Cuomo’s mismanagement of New York State’s response to COVID-19 cost the lives of over 15,000 seniors exposed to the deadly virus while in nursing homes. That is why he blustered at new findings re-confirming older findings from his own state that his administration played number games with the death toll of those seniors to cover-up his political complicity.
It’s a story of political negligence powered by an insatiable political ambition that, if forgotten, may happen again.
***
Here’s a little hometown trivia for you from my home state, which I often refer to as “The People’s Republic of New York”: the last time an Empire State governor was voted out of office in an election was Gov. Mario Cuomo when a relatively unknown state senator named George Pataki defeated him.
That happened in 1994.
Since then, thirty years of gubernatorial succession has been marred by controversy. Pataki chose not to run for a fourth term amid all-time low approval numbers. His successor, that “f***ing steamroller” Eliot Spitzer resigned as “Client No. 9” to an upscale call girl. Then, Spitzer’s successor, David Paterson, withdrew from his campaign after news broke that his administration improperly intervened in a domestic violence case against one of his closest aides.
Which brings us to Andrew Cuomo. After winning a third term in 2018, Cuomo, who positioned himself as a foil to then-President Donald Trump, found the media spotlight during the pandemic. Indeed, many found reassurance in the routine that Gov. Cuomo’s daily televised briefings developed into in the spring of 2020. Meanwhile, others fell for Andrew’s appearances on his brother’s primetime show, dubbed by some as the “Cuomo Brothers Comedy Hour” on CNN).
As Andrew Cuomo reveled in his new-found popularity, he parlayed his stewardship during the pandemic into financial opportunities, like his weird “flatten the curve” poster that he took much pride in creating, and his multi-million-dollar book deal. He even won an Emmy, for goodness sakes.
On the surface, the summer of 2020 became the summer of the “Cuomosexual.”
Yet, underneath the bella figura Cuomo and his staff created for him laid a hubris beyond imagining that left a trail of failure, mismanagement, and, according to the opinion of many, death in his wake.
In the infancy of the pandemic in March of 2020, Cuomo and his Department of Health issued a flurry of advisories intended to guide hospitals and health care facilities. On March 25, 2020, Cuomo, having already withdrawn a nursing home’s ability to deny care to an incoming patient, further ordered that “[n]o resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID19.” Cuomo further ordered that “[nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested from COVID-19 prior to admission or re-admission.”
That latter directive not only ran counter to federal guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), but also to common sense. What kind of a “leader” would mandate in a prohibition on testing for a novel virus during a pandemic?
The effect of this now-infamous advisory was tragic. Effectively, Cuomo forced the most vulnerable population of New Yorkers to be heavily exposed to a deadly virus.
Oftentimes, it is not a poor political choice that does in a politician. It’s the cover-up that follows. Such is the case here, as Cuomo and his administration compounded his errors in judgment by lying about the true extent of the death toll that his Orders caused. In January of 2021, New York’s own attorney general, Letitia James, issued a report finding that Cuomo’s administration and his Department of Health undercounted nursing home resident deaths by approximately 50 percent.
But, even these tens of thousands of deaths were not enough to taint Cuomo and his legacy to the point of political radioactivity. Though damaged by the nursing home scandal, Cuomo persevered to the dismay of many. It was only after a boatload of claims of sexual harassment came to light thanks to a second report from AG James detailing inappropriate and unwanted advances of affection from Cuomo that he ultimately resigned in disgrace.
Gone was the praise and the fame. Gone was the book deal. And even the Emmy, which the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences stripped Cuomo of the day after he resigned.
Cuomo laid low for years to allow the shock and shame subside; to allow his disgrace to fall into the memory-hole. He began to re-emerge in 2023, taking media appearances again. He appeared on friendly media who seemingly chose to enable their disgraced friend. Friends like Anthony Scaramucci, who sat idly by as Cuomo painted himself as the victim of a conspiracy, allowing Cuomo to lash out at the families of loved ones lost during the pandemic who had since become politically engaged. “The attacks are just vicious. Vicious!: Cuomo proclaimed with a face of disgust.“ ‘You didn’t care about people in nursing homes.’ How dare you suggest such a vile thing?”
Cuomo’s re-emergence in the fall of 2023 coincided with whispers indicating to allies of his interest in running for New York City mayor if fellow Democrat Eric Adams would become entangled within the federal investigations that have once again cropped up in the news cycle.
It’s a shame for Cuomo that those “vile” family members never relented in spreading the truth about him. The perseverance of organizations like Voices for Seniors and other notable personalities like Fox News’s Janice Dean culminated into the release of the Subcommittee’s memo, which detailed just how deep Cuomo and his staff’s cover-up of their mismanagement went. It turns out that Cuomo knew that nursing homes presented a real risk of infection, calling it a “nightmare” scenario. Yet, his administration still issued that March 25 Order, thus perpetuating that nightmare scenario.
To this day, even Cuomo wants us to believe he doesn’t know who signed off on the March 25 order; other than, according to his sworn testimony, telling you it was not him. Curiously, that viewpoint runs counter to other Cuomo staffers, including his own Health Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, who testified that during the pandemic, “everything ended up having to go through the Governor’s Office.”
With the insurmountable weight of the Subcommittee’s findings brought to bear, Cuomo remained stubbornly insolent, even refusing to apologize to the gathered audience of those “vile” family members in attendance. Cuomo dismissed such demands as a political stunt.
It is in those moments where Cuomo refused to capitulate that he let his mask slip and reveal his true nature; that he is, at his core, an arrogant, audacious and irredeemable creature of political opportunism. No amount of re-packaging or political window dressing will ever change him.
Seeing this true nature, Rep. Elise Stefanik boldly proclaimed that during a shouting match with Cuomo that “You will never hold elected office again.” I wish I had Stefanik’s confidence, as the voting populace in “The People’s Republic of” New York were fooled once by Cuomo.
Which is why it is so important that we never forget what he did; so we never allow him the opportunity to do anything like that again.
Gene Berardelli is a street-smart New York-based trial attorney with a successful track record representing conservative candidates and a solid reputation as an award-winning podcaster and as the award-winning author of the Amazon bestseller Schnooks, Crooks, Liars & Scoundrels: A Field Guide to Identifying Political Buffoons. He currently hosts Buffoon of the Week! whcih is available on YouTube, Rumble and other video-hosting platforms, featuring daily original content which seek to find the dumbest political newsmakers each week.
A CNN focus group member in the swing state of Pennsylvania said she plans to vote for Donald Trump as her “life was better when Trump was in office.”
CNN coordinated a focus group among voters in Erie County, PA, which many consider to be a pivotal battleground in the upcoming presidential election. Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral college votes are essential for both Trump and Kamala Harris if either wants to win the race to the White House, with Erie County notable for being a jurisdiction which could tip the result in favor of either candidate.
All 12 voters were undecided prior to the presidential debate on Tuesday, September 10.
Among them was one woman, who previously voted for Trump and said the debate had convinced her to once again support the GOP candidate.
“I think it’s important to remember that we’re voting for the leader of our country. Not who we like the most, or who we want at our wedding party, but [the candidate] who is actually going to make our country better,” she told the network. “We’re in an incredibly unique situation where we’ve had both of the candidates in office before, and we’ve gotten to see what they would do.”
“When facts come to facts, my life was better when Trump was in office,” she added, noting a stronger economy, lower inflation, and the risk of re-electing Harris to “fix the problems that her administration has caused.”
One part that stood out from the debate was when Harris was asked if voters were better off than when the Biden-Harris administration took office – and replied in length to everything except that question.
Many agreed with the voter on social media.
Others were deeply critical of the Democratic nominee.
Donald Trump used one of Kamala Harris’ own tricks against her in the first presidential debate between the two.
The debate, which is the only scheduled head-to-head between the two at this moment in time, featured muted microphones to minimize shouting matches throughout the 90-minute affair. Although the television audience could only hear muffled comments when the mics were off, the overlap in words proved distracting for those in the studio.
Many speculated that Harris didn’t want mics to be muted because it would prevent her from making a snarky remark that the liberal media could turn into the “line of the night.” Her “I’m speaking” moment during her 2020 debate with Mike Pence comes to mind. In her only memorable moment from that debate (because she has no real substance), Harris said; “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” when Pence interrupted her.
Instead, mics were muted – and it was Trump to deliver her own line to her.
As Trump discussed Harris’ previous support for defunding the police, the Democrat said “that’s not true” into her muted microphone.
“Wait a minute, I’m talking now if you don’t mind. Please. Does that sound familiar?” Trump replied to a stunned Harris.
Trump’s comments were a reference to the 2020 vice presidential debate between Harris and Mike Pence.
Social media held widespread praise for the former president.
Another commentor was relieved that Harris had been muted.
With Labor Day in the rear-view mirror, the 2024 election cycle is sure to heat up, and campaign-related announcements are sure to be a frequent occurrence. Some will be meaningful. Others will have zero value.
Clearly falling into the latter was former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s endorsement of the Democratic Party’s installed designee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Cheney did not join Harris or her team on a stage or take in the adulation of a raucous crowd living on joy and vibes at a campaign rally. Instead, Cheney’s endorsement came at a very low-key event hosted by Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
Cheney’s endorsement comes as no surprise to political observers, given her stewardship of the January 6th Select Committee and her outspoken animus towards her own party’s duly elected nominee, former President Donald Trump:
“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said.
The endorsement represents a complete 180-degree turnaround for Cheney, who is on record in tweets calling Harris a “radical liberal” whose positions are to the left of the likes of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who would “recreate America in the image of what’s happening on the streets of Portland & Seattle” during the so-called “Summer of Love” from 2020. Cheney repeats those sentiments in a Fox News that has recently re-surfaced since Cheney’s endorsement:
Liz Cheney says Kamala Harris is a “radical liberal.”@Liz_Cheney has such TDS that she’s now pledged to vote for someone who goes against everything she once said she stood for.
Cheney is just an awful person. But you already know that.
Notice how Cheney framed her endorsement. She did not laud Harris’s abilities to govern. She did not endorse Harris’s policy positions or plans (probably because the Harris campaign has largely communicated in platitudes.) She certainly did not endorse Harris’s values, which she claimed in a CNN interview with Dana Bash have not changed, despite her shifting her positions based upon the political winds of the say. The political hypocrisy is palpable.
Cheney’s endorsement is mere the furtherance of her vendetta against Trump. A vendetta which started from opportunism after January 6, 2021. A vendetta which grew after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi handpicked Cheney to serve on that kangaroo court that was the January 6th Select Committee. And a vendetta that rendered Cheney a political afterthought when she was soundly defeated in the 2022 Republic primary by her successor Harriet Hageman.
Cheney’s endorsement mirrors much of the 2020 strategy which resulted in President Joe Biden’s election: don’t vote for Harris, vote against Trump. It’s Cheney’s wishy-washy way of feigning her conservative bona fides while jumping ship from a Republican party that has cast her aside in favor of more credible, good-faith conservatives like Hageman.
One would be hard pressed to find a better example of a politician being a “Republican in Name Only,” a term reserves for the old guard of the Republican Party whose moment passed the moment Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016.
Apparently, Cheney seems to believe that her endorsement, such that it is in her diminished capacity within her own party, holds value for the Harris team in bringing in cross-over votes. But the political reality of her situation would tend to indicate this to be nothing more than vanity. In August of 2022, polling found that 2 out of every 3 Republicans held a negative view of Cheney. Other polling from around the same time found that 3 in 5 Democrats favorably viewed Cheney.
That translates into very little needle movement in favor of Harris. Essentially, Cheney’s endorsement is merely preaching to the choir.
Chalk up Cheney’s endorsement to the political equivalent of the shocking news that water is wet, and that the sky is blue. It’s political narcissism; an attempt at relevancy in a news cycle dominated by the election. If Cheney’s opinion had value, the Harris campaign would have Liz Cheney thrust into the national spotlight. Instead, Cheney is relegated to a policy forum, earning coverage from confirmation biased media making more of her statement than its actual weight.
***
Gene Berardelli is a street-smart New York-based trial attorney with a successful track record representing conservative candidates and a solid reputation as an award-winning podcaster and as the award-winning author of the Amazon bestseller Schnooks, Crooks, Liars & Scoundrels: A Field Guide to Identifying Political Buffoons. He currently hosts Buffoon of the Week! on YouTube and Rumble, featuring daily original content which seek to find the dumbest political newsmakers each week.
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters has issued new guidance after a public school sought to ban a student from flying an American flag on his car.
The heightened criticism on social media prompted Republican Superintendent Walters to intervene and issue new guidance on patriotic displays at public schools.
“No school in Oklahoma should tell students they can’t wave an American flag,” Walters said in a statement on X. “Americans have fought and died for the right to carry our flag, and no student should ever be targeted for exercising that right. Our young people should never have to fear displaying their patriotism and I will fight every day so that when our students want to express their love for America, they can do so boldly and proudly.”
Under the new guidelines, each school district must establish a policy which ensures the flag of America can be flown “without infringement.” All schools must also recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week in accordance with state law, while all districts are required to submit reports detailing their policies in line with the new guidance.
Many had high praise for Superintendent Walters’ intervention.
Walters himself also responded the widespread publication of his statement.
Nicole Shanahan, the once-controversial VP pick for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has unleashed a devastating ad targeting the universal liberal mental disorder: Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). It’s a creative masterpiece that conservatives welcomed as soon as she shared it on social media on August 29th.
The ad, cleverly disguised as a pharmaceutical commercial, diagnoses the mass hysteria plaguing Democrats who can’t stop obsessing over President Trump. It’s about time someone called out these cry-babies for their irrational behavior! Shanahan’s spot-on parody is not just hilarious – it’s a wake-up call to all Americans who’ve been brainwashed by the mainstream media’s anti-Trump propaganda.
“My team never sleeps,” Shanahan said, sharing the post on X on Thursday night.
Shanahan’s ad introduces “Independence” as the miracle cure for TDS. This groundbreaking treatment promises to restore critical thinking skills and free people from the shackles of mainstream media manipulation. It’s no wonder the left is terrified – their entire strategy relies on keeping voters ignorant and emotional!
The ad’s mock testimonials from recovering TDS sufferers are pure gold. One reformed liberal admits, “I used to think orange man bad, but now I can see past the media lies!”
As the ad cleverly points out, those suffering from TDS might experience side effects like rational thought, freedom of choice, and love of democracy. Oh, the horror!
Ads like this hurt, but when they come from a former Democrat…they must hurt even more.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born entrepreneur who founded the Telegram messaging platform, was arrested on Saturday in France. He was detained at Le Bourget Airport near Paris after arriving from Azerbaijan. This arrest, stemming from an investigation into criminal activities allegedly conducted via Telegram, raises significant concerns about free speech and the future of encrypted communication. French authorities claim the app has been used for drug trafficking and distribution of child sexual abuse images.
Pavel Durov was detained on Saturday near Paris. Mr. Durov was arrested at Le Bourget Airport, about five miles north of the French capital, after landing on a private plane from Azerbaijan.
Durov, widely known for his advocacy of encrypted communication, was whisked away to France’s National Anti-Fraud Office and remains in custody. As of now, he has not been formally charged, but his detention can be extended until Wednesday. By then, authorities must decide to charge or release him. While under detention, Durov could face serious allegations that include complicity in facilitating drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material via Telegram.
Free Speech or Government Overreach?
The arrest has sparked a fiery debate over the limits of free speech and the role of governments in regulating communication platforms. Some Durov supporters view this as an egregious example of government overreach and censorship, especially given Telegram’s history of resisting measures that compromise user privacy. Western governments, on the other hand, have long criticized Telegram for what they view as lax content moderation, making it susceptible to illegal activities.
“Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies,” Tucker Carlson said.
Adding fuel to the fire, Telegram claims to abide by EU laws, stating its content moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving.” Meanwhile, figures like Elon Musk have rallied in support of Durov, with Musk tweeting “#freePavel” to emphasize his stance on free speech. Telegram also counters that Durov “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” casting doubt on the motivations behind his arrest.
Privacy vs. Security
The tension between privacy and security is central to this arrest. Telegram, praised for its encryption capabilities, is ironically also criticized for potentially providing a haven for nefarious activities. Although Telegram offers encryption, it is not enabled by default and does not apply to large group chats. French investigators have made disturbing findings, such as the app’s use by Islamic extremists and drug traffickers. With over 950 million active users, the impact of its policies on global communications is enormous.
Among the allegations used to justify the Paris arrest were claims that the platform is being used for illicit activity such as drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. However, this happens on literally every social media network – unfortunately.
As the founder of VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network, Durov is no stranger to controversy. He sold his stake and left Russia in 2014 due to government pressure, eventually relocating Telegram’s headquarters to Dubai. His arrest today may echo past clashes between his commitment to encrypted communication and governmental demands for data transparency.
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