Bureaucraps – Page 28

I simply can not overstate just how much of a bullet the U.S. dodged by McConnell keeping this partisan political hack off the Supreme Court.

America First Legal Releases Documents Revealing the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division Wanted the DOJ to “Reconsider” AG Garland’s Infamous Memo Targeting American Parents

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) released Federal Bureau of Investigation emails showing that FBI lawyers were kept in the dark about Attorney General Merrick Garland’s infamous memorandum weaponizing the federal government’s anti-terrorism authorities against American parents.

On October 4, 2021, AG Garland issued a memorandum to address alleged “Violent Threats Against School Officials and Teachers.” The Biden Administration promised to create a “task force,” including the “Criminal Division, National Security Division, Civil Rights Division, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the FBI, the Community Relations Service and the Office of Justice Programs to determine how federal enforcement tools can be used to prosecute” parents, and to help local law enforcement prosecute parents in cases “where threats of violence may not constitute federal crimes.”

On October 7, 2021, AFL requested the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General investigate “whether the Attorney General’s Memorandum was formulated and issued based on improper considerations.” AFL highlighted serious irregularities, including evidence demonstrating that the memorandum’s stated justification was a fabricated pretext by the Biden White House to chill parents’ speech and political action. Among other things, AFL pointed out that “the normal clearance process and standard order both within the department (including legal sufficiency review by the Office of Legal Counsel, the Civil Rights Division, the Criminal Division, the Office of Legal Policy, and other components), and between the department and the White House Counsel’s Office and the Office of Management and Budget, [had been] bypassed or corrupted.”

On March 21, 2023, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and the House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report showing “no legitimate basis” for AG Garland’s memorandum. The report, based on an initial set of materials produced in response to the Committee’s subpoenas to the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Education, cites emails describing the Biden Administration’s justification for federal action as “manufactured,” and states that the Biden Administration’s goal “seems to have been silencing the critics of its radical education policies and neutralizing an issue that was threatening Democrat Party prospects in the close gubernatorial race in Virginia.”

On March 22, 2023, AFL received a FOIA production from the FBI in response to a request for records made eighteen months earlier. Though only two pages in length, this production paints a stunning picture of the internal conversations circulating at the DOJ on the day the unprecedented memo was issued.

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Judge Blocks Feds From Enforcing ‘Ghost Gun’ Ban Against Polymer80

The country’s largest unfinished firearm parts maker is no longer subject to President Biden’s ban on homemade gun kits.

On Sunday, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, a George W. Bush appointee, decided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive (ATF) can’t enforce its new “ghost gun” rule against Polymer80. He found the ATF exceeded its authority when it attempted to reinterpret what constitutes a firearm in order to restrict sales of unfinished parts and homemade gun kits.

“The Final Rule’s redefinition of “frame or receiver” conflicts with the statute’s plain meaning. The definition of ‘firearm’ in the Gun Control Act does not cover all firearm parts. It covers specifically ‘the frame or receiver of any such weapon’ that Congress defined as a firearm,” Judge O’Connor wrote in Polymer80 v. Garland. “That which may become a receiver is not itself a receiver.”

The ruling comes just a few weeks after Judge O’Connor issued a similar order in a separate case involving several other major makers of unfinished gun parts. It further restricts the ATF’s ability to enforce its “ghost gun” rule, dealing a blow to President Joe Biden’s attempts to unilaterally implement new gun restrictions through ATF rulemaking. Taken together with the full Fifth Circuit’s decision to strike down the bump-stock ban, it also spells more bad news for President Biden’s more recent pistol-brace ban.

Unfinished gun parts and homemade gun kits have been at the center of the gun-control debate for years because they can be sold without serial numbers or background checks since they require significant finishing to be made into functional firearms. The Biden Administration has sought to expand the definition of “firearm” so that those selling the unfinished part would be considered “engaged in the business” of making and dealing firearms. That would require them to obtain federal licenses to make and sell their products. Gun-rights advocates have opposed the expansion of ATF power because they believe it threatens their Second Amendment rights.

However, this case was not decided on Second Amendment grounds. Instead, Judge O’Connor ruled the ATF’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs how much latitude federal agencies have when interpreting and enforcing federal laws.

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Get the U.S. out of the U.N., and the U.N. out of the U.S.

UN Secretary-General Melts Down, Claims Global Warming of Glaciers Will Cause Catastrophe.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres seems not to know that the Academy Awards already happened. He delivered a highly melodramatic and unrealistic speech Wednesday claiming that global warming will cause glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, and disaster to strike both humanity and the climate. Sure, similar predictions that the Arctic ice would disappear and global warming was in imminent danger of triggering a worldwide apocalypse have been wrong for at least forty years, but why learn from the past?

The United Nations (UN) has apparently decided that 2025 will be the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Guterres delivered a fear-mongering March 22 speech to explain why 2025 has been so labeled:

Glaciers are also the world’s water towers. They represent the largest reservoir of fresh water on the planet — supporting our nutrition, health, economies and energy production. And nearly 2 billion people — one out of every four people on earth — live in areas where glaciers and seasonal snowmelt supply their water.

But, these silent giants are facing a rude awakening. Human activity is driving our planet’s temperature to dangerous new heights. Global warming is a global warning that we are on the wrong track. And melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine.

Very poetic, no doubt. Reminds me of how the Arctic was going to be ice-free by 2018. Oh, wait. That didn’t happen. And data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), reportedly confirmed by NASA satellite data, recently showed that the world has not experienced global warming for eight years—the globe is cooling, in fact.

Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass every year. The Greenland ice cap is melting even faster — losing 270 billion tons per year. To put that in perspective, that combined total ice melt in just one year is the equivalent of a wall of ice fully five metres high, covering my entire home country of Portugal.

Climate Depot and Climate Change Dispatch reported in September 2021, “Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Wednesday that the Arctic ice sheet extends 25 percent further than it did [the] summer [before].” As of Jan. 2022, Arctic ice was still stable. Has a huge crisis suddenly started since then? I’m going to go out on a limb—or an ice cap—and say probably not.

Unless we reverse this trend, the consequences will be catastrophic. Low-lying communities and entire countries could be erased forever. We would witness mass movements of entire populations — and fierce competition for water and land. And disasters would accelerate worldwide — including floods, droughts and landslides. Losing these giants would be a giant problem for our world.

Guterres had plenty of government projects to suggest as solutions to achieve “climate justice” (whatever that means) and to “adapt and build resilience against climate disaster.” Amazing how these globalists always suggest governments and international entities as the solution, with new power given them to “rescue” us. Call me crazy, but Guterres just seems to be using climate alarmism to push for more top-down, authoritarian control of our lives.

New Report Shows Extensive Biden Admin Collusion to Classify Parents as Terrorists.

A new report published by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and House Judiciary Committee shows extensive collusion between the Biden administration and the National School Board Association.

The partnership came as the group drafted a letter calling on the Department of Justice to classify parents as domestic terrorists. The letter also asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to use the Patriot Act, implemented after 9/11, to go after parents expressing criticism over school lockdowns, critical race theory and inappropriate sexual content in the classroom.

“Internal Executive Branch documents indicate that the Biden Administration’s use of federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources is an example of government weaponization against American parents. If the Justice Department performed any due diligence prior to the issuance of the Attorney General’s memorandum, it would have understood clearly and forcefully that federal intervention was unwarranted. Because that due diligence did not occur—and the Administration acted out of political motivations rather than for law-enforcement reasons—parents around the country had FBI “assessments” opened into them,” the report states.

The report, which is interim as the Committee continues to investigate, gives a detailed timeline of the how the NSBA worked with DOJ, the Department of Education and the White House to push for federal law enforcement investigations into parents.

“The NSBA collaborated with the Biden White House to develop the language of the NSBA’s September 29, 2021 letter to President Biden urging the use of federal law enforcement and counterterrorism tools, including the Patriot Act, against parents. The NSBA shared the draft language of its letter with the White House, which apparently raised no concerns with the reference to counterterrorism tools or the inclusion of the Patriot Act in the letter,” the report states. “Five days after the NSBA letter to President Biden, on October 4, Attorney General Garland issued a memorandum that inserted federal law enforcement into local school board meetings. Attorney General Garland established a task force—including the Department’s National Security Division, with responsibility for enforcing federal counterterrorism statutes—to examine school board-related threats and highlighted the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center to serve as a snitch-line for tips about parents at school board meetings.”

After the letter became public, the NSBA apologized and a number of school districts ditched the organization. During testimony on Capitol Hill, Garland has denied any wrongdoing by DOJ.

Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland says he stands by the DOJ memo targeting parents at school boards meetings pic.twitter.com/selhMGMk2m

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 27, 2021

GRASSLEY: “Since you and the White House based your memo on this delegitimized letter, I assume you’re going to revoke your extremely divisive memo…This kind of looks like something that would come out of some communist country.” pic.twitter.com/9sUD203ngm

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 27, 2021

In NCLA Win, Federal Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss in Government-Induced Censorship Lawsuit.

Washington, DC (March 20, 2023) – In a thorough and well-reasoned decision, Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has denied government defendants’ motion to dismiss in State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., et al. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, represents renowned epidemiologists Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, as well as Dr. Aaron Kheriaty and Ms. Jill Hines, in a lawsuit that has exposed an elaborate, multi-agency federal government censorship regime. Judge Doughty wrote, “The Court finds that the Complaint alleges significant encouragement and coercion that converts the otherwise private conduct of censorship on social media platforms into state action, and is unpersuaded by Defendants’ arguments to the contrary.”

Discovery in the lawsuit unequivocally establishes that at least eleven federal agencies and sub-agencies, including CDC and DHS, directed social media companies to censor viewpoints that conflict with the federal government’s messaging on topics ranging from Covid-19 to elections. Federal officials engaged in a lawless, expansive censorship campaign that employed illicit tactics—including coercion, collusion and coordination—on social media companies to suppress the airing of disfavored perspectives on Covid-19 and other topics. As a direct result of state action, NCLA’s clients were blacklisted, shadow-banned, de-boosted, throttled, and censored, merely for articulating views opposed to government-approved views on Covid-19 restrictions and regulations. Judge Doughty held that “Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged state action under the theories of joint participation, entwinement, and the combining of factors such as subsidization, authorization, and encouragement.”

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"Structuring" has to be one of the most asinine concepts in law. Law is ideally supposed to have clear and defined limits, so when you can't actually prosecute someone for violating it, you charge them with violating the *spirit*, not the letter

Leaving legality to paperpushers

— RSTYShcklfrd (@RShcklfrd) March 21, 2023

The U.S. Government Is Building A Vast Surveillance And Speech Suppression Web Around Every American

Our government is preparing to monitor every word Americans say on the internet and censor citizens who don’t toe the party line.

Our government is preparing to monitor every word Americans say on the internet—the speech of journalists, politicians, religious organizations, advocacy groups, and even private citizens. Should those conversations conflict with the government’s viewpoint about what is in the best interests of our country and her citizens, that speech will be silenced.

While the “Twitter Files” offer a glimpse into the government’s efforts to censor disfavored viewpoints, what we have seen is nothing compared to what is planned, as the details of hundreds of federal awards lay bare. Research by The Federalist reveals our tax dollars are funding the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) technology that will allow the government to easily discover “problematic” speech and track Americans reading or partaking in such conversations.

Then, in partnership with Big Tech, Big Business, and media outlets, the government will ensure the speech is censored, under the guise of combatting “misinformation” and “disinformation.”

AI and ML Technology Will Monitor Everything We Say and Read

The federal government has awarded more than 500-plus contracts or grants related to “misinformation” or “disinformation” since 2020. One predominant area of research pushed by the Department of Defense involves the use of AI and ML technology to monitor or listen to internet “conversations.”

Originally used as a marketing tool for businesses to track discussions about their brands and products and to track competitors, the DOD and other federal agencies are now paying for-profit public relations and communications firms to convert their technology into tools for the government to monitor speech on the internet.

The areas of the internet the companies monitor differ somewhat, and each business offers its own unique AI and ML proprietary technology, but the underlying approach and goals remain identical: The technology under development will “mine” large portions of the internet and identify conversations deemed indicative of an emerging harmful narrative, to allow the government to track those “threats” and adopt countermeasures before the messages go viral.

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Giving up biometrics at US airports soon won’t be optional, transport security chief says

The chief of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) David Pekoske said that the agency is considering biometric technology to reduce traveler processing times and reduce the number of screening officers. He made the comments at the South by Southwest conference, which focused on aviation security.

Pekoske noted that the TSA’s role is maintaining security and the transportation system and staying ahead of threats. For those reasons, it is “critically important that this system has as little friction as it possibly can, while we provide for safety and security.”

The TSA has been relying on biometric technology in the identification verification process. According to the agency, the newest technology it has been using is over 99% effective and does not have problems identifying darker-skinned people like the old technology.

“We’re upgrading our camera systems all the time, upgrading our lighting systems,” Pekoske said. “[We’re] upgrading our algorithms, so that we are using the very most advanced algorithms and technology we possibly can.”

Pekoske said that the agency will ensure it remains transparent with the public about the data that is taken, what it is used for, and for how long it will be stored. For now, he said that travelers can opt out of processes they are not comfortable with.

According to The Dallas Morning News, giving up biometric data for travel will eventually not be optional.

“He said passengers can also choose to opt out of certain screening processes if they are uncomfortable, for now. Eventually, biometrics won’t be optional,” the report states.

This is a delightful read.
"ATF’s new definition of “frame or receiver” in 27 C.F.R. § 478.12(c) is facially
unlawful. "

— Lawrence Fermi (@LawrenceFermi) March 20, 2023

‘On DOD property’ purchases? That means the PX, and just to make a point, PX prices aren’t all that much, if any, lower than what’s outside the front gate, where there also will be no waiting periods either, unless there’s a state law. This is Kabuki Theater.

SecDef wants to study waiting periods, age restrictions on guns and ammo for active duty military

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is calling on the Pentagon to hire more mental health workers and directing military-run health care clinics to screen for alcohol abuse in order to reduce veteran suicides, but he’s holding off on implementing several anti-gun proposals recommended by the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, at least for a few more months.

That committee is recommending the Defense Department institute a seven-day waiting period for all gun sales on DoD property, along with a four-day waiting period for ammunition purchases. In addition, the committee says the Pentagon should raise the age to purchase a firearm on base to 25-years-old. On Thursday Austin called for the creation of a suicide prevention working group that will look at how feasible it would be to implement the committee’s recommendations, with a deadline of June 2nd for the working group to submit its findings.

His orders reflect increasing concerns about suicides in the military, despite more than a decade of programs and other efforts to prevent them and spur greater intervention by commanders, friends and family members. But his omission of any gun safety and control measures underscores the likelihood that they would face staunch resistance, particularly in Congress, where such legislation has struggled in recent years.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters in a briefing Thursday that Austin’s orders involved areas where the department already has the authority to take immediate steps.

“While we recognize that suicide has no single cause, and that no single preventative action, treatment or cure will eliminate suicide altogether, we will exhaust every effort to promote the wellness, health and morale of our total force,” Ryder said.

The initial study committee recommended that the department require anyone living in military housing to register all privately owned firearms. In addition, the panel said the department should restrict the possession and storage of privately owned firearms in military barracks and dorms.

Reducing veteran and active duty suicides is an incredibly important goal, but the draconian gun control policies recommended by the committee are liable to create a backlash; not only on Capitol Hill but among many military members and potential recruits, at least if Austin moves forward with implementing them. The military is already struggling to meet its recruiting goals, and imposing a host of anti-gun restrictions on active-duty and reserve members would likely make those problems a lot worse.

That helps to explain why Austin didn’t immediately move to implement those proposals, but choosing to kick this can down the road for a couple of months rather than reject the gun control components of the suicide prevention recommendations means that these bad ideas could still become a nightmare for members of the military before long. Instead of trying to restrict the Second Amendment rights of our men and women in uniform, I hope that Austin’s working group takes a look at some of the efforts to prevent veteran suicide taking place within the 2A community, starting with the Sentinel app that was recently awarded a $1-million dollar grant from the VA. The app was developed by D.C. Project member Kathleen Gilligan, who lost her own son to suicide a decade ago, and aims to help veterans look out for each other.

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