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Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Southern Border Apprehensions Shatter Records

Townhall: December was supposed to see the fewest amount of border crossers. Instead, it saw glass-shattering numbers. A record-breaking amount of border crossers stormed the United States in December, with 276,000 apprehensions— the highest ever on record. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources, the December record came just one month after November’s highest, with nearly 250,000 border encounters. As 2023 comes to an end, Republicans are taking the opportunity to remind President Joe Biden of what he has done to the nation’s borders— and what he refuses to do (Townhall). Bill Melugin: We are now at over 760,000 migrant encounters since October 1st, making the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 also the highest ever recorded. Thats a population size bigger than Seattle in just three months (X). Rep David Schweikert: The highest single month ever recorded. Let that sink in. The Biden administration’s open-border policies helped facilitate this chaos. We need border security NOW (X). House Homeland GOP: Mayorkas’ border crisis is breaking its own records—and Americans are paying the cost. Accountability is coming (X).

U.S. Navy Sinks Three Houthi Ships Attacking Cargo Ship

National Review: The U.S. Navy sank three ships tied to the Yemen-based Houthi militant group after it targeted a Maersk container ship in the Red Sea this week, leading the massive shipping company to pause all operations in the region for two days. Helicopters aboard the U.S.S. Eisenhower were dispatched following emergency calls from the Maersk ship. U.S. military craft “returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews,” the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in an official statement (National Review). Daily Wire: The Iran-backed group has reportedly warned ships not to head toward Israel in what it claims is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel fights Hamas in the Gaza Strip following a deadly Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli soil in early October (Daily Wire).

Maine's Secretary of State Removes Trump from 2024 Ballot

New York Post: The Maine Democrat who moved to boot former President Donald Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot visited the White House twice in the past year — meeting President Joe Biden during one jaunt — and reportedly once referred to the Electoral College as a “relic of white supremacy” (New York Post). CBS: Maine is the second state to bar Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution — a decision the Trump campaign said it would appeal. It is the only state where a challenge to a candidate’s qualification is initially the responsibility of the secretary of state rather than a court (CBS). Benny Johnson: So even CNN’s senior legal analyst is saying that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ ruling removing Trump from the ballot was based off of things she saw on YouTube clips and would never pass the bar in normal court. Also she’s not even a lawyer (X). Collin Rugg: Maine state Rep. John Andrews signals move to impeach Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for stripping Trump from Maine’s ballot. Here is Bellows bragging about taking Joe Biden’s competition off the ballot (X).

USA Boxing Allows Trans Females to Fight Against Women

Daily Mail: USA Boxing has adopted a ‘Transgender Policy’, which will allow male boxers who transition to fight in the female category from 2024. The governing body, which oversees America’s amateur and Olympic-style boxing, will allow transgender athletes to compete under certain conditions. While boxers under the age of 18 must still compete as their birth gender, transgender fighters will be permitted to fight in the category of their choice. They must meet certain criteria, including declaring their new gender identity, completing gender reassignment surgery and regular hormone testing. Both male and female transgender athletes must have undergone quarterly hormone testing and provided US Boxing with documentation of their hormone levels for a minimum of four years following surgery (Daily Mail). Riley Gaines: USA boxing USA Boxing to allow men who merely say they are women to fight against women. Mark my words, it will take a woman getting killed before these misogynistic fools wake up (X).

Special Counsel Jack Smith Claims Presidential Immunity Could Allow Trump to Sell Nuclear Secrets

Just the News: Allowing former President Donald Trump to use the presidential immunity defense could pave the way for a president to claim immunity from numerous charges such as murder and the sale of nuclear secrets so long as it was done under the claim of official activities, according to special counsel Jack Smith. Trump has argued that he is immune from criminal prosecution for activities that fall under his official presidential responsibilities, but Smith’s office, which charged Trump with allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election in his favor, vehemently denied such claims in an 82-page court filing Saturday (Just the News). Post Millennial: Donald Trump claimed he should have immunity in the Biden administration’s J6 case against him, and that motion was filed in the US Court of Appeals for DC. Biden’s Special Counsel Jack Smith claims Trump should not have presidential immunity, and filed his motion for the appellate court to not hear the motion. Oral arguments in the case are set for January 9, 2024 before a panel of three judges. Trump’s team first filed the motion for immunity with DC Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case. Chutkan rejected the motion, and Trump’s attorneys then appealed to the DC appellate court. Smith intervened at that point and asked the Supreme Court to weigh in. The Supreme Court denied that request to get involved. Smith then asked the appellate court to drop the motion (Post Millennial).

Israeli Citizens Arm Themselves After Oct. 7 Attack

Times of Israel: Israelis were shocked by the catastrophic failure of Israel’s much-vaunted security forces to foresee the events of October 7. That shock was compounded by the heart-wrenchingly slow and ineffectual Israeli response in the first hours of the attack. Now, tens of thousands of Israelis — fearing October 7 could be repeated by Palestinians in the West Bank or mixed towns such as Jerusalem, Jaffa and Acre — are arming themselves in an attempt to claim a modicum of control over their security (Times of Israel). Townhall: The number of gun license applications reached upwards of 3,000 a day in early December (Townhall).

Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson Compares Governor Greg Abbott to Confederate President Jefferson Davis

Daily Wire: Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson invoked the Confederacy on Sunday when complaining about Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott sending migrants to the Windy City. Migrants who are transported to Chicago do not get the same health services as they would at the border, Johnson said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” (Daily Wire). RNC Research: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) on Gov. Greg Abbott sending illegal immigrants to blue sanctuary cities: “We cannot have a governor who decides that he’s going to cling to the vestiges of Jefferson Davis” (X).

Japan Walloped by 7.6 Magnitude Earthquake, Tsunami Warnings

Please pray for the Japanese people. Daily Wire: Residents of Japanese coastal areas were told to evacuate their homes Monday as the country braces for a tsunami after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook the country’s western coast. More than a dozen earthquakes were reported in the Sea of Japan late Monday night local time, the largest of which collapsed buildings and started a fire in Wajima, the city closest to the earthquake’s epicenter (Daily Wire). Washington Post: At least six people were buried alive in the rubble, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a Monday news conference. Tsunami waves with a height of about 1.2 meters, or 4 feet, were detected around the Noto Peninsula shortly after the powerful quake the Japan Meteorological Agency said, with more waves detected in the area later (Washington Post). Collin Rugg: Japan rocked by 7.5 magnitude earthquake just as the 2024 year begins. Within 90 minutes of the initial earthquake, 19 other aftershocks were recorded according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Unfortunately, the damage may not be done. Japan is warning coastal residents to evacuate to higher ground to stay safe from a potential tsunami (X).

Trans Lt. Colonel Bree Fam of Space Force Claims “Inclusion” is a National Security Matter

Post Millennial: Space Force Lt. Colonel Bree Fram, 43, is claims that “inclusion is a national security imperative.” Fram is trans and uses the platform of Lt. Colonel in the Space Force to broadcast the message of trans inclusivity (Post Millennial). Libs of TikTok: Trans Lt. Colonel suggests inclusion is a matter of national security. The world is laughing at us (X). Libby Emmons: Trans Lt Colonel Bree Fam with the Space Force was featured at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit and claimed that trans inclusion is “a national security imperative (X).

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Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II Abdicates Position After Ruling for 52 Years

CNN: In a surprise move Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has announced she will abdicate her role early in 2024, after a reign lasting more than five decades. Margrethe, 83, will hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik, she said in her traditional New Year’s Eve speech broadcast on Danish television. She cited a back surgery in February 2023 as giving her thoughts about the future. Queen Margrethe II took over the throne on 14 January 1972 following the death of King Frederik IX. After the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II last year Margrethe became the longest-serving monarch in Europe (CNN). Washington Post: She will step down on Jan. 14, exactly 52 years after she succeeded her father as monarch (Washington Post).