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Friday, January 26, 2024

White House Considers Taking Over Texas’ National Guard

Katie Pavlich: As the battle between the federal government and Texas law enforcement continues in the Lone Star State, the White House has issued a new threat against Republican Governor Greg Abbott as he works to stop the illegal immigration invasion on the southern border with Mexico. For two years, through Operation Lone Star, Abbott has deployed the Texas National Guard to build barriers — including miles of fencing and razor wire — to keep illegal immigrants out. The Biden administration took them to court, which led to the Supreme Court ruling Border Patrol agents have the authority to cut through the wire. Governor Abbott is doubling down, putting up more razor wire and reiterating Texas’ constitutional right to defend itself (Townhall). End Wokeness: White House doesn’t rule out federalizing the Texas National Guard (X). Many governors rally to Governor Abbott’s side to support him enforcing border policies (Townhall).

Former Law Enforcement Officials Pen Letter Detailing the Problems With Open Border Policies

Spencer Brown: In a chilling letter to congressional leaders dated January 17, former federal law enforcement and national security officials spell out the danger of Biden’s open border that “arises from the nature of the threat itself” (Townhall). Senator Ron Johnson: This sobering letter from former FBI, Homeland Security, and other law enforcement officials describes the chilling reality of why POTUS’s open border is a clear and present danger to America (X).

U.S., Chinese Envoys To Discuss Increasing Hostilities in the Middle East

Wall Street Journal: U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is flying to Thailand to discuss the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, U.S. officials said. Biden administration officials have said since the Gaza war started that they have asked Beijing to convey messages to Iran about avoiding a broader conflict. Those officials have said that Beijing is doing so, but they don’t know the exact substance of those conversations with Tehran. The U.S. says Iran supplies the Houthis with weapons, funding and other support (Wall Street Journal). Financial Times: U.S. and Chinese officials last year restarted high-level engagements that were aimed at easing tensions after differences over issues including Taiwan’s status and a suspected Chinese spy balloon that floated over the U.S. sent relations to their lowest ebb since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1979 (Financial Times).

Restaurant Called “October 7” Opens in Jordan

What if a restaurant called, “9/11” opens? This is clearly celebrating terrorism. Times of Israel: A new restaurant in Jordan is named “October 7,” apparently celebrating Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 people in a brutal rampage through southern Israel on that day. The shawarma joint has been opened in the Southern Mazar district, south of the city of Kerak near the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea (Times of Israel). Jake Wallis Simons: Is this real? October 7 Shawarma restaurant… Shall we talk about Jew-hatred in the Arab world now maybe (X)? Breitbart: Former Jordanian MP Dima Tahboub whose gleeful post depicted the opening, is a member of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood who once praised a Jordanian soldier for murdering 7 Israeli schoolgirls, calling the unarmed pupils “enemies.” In response to the venue’s debut, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid lashed out at the “disgraceful glorification” of the October 7 atrocities (Breitbart).

Adjunct Professor Tells Students Hamas Atrocities in Israel on October 7 Did Not Happen

Citizen Free Press: An adjunct NYU professor denied reports that the terrorist group Hamas beheaded babies and raped women in Israel on October 7, telling a group of students last month: “We know it’s not true.” “We live in a Zionist city,” Amin Husain added at the December 5 “teach-in” organized by Students for Justice in Palestine at The New School. He went on to joke about his reputation for being antisemitic, citing a petition launched by an NYU alumnus on October 17, 2023, calling for his dismissal: “I have a petition going around, right, because I’m antisemitic. I won the honors of antisemitic multiple times” (Citizen Free Press). Daily Wire: On November 17, Husain spoke at the school, where he asserted of Israel, “This land isn’t for the Jews.” Husain’s affiliation with the school ended in 2019, but he had been repeatedly invited to speak by the campus’ SJP. Husain is a co-founder of Decolonize This Place, an organization that urged protests in 2020 and caused over $100,000 in damages, including vandalized subway stations (Daily Wire).

Republicans Demand an Investigation Into $50 Million Grant To Chinese Research Organizations

National Review: Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mike Gallagher are demanding the Defense Department’s inspector general probe more than $50 million in defense grants to Chinese pandemic research institutions — including those based in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged in 2019. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed last month, included an amendment from the lawmakers that directed the IG’s office to review Pentagon funding of risky research on pathogens of pandemic potential or “chimeric versions” of viruses in foreign nations over the past decade. The investigation, in addition to gain-of-function virus research conducted in China, will focus on U.S. tax dollars going toward Chinese military technology. The Department of Defense has paid at least $51.6 million to Chinese organizations, including $6 million that went toward purchasing technical support for military “deployment and distribution command” software despite the known security risks of using Chinese technology (National Review).

Boston Mayor Announces Reparations Task Force

The same mayor who hosted a Christmas party where white people were not allowed. Fox News: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Wednesday that the city has established teams that will play a role in their reparations task force. Wu said the Boston Reparations Task Force will consist of one team of historians that will research the city of Boston’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and the impact of slavery on the city. Each historian was evaluated by city staff and other members of the task force. After examining the city’s slave history and its impact on current residents, the Boston Reparations Task Force will create a report of recommendations “for reparative justice solutions” to aid Black residents for the city officials to consider. The task force reportedly has a budget of $500,000 to study the issue (Fox News). Townhall: The Boston City Council voted to form the task force in December 2022 (Townhall).

Former President Trump Briefly Testifies in E. Jean Carroll Trial in New York

New York Times: Former President Donald J. Trump took the stand in his own defense on Thursday in the civil trial for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against him (New York Times). NBC: Last year, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing the magazine writer in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and for defaming her by saying she had fabricated the story. Based on that verdict, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan found Trump liable for defaming her in the current case, paving the way for the damages trial (NBC). Hill: “This is not America, not America, this is not America,” Trump said as he was exiting the courtroom, although the jury had already left at that point. Trump’s testimony set up a critical moment in the case as he sought to stave off Carroll’s request for at least $10 million in damages for Trump’s denials that he sexually assaulted her (Hill).

Biden Sends ‘War Powers’ Notification to Congress After Senate Questions Authority; DOD Denies We Are at War

Breitbart: On Wednesday, Biden notified Congress after the U.S. and the U.K. conducted another round of military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, in response to the Houthis firing missiles at U.S. and commercial vessels in the Red Sea since October (Breitbart). A group of bipartisan lawmakers sent the White House a letter questioning the authority of the president to deploy troops against the Houthi rebels. Just Foreign Policy: Senators question Admin’s Article II self-defense claims, as “most vessels transiting through the Red Sea are not U.S. ships.” They ask: “Does your administration believe there is legal rationale for a President to unilaterally direct U.S. military action to defend ships of foreign nations” (X)? All this after the Department of Defense denies the U.S. is at war. Military.com: Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh offered a fairly simple “no” when asked the question by reporters (last) Thursday (Military.com).

10.

Five TED Fellows Resign After Bill Ackman and journalist Bari Weiss Were Invited To Speak

National Review: Five participants in the TED fellows program, which supports and promotes emerging voices in a variety of fields across the globe, resigned Wednesday after the public-speaking organization invited hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and journalist Bari Weiss to speak at its 2024 flagship conference in Vancouver. Titled “TED Fellows refuse to be associated with genocide apologists,” the letter accused TED of choosing “not only to align itself with enablers and supporters of genocide, but to amplify their racist propaganda.” The authors of the letter wrote that Ackman “has defended Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponized antisemitism in his program to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech” (National Review).