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Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Under Scrutiny Over Nearly Fatal Failures Surrounding Assassination Attempt

This is disgraceful and she should resign immediately. Katie Pavlich: One of the main questions in the aftermath of the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania over the weekend continues to be why the Secret Service left a roof top just 140 yards away from the stage to remain unsecured. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has coughed up an excuse, saying it would have been too dangerous to put snipers on the roof because it was sloped. “That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” Cheatle told ABC News. “And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside…” Nobody is buying the excuse, especially given Secret Service snipers closer to the stage were also on a sloped roof (Townhall). Journalist Kyle Becker: You can’t make this stuff up (X).

Secret Service Increased Security for Trump After Iranian Threats Against His Life

Spencer Brown: In yet another revelation that only makes Secret Service brass — namely the agency’s Director Kimberly Cheatle — look more caught-off-guard during Saturday’s attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, it turns out the USSS had actually increased protection for Trump in recent weeks leading up to the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Yet, the attack still took place. The impetus for what was supposed to be higher security for Trump: intelligence about an Iranian plot to assassinate the former president. CNN cited “multiple people briefed on the matter” who told the outlet that American officials had “obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Donald Trump.” That intelligence, the report stated, “led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president in recent weeks.” So, what transpired on Saturday took place despite an increase in protection for Trump (Townhall)? CNN: Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the US military’s killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020. And former senior Trump administration officials who worked on national security have had tight security since leaving the government (CNN).

Unknown Masked Man With Gun Arrested Outside of Republican National Convention

Fox News: A man armed with an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask was arrested on Monday just blocks from Fiserv Forum where the Republican National Convention is being held in Milwaukee. Homeland Security Investigators and Capitol Police were conducting surveillance near the RNC perimeter when they noticed a suspicious man approaching. He was wearing a ski mask and carrying a tactical bag. Inside the bag, police found the gun and a full magazine. His intentions were unclear (Fox News).

Nikki Haley Endorses Trump During Republican National Convention, Ron DeSantis Brought Down the House

Ed Morrissey: The two most anticipated speeches tonight came from the top two of Donald Trump’s primary challengers, and they both delivered — in different ways. First, Nikki Haley acknowledged her late addition to the convention schedule, noting that Trump had invited her to speak to unity. Haley did a fine job with that message, declaring her unreserved endorsement of Trump and exhorting people to consider their choice carefully. “You may not agree with Trump 100% of the time,” Haley argued, noting that she famously didn’t agree with Trump all the time either. But the choice, Haley warned, was between someone who kept America and the world safe and the utter chaos that the Joe Biden presidency has created. Haley ran down a laundry list of Biden disasters, starting with Afghanistan and hammering especially on Biden’s enabling of Iranian terror strategies. Ron DeSantis did bring down the house, but his aim was different, too. DeSantis didn’t differ that much from Trump on policy or culture in the first place, and his voters are almost certainly already Trump voters. Instead, DeSantis took aim at Joe Biden, his cognitive decline, and the conspiracy of silence surrounding it. It’s time to “end the Weekend at Bernie’s presidency,” DeSantis declared, and to “send Joe Biden back to the basement” (HotAir).

Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Banning School Districts From Alerting Parents to Their Child’s Gender Identity Issues

Daily Wire: On Monday, California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law legislation making his state the first in the nation to ban school districts from alerting parents of their children’s sexuality, or if they use pronouns or have adopted gender identities that conflict with those on their school records. “This bill would prohibit school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and the state special schools, and a member of the governing board or body of those educational entities, from enacting or enforcing any policy, rule, or administrative regulation that requires an employee or a contractor to disclose any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent unless otherwise required by law.” Assembly Bill 1955 states, “LGBTQ+ pupils have the right to express themselves freely at school without fear, punishment, or retaliation, including that teachers or administrators might ‘out’ them without their permission. Policies that require outing pupils without their consent violate pupils’ rights to privacy and self-determination” (Daily Wire). Libs of TikTok: Gavin Newsom signed AB1955 today which bans schools from making rules requiring parental notification if a child identifies as transgender. Get your kids out of public schools (X). Elon Musk: The state will take away your kids in California (X).

Elon Musk Commits to Moving SpaceX HQ to Texas Amid California’s Anti-Family State Laws

Los Angeles Times: Elon Musk said Tuesday on X that he is moving the headquarters of both SpaceX and the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to Texas — citing several criticisms he has of California and doing business in San Francisco. Noting a new state law that bans teachers from telling families about student gender identity changes, Musk tweeted that he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX from Hawthorne in Los Angeles County to the company’s launchpad site in Texas. The move would be a blow to Southern California, where SpaceX has helped to anchor a burgeoning space economy (Los Angeles Times). Elon Musk: This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas (X).

President Biden Looks to Drastically Change the Supreme Court

Washington Post: President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code. He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to reform the high court. Biden previewed the shift in a Zoom call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus (Washington Post). Fox News: Biden previewed the shift in a Zoom call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus (Fox News).

Microsoft Terminates DEI Team

Business Insider: After Microsoft laid off an internal team focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, a team leader blasted the company for a lack of investment in these efforts. “True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020,” a leader of the team wrote in an email sent to thousands of employees, which was viewed by Business Insider. The email says the team was eliminated because of “changing business needs” as of July 1. It’s unclear how many employees were affected (Business Insider). IGN: The email goes on to assert that DEI programs are in danger not just at Microsoft, but across all businesses (IGN). CNBC: By mid-2023, DEI-related job postings had declined 44% from the same time a year prior, according to data provided by job site Indeed. In November 2023, the last full month for which data was available, it dropped 23% year over year (CNBC).

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Calls for Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to Resign Amid Conviction on Multiple Corruption Charges

National Review: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called for Senator Bob Menendez to resign after the New Jersey Democrat was convicted Tuesday on a slew of corruption charges… Menendez was found guilty of 16 felony charges related to obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion, and honest services wire fraud. In prior statements, Schumer had stopped short of calling for Menendez to resign, only saying he was “very disappointed” in the New Jersey Democrat for failing to meet the standards of the U.S. Senate (National Review). Chuck Schumer: In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign (X).

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President Biden Attempts to Pass Rent-Control Bill Capping Yearly Increases to Five Percent

MarketWatch: President Joe Biden has proposed capping rent increases nationwide to 5% in an attempt to rein in surging housing costs, but housing experts are calling the move counterproductive. Biden’s proposed policy would restrict how much landlords can increase tenants’ rents, the White House said on Tuesday. If landlords hike tenants’ rents by more than 5%, they would not be able to take advantage of tax breaks related to faster depreciation write-offs, according to the policy. The measure, designed to be in effect for two years, would only affect landlords who own more than 50 units, which is about half of all rental properties, the government said. That’s about 20 million units in the U.S. The rent cap would not affect newly built rental units. The proposal to limit rent increases nationwide would need Congressional approval…. With limits on how much landlords can raise rents, developers would worry about how profitable their projects would be, which could then affect housing supply in the long-run, Zhao said. And the less developers build, the fewer homes there are to rent, worsening affordability. Other housing experts pointed to the ineffectiveness of rent caps as a way to limit how much housing prices go up (MarketWatch). Axios: The President has hinted in the past at the new plan to cap rental increases, both during his disastrous June debate, where it got little attention, and last week at a NATO press conference (Axios).