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Judge Orders Justice Department to Answer
Babbitt Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Our case on behalf of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was murdered in
the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, is going forward.
Her family is thrilled that the lawsuit for her outrageous killing is
moving full speed ahead.
Following a hearing on August 6, Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia ordered
the Biden Justice Department to answer the $30 million wrongful death suit
filed on behalf of Babbitt’s estate. She was killed by then-Capitol
Police Lt. Michael Byrd.
The court gave the government 30 days, until September 6, to answer the
complaint. The order also states that we can file a reply brief by August
23 in its petition to have the case returned to Babbitt’s home of San
Diego where it was originally filed:
Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Ana C. Reyes: Pre-motion
Conference held on 8/6/2024 via Zoom. For the reasons stated on the record,
Plaintiff may file a reply brief by 8/23/24. Defendant to file a partial
answer as to counts 1,2,6 and 7 by 9/6/2024. Rule 26 to be filed by
9/13/2024. Status Conference set for 9/20/2024 at 03:00 PM in
Telephonic/VTC before Judge Ana C. Reyes.
Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran, owned and operated a successful pool
business with her husband Aaron. Ashli traveled alone from San Diego to
Washington, DC, to attend the Women for America First (aka Save America)
rally on January 6, 2021, at the Ellipse.
We filed the lawsuit
on January 5, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
California against the U.S. Government on behalf of Ashli Babbitt’s
family. (Estate
of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, et al. v. United States of
America (No. 3:24-cv-00033)).
The Justice Department must respond to the lawsuit’s claims for wrongful
death, assault and battery, negligence, and a claim for “survival
action” under federal law. (As a result of the court’s
order, the lawsuit will proceed on these key counts, as the court considers
the Biden administration’s request to dismiss certain other claims.)
Our complaint recounts:
The shooting occurred at the east entrance to the Speaker’s Lobby.
After demonstrators filled the hallway outside the lobby, two individuals
in the crowded, tightly packed hallway struck and dislodged the glass
panels in the lobby doors and the right door sidelight. Lt. Byrd, who is a
United States Capitol Police commander and was the incident commander for
the House on January 6, 2021, shot Ashli on sight as she raised herself up
into the opening of the right door sidelight. Lt. Byrd later confessed that
he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even
identifying her as female. Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air,
empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby.
The lawsuit points out that, based on prior incidents involving Lt. Byrd,
the Capitol Police, Capitol Police Board, and ultimately Congress, as Lt.
Byrd’s employer, “knew or should have known that Lt. Byrd was prone to
behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.”
The next hearing is set for September 20.
In April 2024, records
from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a separate Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit showed that the FBI opened a criminal
investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and
listed four “potential violations of federal law,” including felony
rioting and civil disorder.
In September 2023, we received records
from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, a component of the
Department of Justice, in a FOIA lawsuit that details the extensive
apparatus the Biden Justice Department set up to investigate and prosecute
January 6 protestors.
A previous
review of records from that lawsuit highlighted the prosecution
declination memorandum justifying the decision not to prosecute U.S.
Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd for the shooting death of Babbitt.
In January 2023, documents
from the Department of the Air Force, Joint Base Andrews, MD, showed U.S.
Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd was housed at taxpayer expense at
Joint Base Andrews after he shot and killed U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli
Babbitt inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In November 2021, we released
multiple audio,
visual
and photo
records from the DC Metropolitan Police Department about the shooting
death of Babbitt on January 6, 2021, in the U.S. Capitol Building. The
records included a cell
phone video of the shooting and an audio of a brief police interview of
the shooter, Byrd.
Judicial Watch Sues for Fauci Records Tied to FOIA/Covid Cover-Up
The Fauci operation seems to have had contempt for the public’s right to
know about what exactly it was up to during Covid.
We filed a FOIA lawsuit
against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records
of retired NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, various top officials,
grantees, and contractors regarding efforts to subvert FOIA and other
information requests about Covid issues (Judicial
Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (No. 1:24-cv-02185)).
We sued after the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID – part of the NIH and a component of HHS) failed to respond to a
May 23, 2024, FOIA request for records on:
- Dr.
David Morens, former top Scientific Advisor to retired NIAID Director Dr.
Anthony Fauci, and current Senior Advisor at NIH, soliciting help, advice,
or assistance in any manner from any employee of the NIAID or NIH’s
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office including a) Margeret Moore b)
Robin Schofield c) Marianne Manheim to circumvent, avoid (i.e. through use
of private email, phone calls, deleting emails, etc.), or otherwise not
respond in accordance with FOIA laws and regulations to FOIA
requests.
- Dr.
Anthony Fauci, retired NIAID Director, NIH, soliciting help, advice, or
assistance in any manner from any employee of the NIAID or NIH’s Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) office including a) Margeret Moore b) Robin
Schofield c) Marianne Manheim to circumvent, avoid (i.e. through use of
private email, phone calls, deleting emails, etc.), or otherwise not
respond in accordance with FOIA laws and regulations to FOIA
requests.
- Communications between NIH and/or NIAD
FOIA employees, including a) Marianne Manheim; b) Robin Schofield; c) Karen
Lampe; concerning withholding information requested through FOIA regarding
EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) and/or the Wuhan Institute of Virology
(WIV).
- Communications of Dr. David Morens,
including use of private email, or advising anyone (internal or external to
NIH) to communicate using private email channels (i.e. gmail) to conduct
official government business when discussing the “Daszak Grant”,
“COVID”, “EcoHealth Alliance”, “EHA”, “secret”,
“kickbacks”, “Trump”, “Tony”, “WIV”, or the “Wuhan
Institute of Virology”. This paragraph includes communications with a)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, email [email protected] or @gmail.com b) Dr. Peter
Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance email domain @ecohealthalliance.org c) Dr.
Gerald Keusch, Boston University email domain @bu.edu d) Rich Roberts, New
England Biolabs email domain @neb.come) Jay Peter Hotez, Baylor College of
Medicine email domain @bcm.edu e) Tom Monath, Croze Biopharma, email domain
@crozebiopharma.com f) James LeDuc, University of Texas Medical Branch,
email domain @utmb.edu g) Laura Kramer, NY Health Department, email domain
@health.ny.gov h) Nancye Green, Donovan Green Health, email
[email protected].
- Communications of Dr. David Morens
with any employee at EcoHealth Alliance (email domain:
@ecohealthalliance.org) regarding how to respond to NIH compliance efforts,
requests, or investigations, concerning the NIH grant with EcoHealth
Alliance.
- Communications of Dr. Anthony Fauci,
including using a private email, or advising anyone (internal or external
to NIH) to communicate using private email channels (i.e. gmail) to conduct
official government business when discussing the “Daszak Grant”,
“COVID”, “EcoHealth Alliance”, “EHA”, “secret”,
“kickbacks”, “Trump”, “Tony” “WIV”, or the “Wuhan
Institute of Virology”. This paragraph includes communications with a)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, email [email protected] or @gmail.com b) Dr. Peter
Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance email domain @ecohealthalliance.org c) Dr.
Gerald Keusch, Boston University email domain @bu.edu d) Rich Roberts, New
England Biolabs email domain @neb.com e) Jay Peter Hotez, Baylor College of
Medicine email domain @bcm.edu e) Tom Monath, Croze Biopharma, email domain
@crozebiopharma.com f) James LeDuc, University of Texas Medical Branch,
email domain @utmb.edu g) Laura Kramer, NY Health Department, email domain
@health.ny.gov h) Nancye Green, Donovan Green Health, email
[email protected].
On May 22, 2024, Morens testified
before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at a
hearing titled “A Hearing with the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. David Morens,” in
which it was reported:
Evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee shows Dr. Morens unlawfully
deleted federal COVID-19 records, shared nonpublic information about
National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant processes with his
“best-friend” EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak, and likely
lied to Congress multiple times.
In prepared remarks by House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus
Pandemic Chairman Bran Wenstrup, he notes:
We have evidence that Dr. Morens purposefully evaded public transparency
required by the Freedom of Information Act by intentionally using a
personal email account for official business.
We have evidence that Dr. Morens unlawfully
deleted government records and may have engaged with the NIH FOIA office to
assist this illegal action.
We have evidence that Dr. Morens routinely
acted as an intermediary between Dr. Daszak and Dr. Fauci.
And we have evidence that Dr. Morens took
affirmative steps to assist Dr. Daszak so that EcoHealth could have its
grant reinstated after it was suspended under the Trump
Administration.
Margeret Moore, who is cited in the our records requests, seems to be the
so-called “FOIA
Lady,” who allegedly advised Morens on how to circumvent FOIA
and avoid responding to FOIA requests. She was then (now retired) NIAID’s
FOIA public liaison whose official responsibilities included: “assisting
in reducing delays; increasing transparency and understanding of the status
of requests; and resolving disputes between you and the agency.” In two
emails from February 24 and 25, 2021, which were subpoenaed by
the Pandemic Subcommittee, Morens writes:
2/24/21 to a redacted recipient at a gmail address: … I learned from
our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after I am foia’d but
before the search starts, so I think we are all safe. Plus I deleted most
of those earlier emails after sending them to gmail. D.
2/25/21 to Gerald Keusch at a Boston
University email address and cc’d to Peter Daszak and another redacted
recipient at EcoHealth Alliance: … I learned the tricks last year from an
old friend, Marg Moore, who leads our FOIA office and also hates
FOIAs.
Also on May 22, the Select Subcommittee issued a
memo titled “Allegations of Wrongdoing and Illegal Activity by
Dr. David Morens, Senior Advisor to National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases former Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci,” in which it is
noted that Morens initially responded to a request for records with 2,000
responsive pages and after being subpoenaed supplied approximately 30,000
more pages of records:
Evidence in possession of the Select Subcommittee suggests that Dr.
Morens knowingly transmitted official records to Dr. Fauci via his personal
e-mail. If true, this raises serious questions of whether Dr. Fauci took
part in a conspiracy amongst the highest levels of NIAID to hide official
records regarding the origins of COVID-19.
The following day, the committee issued a “hearing
wrap up” regarding Morens’ testimony:
Evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee prior to the hearing showed
that Dr. Morens … deliberately obstructed the Select Subcommittee’s
investigation into the origins of COVID-19 to protect Dr. Fauci, unlawfully
deleted federal COVID-19 records, and shared nonpublic information about
National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant processes with his
“best-friend” EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak. Dr.
Morens’s testimony confirmed these discoveries and proved that he clearly
believes the laws of the federal government do not apply to him. Members
used Dr. Morens’s own emails as evidence of his misconduct and pressed
Dr. Morens to explain why he displayed such contempt for the American
people while serving as a senior official at the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our FOIA lawsuits and investigations have uncovered much of what the public
knows about many Covid-19 controversies:
- In June 2024, we sued
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records from the
Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and
Response (ASPR)
regarding after action reports, review of procedures, or studies concerning
the preparation for and response to the Covid-19
pandemic.
- In April 2024, we uncovered FBI records
that showed an April 2020 email exchange with several officials in the
bureau’s Newark Field Office referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National
Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grant to the Wuhan
Institute of Virology (WIV) in China as including “gain-of-function
research” which “would leave no signature of purposeful human
manipulation.”
- Emails between U.S. Surgeon General
Vivek Murthy and top Facebook executives in 2021 regarding the censorship
of user posts about Covid
controversies showed Facebook leadership seeking to “better
understand the scope of what the White House expects from us on
misinformation going forward.”
- Records from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) showed that a Pfizer study surveyed 23 people in 2021
to gauge reactions to its Covid vaccine booster before
asking the FDA to approve it.
- Records
from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) included the
initial grant application and annual reports to the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) from EcoHealth
Alliance, describing the aim of its work with the Wuhan
Institute of Virology to create mutant viruses “to better predict the
capacity of our CoVs [coronaviruses] to infect people.”
- HHS records included emails
of then-Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins
showing a British physicians’ group recommended the use of Ivermectin to
prevent and treat Covid-19.
- Heavily redacted HHS records
showed that just two days prior to FDA approval of the
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine a discussion was held between U.S. and UK
health regulators regarding the Covid shot and “anaphylaxis,” with the
regulators emphasizing their “mutual confidentiality agreement.”
- We obtained HHS
records regarding data Moderna submitted to the FDA on its mRNA
Covid-19 vaccine, which indicated a “statistically significant” number
of rats were born with skeletal deformities after their mothers were
injected with the vaccine. The documents also revealed Moderna elected not
to conduct a number of standard pharmacological studies on the laboratory
test animals.
- Heavily redacted records
from the FDA regarding the Covid-19 booster vaccine detailed pressure on
Covid booster use and approval.
- HHS records
detailed internal discussions about myocarditis and the Covid vaccine.
Other documents detailed adverse “events for which a contributory effect
of the vaccine could not be excluded.”
- We uncovered
HHS records detailing the extensive media plans for a Biden administration
propaganda campaign to push the Covid-19 vaccine.
- HHS records revealed
previously redacted locations of Covid-19 vaccine testing
facilities in Shanghai, China. The FDA had claimed the name and location of
the testing facilities were protected by the confidential commercial
information exemption of the FOIA.
- NIH records showed an FBI
“inquiry” into the NIH’s controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to
the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The records also showed National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about
“gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in
2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth
Alliance’s lack of compliance with reporting rules and use of
gain-of-function research in the NIH-funded research involving bat
coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
- Texas Public Information Act (PIA)
records showed the former director of the Galveston National Laboratory at
the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr.
James W. Le Duc, warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan
Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the Covid issue by
Congress.
- HHS records regarding biodistribution
studies and related data for the Covid-19 vaccines showed how a key
component of the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles
(LNPs), were found
outside the injection site, mainly the liver, adrenal glands,
spleen and ovaries of test animals, eight to 48 hours after injection.
- Records
obtained from HHS through a FOIA lawsuit related to hydroxychloroquine and
Covid-19 revealed that a grant to EcoHealth Alliance was canceled because
of press reports that a portion of the grant was given to the Wuhan
Institute of Virology.
- HHS records revealed that from 2014 to
2019, $826,277
was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research
by the NIAID.
- NIAID records showed that it gave
nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research
coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants to
the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the vice
director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding
disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor
surfaces.
- HHS records included an “urgent
for Dr. Fauci” email chain, citing ties between the Wuhan lab
and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth
Alliance. The government emails also reported that the
foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked closely with the Chinese
government to pave the way for Chinese-produced medications to be sold
outside China and help “raise China’s voice of governance by placing
representatives from China on important international counsels as high
level commitment from China.”
- Our four-part
documentary regarding the coordinated effort by the government
and Big Tech to censor and suppress information on topics such as Hunter
Biden’s laptop, Covid-19, and election debates is available here.
Jordanian Illegal Alien Who Tried to Breach Military Base
Released
Any ordinary citizen would rightly be suspicious of two illegal aliens
trying to enter a critical U.S. military base in a truck early in the
morning, especially since one was on a terror watch list, not in the Biden
era, as our Corruption Chronicles blog reveals.
Though the Biden administration has publicly denied it, one of the
Jordanian illegal immigrants released from federal custody after being
charged for trying to breach a U.S. military base appears on a terror watch
list, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. The men, 32-year-old
Hasan Yousef Hamdan and 28-year-old Mohammad Khair Dabous, posted bail in
early June and were released by the Washington D.C. Enforcement and Removal
Operations (ERO) division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the
records
show. A Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge in Annandale,
Virginia set Dabous’ bail at $10,000 and Hamdan’s at $15,000 and they
were freed after posting bond and agreeing to stay away from military
facilities and to appear in court for immigration hearings.
Judicial Watch has been investigating the
matter since the Jordanians tried to infiltrate Marine Corps Base Quantico
on May 3, quickly firing off a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain
records that could shed light on what occurred that day and uncover any
threat that the individuals may represent. The Virginia base is about 35
miles south of Washington D.C. and houses the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) Academy and Laboratory as well as a Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA) facility and Marine Corps commands that include
the unit that flies the president’s Marine One helicopter. Initial
reports revealed that in the early morning hours of May 3, Hamdan and
Dabous drove a truck to the military installation’s main gate and told
guards they were making a delivery to Quantico Town’s post office. They
ignored guards’ orders to stop when they could not provide credentials
required to gain access to the facility. The illegal immigrants were
arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing on military
property.
A Serious Incident Report (SIR) filed by Marine Base Quantico to Marine Headquarters confirms
that a white box truck driven by Dabous tried to access the installation
via a gate on Fuller Road. Guards asked for a license to conduct a visitor
check and directed Dabous to move the truck into the inspection area. While
the guard transmitted the drivers’ license information for vetting, the
truck moved forward from the holding area and final denial barriers were
deployed, according to the SIR report obtained by Judicial Watch. The
passenger, Hamdan, could only provide a Jordanian passport for
identification and both men were taken into custody. “Hamdan illegally
entered the United States 20 days ago from Mexico into California where
Hamdan was arrested and sent to an immigration camp with a deportation
court date in 2026,” the SIR report states. An ICE officer, whose name is
redacted in the document, “telephonically confirmed” to the Marine
Criminal Investigations Division (CID) that “Hamdan was on a terror watch
list,” the report says, further revealing that ICE personnel assumed
custody of Hamadan and Dabous for further processing.
Despite the Marine SIR documenting that
Hamdan appears on a terror watch list, the government—specifically
ICE—has consistently denied it. A spokesperson for ICE ERO in Washington
D.C. told Judicial Watch that neither man posed a threat to national
security or the public. The spokesperson, James Covington, assured that the
agency is “focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that
protects the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine
the safety of our communities and the integrity of our immigration laws.”
Covington also emphasized that “regardless of nationality, ICE makes
custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with U.S. law
and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, considering the
circumstances of each case” and that ICE officers “apply prosecutorial
discretion in a responsible manner, informed by their experience as law
enforcement professionals and in a way that best protects the communities
we serve.”
While Hamdan is one of hundreds on the
terror watchlist to sneak into the country through the famously porous
southern border, Dabous was admitted in the U.S. on September 11, 2022, as
an F-1 nonimmigrant student with authorization to remain for the duration
of his student status, records obtained by Judicial Watch show. On January
14, 2023, Dabous’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)
record was set to “terminated,” indicating that his permission to be in
the country expired, though he never left. Judicial Watch will continue
investigating this case and fighting for records that can further uncover
the outrageous security lapses associated with the Biden administration’s
dangerous open border measures.
Until next week,
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