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Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Israel Responds After Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire Pact

Times of Israel: The Israeli military launched a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon on Monday evening after Hezbollah launched two mortars at the Mount Dov area for the first time since the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group took effect last week. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said fighter jets struck Hezbollah operatives and dozens of rocket launchers and facilities belonging to the terror group across Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed earlier on Monday that it launched the mortars in response to Israel’s “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal that took effect last week, and said that it should serve as an “initial warning” over IDF strikes on Lebanon during the truce and the “continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft” (Times of Israel). International Monitor: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Monday that Israel would respond “strongly” after Hezbollah launched rockets at a watchtower, the first time the group has attacked Israel since a ceasefire came into effect last week (X).

Special Counsel David Weiss Declines to Dismiss Hunter Biden’s Charges After Pardon

Daily Wire: Special Counsel David C. Weiss said in a Monday court filing that he’s opposed to Hunter Biden’s request to dismiss his criminal cases after receiving a presidential pardon from his father. “The defendant’s motion should be denied because there is no binding authority which requires dismissal of an indictment after a defendant receives a pardon,” Weiss wrote to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, where Hunter was found guilty of gun crimes. President Biden, in announcing the pardon, said Hunter was the victim of a political prosecution, but Weiss wrote that the claim was “nonsensical” and when Hunter made the same claims in appeals, 10 judges appointed by six presidents rejected them. Weiss said that even if Hunter is pardoned, the indictment is still valid, and claims that it was unfair or meritless are “nonsensical,” and that the judge had found that they were supported by “no evidence.” In California, where Hunter pleaded guilty to tax charges, Weiss filed a similar motion (Daily Wire). Daily Mail: The First Son admitted he failed to pay taxes on millions earned from shady overseas business deals with criminal Chinese businessmen, a Ukrainian oligarch and other foreigners, instead blowing the cash on drugs, prostitutes, and a lavish lifestyle (Daily Mail).

Biden Prepares to Send Another $275 Million to Ukraine

Associated Press: The U.S. is preparing to send Ukraine an additional $725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System… Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia. The package also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines that Ukraine is counting on to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia’s Kursk region. President Joe Biden has pledged to spend all of the military assistance funds Congress approved earlier this year for Ukraine before the end of his administration on Jan. 20, which before Monday’s news included about $7.1 billion in weapons that would be drawn from the Pentagon’s stockpiles (Associated Press). Ryan Fournier: Our government is barely lifting a finger to help folks in Western North Carolina, yet we can send another $725 MILLION to Ukraine? This is why the Left lost (X). Wall Street Mav: It never ends. We have $36 trillion in national debt, we have over a $2 trillion budget deficit. 25% of every dollar in US govt revenue goes to paying interest on the national debt (X).

Israeli-American Soldier Confirmed Dead in October 7 Attack

NBC: An Israeli American soldier who was thought to have been captured alive by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack was actually killed that day and his body taken into the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military said Monday. Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old New York native, who served as a tank platoon commander after emigrating to Israel, was killed in battle… Neutra was born and raised in the United States, before he emigrated to Israel as a lone soldier and enlisted in the Armored Corps, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group for those held captive and their families (NBC). New York Post: Israeli authorities say there are still 62 hostages alive in Gaza. Hamas is also holding the bodies of 35 hostages who were murdered — either on Oct. 7 or while they were in captivity. In total 251 people were abducted from Israel during the terrorist attack last year. Neutra was stationed with the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion near the community of Nahal Oz when Hamas ambushed his unit during the terror attack (New York Post).

Trump: “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY” If Hostages Are Not Released by Inauguration

Times of Israel: US President-elect Donald Trump threatens those holding hostages in the Middle East with unprecedented American firepower if they are not released by the time he enters office on January 20. Trump first made this threat at the Republican National Convention in July, but the latest warning posted on Truth Social comes one day after Hamas released a propaganda video showing American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander in which the 20-year-old pleads with Trump to secure his release (Times of Israel). Raylan Givens: President Trump: If the abductees are not released by the day I take office, January 20, 2025, the consequences will be unprecedented in the Middle East, and those responsible for the kidnapping will be beaten more than anyone else in the history of the United States (X).

California Begins Special Legislative Session to “Trump-Proof” State

Hill: California lawmakers on Monday are kicking off a special legislative session in what Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has deemed efforts to “Trump-proof” the Golden State from potential federal interference. Newsom will be seeking up to $25 million for the California Department of Justice and state agencies during the session, with the goal of preventing “unconstitutional or unlawful federal government actions,” the governor’s office announced in a “special session proposal” fact sheet (Hill). George: Newsom plans to file lawsuits to block every policy President Trump enacts. “We know what happened the last time Donald Trump was president. He vandalized our progress. He vandalized our programs. He broke the law.” Keep in mind California is more dangerous than it’s ever been, thefts are at historic highs, homelessness is worse than ever. Yet Newsom thinks Trump is his biggest problem (X).

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) Says California Will Use Taxpayer Dollars to Support Illegals Against Trump’s Deportation Efforts

Daily Wire: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said during an interview over the weekend that the state of California would not lift a finger to help the federal government remove dangerous illegal aliens from the streets of California. Padilla made the remark during a Sunday CBS News interview on “Face The Nation” with Major Garrett when asked about President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, who has pledged to criminally prosecute those who do not cooperate with federal immigration officials… He said that Democrat leaders in California were saying that “we’re not going to utilize state and local resources to do the federal government’s job for them” (Daily Wire). Paul Szypula: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) says California will pay the legal bills for illegal immigrants facing deportation. Padilla says this will be funded by the taxpayer in the name of “diversity.” Defund California (X).

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Asks John Thune to Remember Democrats in Senate Confirmation Process

Washington Examiner: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to his incoming predecessor, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), asking him to consider a bipartisan approach to the Senate confirmation process. On Sunday, Schumer asked Thune, who will soon become Senate majority leader when the new Congress is sworn in, to consider Democrats in the confirmation process. “Senate Democrats stand ready and willing to work with Senate Republicans to provide advice and consent as we evaluate all of the incoming president’s nominations,” Schumer wrote. Schumer pointed to the system of checks and balances and the role the Senate has played in their constitutional duties in “ensuring the President appoints well-qualified public officials” (Washington Examiner). Washington Times: Mr. Thune has hinted before that he is open to using recess appointments, but will have to see how everything plays out in the Senate (Washington Times).

Supreme Court to Hear Pivotal Case of Gender Transition Surgery Ban for Minors

Washington Examiner: The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in a landmark case that could set a pivotal precedent on states’ authority to regulate transgender hormone therapy procedures for minors. At the heart of the set for oral arguments Wednesday is whether Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1 (SB1), a law barring puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. While Republican lawmakers, including incoming President-elect Donald Trump, have sounded alarms about matters of fairness surrounding biological men competing on female sports teams, a larger underbelly of concern is brewing over the more than 14,000 minors who have undergone transgender-related procedures since 2019. SB1 is “a law that is directed at children and at protecting children from the irreversible effects of some very serious procedures,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said (Washington Examiner). Associated Press: The Biden administration is supporting the challenge to Tennessee’s law, but the federal government’s position is expected to change after Trump takes office in January (Associated Press).

10.

NYC Mayoral Staffer Fired for Ripping Down Israeli Hostage Poster, Assaulting Eyewitness

New York Post: The Adams administration staffer under fire for ripping down an Israeli hostage poster and then allegedly assaulting an outraged eyewitness has been “suspended without pay indefinitely.” Nallah Sutherland, a special event coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events, was spotted earlier this month tearing down the poster from an Upper East Side light pole, shredding it and dumping it in a trash bin, according to video posted online by the social media platform Jews of NY and the nonprofit group StopAntisemitism. But Sutherland, 25, only got a slap on the wrist from her City Hall bosses — who merely required her to take “multicultural training” and added a disciplinary note to her permanent work file (New York Post). Paul Szypula: NYC Mayor Adams staffer Nallah Sutherland was caught on video tearing down and shredding an Israeli hostage poster. She then assaulted an outraged eyewitness. Sutherland is now suspended from her $61k/year event planning job w/o pay. The eyewitness should press charges (X).