News of the World

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US NEWS

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Jack Smith’s Special Counsel Appointment Is Unconstitutional, Former Attorney General Tells Supreme Court

Their amicus (or “friend of the court”) brief argues that Smith lacks authority to represent the United States by asking the Supreme Court to weigh in (called a petition for certiorari) because the office he holds has not been created by Congress and his appointment violates the “Appointments Clause” of the Constitution.

The filing essentially claims U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland improperly appointed Smith to an office that does not exist with authority Garland does not possess.

Meese, Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the Federalist Society, and Gary Lawson, a prominent constitutional law professor, first argue that only Congress can create federal offices such as Smith currently holds, which Congress has not done.

While the Constitution creates the offices of President and Vice President, Congress has the sole authority to create additional offices, because the Constitution says those offices must be “established by Law.” Congress previously passed a law to authorize a similar position called an “independent counsel,” but that statute expired in 1999.

Garland cannot hire a mere employee to perform tasks that Congress has not authorized, the attorneys write. Only an “officer” can hold such a significant level of authority. In creating the Department of Justice, Congress gave it certain powers by law, yet it authorized no office with all the powers of a U.S. Attorney that Garland has given Smith.

The amicus brief further argues, “Even if one somehow thinks that existing statutes authorize appointment of stand-alone special counsels with the full power of a U.S. Attorney, Smith was not properly appointed to such an ‘office.’” They assert even if special counsels were authorized by Congress, anyone in possession of such powers would require presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
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“Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift, or Jeff Bezos,” they write.

Other News

Colorado Disqualification Decision ‘Incoherent,’ SCOTUS ‘Will Reverse’

KAITLAN COLLINS: Ambassador Bolton, when you look at this, this measure that was put in place to to keep former confederates from returning to power, I mean, what do you make of it being used here?

BOLTON: I think it’s completely misplaced. I think this this Colorado Supreme Court decision is badly wrong for multiple reasons. Number one, the 14th Amendment provides that Congress can pass legislation to carry its provisions into effect, which Congress has done on many aspects. It has not put anything with respect to Section Three on the books since just after the Civil War.

Second, the idea that 50 different state courts can can decide a question involving the highest elective office in the executive branch, interpreting the federal Constitution as to what constitutes an insurrection against the federal government is, is incoherent. And I think undoubtedly the Supreme Court is going to have to clear that up.

In terms of what the framers of the 14th Amendment meant. I think I think it’s quite clear that the radical Republicans in Congress who wanted to suppress the secessionist advocates and governments of the Southern states had seceded, would not provide on this critical question of the offices that that are going to be denied to people who broke their oath to the United States, that you’re going to put decision making authority on that in the hands of the states, including the former secessionist states. That, if that was their intention, they were delusional when they did it.

So I’d be willing to bet a small amount of money here that the Supreme Court, if it gets to the merits of this, if it has to, will reverse. There’s there’s no other logical way you can apply this. And it would sow chaos in elections as far as the eye could see.

Biden Frees Venezuela’s ‘Financial Brain’, Granting Narco-Socialists a Major Win

President Joe Biden greenlit the release of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, accused of acting as Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s top money launderer, on Wednesday.

Saab’s release is allegedly the result of a prisoner swap with the rogue socialist regime that will also allow for the release of unjustly detained Americans in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported.

Saab, 51, is a close personal ally of Maduro and is widely considered the socialist dictator’s financial brain. American law enforcement authorities arrested Saab in Cape Verde in 2020 after the Department of Justice indicted him in 2019 on charges of laundering $350 million from Venezuela’s state coffers through a bribery scheme that involved shady affordable housing construction contracts. Saab was on trial in America at the time of his announced release.

According to an anonymous source cited by the Associated Press, in exchange, the Maduro regime will release “some, if not all” of the roughly 12 U.S. citizens who remain imprisoned in Venezuela.

Another report published by Reuters on Wednesday claimed that the Maduro regime will release 36 people, including 12 American citizens and four citizens arrested this month as part of a crackdown on dissidents of the socialist regime.

And the Biden administration still expects Maduro to keep such promises after the sham elections that were held earlier this month?

EUROPEAN NEWS

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The Ongoing European Crisis

Russian Spies Who Planned to Destroy Army Trains Convicted in Poland

14 Russian spies including alleged ‘Ukrainian refugees’ have been sentenced in Poland over a plot to spy on and sabotage infrastructure carrying weapons and aid to Ukraine including an airport, railway, and sea port.

Poland has dismantled a Russian spy ring which the court found received instructions from its handlers in Russia through an encrypted messaging app and was paid on a per-job basis by cryptocurrency transfer. National newspaper Rzeczpospolita reports from the Lublin court that payments ranged from $5 for posting a propaganda leaflet, to $400 for installing a surveillance camera, and up to $10,000 for derailing a train.

Other tasks are reported to have included setting fires in Poland and subjecting targeted individuals with “beatings”. Prosecutor Piotr Łopatyński told Onet of the sophistication of the ring: “We were dealing with a modern, previously unknown way of running and organizing a spy network, not only in Poland, but also in the entire European Union.”

The sentences for espionage handed to those found guilty ranged from six months for ‘Artem’ to 13 months for Belarussian student ‘Maria’. Among those convicted were Ukrainian ‘refugees’ who travelled to Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two Belarussian students, and a Russian hockey player playing for a Polish team.

The court heard how the cell planned to sabotage military equipment and aid travelling from the European Union to embattled Ukraine, much of which travels through Poland. At least six “very high resolution wireless” battery-powered cameras were installed which, the paper states, were used to “constantly” monitor the naval base in Gdynia, Jasionka International Airport, and the railway at Rzeszów, intending to plant GPS trackers on equipment.

Ultimately the cell intended to derail trains transporting military equipment, echoing tactics already seen widely within Ukraine and Russia itself in recent months, as both sides in the stalled conflict attempt to inflict damage on their opponent’s supply lines. Rzeszów is one of the main hubs in Europe for the shipment of aid to Ukraine by rail.

Outrage as New Polish Globalist Govt Shuts Down TV Channel, Sacks Media Companies Bosses

Chief of Poland’s National Broadcasting Council has criticised Communist-era style practices as Eurocrat globalist Donald Tusk returns to power and immediately starts purging the national media landscape.

Donald Tusk, the two-time Polish Prime Minister and Brussels Eurocrat has heralded his return to power in the country after this year’s elections by steps to break up media organisations that some see as holding views contrary to his own. The Civic Platform leader accused several broadcasters including the state broadcaster TVP as being propagandists and said he would defending the “legal order” and “independence” by taking them down.

British state broadcaster the BBC has dutifully toed the Tusk line, uncritically reported claims as fact that TVP “became a propaganda machine for the [Law and Justice (PiS)] government”. ABC News reported Tusk was seeking to “reestablish independent media in Poland in a legally binding and lasting way”. Meanwhile, Politico stated “Poland’s revolution gets real as government reclaims control of public media”

The new Polish culture ministry announced Wednesday it had fired the heads of several broadcasters. The management and supervisory boards of Televison Poland, Polish Radio, and the Polish Press Agency were all dismissed.

‘Severe Glitches’ at Polling Stations: 2021 National Elections to be Re-Run in 455 German Constituencies

Germany´s Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered the 2021 national election to be partially repeated in the German capital because of severe glitches at many polling stations.

The court ruled that the election must be repeated in 455 of 2,256 constituencies in the state of Berlin, which is one of three German cities that is also a state.

A state election that was held the same day was completely rerun in February. The ruling is not expected to change the current national government´s majority.
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Berlin held four votes on Sept. 26, 2021: the state election, a vote for the city´s 12 district assemblies, the German national election and a local referendum.

The Berlin Marathon, also held the same day, added to logistical difficulties. Long lines had formed outside many polling stations as voters struggled with extra ballot papers.

Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers during the day and others received ones for the wrong district, leading to a large number of invalidated ballots.

France Passes Bill to Make Deporting Undesirable Foreigners Easier

The bill passed the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, with a 349-186 vote late Tuesday. It had previously been voted by the Senate.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the text of the bill includes “useful, efficient provisions that were expected by our citizens.”

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who championed the bill, said the government wants “greater firmness against foreign offenders.”

“Who here can say that we must allow criminals, people on our land, who attacks us, attack our professors and who attack our police forces and who attack the youth on the cafe terraces, without reacting?” he said in a speech at the National Assembly.

The bill still needs to be officially enacted into law.
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The conservatives, who pushed for a hard-line approach, said the compromise text features provisions to reduce the number of migrants coming to France, notably by limiting foreigners´ access to social benefits.

Many saw the negotiations as a sign of a shift to the right by Macron´s government.

Leftist politicians accused the centrists of pushing the law through with the support of the far-right.

ASIAN NEWS

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Communists growing very overconfident

China Applauds Australia’s Retreat from Red Sea International Naval Mission

The Chinese government was quick to cheer Australia’s rejection of a United States’ call to send a warship to help police vital Red Sea trade routes, gushing Wednesday that Canberra was finally stepping out of America’s “shadow.”

In an opinion piece published by China’s tame state-run media – the Global Times newspaper – author Jerry Grey celebrated the left-wing Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reported refusal to send a warship to the Middle East, and Australia’s recent U.N. vote for a ceasefire in contrast to that of the U.S..

He said the moves proved Australia was “distancing itself from the US.”

“(Australia) has finally stepped out of the US’ shadow to call for a ceasefire and could potentially act as a mediator in the conflict if needed. That opportunity will be lost if it has a military presence in the region. It is sensible for Australia to continue distancing itself from the US,” the paper said.

The article, titled “Sensible for Australia to refuse US Red Sea Warship” came with a cartoon of a kangaroo standing at the edge of a hole with a U.S.-branded shovel nearby.

China’s ‘Solution’ to Houthi Red Sea Threat: Cave In to Terrorists and Attacks Will Stop

The Chinese state-run propaganda outlet Global Times published a commentary on Tuesday urging the United States to cede to the demands of Yemen’s Houthi terrorist organization – which include pressuring Israel to allow fellow jihadists Hamas to thrive in Gaza – as a way of stopping Houthi attacks on international shipping.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed Shiite jihadist terror organization, announced a war against Israel in late October in support of Hamas, a Sunni organization that also enjoys financial support from the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism, Iran. Hamas orchestrated an unprecedented terrorist assault on Israel on October 7 that resulted in 1,200 deaths and an estimated 250 abductions and featured a wide range of atrocities against civilians, including the murder and torture of children, gang rape, and desecration of corpses. The Houthis extended their full support to the atrocities and, in December, announced that in solidarity with Hamas they would begin attacking commercial ships attempting to access the Red Sea.

Houthi leaders claim, falsely, to be the legitimate government of Yemen and Iranian state propaganda outlets indulge this claim.

While Houthi leaders insist that they will only target Israeli and Israeli-bound ships, multiple targets of Houthi attacks have been ships whose operators claimed no ties to the country. As a result, at least 12 major international shipping companies – including BP, Maersk, and Evergreen – announced they would divert ships away from the Red Sea and towards the longer and more expensive route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. About 12 percent of international shipping normally passes through the Red Sea.

Houthi leaders threatened to turn the entire Red Sea into a “graveyard” on Monday and said they would only end their piracy if “crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population.” The “crimes in Gaza” they referred to are self-defense operations by the Israeli military intended to dismantle Hamas and prevent a second October 7-style attack. Contrary to the implication in the Houthi statement, Israel is allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and expanding access as it moves its operations deeper into Hamas territory. According to the White House, 200 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday.

 That's precisely the same as telling the whole world community that they just need to accept Iran's demands just because. Without any complains.
One of the Houthis' demands is non sensical by definition, neither they nor Hamas ever cared about the impoverished Gazan people. All aid gets stolen by Hamas to support their terrorist network, people has to attack their trucks to get something to eat as it happened a few days ago.

North Korea: We’re Prepared to Nuke America if It Makes a ‘Wrong Decision’

Communist dictator of North Korea Kim Jong-un declared through state media on Wednesday that the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was necessary to “clearly show what action the DPRK [North Korea] has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it.”

Kim’s remarks were paraphrased in an article by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the flagship propaganda outlet of the North Korean regime. News outlets and media not controlled by the state are illegal in North Korea.

In the article, KCNA confirmed that the launch of a long-range missile into the East Sea (or Sea of Japan) on Monday was an ICBM test, naming the missile in question as the “Hwasong-18,” North Korea’s latest publicly known model. Pyongyang debuted the Hwasong-18 in July and claimed that it could accurately hit a target anywhere in the continental United States with a nuclear payload.

North Korea launched the ICBM on the same day that it boasted of a visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho to Beijing, where Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi allegedly greeted him warmly and vowed that the Chinese Communist Party would continue to back the neighboring rogue regime.

MIDDLE EASTERN NEWS

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The Ongoing War

United Kingdom, Bahrain, Seychelles Join Joe Biden’s Red Sea Defense Coalition Against Houthis

After U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced a ten-member coalition for “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” the Houthis vowed to continue attacking “even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world.”

Austin’s announcement came after a weekend when oil giant BP and shipping heavyweight Evergreen Line said they were suspending traffic through the Red Sea.

The two massive corporations joined a growing list of shippers who said it was no longer safe to use the Red Sea, Bab El Mandeb Strait, and Suez Canal due to Houthi attacks. Avoiding that route would increase shipping time between Asia and northern Europe by about 30 percent, with a commensurate increase in costs. About 12 percent of the world’s shipping traffic passes through the area threatened by the Houthis.
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According to Austin, Operation Prosperity Guardian will include vessels from the United States, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain.

The U.K. said its warship HMS Diamond, which has already shot down Houthi drones over the Red Sea, and the frigate HMS Lancaster will be part of the effort.

Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Jet-Sets to Egypt from Luxury Qatar Hideout

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh left his luxury accommodations in Qatar on Wednesday to visit Egypt, ostensibly to bring his personal authority to negotiations with Israel.

Haniyeh’s presence apparently did not count for much, because Hamas reportedly went on to reject Israel’s offer of a one-week pause in fighting in exchange for 40 hostages, including all of the women and children still held by the Palestinian terrorist organization.

Reuters noted on Wednesday that Haniyeh supposedly stays out of public “diplomacy” unless “progress seems likely.” The only ceasefire in the Gaza war to date began after Haniyeh made his previous trip to Egypt in November. In that deal, Israel paused operations for a week, while Hamas released 110 hostages.

Hamas still holds an estimated 108 living hostages. Israel reportedly offered another one-week pause, plus more Palestinian prisoners released and more humanitarian aid for Gaza, if Hamas would release 40 of them. Hamas envoys were reportedly discussing which hostages they might be willing to free when Haniyeh traveled to Cairo to join them.

The Biden administration sent its usual mixed signals while Haniyeh huddled with his representatives in Egypt. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said another ceasefire-for-hostages agreement was “something we’d very much like to see happen,” while President Joe Biden said he did not think such a deal was likely.