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The Pardon is NOT Hot Enough for Establishment Media

Information Warfare: As Biden Pardons Criminal Son Establishment Media Target Trump Picks Instead

They have literally learned nothing. Nothing.

The establishment media are at it again, now openly attacking President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks with salacious and unverified misinformation in an apparent campaign they are waging to try to sink the president-elect’s incoming administration. Meanwhile, the sitting and outgoing President of the United States, Joe Biden, just issued what amounts to one of the most controversial pardons in American history on Sunday evening when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden. Biden’s complete and unconditional pardon of his son spans more than a decade and is more expansive than Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal.

Yet, again, what are the establishment media focused on? Well, the supposedly respected and revered New York Times and New Yorker are leading a campaign to try to tank Pete Hegseth’s appointment by Trump to be the Secretary of Defense in his incoming administration, while CNN’s deep state stooges are going ballistic over attorney Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to run the FBI. Others are attacking his nominee for Director of National Intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii–a former Democrat who left the party and joined the GOP this year when she endorsed Trump–over nonsensical claims that she is somehow a Russian agent. Obviously all of these smears are dubious at best, and frankly many of them are being spread by the very same people who spread fake attacks repeatedly on Trump for a decade–and also importantly by people who covered for the deep state and Democrats including Biden during this same timeframe.

It begs several questions: How did the media industry get so far off on the wrong track and does anything they say even matter anymore? What are the origins of this fact-free information warfare? Why are they waging it? What’s their end game? On whose behalf are they doing it? Will they ever change?

Let’s start with delving into what should be the biggest story in American politics by far: Biden pardoning his son Hunter after repeatedly lying to the country and telling everyone for years he would not do exactly what he just did is a massive scandal. The pardon is expansive, and will take months if not years to fully investigate but some things are abundantly clear from the outset: The president’s actions shield not just his son but himself as well from scrutiny. This pardon covers a span dating back to January 2014, when Biden was Vice President of the United States and his son was working for the natural gas company Burisma in Ukraine. Biden, of course, threatened to withhold aid to the Ukrainians if they did not fire a government prosecutor who was investigating his son’s employer. Well, the pardon of Hunter Biden by his father the president ensures that there will be no criminal consequences for that whole fiasco if there were ever going to be any to begin with.

There are plausible legal arguments in favor or against the pardon. In favor of it, former Biden family press aide Michael LaRosa offered a justification in an interview with The Hill by saying he thinks the various cases against Hunter Biden on the tax and gun issues were weak and that legally the pardon makes sense:
[VIDEO]
Okay fine, even if you agree with that argument–but certainly if you do not–you cannot miss the fact that what appears to be the first ever presidential pardon of a family member this close to the sitting President of the United States is hugely politically controversial at best and perhaps devastating for Democrats long-term. Even LaRosa understands the political problems of this, and particularly the quagmire Biden forced them into by repeatedly lying to the country and claiming that he would not under any circumstances do what he just did.

Biden Flies to Corrupt Angola

Biden Huddles in Corrupt Angola After Outrageous Pardon for Hunter

President Joe Biden unleashed a firestorm of controversy and further eroded public trust in his already damaged party by giving a shocking blanket pardon to his son, Hunter, on Sunday.

Biden fled from the controversy by jetting to Angola, one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

Biden was wheels-up for Angola within a few hours of pardoning his son for all crimes, both known and yet to be revealed, over a ten-year period. He refused to answer questions about the pardon from reporters during a stopover in Cape Verde.

According to the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index prepared by Transparency International (TI), Angola is 121st on the parade of 180 most corrupt nations.

Angola is rife with cronyism and nepotism, bribery, and conflicts of interest, particularly in its real estate, energy, and mining industries. Powerful individuals and corporations routinely pay off the justice system to avoid prosecution. Many of Angola’s municipalities do not have a court system at all. For the Angolan elite, paying bribes to avoid taxation is cheaper and easier than paying their taxes.

Just two weeks ago, the United Kingdom imposed heavy sanctions on Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption and money laundering. Dos Santos has been under investigation by numerous countries ever since her father’s 38-year reign came to an end in 2017. She claims all of the charges against her are political fabrications, while international anti-corruption activists point to her as a textbook example of kleptocracy.

Angola also has major problems with slavery and human trafficking, although the Biden State Department gives the Angolan government credit for making progress on these issues over the past few years. The Labor Department was less enthusiastic, giving Angola only tepid applause for making “moderate advancement” against the use of child labor in mining, agriculture, and construction.

The Biden White House clearly wanted the president’s visit to Angola to be “historic,” as he is the first American president to visit the country, and he is making the only trip to Africa of his presidency. Early media releases touted the trip as an effort to reinforce the Biden administration’s competition against China and Russia for influence in West Africa.

CNN Legal Analyst Thinks the Pardon was a Terrible Move

CNN’s Honig: Hunter Pardon ‘Will Tarnish Joe Biden’s Legacy’

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Monday on “News Central” that President Joe Biden tarnished his legacy with his pardon of his son Hunter.

Honig said, “There has long been a fair debate — fair on both sides — about whether Hunter Biden is being treated overly leniently or overly zealously because of his status as Joe Biden’s son I think there are pints to both sides of that. But what I think is not disputable is that this is a historic act of political nepotism. Joe Biden even says, if you really parse his statement, he acknowledges that a substantial part of this is because Hunter Biden is his son and that will land Joe Biden on a historic list that he probably doesn’t want to be a part of, along with Bill Clinton, who pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, along with Donald Trump, who pardoned Charles Kushner, who is the father of his own son-in-law, Jared Kushner. So I’m sure Joe Biden understands the historic implications of what he’s done and now he’s earned his way onto that list.”

He continued, “This pardon will tarnish Joe Biden’s legacy. I mean, Joe Biden, let’s be clear here, he lied to us for a long time. He said categorically, ‘I will not pardon my son.’ He said I will take it off the table. And he couched it in very high-minded terminology, ‘I respect the Justice Department. I respect the jury’s verdict.’ Well, now he’s gone back on that.”

Honig added, “But as to whether this tarnishes the justice system, I don’t think I would go that far. I think this, like I said, will go down on the list of ignominious presidential pardons. But I don’t think law students 50 or 100 years from now are going to look back at this as a horrific miscarriage of justice that undermines the foundation of our justice system. There is a reasonable argument that in some respects, Hunter Biden was treated unfairly. And I think that will give Joe Biden some degree of cover.”

NY Democrats About to Protect Criminal Immigrants

New York Democrats Draft Plan to Protect Criminal Migrants in U.S. Communities

New York Democrats are sponsoring a bill that would strengthen protections for illegal aliens accused of crimes even as Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is suddenly claiming she supports deporting criminal illegal immigrants.

As the country turned to favor President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to deport illegal aliens, Hochul performed her about-face last month when she claimed during a press conference that she favors getting illegals accused or convicted of crimes deported.

“If someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,’” the sanctuary state governor exclaimed.

This head-turning and sudden proclamation aside, Hochul’s state party does not seem to be following her lead as 31 Democrats have now co-sponsored a bill in the state senate that would throw up even more protections for illegal aliens in the state’s criminal justice system in order to keep them away from ICE officers looking to deport them.

Despite her sudden claim that she supports deporting “criminals,” Hochul has not objected to this bill at all.

The bill (State Senate Bill S987) aims to prohibit the discovery and disclosure of immigration status, according to the one-line summary.

It states that “no police officer, peace officer, or school resource officer” will be allowed to communicate with ICE about any individual with whom they are dealing in the justice system. Further, they will not be allowed to facilitate the transfer of any individual from their custody to the custody or any immigration official.

New York Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is infuriated by the bill and notes that it not only bars local law enforcement from working with ICE at all, it also requires city authorities to act as immigration advocates on behalf of the criminal.

“This is not about ‘family separation’ or ‘helping our new neighbors’ as progressives like to disingenuously euphemism,” she said in her message on X, “this bill is STRICTLY about PROTECTING DANGEROUS CRIMINALS and ensuring they get to stay in our city and enjoy the comforts of our lax justice system. It’s an absolute outrage.”

Paladino is also shocked that state senators from two parts of New York City that saw a huge upswing for Donald Trump in the 2024 election are also supporting this travesty.

“Even worse, two local State Senators who represent my area of Northeast Queens are co-sponsors — John Liu and Toby Stavisky,” she wrote, adding, “Why would individuals who represent the most conservative part of the city — an area which moved dramatically to Trump in this election — sponsoring legislation with the furthest-left members of the Democrat party? Why are they doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what their constituents voted for?”

“The fact of the matter is that deporting criminals — especially gang members — is highly popular across the political spectrum, yet our Democrat monopoly simply does not care. There is seemingly nothing which will stop them from putting criminals first,” Paladino concluded.

Trump on October 7 Hostages

Trump: ‘ALL HELL TO PAY’ If Hostages Not Released by Jan. 20

President Donald Trump reiterated a promise Monday to punish Hamas and its sponsors severely if it does not release the 101 Israeli hostages, including several Americans, by the time he is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

Trump posted on Truth Social in the wake of news that one of the American hostages held by Hamas was in fact dead, and a day after Hamas released a video of another, living American-Israeli hostage in an effort to pressure Trump to lean on the Israeli government to make concessions.

Trump, on Truth Social, wasn’t having it:

Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!

Trump’s promise reiterates a vow he made during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention: “To the entire world, we want our hostages back—and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price.”

The family of American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, whose death was revealed Monday, said in a statement that they hoped the Israeli government would work with outgoing President Joe Biden and President-elect Trump to “use all of their leverage and resources to return all 101 hostages — living and the deceased — to their families as soon as possible.”

(Neutra’s parents spoke onstage at the Republican National Convention, and attended the Democratic gathering.)

Schiff Against Watching Patel Become the Next FBI Director

Adam Schiff Demands Senate Reject Kash Patel, Long-time Nemesis, as FBI Director

Incoming California Senator Rep. Adam Schiff (D) demanded Sunday that the Senate reject the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), continuing a long personal vendetta against Patel.

Schiff has been trying to destroy Patel ever since 2017, when Patel helped expose the fact that members of the outgoing Obama administration abused their power to “unmask” the names of Americans caught on foreign wiretaps, a practice that was thought to have led to the unjust firing and prosecution of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn over false allegations of collusion with Russia.

Schiff, then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote a memorandum in which he attempted, unsuccessfully, to counter the claims of the Republican majority that the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page, an aide to then-candidate Donald Trump, was justified.

Schiff’s claims were later debunked by a report by the Department of Justice Inspector General, which validated Republican concerns about the abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court by the FBI in its efforts to target Trump.

During the first impeachment investigation of President Trump, which Schiff led as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Democrats tried, in vain, to find evidence that Patel had been a “back channel” for Russia to Trump. The impeachment report cited a phone call between then-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Patel — which proved nothing but the fact that the committee had violated the president’s Sixth Amendment rights by spying on his legal counsel.

Schiff then served on the one-sided January 6 Committee, which pursued Patel again. Once again, it found no wrongdoing, and only belatedly released the transcript of his closed-door interview with the committee.

The claim that Patel wants to arrest members of the media and the government refers to his declaration that “conspirators” who broke the law in their effort to bring down Trump should be investigated and prosecuted.

LATIN AMERICA

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Mexico Dismantles Caravan

Mexican Authorities Dissolve Migrant Caravan Headed to U.S.

Mexican immigration authorities dissolved one of the large migrant caravans moving through southern Mexico as they provided the group with bus transportation to other parts of Mexico and promised to help them with their paperwork. The move comes soon after Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum had phone calls with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump over the threats of tariffs if Mexico does not halt the flow of drugs, migrants, and asylum seekers headed north.

Over the weekend, members of Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) deployed buses to and aid to meet the more than 1,600 migrants from the Bendicion de Dios (God’s Blessing) migrant caravan that started their journey earlier this month in Chiapas. The group had walked more than 400 kilometers with the intent of reaching the U.S. border and requesting asylum. The agents told the migrants they would provide transportation to the states of Guerrero and Michoacan. Officials provided the migrants with aid and assisted them in preparing their paperwork so they could petition the U.S. government for asylum.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the caravan had been moving north towards Mexico City, where it was expected to dissolve as the migrants sought alternate transportation north via bus, plane, train, or private vehicles, as the members of other caravans have done in the past.

Despite deeply distrusting the INM, the migrants accepted the aid and got into the buses. The lack of trust comes as the INM has previously been accused of rounding up migrants in border cities and moving them to southern Mexico.

Over the weekend, the INM released a statement claiming not to have pressured or forced migrants into the buses but to have offered them aid.

Government of Argentina Threatened by Thugs

Hooded Armed Thugs Threaten Government of Argentina, Vowing to Leave Trail of ‘Dead People’

A group of four heavily armed men released a video on Sunday afternoon threatening Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and the governor of Santa Fe Province Maximiliano Pullaro, promising a wave of violence in Buenos Aires.

In the roughly two-minute video, the four hooded individuals — described by the Argentine government as members of a narco-terrorist gang — threatened both Bullrich and Pullaro in response to the government’s crackdown on violent gangs in the Santa Fe city of Rosario, a city widely described as the most violent in Argentina.

The men claimed that they are “installed” in Buenos Aires and will start “leaving dead people here,” stressing that the fight for the territory “will never end.” Each of the four men is seen wielding a weapon that Argentine outlets reportedly identified as a FMK3 submachine gun, a Glock pistol, an FAL rifle, and a 12-gauge shotgun.

“This video goes out to you, Pullaro and Bullrich. First of all, tell the people that you had innocent people killed and they set up everything to give more power to your gang,” one of the four men said in the video. “You had innocent people killed, they put everything together to cover up for your gang.”

He continued:

Mafia Governor of Santa Fe, do something for the kids. Don’t let them become delinquents. Make work, school. Stop playing politics with the prisoners.

To you, Mrs. Bullrich, old mafiosa, stop muddying the field and adding fuel to the fire, because we are installed here in Buenos Aires. We are going to start leaving you dead here. The Rosario prosecutors are the real mafia. We are all bought. We are going to start leaving dead people all over the capital of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe. We are going for everything. This will never end.

The Argentine presidency released an official statement minutes after the video began circulating on social media, describing its contents as “a clear terrorist threat” intended to instill terror in the population and in the democratically elected authorities. The Argentine presidency expressed its commitment to coordinating with law enforcement agencies to fight the threats issued in the video.

EUROPE

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Scholz in Ukraine

German Chancellor Pledges More Ukraine Aid During First Kyiv Trip in Over Two Years

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after he was rebuked by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conflict is approaching a pivotal new phase, with the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump taking office next month and potentially determining the trajectory of the war after the president-elect´s pledge to end the fighting.

Ukraine is sensitive to whether cracks might be appearing in the unity of its Western allies to keep helping it against Russia, as Putin banks on outlasting the West’s commitment to Ukraine.

With the war soon to enter its fourth year, Zelenskyy said he disagreed with Scholz´s call with Putin. Zelenskyy said it could prompt phone calls with other leaders, possibly reducing Putin´s international isolation and legitimizing his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Scholz, meanwhile, defended the call, explaining he wanted to remind Putin that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state that should be able to decide its own future. He also stressed that he conveyed to Putin that Ukraine is not alone and that its partners will continue their support.

Germany is Ukraine’s second-largest backer after the United States, and a vociferous supporter, but Scholz has refused to budge on two of Zelenskyy´s key requests: supplying German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine and inviting it to join NATO quickly.

VW in Crisis

German Volkswagen Workers Launch Strike Actions Amid Proposed Pay Cuts, Plant Closures

Volkswagen workers launched rolling two-hour strikes Monday at nine plants across Germany to underscore their resistance to pay cuts and factory closures the company says are necessary to cope with a slack European auto market.

The work stoppages included the company’s base plant at Wolfsburg, where workers rallied against a cost-cutting drive by the automaker´s management in which they face the threat of the company’s first plant closures in its home country.

Volkswagen argues that it must lower costs in Germany to levels achieved by competitors and by Volkswagen plants in eastern Europe and South America. Chief employee representative Daniela Cavallo has said employees should not shoulder the burden of management failures to develop attractive products and come up with a cheaper, entry-level electric vehicle.

“We demand that all make their contribution – management and the shareholder side as well,” Cavallo said at the rally in Wolfsburg as employees drummed, whistled and clapped.

She said the next round of talks in a week’s time “is likely to set the course – rapprochement or escalation. We are ready for both.”

The so-called warning strikes, a common tactic in German wage negotiations, are taking place as part of talks for a new labor agreement after a mandatory peace period that bars strikes expired on Sunday. The IG Metall industrial union said any job actions beyond those occurring on Monday would be announced later.

Political Crisis in France

France on the Brink: Government Headed for Collapse as Le Pen Backs No Confidence Vote Against PM Barnier

The neo-liberal French government is likely headed toward collapse this week after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally confirmed that it would join with the left on a motion of no confidence after Prime Minister Michel Barnier attempted to push through financial austerity measures through without a vote in the parliament.

After weeks of negotiations, Prime Minister Michel Barnier turned to a controversial legal loophole in the French constitution, article 49.3, which allows his government to pass through effective cuts to social security benefits without a vote in the National Assembly.

Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, was installed in the Hôtel Matignon as PM by President Emmanuel Macron in September following a three-way split in the parliament after Macron’s disastrous decision to call for snap legislative elections in July following his party’s drubbing to Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) party in the EU elections in June.

The centrist establishment Les Républicains politician was pitched as a steady hand to steer the French state through the country’s deep political divide and the looming debt crisis, which threatens to see EU funding cut unless fiscal reforms are implemented. In total, Barnier has called for 60 billion euros ($63 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts in his contentious budget.

Appearing before the National Assembly at the Palais Bourbon on Monday, Barnier said per Le Figaro that he had “reached the end of the dialogue” and therefore said that he would turn to deploying article 49.3 to push through a measure to delay inflation adjustments to social security payments to seniors, a move which his government has claimed would save the country around €4 billion, but which opponents argue puts undue cost on the elderly.

Immediately after Barnier’s statement, leader of the far-left La France Insoumise party — the main force within the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) political alliance, Mathilde Panot announced a measure to censure the government.

While the left has been attempting to overthrow the government for months, claiming that it was the winner of the election — despite the NFP receiving far fewer votes than the National Rally — this time they were joined by the Le Pen faction, nearly guaranteeing a no confidence measure will succeed.

National Rally President Jordan Bardella said: “There is no way out for a government that reconnects with the thread of Macronism, which refuses to take into account the social emergency at the end of the month and which ignores the need to relaunch growth.

“The National Rally will vote for censure.”

Violence in Georgia

Violence in Tbilisi as Pro-European Union Protests Spread Across Georgia

Violence erupted in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Sunday, the fourth day of massive protests that began after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze suspended talks to join the European Union (EU).

Dozens of people have been hospitalized and Kobakhidze has threatened mass arrests unless the demonstrators disperse.

Georgians have long desired to join the EU. The matter grew more urgent after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, understandably alarming the population of a former Soviet satellite state that had already suffered through its own Russian invasion in 2008. Roughly a fifth of Georgia’s territory is still occupied by Russian troops over 15 years later.

Georgia filed its application to join the EU in March 2022, a month after the Ukraine invasion began. Polls show that about 80 percent of the Georgian population supported the application. Unfortunately for them, the pro-Russian ruling party Georgian Dream (GD) and its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili were among the 20 percent that would rather not become part of Europe.

Georgian Dream was founded in 2012 by Ivanishvili, the richest and most influential man in Georgia. Much of his wealth was acquired by doing business in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Even as most Georgians longed to join the Western world, Ivanishvili was denouncing Western influence and demanding closer ties with Moscow.

GD cemented its grip on power with an October parliamentary election denounced by the opposition — and by many foreign observers — as rigged. The outgoing president, Salome Zourabichvili, denounced the election as a “constitutional coup” and said the “illegitimate” GD government has “declared war on its own people.”

Zourabichvili is threatening to remain in office after her term expires in December, holding her seat until a “new legitimate president” is elected.