Quick Hits

Democrat candidate for Congress Kat Abughazaleh indicted for blocking ICE vehicles and impeding their enforcement of the law.

A Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois has been indicted for blocking a federal agent's vehicle during September protests outside an immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

The felony indictment, filed last week by a special grand jury, accuses Kat Abughazaleh and five others of conspiring to impede an officer.

"This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment. This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them," Abughazaleh said Wednesday in a video posted to BlueSky.

I don't remember the J6ers being afforded such a "right" to impede government officials.

Here's video of her committing the crime of impeding a federal officer.

Bill Melugin: There's a major shake-up of ICE leadership as Trump demands more deportations and wants leaders who will execute his agenda, not drag their feet.

Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_

BREAKING: Per four senior DHS & Trump admin sources, a mass removal of ICE leadership around the country is underway, with up to 12 ICE field office chiefs being removed & reassigned in an effort to increase deportation numbers. I'm told the move is spearheaded by Corey Lewandowski, and a handful of the ICE Chiefs will likely be replaced by Border Patrol & CBP officials, some of whom will be hand-picked by aggressive & controversial Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. I'm told some of the ICE leadership removed from their positions include the ICE Field Office Directors in:

- Los Angeles
- Phoenix
- Philadelphia
- Denver
- El Paso
- San Diego
- Seattle/Portland
- New Orleans

Border Patrol officials taking over ICE leadership positions would be extremely significant, as Border Patrol and ICE do different things, and I've done numerous ride-alongs/embeds with both.

Generally speaking, ICE typically conducts very targeted operations, largely going after criminal illegal aliens or those with deportation orders, but almost always knowing who they are targeting for arrest, often conducting surveillance to learn their schedules before and waiting hours before arresting them if needed.

Border Patrol, under Trump 2.0, while sometimes doing their own targeted operations, has been extremely aggressive and has been at the forefront of some of the most controversial immigration enforcement operations we've seen so far, carrying out roving patrols in Los Angeles, Chicago, etc, often at Home Depot, car washes, flea markets etc, leading to a handful of federal judges around the country issuing injunctions against them. A majority of the viral videos you see online are Border Patrol agents, including the use of a Trojan horse style Penske moving truck at a Los Angeles Home Depot, an operation organized by Bovino.

ICE often gets blamed for what Border Patrol does, as the media and activists often cannot tell the difference between federal agents, and everyone is called "ICE". I'm told there are growing concerns about the political and PR fallout associated with some of the roving patrols Border Patrol is conducting as lawsuits continue to stack up and mid-terms approach next year.

I'm told there is significant friction within different wings of DHS and the administration, with Border Czar Tom Homan & ICE Director Todd Lyons preferring to prioritize targeting criminal aliens & the "worst of the worst" or those with deportation orders, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and BP Commander Bovino prefer to use aggressive tactics to arrest anyone in the US illegally, including but not limited to criminals, to ramp up deportation numbers and achieve President Trump's promises of mass deportations.

I am hearing from both sides of this friction.

One senior DHS official tells me:

"ICE started with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol started in LA in June, we've (DHS) lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization. It's getting numbers, but at what cost?".

Border Patrol agents I've talked to defend their tactics, with one telling me:

"What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst? Tom Homan has said it himself, anyone in the US illegally is on the table."

It's quite a situation, as both sides of this are on the same team, with the same end goals, but different perspectives on how to get there.

Another DHS official confirmed the personnel changes to me on deep background, adding that the moves are based on performance and doing what is needed to achieve the best results.

Official statement to @FoxNews via @TriciaOhio:

"While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump Administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country."

Hegseth announced more strikes on four drug boats.

The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, on Tuesday announced the 13th strike on a narco-terrorist vessel, this time in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the largest single operation against a drug-trafficking vessel to date, involving three separate strikes, four boats, and resulting in the deaths of 14 narco-terrorists.

"Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific. The four vessels were known by our intelligence apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics," he wrote on X. "Eight male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessels during the first strike. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the second strike. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the third strike. A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed during the three strikes, with one survivor. All strikes were in international waters with no U.S. forces harmed."

Hegseth concluded his post by stating that his department has spent over two decades defending other nations -- but now, it's time to defend America. He noted that illegal narcotics have claimed more American lives than any terrorist group the U.S. has ever fought.

Pro-terrorist "protester" sentenced to 17 months in prison after three separate incidents of physically attacking Jews as part of his "protest" jihad.

Bazrouk was charged with federal hate crimes in connection with the assault, which took place during three different pro-Hamas protests in the city. He kickeed and punched Jewish pro-Israel protester who carried Israeli flags, federal prosecutors said, according to The New York Times.

Prosecutors sought 36 months, stating that it was a "serious crime" which therefore demanded a serious penalty. Of course the judge disagreed and implemented Two-Tiered Justice.

You know you'd go away for ten years if you assaulted three protected-class Muslims.

Credibly-accused gay sexual assaulter Don Lemon used some kind of insider gay-culture slang to say that Megyn Kelly looks like a tranny who isn't passing for the gender they're pretending to be.

The unemployed failing podcaster keeps pushing out rage-bait to try to get Megyn Kelly and other people to talk about his little-viewed, no-account podcast, and alas, we keep falling for it.

So, as the NY Post asks: Is it officially approved to insult someone by saying they look like a tranny?

Axed CNN anchor Don Lemon has been blasted as two-faced after he said conservative commentator Megyn Kelly looked "trans."

"I think she looks trans," Lemon -- who has grandstanded against transphobia in the past -- declared on a recent episode of his new "Clip Farmers" podcast, as he and his co-hosts were crassly discussing the appearance of "MAGA ladies."

"Looks clockable," the lefty ex-anchor added, referring to a tactless term used to describe a trans person who is not "passing" or is identifiable as their biological gender.

The Post is tut-tutting the word as "tactless"? We have to pretend it's "tactless" to note that a tranny isn't passing?

I am so sick of leftwing assumptions in "conservative" media.

I have heard "to clock" to mean "to notice" or "to see," so I guess Lemon's use of gay slang here means that you can "clock" that someone is a tranny.

"Let's end on that note," his co-host awkwardly says at the end of the clip, which was widely shared online.

Lemon's comments drew immediate backlash from critics, who blasted him for using "trans" to insult the fellow former news anchor since he has stood up against transphobia in the past.

"For a man who praises trans people, #DonLemon sure feels comfortable using trans as an insult," Jeff Varner posted in response.

"The Left is using "Trans" as an insult now?" wondered another.

"Hypocrisy at its finest. When it's convenient, principles fly out the window," another user wrote.

The slur comes despite the lefty host being loudly outspoken about LGBTQ rights in the past.

Lemon railed against transphobia and anti-LGBTQ legislation at the Son Awards in 2023 -- an annual event celebrating the achievements of Black gay and queer men.

MAZE @mazemoore

If you want to really understand Gavin Newsom, how he got his starts in business and politics, and his family's relationship with the Getty family, read this thread. It's just pages of an archived article but it's super interesting. It's based on an interview with his father from 2003.

Before Gavin became Mayor of SF his father did an interview with SF Weekly. The newspaper then published an article entitled "Bringing Up Baby Gavin." The article is no longer on the SF Weekly website but it wasn't difficult to find an archived version of it.

Most people know about Newsom's father and the Getty family but there's some great details in this article. Gavin Newsom's father was a judge who used his position to help Gordon Getty get access to the Getty family money. He even helped Gordon Getty sue his own father to get access to the family trust. In return for these favors and many others, Gordon Getty put him in charge of managing a massive amount of money. Guess how Gavin got the funds to start his fancy businesses at such a young age.

In 10 of Gavin's first 11 businesses, the primary money came from the Getty family.

Gavin Newsom currently claims that he got his start in politics after Willie Brown read an article about him, called him and offered him a position. That's not at all what Gavin's father said in 2003. Gavin's father said he was responsible for Willie Brown giving Newsom his start. That makes a little more sense.

As many politicians do, Gavin will be rewriting his history as he gets ready to announce his run for President. He will be telling all sorts of fictional stories about his past. Here's some truth.

Passages from the book, detailing how Gavin Newsom's lawyer/judge father did favors for Gordon Getty and Gordon Getty in turn did a lot of favors for the Newsoms, here.

By the way, I mistakenly called Newsom an heir to the Getty oil fortune. That was incorrect -- a little bit, at least. His father was a patron/client of Gordon Getty and helped him get his fortune. And Getty rewarded the Newsoms with some of his own fortune.

I linked the video yesterday, but in case you missed it, or didn't watch it through: CNN's Harry Enten has tons of bad news for Democrats about their crumbling position on the shutdown.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten, during a recent broadcast, was shocked by polling numbers showing how Republicans are faring under the shutdown, which has entered its fourth week. When asked about the polling, Enten responded, "You might think, given that the Republicans are in charge of both the House and the Senate, that a government shutdown might actually hurt the Republican brand." Advertisement

However, this has not been the case, according to the analyst. "f anything, it's been helped a little bit! Take a look here, the shift in net popularity versus pre-shutdown. When we're looking at the Republican Party overall, that brand, actually up two points. That's within the margin of error, but clearly it hasn't dropped," he continued.

He noted that the GOP's net approval has risen by five points since before the shutdown. He explained that the increase in approval comes from the Republican base -- but that it also comes from "folks in the middle."

"This is the type of math that if you're Republicans you like to see, right? Because something could rally the base but alienate those in the middle, or something could rally those in the middle, but alienate the base," Enten said. "But the truth is we're not seeing that. What we're seeing is the Republican brand has actually gotten better among independents and it's also gotten better among Republicans as well that Republican brand when it comes to those in Congress."

Meanwhile, Democrats aren't faring so well, according to Enten, who pointed out that "when Trump was president the first time around, Democrats were up 11 points," but now, "they're actually only up three points."

He added: "This is, in fact, the worst position Democrats have been on in a generic ballot at this time in a midterm when there was a Republican president in the last 20 years.

See the link for the video of the excitable Harry Enten getting excitable.

CNBC anchors told a Democrat Senator that their demands for funding the government amount to "extortion."

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok

WOW. When even CNBC is BLASTING Democrat Senators over their government shutdown, you know it's bad:

CNBC: "Are you ready to vote with the Republicans to reopen the government at this point, as a reasonable Democrat?"

SEN WELCH: "You know, I'm not there yet..."

CNBC: "This is the right way to do it? By people not getting paychecks at the TSA? This is extortion!"

Video at the link, again.

Even Jake Tapper is now flatly stating that the Democrats are the ones shutting down the government, contradicting the lies of a Democrat congresswoman.

We're going back to CNN and anchor Jake Tapper, who absolutely hammered Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) over the shutdown today.

"Should the Democratic Senators from New Mexico, your home state, vote to reopen the government so that these SNAP funds are not at risk?" Tapper asked.

Stansbury replied, "Let me be clear: the administration is choosing to starve American children with money that they already have appropriated. This is a choice by the White House. This is a choice by the White House."

Tapper, speaking over Stansbury, said, "I'm not applauding their tactics."

"They are choosing to cut off food assistance," Stansbury said.

"Congresswoman, this is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government," Tapper replied.

"No, it is not," Stansbury snapped back.

"Yes, it is," Tapper said. "I understand why they're doing it. They're doing it because they want medicaid funds restored. They're doing it because they want Obamacare premiums to be extended past the end of the year. I understand the reasoning."

"Sir...let me just be clear," Stansbury continued. "The money for contingency plans is sitting there. That is why the states are suing. The White House is withholding funds from children to have food."

"Two to three weeks' worth of SNAP funds," Tapper replies. "My point is that it's a short-term solution."

Tapper continued, "If you feel so strongly, Congresswoman, why not ask the Senate Democrats from New Mexico to vote to open the government?"

When you've lost Jake Tapper, you've lost Jake Tapper's bull.

Maybe. Jake Tapper's bull, Glisten, plays by his own rules. It's really Glisten who tells Jake Tapper what to think.

posted by Ace at 06:10 PM

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