Category: Politics

GOP Rep. Massie Calls on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to Be Disbarred and Removed From Office

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representative Thomas Massie, the libertarian Republican from Kentucky, is calling on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to be disbarred and removed from office following the indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, low-level felonies in New York State but which carry a potential for a 4-year prison sentence each.

Bragg’s dogged pursuit of Trump comes as he’s made a career of allowing criminals guilty of far more egregious crimes to roam the streets of Manhattan.

Massie, it appears, has seen enough.

“Alvin Bragg should be disbarred and removed from office,” he tweeted. “This is an egregious abuse of the legal system for political purposes and threatens the fabric of our judicial system.”

RELATED: Alvin Bragg – You Have a Problem: Letter Surfaces Explicitly Stating Prez Did NOT Pay Stormy Daniels

Should Alvin Bragg Be Disbarred?

Massie doesn’t provide any specific details on why Alvin Bragg should be disbarred and removed from office, though he has defined the charges against Trump as “completely bogus.”

“Supposedly, Trump’s been indicted for failing to properly report hush payments as campaign expenditures,” Massie said.

“That’s completely bogus. In fact, they would have indicted him sooner for a crime of using campaign funds for personal benefit had he reported it as a campaign expenditure!”

It’s not the first time critics have suggested Bragg be disbarred for his actions.

Conservative radio host Mark Levin stated the Manhattan DA “should be disbarred” in part because of the “way he campaigned” and added, “This is crap that a pre-law student shouldn’t even put in front of a damn judge.”

“Donald Trump is a historic figure or they wouldn’t be doing this,” Levin added. “There wouldn’t have been a January 6 committee. There wouldn’t have been a Mueller criminal investigation. There wouldn’t have been two phony impeachments.”

RELATED: DeSantis Forcefully Condemns ‘Un-American’ Trump Indictment, Says Florida Will Refuse to Cooperate in Extradition

Massie Hammers Squad Member After They Throw Temper Tantrum

Representative Massie made headlines last week when he decided to attempt civilized debate with ‘Squad’ member Jamaal Bowman, who instead insisted on screaming about gun control.

“They’re cowards! They’re all cowards!” Bowman screeched. “They won’t do anything to save the lives of our children at all. Cowards!”

Massie happened upon the scene and interjected with facts, pointing to the effectiveness of armed security or teachers in our schools.

“You know, there’s never been a school shooting in a school that allows teachers to carry,” Massie pointed out.

Bowman showed up at protests outside the courthouse where Trump was set to appear for his arraignment and couldn’t turn off the crazy.

Massie also finds a way to be a thorn in the side of ‘Ukraine First’ Republicans, last year demanding a halt to all taxpayer funds being funneled to the country until “a thorough audit of the $60 billion that Joe Biden and Congress have already sent there” had been conducted.

The GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, on which Massie sits, has announced they will investigate Bragg’s potential use of federal funds.

The Manhattan DA’s office insists that no federal grant money was used toward expenses in the Trump investigation, though GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy disputes Bragg’s claims.

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After Arrest, Trump Perfectly Explains Why They Want Him Locked Up

Posted on by The Center Square

By Casey Harper (The Center Square)

President Donald Trump called the charges against him unprecedented election interference in a speech Tuesday night from his Mar-a-Lago home, just hours after pleading not guilty to nearly three dozen felony charges during his arraignment in New York City.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump told his supporters at his Florida residence. “The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”

RELATED: With Assist From Manhattan DA, Trump Once Again Enjoys United GOP Support

Trump faces 34 charges related to allegations that he paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels through a lawyer seven years ago and covered it up as a legal expense before being elected president. Trump offered his “not guilty” plea during his arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Trump began his speech by pointing to the string of investigations and impediments that Democrats and federal law enforcement threw at him, drawing a comparison between the unfounded accusations like the debunked Russian dossier and the current legal prosecution.

“From the beginning, the Democrats spied on my campaign, remember that?” Trump said. “They attacked me with an onslaught of fraudulent investigations. Russia, Russia Russia. Ukraine… Impeachment hoax number one, impeachment hoax number two. The illegal and unconstitutional raid on Mar-a-Lago right here.”

Trump was impeached twice by the then Democrat-controlled U.S. House during his presidency, but was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate both times.

Trump also pointed to media reports that showed federal law enforcement working with social media companies to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, which Trump said “exposes the Biden family as criminals” and would have swayed the election in his favor.

“And we remember the 51 intelligence agents who said Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation,” Trump said, pointing to an open letter signed by those agents making that assertion. “Russian disinformation, remember that? And that was all confirmed strongly by the FBI, when they all knew that it wasn’t Russian disinformation.”

RELATED: Trump Campaign Warns Gag Order Would ‘Backfire’

The indictment was unsealed after Tuesday’s arraignment. It alleges Trump falsified business records related to the hush money scheme and can be read in full here.

Trump blasted New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Letisha James, attorney general for New York, both of whom promised to go after Trump while on the campaign trail.

“We have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign, and a lot of it,” Trump said.

Trump’s speech hit political notes as well. He attacked President Joe Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal, the border, the loss of energy independence, rising crime, and more.

Trump surrendered to New York Police before the arraignment after a grand jury voted to indict him last week, the first time a current or former president has been charged with a crime. Trump is also the 2024 Republican frontrunner for president.

During his speech, Trump also blasted the the investigation into his possession of classified documents from his time at president, arguing that he had the power as president to declassify them. He said Biden had classified documents as well from his time in the Obama administration but did not have the power to declassify as vice president.

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

The post After Arrest, Trump Perfectly Explains Why They Want Him Locked Up appeared first on The Political Insider.

Illegal Immigration is Surging… Across the Northern Border, Now

Posted on by The Center Square

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

Federal agents patrolling the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont, upstate New York and New Hampshire continue to apprehend record numbers of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. from Canada.

Last month, Border Patrol agents reported 816 apprehensions and 371 gotaways, according to preliminary data obtained by a Border Patrol agent on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The data only represents Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data, meaning the numbers are likely higher. Agents also reported 19 people they identified who illegally entered the U.S. but turned back to Canada.

RELATED: Cruz to Mayorkas: ‘If You Had Integrity, You Would Resign’

These are the highest numbers ever recorded in Swanton Sector history.

The sector encompasses 24,000 square miles, which in addition to all of Vermont’s border, includes six upstate New York counties and three New Hampshire counties. It spans 295 miles of international boundary with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, of which 203 miles is on land. The remaining 92 miles of border fall primarily along the St. Lawrence River. The sector is the first international land boundary east of the Great Lakes.

This sector has consistently led northern border sectors in reported apprehensions and gotaways. Last month, Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said, “In just over 5 months, we have apprehended more individuals than the last three (3) Fiscal Years combined. The current rate of illicit cross-border activity is unprecedented for Swanton Sector.”

He also said over a 12-day-period in March, agents “encountered 28 children under the age of 14, the youngest only five months old.”

“Illegal entry along the northern border is dangerous” he added, saying illegally bringing in the “vulnerable population” of children “is reprehensible.”

Garcia also described how concerned citizens help Border Patrol agents save the lives of foreign nationals disoriented by subfreezing temperatures. In one incident that occurred last month, for example, Champlain Station agents responded to residents’ calls about a woman wandering in the snow. Agents searched the area in question and found a female Mexican citizen who’d illegally crossed the border into the U.S. from Canada that morning when it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

The woman was observed shuffling shoeless through snowy fields and ditches near the outskirts of Champlain, New York, using a tree branch for support. One of her feet was bare, swollen and bloodied. She also appeared to be disoriented and incoherent. Border Patrol agents radioed Emergency Medical Services and team-carried her to a warm patrol vehicle.

RELATED: Why Hasn’t the GOP Yet Walked the Walk on Its Mayorkas Impeachment Talk?

“Temperature extremes and the associated hazards have done practically nothing to deter cross-border human traffic in our area,” Raymond Bresnahan, acting patrol agent in charge of the Champlain Station, said in a statement of the incident. “Stations in Swanton Sector – Champlain in particular – have responded to historic levels of illicit border crossings that have trended upwards since October 2021.”

Due to the severity of her frostbite injuries, the Mexican woman was transported to Champlain Valley Physician’s Hospital in Plattsburgh, New York, and later transferred to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington at taxpayer expense.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents have helped U.S. attorneys prosecute human smugglers. Last month, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced the sentencing of a New Jersey man to 14 months in prison for “conspiring to transport foreign nationals in furtherance of their illegal entry into the United States.” He was also required to serve three years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

The sentencing was announced March 23 after Jose Alvarez, 31, of Trenton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty. He’d been arrested last September near East Berkshire, Vermont, after he picked up four Guatemalan citizens who entered the U.S. illegally. Three of the Guatemalans said they each expected to pay $2,000 to $3,000 to Alvarez or his associates as a fee to be smuggled into the U.S.

“Alvarez admitted to soliciting others to engage in the transportation of foreign nationals and to coordinating payment and pick up logistics with other members of the conspiracy,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest credited Border Patrol agents “for their investigation and apprehension of Alvarez and their continued efforts to prevent the exploitation of foreign nationals by human-smuggling organizations.”

RELATED: MAGA Rep. Jackson Demands Kamala Harris be Removed as ‘Border Czar’

Last month, Garcia said encounter data showed a “persistent upward trend despite average temperatures below freezing and greater snowfall than January. Dauntless in the face of all obstacles, our Border Patrol agents stand against the breach of our 295-mi. of border.”

In January, Swanton Sector agents apprehended more people than they did in “12 preceding years of January totals combined,” he said. “Prior to January, Swanton Sector experienced an uninterrupted 7-month streak of sustained encounter increases – part of an upward trend dating back to the beginning of FY22.”

While the number of apprehensions pale in comparison to southern border apprehensions, they represent a 743% increase from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, and an 846% increase from Oct. 1, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2023, comparative to those timeframes last year.

Once official March data is released, they’re expected to surpass these records.

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

The post Illegal Immigration is Surging… Across the Northern Border, Now appeared first on The Political Insider.

Border Patrol Chiefs To Testify Before House Committee After First Being Blocked By Mayorkas

Posted on by The Center Square

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

U.S. Border Patrol chiefs will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday after they were first blocked by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from doing so.

Last month, Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, sent a letter to Mayorkas stating the committee would be investigating the “Biden Administration’s creation of and failure to resolve the worst border crisis in American history. … The American people deserve answers about [DHS’] role in undermining Customs and Border Protection agents’ efforts to secure the southern border.”

Four Border Patrol agents overseeing southern border sectors were called to testify: Chiefs Jason Owens, Gregory Bovino, Gloria Chavez, and Acting Chief Patricia McGurk-Daniel. Initially, two were cleared to testify by Mayorkas and two weren’t.

Comer then threatened to use the “compulsory process” to require them to testify. By Jan. 31, Mayorkas agreed to all four testifying and Comer sent another letter to him saying, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially sought to prevent Congress from hearing invaluable testimony from Chief Patrol Agents, believing that DHS’s internal protocols superseded Congressional oversight prerogatives. I am pleased that the DHS is no longer taking such a position, and will make available as witnesses” all four agents.

Comer last week told reporters at the National Press Club that the committee requested they testify about “the worst offenses with respect to illegal border crossings are occurring, just to come before the committee. … We need to hear from people on the front lines” to ask their advice and how Congress can help them do their jobs.

Comer’s initial Jan. 19 letter to Mayorkas requested documents and copies of internal communications from DHS including data on border crossers released by DHS into the U.S. and DHS’ plan to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), otherwise known as “Remain in Mexico,” over which Texas sued. A federal court halted the administration’s plan to terminate it although Texas maintains the administration isn’t following the court order.

The letter also requires Mayorkas to provide information about “the effect of historic numbers of illegal border crossings on retention rates, staffing, recruitment and morale among” Border Patrol agents. The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing them, has argued that under this administration more agents are retiring and recruitment and morale is at an all-time historic low.

Comer also requested all documents and information about an ICE memorandum Mayorkas issued in September 2021, which drastically altered enforcement policies. Texas and Louisiana sued to stop it, supported by 19 states that filed a brief with the Supreme Court.

“President [Joe] Biden’s radical open borders agenda has ignited the worst border crisis in American history,” Comer said in a statement last month when he announced the hearing. “The Biden Administration’s deliberate actions are fueling human smuggling, stimulating drug cartel operations, enabling deadly drugs such as fentanyl to flow into American communities, and encouraging illegal immigrants to flout U.S. immigration laws. … Republicans will hold the Biden Administration accountable for this ongoing humanitarian, national security, and public health crisis that has turned every town into a border town.”

In early January, Biden said on his first day in office he sent to Congress a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would extend amnesty to a wide range of people illegally in the U.S. He also announced DHS’ new mobile app that allows foreign nationals to file asylum claims remotely from anywhere in the world as well as expanding the parole process and creating a new visa process. Multiple states also sued over the parole and visas policies, which they argue are illegal.

The hearing comes after Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz testified in a case brought by Florida that Biden policies led to increased illegal crossings and one of his emails revealed the administration’s plan to release people en masse into the U.S. once Title 42 was lifted.

Since Biden’s been in office, over 5 million people from over 150 countries have illegally entered the U.S. while Mayorkas has consistently maintained the southern border is closed. A record 3.3 million people were apprehended or reported evading capture by law enforcement in fiscal 2022, according to Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square, including nearly 1.8 million in Texas alone.

Several House Republicans have called for Mayorkas’ impeachment; two Republicans from Texas and Arizona each filed separate articles of impeachment. Mayorkas says he isn’t resigning and has blamed the previous administration for the problems he says he’s inherited.

The NBPC disagrees, tweeting on Monday: “Two years ago we ceased to have any semblance of a functioning border. It’s just an out-of-control free-for-all … a disaster zone of massive human misery, death and lawlessness. How much longer can this country continue to absorb millions of illegal aliens?

“Everyday thousands more illegal aliens enter our country by crashing our border between ports of entry. Has Biden thought about how many millions he’s going to shuttle in? Is he even aware enough to realize that many of these people can’t be ID’d and no way to check records?”

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

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Articles of Impeachment Have Already Been Filed Against DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representative Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, has filed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Fallon had promised to move on impeachment once the 118th Congress was sworn in.

“Secretary Mayorkas’s willful actions have eroded our immigration system, undermined border patrol morale, and jeopardized American national security,” he tweeted. “He has violated the law and it is time for him to go.”

The resolution accuses the DHS Secretary of having “engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties.”

Keeping the homeland secure does seem to be one aspect in which the chief of Homeland Security has failed – and failed miserably.

In a statement to Fox News, Fallon cited Mayorkas’ lies to Congress that he had operational control of the border and his effort to smear Border Patrol agents with false allegations of ‘whipping’ illegal immigrants as reasons he has been derelict in his duties.

RELATED: Matt Gaetz Warns There Are Republican Squishes Already Trying to Shut Down Impeachment of Biden Officials

Articles of Impeachment Filed Against Mayorkas

The articles of impeachment accuse Alejandro Mayorkas of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and have been officially filed and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, during a visit to the border back in November, called for the DHS Secretary to resign or face an impeachment inquiry.

“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure and will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry,” he told reporters.

House Republicans have been warning for over a year that the border crisis was one aspect they would be investigating thoroughly when they take back control of the chamber.

RELATED: Here Are The 7 Investigations The GOP Is Planning For The Biden Administration If They Take Back The House

Mayorkas Unimpressed

Despite the threat of impeachment, Mayorkas isn’t expressing any real concern or urgency to change course at the border.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to do it,” he said.

Why start now? It’s been two years and you haven’t done your job yet.

Mayorkas proceeded to blame Congress for the calamity at the southern border.

“We are dealing with a broken immigration system that Congress has failed to repair for decades,” he insisted in an interview with ABC News.

A recent MSNBC report documented numerous illegal aliens who said they “haven’t had any interaction with U.S. immigration authorities” and “they just walked right in.”

That seems less a product of a broken system and more the incompetence of the head of DHS.

Deportations in 2021 were the lowest on record. In 2022, ICE deported 61% fewer illegal aliens than in 2020, including 66% fewer criminals, even though border crossings increased by 419%.

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump weighed in on the border crisis.

After suggesting nobody could talk about a border situation he “fixed” during his presidency, Trump declared it one of the biggest problems facing our nation today.

“It’s amazing what has happened in two years, because now the Border is probably our biggest bone of contention,” he said in a statement.

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Mayorkas Falsely Claimed Border is ‘Closed’ Ahead of Biden Trip to El Paso

Posted on by The Center Square

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

Ahead of President Biden’s first trip to the southern border on Sunday in El Paso, Texas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again said the U.S. southern border is closed.

His comments came despite thousands of illegal border crossers pouring into the city, filling the airport, sidewalks, homeless shelters. Over the past few days, many were bused out of town and otherwise cleared out ahead of the president’s visit.

RELATED: Theater: El Paso Cleared Out Illegal Immigrant Camps Prior to Biden’s Border Visit

On Jan. 5, after the president announced his expanded immigration plan, Mayorkas announced the Department of Homeland Security was preparing for the end of the public health authority Title 42 after its challenges in court end.

Mayorkas said, “Title 42 or not, the border is not open. We will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws in a safe, orderly and humane manner. Individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States will be subject to expulsion under Title 42 or removal under Title 8.”

Mayorkas also said the crisis at the southern border was “because our immigration system is broken, outdated, and in desperate need of reform. The laws we enforce have not been updated for decades. It takes four or more years to conclude the average asylum case, immigration judges have a backlog of more than 1.7 million cases, and we have more than 11 undocumented people in our country, many of whom work in the shadows …”

He mentioned that there are 2.5 million Venezuelans living in Columbia and 1.5 million living in Peru. Over 350,000 Haitians are living in Brazil and Chile and the number of Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica has more than doubled over the past year.

He made the remarks as the number of apprehensions of illegal entries by Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians have surged in the U.S. in the past few months and after more than 5 million foreign nationals were apprehended or evaded capture from law enforcement. This includes over 3.3 million in fiscal 2022, of which nearly 1.8 million occurred in Texas alone.

The El Paso Sector, which includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico, has experienced a surge in the last two months, breaking all-time records.

RELATED: Another Record: Nearly 314,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways at Southern Border in December

In December, agents apprehended over 55,700 people and reported nearly 33,000 gotaways, according to preliminary CBP data obtained by The Center Square.

In November, they apprehended more than 53,000 illegal foreign nationals in the sector and reported over 24,000 gotaways.

The number of people crossing the board every month are greater than the individual populations of all but four cities and all but five of counties in New Mexico, according to 2022 Census data analyzed by The Center Square.

The record numbers increased after Mayorkas reversed several policies, including releasing illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. and limiting ICE enforcement of detention and deportation policies. Nineteen attorneys general filed a brief with the Supreme Court over them; Florida heads to trial Monday in another lawsuit in which the plaintiffs argue the administration is continuing to violate federal law.

Multiple members of Congress have called for Mayorkas to be impeached; multiple attorneys general, led by Florida, have called for him to resign.

Last November, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., now Speaker of the House, said “if Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry.”

On Sunday morning, when asked to respond, Mayorkas told ABC News This Week he was joining the president in El Paso and at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City on Monday, where world leaders will discuss “the security of the homeland.” When asked if he planned to resign he said: “I do not. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to do it,” according to Fox News.

RELATED: State of Emergency in El Paso as Border Patrol Reports Record Illegal Entries

On Saturday, Mayorkas reiterated his “secure border” language in an interview with CNN anchor Poppy Harlow. She asked him, “Border officials have been consistently telling” a CNN correspondent “they feel abandoned by this administration, by the federal government. So why has it taken two years for President Biden to go to the southern border?”

Mayorkas replied, “We have been dedicating our efforts to the situation at the border since day one. We are incredibly proud of our frontline personnel who are tirelessly and selflessly dedicated to the mission. The president knows the border very well. … He is going to see the border not for the first time in his public service career this Sunday.”

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing BP agents, has argued the Biden administration, which defunded CBP enforcement mechanisms while sending $45 billion more to Ukraine, said the administration “doesn’t want more money for DHS to enforce laws and deport people. They only want more money to process more people so they can release more people. Don’t be fooled by their propaganda.”

The union also said, “No administration in modern history of this country has done more damage, killed the morale of Border Patrol agents and unleashed death, destruction, rapes, murders and mayhem at our border like the Biden administration.”

In a statement it issued on Saturday, it said, “As Biden and Harris sit around DC patting themselves on the back and lying about the border, things in the real world continue to deteriorate at record-setting levels. Rampant lawlessness, dead bodies piling up and human suffering are not part of the gated fantasyland they live in.”

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

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C-SPAN’s cameras have been enjoying free rein and the American people are better off for it

Posted on (Updated by Walter Einenkel

This past week Americans experienced something that has not happened for 100 years: The House of Representatives took more than a couple of days—and no fewer than 14 votes—to agree upon a speaker. It has been something of a fiasco for the Republican Party because there is no ideological division here. It is simply a power play by the most outspoken oligarchs in the party to force its establishment dinosaurs to concede an extraordinary amount of control to a very small group of fascists.

Something else historic has also happened this week: Americans have had a chance to watch and see so much more of the in-chamber processes that go on when voting gets messy in the modern American legislative branch. The old Saturday Night Live joke in the 1980s was that whenever you had to watch something political on C-SPAN the coverage came through the single camera the network owned. Not this week. This week, C-SPAN has been freed up to give new angles throughout the proceedings of the House voting process.

This has made the entire process so much more interesting to watch and follow than it might normally be.

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Of course, the only reason this has been happening is that there is no official majority party making rules for Congress this session. Usually, the party in control creates specific views of what C-SPAN cameras can cover and broadcast and what they cannot. C-SPAN is operating under the rules established by Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the opening day of the 118th Congress in 2022. Of course, back then, Speaker Pelosi was able to get the confidence vote of her political party without days of theatrics. It has been a game changer in loosening up some of the stodginess of the political process.

Showing the entire chamber and the many interactions that go on or do not go on is an evolution of what the media gets to see. As CNN reports, when cameras were first allowed onto legislative branch floors, in the 1980s and 1990s, folks like Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia used the limited visibility they offered to pretend to be big men when, in fact, they were simply pretenders.

When cameras were first allowed, they became a potent political weapon. In the 1980s and early 1990s, congressmen such as Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia – later the House speaker – would give speeches criticizing Democrats meant only for the TV cameras. There would be few people in the chamber, and since lawmakers could speak on any subject, it seemed as if there were no answers from the other side.

There have been all kinds of moments showing the various group-ups different sets of representatives had during the many failed votes. Many of those meet-ups included political theater major Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

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There was this moment between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Paul Gosar where AOC showed her patience with a man very few people can stand to be around for more than a minute or two. Reportedly the two discussed the possibilities of a deal where Democratic representatives might throw enough votes McCarthy’s way to give him the Speaker position.

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Now we get to see things like Florida man Matt Gaetz having half of his political party walk out on him while he was speaking. 

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Then there was the tragically comedic moment where the incompetent and lying Republican from New York, George Santos, wasn’t even able to do the single job he had.

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All good things must come to an end and at some point, I’m sure the Republican Party will make sure that the cameras in the House stick tightly to a very narrow view. It isn’t that the conservatives in the party do not want Americans to see how they actually act on the floor of the House; it is that they don’t want the American people to become at all interested in what they actually do on the floor of the House.

Experts Warn of Major Post-Title 42 Border Surge

Posted on by The Center Square

By Cameron Arcand (The Center Square)

As Title 42 – a COVID-19 policy that allowed border authorities to turn away asylum seekers – ends next week, Arizona officials are concerned about the consequences of allowing more people to remain in the United States after crossing the southern border illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security said that the order would no longer be in effect on Dec. 21, as it was originally intended to be a way to remove migrants based on fear of COVID-19 spread.

RELATED: Record Number of Border Apprehensions, Gotaways in November

There are concerns that an even greater influx of migrants will strain authorities and border communities. Many Trump-era border policies were removed by President Joe Biden, but this is one of the few policies that’s remained.

Jobe Dickinson, president of the Border Security Alliance, said in a statement that Title 42 is a necessary “mitigation strategy” that was “heavily relied upon for nearly 3 years.”

“With the forthcoming termination of this policy, the Border Security Alliance believes there could be another surge of illegal immigrants who will take advantage of our flawed border policies,” Dickinson said. “We urge policy makers to work to fix the current and anticipated surge immediately by going back to a ‘Remain in Mexico’ program for asylum seekers.”

RELATED: Republicans Call for Impeachment of Biden’s DHS Chief Over Border Invasion

Meanwhile, the state government is in an ongoing battle with the Biden administration over the state’s decision to use shipping containers as barriers in the Yuma sector of the border.

“The number one public safety risk and environmental harm has come from inaction by the federal government to secure our border,” Anni Foster, general counsel of the Arizona governor’s office, said in a recent letter to the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office.

There were over 2.3 million border encounters at the southern border in the fiscal year 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection data. In Arizona alone, there were over 500,000 border encounters, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

RELATED: Texas Gov. Abbott Calls for Investigation into Groups Assisting With Illegal Entry into US

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

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Texas Gov. Abbott Calls for Investigation into Groups Assisting With Illegal Entry into US

Posted on by The Center Square

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called for an investigation into the role non-governmental organizations are playing in helping foreign nationals illegally enter Texas from Mexico.

Abbott sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Ken Paxton requesting that his office “initiate an investigation into the role of NGOs in planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders.”

RELATED: Biden Scoffs at Suggestion to Visit Border: ‘There Are More Important Things’ To Do

With the public health authority Title 42 slated to end Dec. 23, the number of people illegally entering Texas has reached an all-time high. Over a 24-hour period on Sunday, more than 2,600 people crossed the Rio Grande River near El Paso and illegally entered Texas.

Abbott writes, “there have been reports that NGOs may have assisted with” these illegal border crossings” and “may be engaged in unlawfully orchestrating other border crossings through activities on both sides of the border, including in sectors other than El Paso.”

Not only did he call for an investigation, but he also said he and the state legislature were willing to craft “any sensible legislative solutions” Paxton’s office might propose to solve “the ongoing border crisis and the role that NGOs may play in encouraging it.”

Abbott’s call came after Border Patrol El Paso Sector Chief Peter Jaquez announced, “Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso.”

The El Paso Sector, which covers two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico, has become a destination of illegal entry orchestrated by the cartels and the Mexican government. In November, the number who illegally entered the El Paso Sector was greater than the individual populations of all cities in New Mexico except for four.

RELATED: Republicans Call for Impeachment of Biden’s DHS Chief Over Border Invasion

Fox News captured some of the crossings on video, saying one group of 1,000 was the largest single group it had ever recorded. It also reported that “Border Patrol now has over 5,000 in custody and has released hundreds to city streets.”


Prior to entering El Paso, the foreign nationals were “dropped off” at an NGO in Mexico before they crossed into Texas illegally, Fox News reported.

“Video from one of the passengers inside one of the migrant buses showing their Mexican police escort, as well as a photo of part of the huge group walking to the border after they were dropped off at NGOs in Ciudad Juarez,” Fox News reported.

Publishing video and photographs online, Fox News showed a caravan of nearly 20 buses full of foreign nationals being “escorted by Mexican police into Ciudad Juarez before they crossed en masse into El Paso.”


On Monday, BP Chief Raul Ortiz announced that BP agents in the last 48 hours reported more than 16,000 encounters with illegal foreign nationals along the entire southern border. They also confiscated over $97 million in narcotics and four firearms and apprehended three gang members, two sex offenders, and two murderers.

RELATED: Record Number of Border Apprehensions, Gotaways in November

This is after a record number of over 306,000 illegally entered the U.S. through the southern border in November, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square.

“These numbers are likely to increase in the coming weeks,” Abbott said. “Although the burden to address the ongoing border crisis should not fall to Texas, the federal government has failed to take action to address this problem.”

While Abbott has taken unprecedented action to secure the border, he has yet to officially declare an invasion and repel it, something the Republican Party of Texas and at least 40 county judges have called on him to do. The Texas Military Department and Texas law enforcement are not preventing illegal entry as evidenced by the surge at the border, which is only expected to intensify, critics argue.

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Republicans Call for Impeachment of Biden’s DHS Chief Over Border Invasion

Posted on by The Center Square

By Casey Harper (The Center Square)

A group of U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The lawmakers, led by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., made their remarks during a news conference outside the Capitol Building, calling for Mayorkas’ impeachment amid the soaring number of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S.

RELATED: Record Number of Border Apprehensions, Gotaways in November

“Every day he remains in office, America is less safe,” Biggs said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection have released a steady stream of figures showing that the number of illegal immigrants entering through the southern border has soared to record levels since President Joe Biden took office.

Those numbers are poised to get worse. Trump-era Title 42 protections that allowed feds to expel migrants more quickly because of COVID-19 concerns are set to expire later this month, and experts predict a surge of illegal immigrants are awaiting that expiration.

RELATED: Biden Scoffs at Suggestion to Visit Border: ‘There Are More Important Things’ To Do

Some areas, like El Paso, are seeing thousands of migrants cross over each day.

Those larger numbers of migrants have also brought large quantities of fentanyl, a deadly drug that is trafficked in the U.S. via cartels. Fentanyl overdoses have soared in recent years as well.

Some in the Senate have echoed the criticism of Mayorkas.

RELATED: Europe Shows a Clear Link Between Immigration and Crime – Like the One the U.S. Seriously Downplays

“The southern border has been an issue for a long time,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “Secretary Mayorkas only showed back up when the mainstream media caved and reported on the issue.”

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

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