National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

FBI sought to develop sources in Christian churches and Catholic dioceses to combat ‘domestic terrorism,’ documents show –FBI hit with subpoena for records by House Judiciary Committee | 10 April 2023 | The FBI recently sought to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses as part of an effort to combat domestic terrorism, according to internal documents released by House Judiciary Committee on Monday. The internal documents — obtained last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who are also members of the so-called Weaponization Subcommittee — showed the FBI planned to use churches as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” …”Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith,” Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday. Jordan also issued a subpoena for a series of related documents the committee previously requested from the FBI, but which the FBI has failed to provide.

Bombshell lawsuit claims JP Morgan execs were so familiar with Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young girls they joked about him being with 16-year-old Miley Cyrus | 12 April 2023 | Executives at JP Morgan were so familiar with Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse that they laughed about him being out with 16-year-old Miley Cyrus, court documents claim. A bombshell lawsuit states that senior managers at the bank ‘joked about (Epstein’s) interest in young girls’ including Cyrus in 2008 when she was still starring in the Disney TV series Hannah Montana. Staff at JP Morgan were accused of making light of the pedophile’s activities in a case filed against it by the government of the US Virgin Islands. The lawsuit also alleges that at least 20 victims were paid through Epstein’s accounts with JP Morgan in excess of $1m.

Soros-Funded ‘Corporate Equality Index’ Woke Scoring System Guides American Companies | 7 April 2023 | Executives at companies like Nike, Anheuser-Busch and Kate Spade, whose brand endorsements have turned controversial trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney into today’s woke “It girl,” aren’t just virtue signaling. They’re handing out lucrative deals to what were once considered fringe celebrities because they have to — or risk failing an all-important social credit score that could make or break their businesses. At stake is their Corporate Equality Index — or CEI — score, which is overseen by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ political lobbying group in the world. HRC, which has received millions from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation among others, issues report cards for America’s biggest corporations via the CEI: awarding or subtracting points for how well companies adhere to what HRC calls its “rating criteria.” Businesses that attain the maximum 100 total points earn the coveted title “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

France denies military presence in Ukraine –Leaked documents imply French soldiers are on the ground. | 9 April 2023 | The French government denied on Saturday that French soldiers were on the ground in Ukraine, Le Monde reported. “There are no French forces engaged in operations in Ukraine,” the team of Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the French outlet. A trove of leaked documents detailing plans about Ukraine’s spring military offensive and circulating online reportedly imply that French soldiers are present on the battlefield in Ukraine. According to the Guardian, “One slide suggested that a small contingent of less than a hundred special operations personnel from NATO members France, America, Britain and Latvia were already active in Ukraine.”

Abuse survivors’ network blasts Dalai Lama’s ‘blatantly sexual act’ after he asked a 12-year-old boy to suck his tongue in public | 10 April 2023 | An abuse survivors’ network has blasted the actions of the Dalai Lama which saw him kissing a young Indian boy on the lips before asking him to “suck” his tongue. The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a U.S.-based organization that supports the survivors of spiritual and religious abuse, expressed their disgust on Monday following the release of the disturbing footage. “We are as horrified as any viewer by the actions of the Dalai Lama. Our primary concern is with the innocent boy who was the subject of this disgusting request by a revered spiritual figure. Additionally, it is just as disturbing to read the minimizing statement released on behalf of Buddhist enlightenment,” the abuse support network SNAP said in a statement. “An 87-year-old man asking a young boy to perform a blatantly sexual act in a public setting is very disturbing. We feel it is important that every single person who sees, suspects, or suffers child sex crimes, regardless of the level of crime, contact law enforcement to report it,” the statement read.

Devastating explosion leaves at least 18,000 cows dead and one person critically injured –Initial reports say more than 18,000 cows died in the Texas explosion | 12 April 2023 | Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. “Your count probably is close to that. There’s some that survived, there’s some that are probably injured to the point where they’ll have to be destroyed,” Castro County Sheriff Sal Rivera told KFDA… The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg sues Rep. Jim Jordan over Trump indictment subpoenas | 11 April 2023 | Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, alleging that the Republican lawmaker is trying to wage a campaign of intimidation over his prosecution of former President Donald Trump. In his lawsuit, the Democratic D.A. said he’s taking legal action “in response to an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress on an ongoing New York State criminal prosecution and investigation of former President Donald J. Trump.” Bragg is asking a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg’s handling of the Trump case… Jordan tweeted Tuesday: “First, they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it.”

Expelled Tennessee Democrat Justin Jones is voted back into office less than a week after he was thrown out | 10 April 2023 | A black Tennessee Democrat expelled from the state legislature for his gun control protest on the House floor has gotten his job back less than a week after he was thrown out. Nashville’s governing council voted 36-0 to reinstate Rep. Justin Jones on Monday, four days after the Republican-led vote to oust him thrust him into the national spotlight. Republicans banished the two lawmakers over their role in a gun-control protest on the House floor in the aftermath of the deadly Nashville school shooting, which killed six people including three children. The other lawmaker, Justin Pearson, could be reappointed Wednesday by the Shelby County Commission.

East Palestine: Truck Carrying Toxic Soil Overturns in Same County as Train Derailment | 10 April 2023 | A truck carrying a ton of toxic soil out of the train derailment zone in East Palestine tipped over in an accident this week, but the local EPA says there’s nothing to worry about [?] in terms of contamination. Per law enforcement, a tractor-trailer was heading northbound Monday on SR-165 in Columbiana County, Ohio, which encompasses East Palestine, and for whatever reason, it was involved in a crash that overturned the vehicle and everything it was carrying. As it turns out, that load included about 40,000 pounds of contaminated dirt that was being transferred away from the train derailment crash site. The Ohio State Highway Patrol estimates that about 20,000 pounds of that spilled into onto the roadway.

Biden White House Directly Coordinated With FBI to Set Up Trump Raid According to New Docs | 10 April 2023 | There are new revelations coming to light about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s unprecedented raid against former President Donald Trump prior to the 2022 midterm elections. America First Legal, a judicial watchdog, reported: “Records obtained from our investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Mar-a-Lago raid further confirm that the FBI obtained access to these records through a ‘special access request’ from the Biden White House on behalf of the DOJ.” AFL noted in its press release: “On August 8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted an unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago on the ground that potentially classified records existed there. According to press reports, Biden Administration aides were ‘stunned’ to hear of this development. However, new NARA records obtained through America First Legal’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Mar-a-Lago raid further confirmed that the FBI obtained access to these records through a ‘special access request’ from the Biden White House on behalf of the Department of Justice (DOJ).”

Clearview AI scraped 30 billion images from Facebook and other social media sites and gave them to cops: it puts everyone into a ‘perpetual police line-up’ | 2 April 2023 | A controversial facial recognition database, used by police departments across the nation, was built in part with 30 billion photos the company scraped from Facebook and other social media users without their permission, the company’s CEO recently admitted, creating what critics called a “perpetual police line-up,” even for people who haven’t done anything wrong. The company, Clearview AI, boasts of its potential for identifying rioters at the January 6 attack on the Capitol, saving children being abused or exploited, and helping exonerate people wrongfully accused of crimes. But critics point to privacy violations and wrongful arrests fueled by faulty identifications made by facial recognition, including cases in Detroit and New Orleans, as cause for concern over the technology. Clearview took photos without users’ knowledge, its CEO Hoan Ton-That acknowledged in an interview last month with the BBC.