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.

FBI documents associate Internet slang like ‘based’ and ‘red pill’ with ‘extremism’ –The doc listed key terms associated with ‘Involuntarily Celibate’ and ‘Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism’ | 8 April 2023 | New documents released Monday warned that common internet lingo is being associated with “Violent Extremism” by the FBI. The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project said it used a Freedom of Information Act request to expose FBI documents that include glossaries showing that common internet slang has been flagged as an indication of “Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism” or “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism.” …The one term in the glossary is “Red Pill,” which comes from the 1999 film The Matrix and has been used a metaphor for seeing hidden or politically incorrect truths about the modern world, particularly when it comes to politics or dating. The FBI list of key terms defines it as “a belief shared by many online communities that society is corrupt, and that the believer is a victim of this corruption.” Many of the terms listed are focused on self-improvement or the struggle to reckon with the marketplace of modern dating.

Here’s the FBI Glossary for Flagging ‘Violent Extremism’ | 5 April 2023 | The FBI uses a “glossary of terms” to look for online that could indicate someone is involved with “violent extremism,” according to documents obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. The flagged terms include “redpilled,” first popularized by the 1999 film The Matrix, “based,” “looksmaxxing,” and the names “Chad” and “Stacey.” The FBI also flags phrases that include “it’s over” and “just be first.” The documents were obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project through a Freedom of Information Act request… Such words and phrases have come to be code for certain extremists who communicate online with others like them, according to the FBI’s glossary of words indicating “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism” and a list of “key terms” about “involuntary celibate violent extremism.”

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.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week, Defense Contractor Brought in That Can’t Handle Role –Move violates First Amendment Right to Free Exercise of Religion | 7 April 2023 | Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has issued a “cease and desist order” to Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, who have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades. The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to cease any religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This order was issued as Catholics entered Holy Week, the most sacred of days in the Christian faith, in which they participate in liturgies remembering the passion of Jesus, and leading the Church to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning. The Franciscans’ contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond. 

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.”

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).”

US resumes biolabs program in Ukraine – Russian MOD –Washington is constructing secretive new facilities and is training personnel, Moscow has claimed | 7 April 2023 | The US has quietly resumed its controversial biolabs program in Ukraine and is focusing on the construction of secretive new facilities and the training of personnel, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed. A new trove of documents on alleged US-funded biological programs in Ukraine was presented by the commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, during a media briefing on Friday. Kirillov cited the protocol from a meeting dated October 20, 2022, which was attended by representatives of the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and multiple Ukrainian officials, as well as figures from the Jacobs/CH2M engineering company.

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.”

One civilian killed, six wounded in Donetsk following Ukrainian shelling from MLRS – mayor | 7 April 2023 | One civilian was killed and six others were injured as a result of Ukrainian shelling of the center of Donetsk from a multiple rocket launcher, the city mayor Alexey Kulemzin reported on Friday. Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian forces shelled the area of the Krytoy market in Donetsk. “According to preliminary data, as a result of the shelling of the center of our city as of 13:10 Moscow time, there is one casualty. Six people were wounded. Information is being clarified,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. According to Kulemzin, in addition to the market, Shevchenko Boulevard and Pushkin Boulevard were shelled.

Graham: ‘I’d Be Very Much Open’ to Sending U.S. Forces to Taiwan | 9 April 2023 | Senator [and Grade ‘A’ sociopath] Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on this week’s broadcast of Fox News Sunday that he is open to sending U.S. troops to Taiwan. Anchor Shannon Bream said, “You served in the Air Force. We noted weeks ago a four-star general said he thought we would be in actual combat with China by 2025…Where do you think we are? Where does this go?” Graham said, “I think they are setting the stage possibly for a blockade of Taiwan. This Communist Chinese Party is going to test us dramatically this year and next year before the election.” When asked if he supports sending U.S. troops to Taiwan, Graham said, “So the question for the Congress, should we have a defense agreement with the island of Taiwan? We don’t. Should we have one? But yes, I’d be very much open to using U.S. forces to defend Taiwan because it’s in our national security interest to do so.”

Switzerland Stops Recommending COVID-19 Vaccination –Also, England withdrew booster recommendations for healthy people younger than the age of 50, and Denmark stopped vaccinating the same population in 2022. | 8 April 2023 | Swiss authorities have stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccination, including for people who are designated at high risk from COVID-19. Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health now says, “No COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023.” People designated at high risk also aren’t recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine, authorities said. Officials attributed the change to the number of citizens who have received a vaccine, recovered from COVID-19, or have received a vaccine and also enjoy natural immunity from post-recovery protection. Because the vaccines are no longer being recommended, they’re no longer covered by the government.  

Judge Overseeing Trump Case Appears to Have Donated to Biden’s Campaign and ‘Stop Republicans’ Group – FEC Records | 7 April 2023 | Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the Manhattan criminal case against former President Donald Trump appears to have donated at least 35 to Trump’s 2020 political opponents, according to a recent review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. The FEC lists a 15 entry from a “Juan Merchan” in 2020 to “Biden for President”–Joe Biden’s official 2020 campaign. Another FEC entry lists a 10 donation to the “Progressive Turnout Project”–an organization whose stated mission is to “rally Democrats to vote.” A third FEC entry lists a 10 donation to “Stop Republicans”–a subsidiary of the Progressive Turnout Project that describes itself as a “grassroots-funded effort dedicated to resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.”  

House Oversight Committee subpoenas banks, Biden family associates in probe of finances | 7 April 2023 | The House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to banks asking for Biden family associates’ financial records. Fox News has confirmed that the Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bank of America, Cathay Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC USA N.A., as well as former Hunter Biden business associate Mervyn Yan, asking for financial records… A spokesperson for Cathay Bank told Fox News Digital that the bank will cooperate with the Oversight Committee. “Cathay Bank, a NASDAQ-listed, U.S. financial institution for over 60 years, has cooperated with the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s request for information. The bank intends to continue to cooperate with the committee,” the spokesperson said.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Announces 2024 Presidential Bid | 7 April 2023 | Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., best known for his positions on environmental law and vaccine safety, filed the paperwork to run in the 2024 race for president of the United States on April 5. He filed as a Democrat, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. “America is enduring an apocalyptic tribal polarization more toxic and dangerous than any time since the Civil War,” Kennedy told The Epoch Times exclusively following the filing of the paperwork. “And while Democrats battle Republicans, elites are strip-mining our middle class, poisoning our children, and commoditizing our landscapes. I will focus my campaign, not on the issues that divide us but the values we have in common.”

Third Democratic lawmaker leaves party, switches to Republican within a month | 10 April 2023 | Democrats were dealt another blow from within their own ranks this week as yet another state lawmaker declared he was leaving the party. According to a Monday report by The Advocate, a Louisiana-based newspaper, state Rep. Jeremy LaCombe announced he had left the Democratic Party and would be registering as a Republican. It was not immediately clear what prompted LaCombe’s departure; however, he is now the second Louisiana Democrat in less than a month to switch party affiliations, and the third nationwide after another state lawmaker in North Carolina did the same. Last month, Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson gave Republicans in the state House a supermajority after he switched his party affiliation, and earlier this month, North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham gave Republicans in the state House a supermajority with her switch as well.

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.

2 Democrats Expelled From Tennessee House by GOP Legislature, 3rd Spared by 1 Vote | 7 April 2023 | After several hours of debate, two Tennessee Democrats were expelled from the Tennessee General Assembly by the Republican supermajority-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday. The third state representative facing expulsion held her seat by a margin of only one vote on a historic day in the Tennessee legislature. The close vote came as a shock, as eight Republican lawmakers broke ranks to vote against the expulsion of Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knox County. Resolutions to expel the members were introduced on April 3 after the lawmakers led protesters with a bullhorn in chants calling for tighter restrictions on gun rights while on the House floor. This came after the deadly Covenant School shooting in Nashville the week before.

Louisville police say 5 dead after suspect linked to Old National Bank location opens fire in Kentucky –Gunman in Louisville attack has died after engaging in ‘shootout’ with police | 10 April 2023 | Authorities in Louisville, Kentucky identified the suspect deceased gunman accused of killing five people inside a building that houses an Old National Bank location as Connor Sturgeon, a former employee. The shooting happened around 8:30 a.m. and officers that responded within minutes encountered the suspect, who was still firing shots, according to Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel. Sturgeon, 25, who live-streamed the deadly event, was armed with a rifle and killed by police, she said. Authorities initially said Sturgeon was 23-years-old before disclosing his correct age. Deana Eckert, 57, was later identified as a deceased victim Monday evening.

Former San Francisco fire commissioner attacked with crowbar day after tech mogul stabbed to death | 7 April 2023 | Neighbors of former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani said “no one is safe” in the city after he was brutally attacked by a transient with a metal crowbar just steps away from his family’s front door. Carmignani was attacked a day after C-sh App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant early Tuesday morning. Carmignani, 53, was leaving his mother’s home at about 7 p.m. in the Marina District when he was accosted by a man waving an industrial metal crowbar, friends of the ex-commissioner told The Post. San Francisco Police later arrested Garret Doty, 24, who was booked on assault with a deadly weapon. [In Soros DA-land, he’ll be out of jail in no time, so he can kill again.]

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.