Around lunchtime on June 3, a senior Justice Department national security supervisor and three FBI agents arrived at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to discuss boxes with government records sitting in a basement storage room along with suits, sweaters and golf shoes.
A few days later, the FBI sent a note asking that a stronger lock be installed on the storage room door, signing off: “Thank you. Very truly yours, Jay Bratt, chief of counterintelligence and export control section.”
A confidential informant told the FBI the location of classified documents seized during the agency’s Monday raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Newsweek reported, citing two senior government officials.
FBI agents raided Trump’s home early Monday and seized roughly ten boxes of documents in connection with files sought by the National Archives that Trump had brought to his home from the White House, according to multiple reports. The agents were executing a search warrant signed by Judge Bruce Reinhart.
Biden arrives on secluded South Carolina island for week-long family vacation … FOX NEWS
President Biden flew to a South Carolina island for a vacation with his family Thursday, a trip that is expected to last at least one week.
The Biden family will be staying at a private residence owned by a friend on Kiawah Island, a wealthy and secluded destination. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, accompanied Biden and first lady Jill Biden on the Air Force One flight from Washington. Biden’s daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen and grandson Beau also attended.
Late-summer vacations are common for U.S. presidents, but Biden’s comes as the House is expecting to vote on the massive “Inflation Reduction Act,” which is full of White House priorities.
Legal Group Unveils Sweeping Records Investigation Into Biden Family
A conservative legal group has sent several requests to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for records related to Hunter Biden during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.
America First Legal (AFL), which is led by former senior members of the Trump administration, filed three separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests Tuesday to NARA. The nonprofit is asking for a wide variety of information related to those who had financial relationships with Hunter Biden and James Biden in connection with their business dealings overseas, White House visits by them both and also then-vice president Biden’s communications with Hunter and James.
U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Slightly to New 2022 High… WSJ
U.S. workers’ filings for unemployment benefits edged up last week, reaching their highest level so far this year.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased to a seasonally adjusted 262,000 last week from a revised 248,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The weekly number has been on an upward trend since reaching a 50-year low in March.
Dr. Fauci Jokes That He Created COVID-19, Laughs About Gain-Of-Function Research
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser, joked at an event Tuesday that he created the COVID-19 virus.
Fauci was appearing at an event in Seattle to accept an award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. During an interview, he joked that he had created “WA1,” which is considered to be the ancestral model strain of COVID-19 in the U.S.
‘I don’t remember them ever telling us not to go’: Pelosi denies military opposed Taiwan trip … POLITICO
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that the U.S. military never told her not to travel to Taiwan, defending her historic visit amid China’s hostile response and the Biden administration’s warnings.
A longtime China hawk dating back to the Tiananmen Square massacre, Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday that Beijing used her trip to Taiwan last week as a “pretext” for its stepped-up aggression toward the self-governing island, including live-fire military drills conducted over the past week.
Manchin-Schumer bill on glide path in House; obstacles remain given Democrats’ disunity … FOX NEWS
The $739 billion tax increase, climate change and health care bill agreed to by Sen. Joe Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is on a glide path toward passage in the House, but divisions between progressive and moderate Democrats remain an obstacle.
Because Democrats hold a slight 220-210 majority in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, can withstand only four Democratic defectors when the entire chamber is voting, given likely unanimous GOP opposition.
The slim cushion means Pelosi needs just about every Democrat to vote in favor of the Manchin-Schumer bill when it comes up for an expected vote Friday.
Perry stresses he is not target of investigation after phone seizure… THE HILL
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) emphasized late Wednesday that he is not a target of an FBI investigation after agents confiscated his cell phone in the wake of a search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
“While that story blew up, I heard from my attorneys, who talked directly to the Department of Justice, who said that I, their client, am not a target of this investigation,” Perry told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
‘I’m Just Asking You To Own It’: Martha MacCallum Confronts Biden Adviser On New Inflation Numbers
Fox News host Martha MacCallum confronted White House senior adviser Gene Sperling over the newly released Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers Wednesday.
MacCallum asked if inflation has peaked and will begin to decline in the near future, given that the CPI did not change from June to July. Sperling responded that although prices are “still too high,” one month of no change in inflation is a “good sign” as prices of car rental, gas prices and appliances begin to decrease.
Polio Begins Spreading In London For First Time In Decades
London is battling the spread of polio for the first time since the 1980’s.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced in June it had identified 116 polioviruses across 19 different sewage samples between February and June. Now, authorities are opening up booster vaccinations against the illness for children between one and nine years of age to slow spread and prevent paralysis.
Bolton ’embarrassed’ at ‘low price’ allegedly offered in assassination plot … THE HILL
Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday said that the price a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly attempted to pay people to kill Bolton was lower than he expected.
“The suspect put a $300,000 price tag on your head,” said anchor Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s “Situation Room.” “What goes through your mind, ambassador, hearing the details of this plot, as explained today in great detail by the U.S. Justice Department?”
Tax and climate bill could massively expand IRS union, which almost exclusively donates to Democrats … FOX NEWS
The funding increase for the IRS to hire potentially tens of thousands of new agents may be a big boost to the union representing Treasury Department employees, a group that is active in politics and donates almost exclusively to Democratic politicians.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which claims to represent about 70,000 IRS employees, has “strongly endorsed” the climate and tax bill called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which could allow the federal tax collecting agency to hire nearly 87,000 employees over the next decade. Many of the new employees could join the union, which through a political action committee gives almost 100% of its funding to Democratic politicians and committees.
