FBI WHISTLEBLOWER: BUREAU ORDERED AGENTS NOT TO LOOK AT HUNTER’S LAPTOP… NY POST: FBI brass warned agents off Hunter Biden laptop due to 2020 election: whistleblowers
FBI officials told agents not to investigate first son Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop for months — vowing that the bureau was “not going to change the outcome of the election again,” according to whistleblower claims made public Wednesday by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) […]
According to the senator, “individuals with knowledge” had told his office that “local FBI leadership” had slow-walked the laptop investigation after the computer was recovered from a Wilmington, Del. repair shop in December 2019.
Johnson quoted FBI management as telling employees “You will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop” and promising the bureau would not alter the 2020 election outcome — a reference to the FBI reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server days before the 2016 election.
READ THE LETTER FROM JOHNSON TO THE DOJ IG… (PDF)
BIDEN CLAIMS HE DIDN’T RECEIVE A HEADS UP ON THE TRUMP RAID… RNC: Q: “How much advance notice did you have of the FBI’s plan to search Mar-a-Lago?” BIDEN: “I didn’t have any advanced notice. None. Zero.” (VIDEO)
FEDS SEEK NEARLY 2 DECADES FOR FORMER NYPD OFFICER WHO CHOKED COP ON JAN 6… ‘FOR DISGRACING A DEMOCRACY HE ONCE SERVED’… KYLE CHENEY, POLITICO: JUST IN: DOJ seeking 210 month (17.5 year) sentence — which would be by far the longest — for Jan. 6 defendant Thomas Webster, a former NYPD officer convicted of assaulted a cop at the Capitol. (SCREENGRAB)
SPEAKING OF ‘DISGRACING A DEMOCRACY’…
BIDEN USES POST-9/11 LAW TO STEAL MONEY FROM TAXPAYERS… DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SAYS COVID EMERGENCY JUSTIFIES… Biden Admin Using Post-9/11 Law As Legal Basis For Canceling Student Debt
President Joe Biden’s administration is relying on a post-9/11 law to cancel $10,000 in student debt for millions of Americans.
The law, known as the HEROES Act, was first proposed in 2003 and was intended for military members serving the U.S. in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The text of the law allows for the modification of federal student loan rules in the midst of “a war or other military operation or national emergency.”
The Department of Education (DOE), in a memo issued Tuesday, cited the “COVID-19 pandemic” as reason for using the HEROES Act to legally cancel student debt.
READ THE DOE MEMO… MEMO SEEKS TO REVERSE PRIOR DOE MEMO FINDING THAT SWEEPING DEBT TRANSFERENCE WOULD BE ILLEGAL… (PDF)
HERE’S THE TEXT OF THE ‘HEROES ACT OF 2003,’ WHICH WAS EXPLICITLY DESIGNED FOR MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY SERVING THEIR COUNTRY AFTER 9/11… (PDF)
RELATED: BARRING AN ACT BY CONGRESS OR THE PRESIDENT, THE COVID NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL AT LEAST FEB 28, 2023…
PELOSI FLIPS! … NOW SAYS BIDEN *DOES* HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ROB TAXPAYERS UNILATERALLY… AARON BLAKE: Pelosi yesterday: “Well, we’re excited about the president, because we didn’t know what — what authority the president had to do this. And now clearly, it seems he has the authority to do this: $10,000 for those … making under $125,000 a year.” (LINK)
GRADUATE DEBT *QUALIFIES* FOR BIDEN’S TAXPAYER THEFT SCHEME… JEFF STEIN, WAPO: UPDATE: Am told by a reliable source that graduate debt ***IS*** included in the debt forgiveness plan. Big decision. Will need to see final details. I had previously reported WH was considering carving it out
TAXPAYERS WILL BE STUCK WITH BILL FOR HOUSEHOLDS EARNING A *QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS* PER YEAR… JEFF STEIN: CRITICAL POINT ON INCOME THRESHOLDS: — If your 2021 OR 2020 income was *below* the caps — $125K for singles; $250K for couples — then you do qualify for the $10K (or $20K, if Pell Grant)
HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR REJOICES… HARVARD LAW STUDENTS GET TO SHIRK THEIR OBLIGATIONS! … LAURENCE TRIBE: Good news for thousands of my former students. I’m grateful on their behalf, Mr. President.
MORE DETAIL… WAPO: Biden to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt for most borrowers
President Biden said Wednesday he will cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for many borrowers — and double that amount for Pell Grant recipients — a move that could offer some level of forgiveness for up to 43 million people.
The forgiveness is expected to apply to Americans earning under $125,000 per year, or $250,000 per year for married couples who file taxes jointly. The White House estimates that nearly 90 percent of relief will go to people earning less than $75,000 and that roughly 20 million borrowers could have their debt completely canceled.
The president is also extending a pandemic-era pause on federal student loan payments, first implemented under the Trump administration, through Dec. 31. […]
Current students with loans are eligible for relief, if their household income was under $250,000 during the last federal student aid award year. Loans must have been originated before July 1 to qualify. […]
WILL COST TAXPAYERS OVER $300,000,000,000… Here’s How Much Biden’s Student Debt Forgiveness Could Cost Taxpayers
The Biden administration’s move to cancel student debt could cost taxpayers over $300 billion over the next ten years, according to a Tuesday report by economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
The Aug. 23 report, titled “Forgiving Student Loans: Budgetary Costs and Distributional Impact,” was released one day before Biden announced efforts to cancel $10,000 of debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. Biden also announced he would cancel an extra $10,000 of debt for Pell Grant recipients, primarily low-income college students, while extending the pause on student loan repayments to Dec. 31 and capping undergraduate loan repayment at 5% of monthly income – policies that the report did not address.
KARINGE RETURNS… ‘Who Is Paying For This?’: Doocy Hammers Jean-Pierre On Student Loan Forgiveness (VIDEO)
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy repeatedly pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Biden administration’s plan for student loan forgiveness.
President Joe Biden announced his plan to provide $10,000 in student loan forgiveness to those making $125,000 a year or less and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. When Doocy questioned Jean-Pierre about how the U.S. can afford this, the press secretary said the nation’s federal deficit has and will continue to drop.
“And you might spend $300 to $900 billion extra, so you can do that and not increase the deficit?” Doocy asked.
“Here’s the thing. What we are trying to do here, we are doing this responsibly. You heard directly from the president. This is something that is going to be important for middle class Americans when you think about 90% of the folks who are going to actually benefit from this are making $75,000 or less. And you think about what Republicans did just a couple of years ago, they signed off on a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy and did not provide any way to pay for that.”
“Who is paying for this? But you’re talking a lot about how much it might cost or might not cost,” Doocy asked. “Who is paying for this?”
DEM SENATORS CELEBRATE BIDEN’S MIDDLE FINGER TO CONGRESS…
“With the flick of a pen, President Biden has taken a giant step forward in addressing the student debt crisis by canceling significant amounts of student debt for millions of borrowers,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a joint statement. “No president or Congress has done more to relieve the burden of student debt and help millions of Americans make ends meet.”
OBAMA ECONOMIST JASON FURMAN RIPS… FURMAN: Pouring roughly half trillion dollars of gasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning is reckless. Doing it while going well beyond one campaign promise ($10K of student loan relief) and breaking another (all proposals paid for) is even worse. (THREAD)
The White House fact sheet has sympathetic examples about a construction worker making $38K and a married nurse making $77,000 a year. But then why design a policy that would provide up to $40,000 to a married couple making $249,000? Why include law and business school students?
EMBATTLED DEM CANDIDATES ATTACK BIDEN… Democrats In Competitive Races Criticize Biden’s Student Loan Gambit
Although the response from fellow party members has been mostly positive, three Democrats running in competitive elections have criticized President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet all panned Biden’s order forgiving $10,000 in student loans for individuals making up to $125,000 or couples making $250,000. Both Bennet and Pappas are considered key targets for Republicans hoping to flip the Senate and the House of Representatives, while Ryan is running against JD Vance to replace outgoing GOP Sen. Rob Portman.
“While there’s no doubt that a college education should be about opening opportunities, waiving debt for those already on a trajectory to financial security sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet,” Ryan said in a statement.
FAUCI TOSS… ‘Chuck Him Across The Potomac’: DeSantis Shares His Thoughts On ‘Little Elf’ Anthony Fauci (VIDEO)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reacted to the news of National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci’s retirement at an event Wednesday.
Fauci announced Monday that he was leaving his roles in the White House both as NIAID director and chief medical advisor to Biden in December.
“I’m just sick of seeing him,” DeSantis said at the event. “I know he says he’s gonna retire. Someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac.”
DR. JILL CATCHES COVID AGAIN… Jill Biden Tests Positive for Coronavirus Again in ‘Rebound’ Case
WASHINGTON — Jill Biden, the first lady, tested positive for the coronavirus again on Wednesday in what her office described as a rebound case, forcing her to isolate once again.
“The first lady has experienced no re-emergence of symptoms and will remain in Delaware where she has reinitiated isolation procedures,” Kelsey Donohue, her deputy communications director, said in a statement. “The White House Medical Unit has conducted contact tracing, and close contacts have been notified.”
President Biden returned to Washington from Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Wednesday morning, hours before the announcement about Dr. Biden’s positive test. The president tested negative in the morning, according to the White House.
Mr. Biden is considered a close contact of Dr. Biden and will wear a mask for 10 days while indoors and close to others, the White House said.
NOW DEMS ARE ACCUSING TRUMP OF RUSHING THE VACCINE TOO QUICKLY! … Democrats Accuse Trump Admin Of Rushing COVID Treatments, Vaccines
Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a report Wednesday alleging the Trump administration pressured health officials to approve unproven COVID-19 treatments and rush authorization of vaccines.
The report alleges former President Donald Trump and his top advisers pushed former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to grant emergency use authorization (EUA) to unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma. Hahn alleged that top Trump officials pushed the FDA to rush authorization of the first vaccine so it would be available before the 2020 presidential election. […]
The White House also objected to FDA guidance that coronavirus vaccines would require 60 days of surveillance data before authorization, according to Hahn. The FDA feared waiving the 60-day surveillance period would further reduce public confidence in the vaccines, and defied White House pressure to authorize the vaccines on an accelerated timeline before the 2020 presidential election, the committee found.
CALIFORNIA BANS CRITICIZING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AT PUBLIC MEETINGS… KRON4: New law will combat ‘appalling behavior’ at local government meetings
LOS GATOS, Calif. (KRON) — A new California law will protect local mayors and city councilmembers from bullying and harassment at public meetings.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1100 into law this week. “Senate Bill 1100 provides an important tool to combat the appalling behavior, threats, and intimidation tactics communities have been subjected to at public meetings. Its application will ensure broad participation and protect the productive exchange of ideas essential to our democratic process,” said Graham Knaus, director of California State Association of Counties. […]
Last year, anti-vaccine and anti-LGBTQ groups targeted Los Gatos Mayor Marico Sayoc during town council meetings.
One Los Gatos resident spoke at the podium during an October meeting to say, “Madam Sayoc, you are not God! How dare you force your ideologies on our children! We the people of Los Gatos do not consent to the forced mutilation of our bodies, mind, and sovereignty.”
SEE THE VIDEO OF THAT OCTOBER TOWN COUNCIL MEETING… (VIDEO, STARTS AT 20:57)
CALIFORNIA TO OFFICIALLY BAN THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE… ‘Extremely Challenging’: California Poised To Ban Gas-Powered Car Sales
The California Air Resources Board is set to finalize an expansive plan to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 on Thursday, which may accelerate the national transition to electric vehicles (EVs), The New York Times reported.
The state’s ban will require 100% of new cars sold in California by 2035 to be free of fossil fuel emissions, up from the current 12%. Interim targets require 35% of vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions, rising to 68% by 2030, according to the NYT. The zero-emissions car mandate, which will only allow electric vehicles to be purchased, may be adopted by at least 12 additional states fairly soon, while five additional states which already adhere to California’s more comprehensive vehicle pollution reduction program are anticipated to do so in about a year.
DEMS APPARENTLY PICKED A MORON TO RUN AGAINST DESANTIS… Charlie Crist To Florida Voters: If You Support DeSantis, ‘I Don’t Want Your Vote’ (VIDEO)
Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist lashed out Wednesday at supporters of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying they have “hate” in their hearts.
Crist, who currently represents the state’s 13th Congressional District, defeated Democratic challenger Nikki Fried in the state’s primary race Tuesday, and will face DeSantis in November. Crist previously served as the Republican governor of Florida between 2007-2011 before switching to an Independent and later a Democrat. Crist said Wednesday he wanted the votes of “good Republicans” rather than those that support the incumbent.
“Those who support [DeSantis] should stay with him and vote for him and I don’t want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there. I want the vote of the people of Florida who care about our state, good Democrats, good Independents, good Republicans. Unify with this ticket. Unify with Val Demmings and Charlie Crist. Unify with us. Those who are haters, you’re gonna go off in your own world. And you better get right.”
UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF FIRED… ABC: Uvalde school board unanimously approves Police Chief Pete Arredondo’s termination
Uvalde school board officials unanimously voted Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the school district’s police chief, exactly three months after the school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.
The termination is effective immediately.
Arredondo was not in attendance at his termination hearing out of concerns over his safety, his attorney, George Hyde, said in a 17-page statement released shortly before the community gathered Wednesday evening.
AUSSIE GIRL MAKES SCHOOL TREAT HER LIKE A CAT… UK’S DAILY RECORD: Teen girl who ‘identifies as cat’ allowed to ‘act like a feline’ in school
A school is reportedly supporting a “phenomenally bright” teen girl who identifies as a cat. The student allegedly has permission to act like a feline and be non-verbal in class, so long as her behaviour does not distract other youngsters at the private school in Melbourne, Australia.
While the school did not confirm the report, it said in a statement that pupils were displaying “a range of issues, from mental health, anxiety or identity issues”. According to the Mirror, it added: “Our approach is always unique to the student and we will take into account professional advice and the wellbeing of the student.”
An individual close to the girl’s family told the Herald Sun : “No one seems to have a protocol for students identifying as animals, but the approach has been that if it doesn’t disrupt the school, everyone is being supportive.”
