Free Republic

… He still hasn’t identified the source code, the proverbial ghost in the machine, buried deep in the algorithmic code; however, Twitter owner Elon Musk has finally identified the agency within the U.S. government who spearheaded the creation. The “Global Engagement Center” (GEC) of the State Dept. The GEC mission is described as, “To direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations,” (link). However, when...

The Pentagon has stopped delivery of F-35 fighter jets after the aircraft's maker, Lockheed Martin, found a part used in the jet's engine was made in China, the Defense Department and company confirmed Wednesday...

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday on MSNBC’s “All In” that President Joe Biden had an obligation to call out “temptation toward violence” of so-called “MAGA Republicans.” Johnson said, “In the wake of Mar-a-Lago, and the wake of the attack of the FBI field office. I believe that President Biden felt like he had an obligation to give that speech. I felt it was notable that he mentioned Donald Trump by name, something he rarely does. I think it’s notable that he called out ‘MAGA Republicans’ for not telling the truth, for not respecting the Constitution, for not...

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “All In” that if the Department of Justice failed to prosecute former President Donald Trump, it would harm our democracy.Johnson said, “Based upon everything we know from public sources, including, most notably, the January 6 hearings, I believe that an aggressive prosecutor would be willing to take on the case against Donald Trump for participation in a seditious conspiracy, for a violation of the insurrection statute. In my opinion, January 6 was the very definition of an insurrection. And the statute punishes those who incited the insurrection and those who...

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he is “concerned” that the January 6 Select Committee may have “overreached” with an alleged incident involving former President Donald Trump inside a vehicle. Johnson praised the hearing for being “choreographed exceptionally well for the attention span of the average American in 2022.” However, he added, “I’m concerned that the committee may have overreached on the incident in the vehicle.” Johnson said of the story: “It was secondhand hearsay.” Johnson said he would have gone to the source of the story to verify it...

A Washington Post columnist suggested Monday that the magic solution to rampant inflation and supply chain impediments would be to allow more illegal immigrants into the country. Catherine Rampell wrote a piece titled that “Democrats are missing the bigger immigration issue,” noting that “Democrats are terrified that a coming border surge might tank their midterm chances.” She then went on to suggest that problems will occur not with “too many immigrants” but rather “too few.” Rampell claims, without any evidence or authority, that inflation will start to recede if there are more migrants “who can fill critical labor-market shortages.” She...

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has withdrawn as commencement speaker at Vassar College following student backlash over his border policies — a decision that has stirred division at the elite "Little Ivy" school in upstate New York.

Law enforcement officials are officially launching an investigation into allegations that the January 6 riot on the Capitol was preplanned. Specifically, the agencies are investigating whether or not the rioters planned their course of attack by taking tours of the United States Capitol and whether or not foreign interference accompanied....If investigators conclude that foreign interference took place on Jan. 6, this would not be the first time another country attempted to influence America's elections. Back in November, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned about foreign adversaries attempting to meddle in the 2020 presidential election...

Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Thursday evening that President Donald Trump had even more legal authority to eliminate Qassem Soleimani than former President Barack Obama had to take out Osama bin Laden in 2011. “[Soleimani] was a combatant,” explained Dershowitz. “There’s no doubt that he fit the description of ‘combatant.’ He [was] a uniformed member of an enemy military who was actively planning to kill Americans; American soldiers and probably, as well, American civilians.” “It was the right thing to do,” he added. “It was legally justified, and I think we should applaud the president for his...

Four days ago, the United States military executed a flawless precision strike that killed the worst remaining terrorist on Earth, Qasem Soleimani. The next day, President Donald J. Trump delivered a statement on the successful operation. “As President, my highest and most solemn duty is the defense of our nation and its citizens,” he said. “Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.” “Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous: To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you. We...

This morning, Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson debunked Democrats' claim that Congress needed to approve Soleimani strike Johnson: Soleimani was a "lawful military objective" & the President had "ample domestic legal authority to take him out"

From the beginning it was a set up to find dirt on Trump campaign insiders and if possible to topple Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations. Before and after the 2016 election. And while this operation had many moving parts and alternating players, the mission to unseat Trump never changed. And it remains ongoing. Paul Manafort was wiretapped. Carter Page was wiretapped. Donald Trump Jr. was wiretapped. Jared Kushner was wiretapped. Gen. Michael Flynn was wiretapped. And likely there were others. And none of it was very legal. In fact, most of it was very illegal, according to federal law enforcement sources...

It was only a few months ago that Democrats were dismissing the crisis at the border as manufactured by Trump, and now they’re comparing migrant detention centers to concentration camps and blaming Trump for “putting kids in cages.” But for those still trying to blame President Trump, Barack Obama’s former ICE chief, Thomas Homan, has a reality check for them. Speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, Homan explained that the “cages” Democrats are blaming on Trump were the product of the Obama administration: “I’ve been to that facility, where they talk about cages. That facility...

Republican lawmakers Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows requested a slew of Obama era documents and communications Tuesday related to “attempted interference in the” 2016 election from Department of Homeland Security Kirsjen Nielsen. In a letter the lawmakers noted “then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson briefed Members of Congress about attempted Russian interference. During the briefing – which also included President Obama’s National Security Advisor Lisa Monaco and then-FBI Director James Comey – the Obama Administration assured Members that it was adequately addressing any attempted interference in the election.” Jordan, R-Ohio, and Meadows, R-NC, both members of the House Oversight and Government Reform...

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson pushed back against Democrats calling for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to be abolished in a Friday op-ed published in the Washington Post. The op-ed, titled, “Abolishing ICE is not a serious policy proposal,” likened demands to abolish ICE to a hypothetical demand from those who wanted to end the Vietnam war by abolishing “the entire Defense Department.” “Obviously, that would have completely compromised national security,” Johnson wrote, adding that ending the agency “would compromise public safety” as well. “Calls to abolish ICE only serve to sow even greater division in the American...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfU2eqjnXdg

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson reminded MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell Thursday of the Obama administration’s decision to expand the number of immigrant family detentions. A partial transcript follows: JEH JOHNSON: Illegal migration reacts sharply to perceived changes in enforcement policy — in the short term — but it always reverts back longer term to the longer term trends given the underlying condition of the so-called push factors in central America. So that is what President Trump and his administration have seen now over the last year. The numbers are 40 or 50,000 per month and they are obviously...

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid  refuses to say why for months he has blocked a bipartisan bill designed to ensure inspectors general access all of the official documents they need to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Three months ago, the Nevada senator blocked an attempt to pass Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s IG Empowerment Act with unanimous consent, which would make it crystal clear that the 1978 Inspector General Act gives presidentially appointed IGs authority to access all agency records for investigations and audits. Reid still refuses to change his position or explain his objections....

Shortened title. Full title: Obama’s DHS Sec Says Administration Knew About Russian Hack, Waited To Tell Public For Fear Of Label As ‘Taking Sides’ Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said on MSNBC Monday morning that although the Obama administration knew of Russian hacking as early as summer of 2016, the administration did nothing initially out of concern for being labeled as “taking sides.”

Suffering a crisis of confidence over his leadership on Ebola a week before the midterm elections, President Barack Obama assembled a massive staff meeting on the issue at the White House Sunday.Including the president, there were 24 people in physical attendance at the meeting CBS News said was convened “to discuss a nationwide policy for health care workers returning from West Africa.” Vice President Joe Biden joined via telephone, and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thomas Frieden and US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power joining via video teleconference.Sunday, the New York Times reported President...