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Hamas Leaders Rake in Billions as they Condemn Palestinians to War in Gaza
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Election Day in America: Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio to Vote, Setting Stage for 2024
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‘Secret reports’ reveal how government worked to ‘censor Americans’ prior to 2020 election, Jim Jordan says
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assisted in the creation of a “disinformation” group at Stanford University that worked to “censor” the speech of Americans prior to the 2020 presidential election, according to a number of communications outlined in a report by the House Judiciary Committee.
Detailed in the House panel’s 103-page staff interim report, the emails and internal communications showed how the group, identified as the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), worked with DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to alert, suppress and remove certain online speech in coordination with big tech companies.
One such email – sent July 31, 2020, by a top director at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, an EIP partner – described the CISA’s role in the censorship effort.
“I know the Council has a number of efforts on broad policy around the elections, but we just set up an election integrity partnership at the request of DHS/CISA and are in weekly comms to debrief about disinfo,” wrote Graham Brookie, the lab’s senior director.
According to the report, which Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, highlighted in a post to X, the communications showed how “the federal government and universities pressured social media companies to censor true information, jokes, and political opinions.”
“This pressure was largely directed in a way that benefitted one side of the political aisle: true information posted by Republicans and conservatives was labeled as ‘misinformation’ while false information posted by Democrats and liberals was largely unreported and untouched by the censors,” the report noted. “The pseudoscience of disinformation is now – and has always been – nothing more than a political ruse most frequently targeted at communities and individuals holding views contrary to the prevailing narratives.”
Along with countless Americans, certain right-leaning media outlets, and conservative commentators whose views were censored, the report also noted that prominent figures like then-President Donald Trump, North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie had their social media postings marked as “misinformation.”
Other posts from former politicians, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, were also flagged by the groups as “misinformation,” according to the report.
The report went on to note that under the influence of CISA’s Countering Foreign Influence Task Force, the federal government’s effort was to “censor Americans engaged in core political speech in the lead up to the 2020 election.”
DHS noted in May 2020, according to the report, that it could not “openly endorse” a type of system to flag misinformation. Stanford’s EIP took up the effort two months later, in July 2020.
NEW DOCS REVEAL HOW DHS ARGUED THEY HAVE AUTHORITY TO CENSOR ‘MISINFORMATION’
“According to the internal notes of a call between Facebook employees and DHS personnel regarding a ‘Misinformation Reporting Portal,’ ‘DHS cannot openly endorse the portal, but has behind-the-scenes signaled that [the National Association of Secretaries of State]/[the National Association of State Election Directors] has told them it would be easier for many states to have ‘one reporting channel’ and CISA and its ISAC would like to have incoming the same time that the platforms do.’ Less than two months later, the EIP would be established to serve that very purpose,” the report noted.
The CISA’s Countering Foreign Influence Task Force used a process known as “switchboarding,” described in the report as the “federal government’s practice of referring requests for the removal of content on social media from state and local election officials to the relevant platforms.”
“Brian Scully, testified during his deposition in Missouri v. Biden that switchboarding was ‘CISA’s role in forwarding reporting received from election officials … to social media platforms,’ the report stated.
One past email from Scully that was featured in the report informed members of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office that he had alerted parody accounts to Twitter. Another one made it known that he had requested for Facebook to remove a post about the election that had been deemed misinformation.
A disclaimer featured on several of the CISA emails noted that its requests were “voluntary” and that the agency “neither has nor seeks the ability to remove what information is made available on social media platforms.”
YALE STUDENT SAYS NEWSPAPER’S CENSORSHIP OF HAMAS RAPE FROM HER COLUMN PART OF WIDER CAMPUS PROBLEM
The Judiciary staff report also noted that students at Stanford worked simultaneously at the CISA and EIP.
“Not only were there a number of university students involved with the EIP, at least four of the students were employed by CISA during the operation of EIP, using their government email accounts to communicate with CISA officials and other ‘external stakeholders’ involved with the EIP,” the report said.
Fox News Digital did not receive an immediate response from the CISA about the findings in the report, but CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales told the New York Post that the agency “does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship.”
“Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy,” Wales told the outlet.
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“In response to concerns from election officials of all parties regarding foreign influence operations and disinformation that may impact the security of election infrastructure, CISA mitigates the risk of disinformation by sharing information on election literacy and election security with the public and by amplifying the trusted voices of election officials across the nation,” he added.
EIP was described in the report as a “consortium of ‘disinformation’ academics led by Stanford University’s Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) that worked directly with the Department of Homeland Security and the Global Engagement Center, a multi-agency entity housed within the State Department, to monitor and censor Americans’ online speech in advance of the 2020 presidential election.”
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Missouri attorney general sues Biden admin for approving the shipment of chemical abortion pills in the mail
The Missouri atorney general announced on Monday that his office is suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Senior Services after they unlawfully approved the shipping of chemical abortion pills in the mail.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s suit, which was joined by the states of Idaho and Kansas, comes on the heels of his efforts earlier this year, warning CVS and Walgreens that their plan to use the mail to distribute abortion pills would violate state and federal laws.
Twenty Republican state attorneys general joined in the effort, led by Bailey, who in February said he was doing everything in his power to warn the companies that his office will use “every tool at our disposal to uphold the law.”
20 STATE AGS WARN CVS, WALGREENS THAT DISTRIBUTING ABORTION PILLS VIOLATES STATE, FEDERAL LAW
“Unelected federal bureaucrats do not have the statutory authority to approve the shipment of these dangerous chemical abortion drugs in the mail,” Bailey said. “The FDA’s guidance is not only unlawful but would cost the lives of both women and their unborn children. I am proud to be leading a coalition of states that halt the FDA’s illegal federal overreach in its tracks.”
Bailey asserts in the lawsuit that the FDA has the “statutory responsibility” of protecting the health, safety and welfare of each American, which includes rejecting or limiting the use of dangerous drugs.
The attorney general says the FDA, which falls under the Biden administration, has failed with that responsibility.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO TAKE UP MAJOR ABORTION PILL CASE
“Specifically, it failed America’s women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved risky, untested chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States,” the lawsuit reads. “And, it has continued to fail them by turning a blind eye to these harms and repeatedly removing even the most basic precautionary requirements associated with the use of these risky drugs.”
Walgreens and CVS first announced their intention to distribute abortion pills in the mail after the Biden administration, in early January, developed a plan which they announced over a year ago, to change a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule in a way that would allow companies like Walgreens and CVS to apply for a certification to distribute a two-step abortion-inducing drug.
Before the rule was changed, mifepristone, the first pill used in the two-part abortion process, could be dispensed only by some mail-order pharmacies or by certified doctors or clinics.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RESTRICTS ACCESS TO ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE, DRUG REMAINS AVAILABLE
By granting the certification, the FDA would be allowing pharmacists to dispense the pill directly to patients upon receiving a prescription from a certified prescriber.
But the attorney generals warn the change is an incorrect reading of what the law allows and would not stand up in court.
In February, the attorney generals said they rejected the Biden administrations “bizarre interpretation,” adding they expect courts will reject it as well.
“Courts do not lightly ignore the plain text of statutes. And the Supreme Court has been openly aversive to other attempts by the Biden administration to press antitextual arguments,” they wrote. “A future U.S. Attorney General will almost certainly reject the Biden administration’s results-oriented, strained reading. And consequences for accepting the Biden administration’s reading could come far sooner.”
Bailey’s lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction against the 2016 rollback of most of the safety precautions the FDA put in place when it approved mifepristone in 2000; the 2019 FDA approval of generic mifepristone; and the 2021 and 2023 policy allowing these drugs to be sent by mail.
Brianna Herlihy of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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Report: 65-year-Old Jewish Man Killed at Pro-Palestinian Rally in L.A.
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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to endorse Trump at Florida rally on Wednesday
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to endorse her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The endorsement will take place Wednesday night at the former president’s rally in his adopted home state of Florida, Fox News confirmed on Monday.
The rally is seen as a counter programming move by Trump, as the event is being held in Hialeah, Florida, simultaneously as the third GOP presidential primary debate just a few miles away in Miami.
Trump – the commanding front-runner for the nomination as he makes his third straight White House run – is once again skipping out on participating in the debates with his Republican rivals.
TRUMP WINS MAJOR HOME STATE ENDORSEMENT IN SNUB TO DESANTIS
Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, served as White House press secretary for two of Trump’s four years in office. And she’s been a strong Trump ally since he left the White House.
But Sanders, who was convincingly elected Arkansas governor last November, had stayed neutral until now in the GOP presidential primary race. Her holding off on making an endorsement irritated the former president, according to sources in Trump’s political orbit.
WITH IOWA CAUCUSES CLOSING IN, TRUMP REMAINS DOMINANT FRONT-RUNNER
“It’s not a question between right versus left anymore. It’s normal versus crazy, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on crazy,” Sanders said in a statement. “The time has come to return to the normal policies of the Trump era which created a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America, and that’s why I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President.”
Trump, in a statement, emphasized that “we had great success in the White House and it’s an honor to have Sarah’s endorsement. I look forward to having her at the big rally in Hialeah this Wednesday.”
Word of Sanders’ backing of Trump, which was first reported by NBC News, came as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally landed the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa Monday evening.
DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, are currently battling for second place in the polls in Iowa and the other crucial early voting states.
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These 8 countries have pulled ambassadors from Israel amid Hamas war
At least eight countries have pulled their ambassadors from Israel since it launched a war against the militant group Hamas about a month ago, citing humanitarian concerns about the escalating military situation in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has escalated its bombardment of Gaza in recent weeks following a deadly surprise attack from Hamas on Oct. 7 in Israel. The group is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.
But many international humanitarian groups have warned that Israel’s attacks on Gaza and its blockade on needed supplies to the territory will lead to a humanitarian crisis in the region.
In protest, at least eight countries have pulled their ambassadors from Israel. In addition, Bolivia became the first country to fully sever its diplomatic ties with Israel in the wake of the ongoing fighting.
Here are the countries that have pulled their ambassadors so far.
South Africa
The government of South Africa announced Monday that it was pulling its ambassador from Israel and ending its diplomatic mission to the country.
“The South African government has decided to withdraw all its diplomats in Tel Aviv for consultation,” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said a press conference Monday.
She added that the Cabinet is “disappointed by the refusal of the Israeli Government to respect international law and the United Nations resolutions with impunity.”
South Africa previously called on Israel to “adhere to its obligations under international law and protect civilians” in a statement last week.
Jordan
Jordan also pulled its ambassador from Israel last week in protest of the ongoing war in Gaza that has left an estimated 10,000 people dead.
Jordan is a major U.S. ally in the Middle East and has absorbed generations of Palestinian refugees.
The government said at the time that its decision was an “expression of Jordan’s position of rejection and condemnation of the raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Jordan has repeatedly called for a cease-fire and a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel in the region.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Saturday with King Abdullah II for the second time since the war broke out to discuss the conflict in the region.
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the Israeli government of intentionally violating international law and killing civilians in Gaza in an attempt to “gradually erase” Palestinians from history in its decision Saturday to recall its ambassador from Israel.
“We will support formulas that will bring peace and calm to the region. We will not be supportive of plans that will further darken the lives of Palestinians, that will gradually erase them from the scene of history,” he said, according to Turkish media.
The Israeli government pushed back, calling the Turkish decision “another step to side with terrorist organization Hamas.”
Chile
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font condemned Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and announced last week that Chile would be pulling its ambassador from Israel.
The Chilean government said in a statement that it is concerned that Israel is violating international law in its attacks on Gaza.
It said that Israel’s operations were “collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza,” adding that it does not respect “fundamental norms of International Law.”
Colombia
Colombia announced last week that it would also recall its ambassador from Israel and condemned the killing of civilians in Gaza.
In its statement, the Colombian government emphasized the need for a cease-fire and urged the Israeli government to follow international law in its effort to eliminate Hamas.
Chad
Multiple news outlets reported that Chad also pulled its ambassador Monday from Israel over the ensuing violence.
“Chad condemns the loss of human lives of many innocent civilians and calls for a ceasefire leading to a lasting solution to the Palestinian question,” the Chadian government spokesperson’s statement said, according to CNN.
Honduras
Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced last week that Honduras was recalling its ambassador from Israel in statements posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Honduras cited the “the serious humanitarian situation suffered by the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip” as a reason for Castro’s decision.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that “Honduras energetically condemns the genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law that the civilian Palestinian population is suffering in the Gaza Strip,” The Associated Press reported.
Bahrain
Bahrain’s Parliament said that its ambassador to Israel returned to their country while the Israeli ambassador to Bahrain had already left, Reuters reported.
“The Council of Representatives affirms that the Israeli ambassador in the kingdom of Bahrain has left Bahrain and the kingdom of Bahrain has decided on the return of the Bahrain ambassador to Israel,” the parliament said in a statement, according to Reuters.
However, Israel has maintained that relations between the two countries are “stable,” the wire service noted.
Bolivia
The Bolivian government announced last week that it would be cutting diplomatic ties with Israel over the country’s war with Hamas, making it the first country to cut ties with Israel since the start of its conflict.
Bolivia previously broke ties with Israel in 2008 under former President Evo Morales’s left-leaning leadership in protest of Israel’s actions in Gaza, but relations were restored in 2020.
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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Formally Endorses Ron DeSantis: He ‘Puts This Country First and Not Himself’
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Biden admin notified Congress of plan to transfer $320M worth of precision bombs to Israel
President Biden’s administration has informed Congress that it’s planning a $320 million transfer of precision bombs for Israel.
Following reports on the effort, two sources confirmed to Fox News that a formal notification was sent from the Biden administration to congressional leaders about the planned transfer of Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies – a type of precision guided weapons fired by warplanes – to Israel.
A Senate source familiar with the initiative confirmed that the notification from the Biden administration had been received, with another source confirming that the notification was sent on Oct. 31.
According to correspondence viewed by the Wall Street Journal, the first to report on the transfer of the bombs, an agreement had been made and Rafael USA would transfer the bombs to its Israeli parent company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for use by the Israeli defense ministry.
The plan, according to the outlet, also includes the provision of support, assembly, testing and other technology related to the weapons use.
When reached for comment about the plan by Fox News, a State Department official said, “As a matter of policy, we are unable to comment on or confirm specific defense trade licensing or compliance activity.”
UN AGENCIES DEMAND HUMANITARIAN CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR RAGES: ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’
The plan comes after a $402 million transfer of the same weapons that the administration sought congressional approval for in 2020.
President Biden spoke with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday and “reiterated his steadfast support for Israel and the protection of Israeli citizens from Hamas and all other threats while also emphasizing the imperative to protect Palestinian civilians and reduce civilian harm in the course of military operations,” according to the White House.
Confirmation of the weapons deal comes after leaders of United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations declared “enough is enough” in a joint statement Sunday evening and demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as the reported Palestinian death toll climbed to 10,000.
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