U.S. Soldier Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS

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According to the Department of Justice, Hawaii-based U.S. Army Sergeant Ikaika Erik Kang, 35, became radicalized by watching Islamic State group propaganda and training videos at least as early as 2016.

On Wednesday, Kang pleaded guilty in federal court to four counts of attempting to aid the Islamic State group.

During a year-long investigation by the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division, Kang was caught trying to provide sensitive and classified military materials and documents to undercover agents who Kang thought were Islamic State sympathizers.

He was arrested in July 2017.

“The documents included, among other things: classified air traffic control documents that describe call signs, aircraft types, route points, directives, mission procedures, and radio frequencies; the US military’s ‘weapons file,’ which describes all the armament capabilities of the US armed forces; details about a sensitive mobile airspace management system used by the US military; and documents containing personally identifiable information of US service members,” read a statement by the Justice Department.

He also provided the undercover agents with “a commercially purchased small aerial drone, a military chest rig, and other military-style clothing and gear,” according to the Justice Department.

During a fake ceremony created by the agents, Kang swore his allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Army sergeant also met with two agents posing as a high-ranking Islamic State leader and a fighter within the group.

“Kang led the undercover agents in a hand-to-hand military combat session in order to train the supposed ISIS member in fighting techniques. The sessions were video recorded and Kang believed the video would be used to train other ISIS fighters,” CNN reported.

Kang had planned to eventually move to the Middle East and become an Islamic State member, according to court documents. He also allegedly planned to launch a suicide attack on his Schofield Barracks station in Hawaii.

An FBI affidavit released last year said Kang had told a Confidential Human Source that he had been researching torture methods on YouTube.

“Kang added that he was still angry at a civilian who had taken away his air traffic controller’s license, and that he wanted to torture him. Kang said that if he ever saw him again, he would tie him down and pour Drano in his eyes,” the affidavit reads.

Kang reached a plea deal on Wednesday and will serve 25 years in prison followed by the possibility of a lifetime of supervised release.

“Kang swore to defend the United States as a member of our military, but betrayed his country by swearing allegiance to ISIS and attempting to provide material support to the foreign terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers. “With today’s plea, he will be held accountable for his crimes.”

Special Agent in Charge Sean Kaul of the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office released a statement following Kang’s court appearance.

“This is the first case in the State of Hawaii where someone was convicted of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,” Kaul said. “This should serve as reminder that even though we are 2,500 miles from the US Mainland, these crimes can and do happen everywhere.” (For more from the author of “U.S. Soldier Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS” please click HERE)

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Massachusetts Dem Wants to Impeach Someone Other Than Trump

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Most Democrats calling for impeachment proceedings have their eyes on President Trump. One lawmaker in Massachusetts has someone else in mind. State Senator Barbara L’Italien, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Niki Tsongas, wants to send Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas packing because of his past “lies” about the sexual assault allegations against him.

During his 1991 confirmation hearings, Thomas was accused of making sexual advances against Anita Hill, a woman who had worked for him at two federal agencies. He denied the claims, but L’Italien doesn’t buy it. She is prepared to file the impeachment resolution against Thomas for perjury.

“There is an elephant in the room for Congress in the #MeToo era. Our leaders have to start talking about it. Two of the most powerful men in the country have been credibly accused of sexual crimes and gotten away with it,” L’Italien said. “Laws cracking down on sexual assault have to be signed by a president who multiple women say assaulted them. Regulations to stop sexual harassment can be struck down by a Supreme Court justice who lied under oath to counter allegations of sexual harassment. Why would victims think a government like that is looking out for them?” (Politico)

L’Italien may be the first politician to advocate for Thomas’s impeachment, but she’s not the first person. The Daily Intelligencer’s Jill Abramson wrote a piece entitled, “Do You Believe Her Now?,” laying out the case for impeaching Thomas based on new evidence. (Read more from “Massachusetts Dem Wants to Impeach Someone Other Than Trump” HERE)

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State Moves to Require Universities to Provide Free Medication Abortions for Students

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Soon in California, all universities may be required to provide abortion medication to students. . .

If the bill becomes law, it would make California the first state to enact such legislation. Right now, none of the 34 University of California or California State campuses provide abortion services.

The initiative is being funded by a number of private donors, who have already pledged to contribute millions of dollars to cover the start-up costs of launching the abortion program. The money will be used for things like ultrasound machines and staff training. If SB 320 becomes law, college campuses in California will be forced to implement these services by the year 2022. . .

A medication abortion involves a woman taking a series of two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol. The mifepristone, which blocks a woman’s body from producing the hormone progesterone necessary for maintaining a pregnancy, is taken in the clinic. Then the woman returns home and ingests the second pill, misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract, cramp, and bleed, eventually expelling the baby. Medication abortion is used by mothers up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.

According to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s number one abortion provider, you should “stock up on maxi pads, food, books or movies to help pass the time, and a heating pad for cramps. Make sure you have some pain medication — but don’t take aspirin because it can make you bleed more.” (Read more from “State Moves to Require Universities to Provide Free Medication Abortions for Students” HERE)

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Wait–Who Did the Jacksonville Fire Marshal Blame for the Madden Tournament Shooting?

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Last weekend, David Katz, a man who was hospitalized twice for mental health issues, opened fire and killed two people at a Madden 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. He wounded at least nine more as well; Katz reportedly snapped after losing in the event. A resident of South Baltimore, he bought two handguns legally, despite his mental health history. Also, there are more questions concerning the purchases since Maryland has the one handgun a month rule. . .

Katz was hospitalized twice for mental issues during his teenage years, being prescribed anti-psychotics, and having the police summoned by his parents, but he wasn’t involuntarily committed. Even if Katz had a concealed carry permit, which raises more eyebrows due to his mental state, Maryland and Florida don’t share reciprocity. In short, he had his guns in Florida illegally. It goes without saying; it’s his fault, right? Well, according to the Jacksonville Fire Marshal, it’s the fault of Chicago Pizza, who hosted the event (via Florida Times Union) [emphasis mine]:

Chicago Pizza was cited late Wednesday for having an un-permitted gaming room by the Jacksonville Fire Prevention Division, the same space where Sunday’s mass shooting left three people dead including a 24-year-old gunman from Baltimore, and about a dozen others injured. . .

City fire inspectors say Chicago Pizza was not permitted to hold the video game tournament that turned deadly at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to its Wednesday code violation report. The report states the restaurant’s last approved building layout was submitted back in 2009, but the restaurant altered the layout plan without approval. That created the GLHF Game Bar, where this past weekend’s Madden NFL 19 video gaming tournament was held. That makes it an un-permitted game area, the fire department said.

“If Chicago Pizza would not have altered the layout plan by creating an un-permitted game room area, the video game tournament would not have occurred, and thus, this incident would not have occurred at the Jacksonville Landing,” the fire department statement read. “This area was neither authorized nor a part of their submitted and approved building layout plan.”

(Read more from “Wait–Who Did the Jacksonville Fire Marshal Blame for the Madden Tournament Shooting?” HERE)

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Guess Who Just Paid for the Wall? Mexico!

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Guess what? President Trump just won- again. Trump just made the impossible, possible- again. Trump just made Mexico pay for the wall. More on that in a moment. . .

That was all before President Trump announced a United States-Mexico trade agreement. Because Trump talked tough and never gave in, US workers will benefit. US carmakers will benefit. US manufacturers will benefit. US taxpayers will benefit. Trump did it. He won. We all won. Trump announced he will terminate NAFTA.

While we don’t know all the details yet, I guarantee this new trade deal will save us tens of billions, perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. Since the wall with Mexico costs about $25 billion, Trump just forced Mexico (whether they know it or not) to pay for the wall. Once again, Trump accomplished what establishment politicians of both parties said could never be done.

But with Donald J. Trump there are no such words as “never” or “impossible.”Trump has chutzpah. Trump has cajones. Trump aims for the moon. Trump is combative and aggressive. Trump is driven to do what others say cannot be done. Trump is an eternal optimist. He accepts nothing less than #WINNING. I call those traits “The Trump Rules.” He proves they work every day!

You can bet he’s gotten Mexico to pay for the wall- his No. 1 promise of the election. You can bet we will now begin building the wall. Just as I knew his popularity would go up after the terrible week of guilty pleas and nonstop media assaults last week. (Read more from “Guess Who Just Paid for the Wall? Mexico!” HERE)

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Disappointing: A Super Concerning Development Was Just Made in the Muslim Extremist Compound Case

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A judge dismissed child neglect charges Wednesday against three of five people arrested at a New Mexico desert compound where 11 children were found living in filth and the body of a 3-year-old boy was discovered.

Judge Emilio Chavez ruled that he could not keep the three in custody because prosecutors missed a 10-day deadline for a court hearing to establish probable cause for the neglect charges.

Prosecutors have other options for pursuing charges against the three — Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj. That could include refiling the charges or asking a grand jury to indict them.

Prosecutors had pressed to keep them behind bars and planned to present new evidence of an anti-government plot and talk of jihad and martyrdom among some members of the extended Muslim family that settled at the compound last winter.

Defense attorneys say their clients have no record of criminal convictions and pose no risk to the public.

Authorities are pushing ahead with other charges against the dead boy’s father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, and his partner, Jany Leveille.

They were due in court Wednesday on charges of child abuse resulting in death, which could carry life sentences in connection with the death of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj. The severely disabled boy’s badly decomposed remains were found this month inside a tunnel at the high-desert compound near the Colorado state line.

Prosecutors and law enforcement officials have accused Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Leveille of denying the boy proper medicine and health care as the boy died in December 2017 during a religious ritual aimed at casting out demonic spirits. They have not yet entered pleas.

The boy’s mother initially reported him missing last year from Jonesboro, Georgia, after Siraj Ibn Wahhaj said he was taking the child to a park and didn’t return. Forensic medical investigators have not identified the cause and manner of the boy’s death as they continue their analysis.

Chavez ruled that the other three defendants could be released as early as Wednesday depending on what action prosecutors take. Prosecutor John Lovelace said he respects the judge’s ruling and that no decisions have been made yet on how the district attorney’s office will proceed.

Defense attorneys said the state Supreme Court put in place the rule on an evidentiary hearing as a fundamental protection of individual liberty and the right to due process.

“We’re talking about a month that someone was in custody, it’s an absolute deprivation of liberty and that is very precious,” said Aleks Kostich, who is representing Morton.

Prosecutors had planned to present as evidence a hand-written document called “Phases of a Terrorist Attack” that was seized from the compound and includes vague instructions for “the one-time terrorist” and mentioned an unnamed place called “the ideal attack site.”

Prosecutors wrote in court documents that new interviews with some of the children removed from the compound revealed that one of the adults, Morton, stated he wished to die in jihad as a martyr and that Leveille and Subhannah Wahhaj joked about dying in jihad.

The new charges of child abuse resulting in death against Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Leveille are tied to an extensive account of Abdul-ghani’s death in a journal that prosecutors attribute to Leveille.

Federal immigration authorities say Leveille, a native of Haiti, has been in the United States unlawfully for 20 years after overstaying a visitor visa. (For more from the author of “Disappointed but Not Surprised: A Concerning Development Was Just Made in the Muslim Extremist Compound Case” please click HERE)

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The Vatican Is Using Bill Clinton’s Playbook to Defend Pope Francis

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. . .The most ham-fisted gambits to date have come from Cardinal Blase Cupich, a Francis appointee. The cardinal told NBC’s affiliate in Chicago:

The Pope has a bigger agenda. He’s got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants and carrying on the work of the church. We’re not going to go down a rabbit hole on this.

The cardinal apparently did not realize that this sort of response was much funnier in the hands of the satirical Babylon Bee than a high-ranking church prelate.

It once was effective in the roaming hands of candidate and President Clinton. When confronted with his various immoralities, the Clintonian approach typically mixed denial, attacks on the accuser (usually accusations of political motive), and the complimentary assertion that the attacks were a distraction from getting on with his work for the American people.

Cupich seemingly absorbed an additional Clintonesque lesson, insofar as he added of Francis’ critics: “Quite frankly, they also don’t like him because he’s Latino.” As it happens, the Pope’s parents were of Italian descent and lived in Argentina. But close counts. In the depths of Lewinskygate, Toni Morrison defended Clinton as “our first black president.” (Read more from “The Vatican Is Using Bill Clinton’s Playbook to Defend Pope Francis” HERE)

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University Caves, Removes Research Suggesting Being Transgender Is a Result of Peer Pressure

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Brown University retracted research suggesting that young peoples’ decisions to transition from one gender to another is influenced by their peers and social media after angering the transgender community.

The university published behavioral and social sciences professor Lisa Littman’s research, “Rapid-onset gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults,” revealing that students and young people considering transitioning may be affected by their peers.

Littman conducted her study by posting a 90-question survey on three websites where parents had reported rapid onsets of gender dysphoria. The responses were recorded anonymously and 256 parent-completed surveys met the study’s standards.

In nearly 40 percent of the friendship groups described, the majority of the members became “transgender-identified.”

Over 60 percent of the transgender adolescents had been diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder or neurodevelopmental disability prior to the onset of their gender dysphoria, according to the study’s results. (Read more from “University Caves, Removes Research Suggesting Being Transgender Is a Result of Peer Pressure” HERE)

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FBI Officials Refuse to Reveal If They Met With Inspector General Over Clinton Server

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The FBI refuses to disclose whether or not it met with senior members of the Intelligence Community Inspector General on the subject of foreign intrusion of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s private server.

An FBI spokeswoman refused to confirm if Intelligence Community Inspector General officials — including Frank Rucker, its chief investigator — briefed top bureau officials about evidence of penetration of Clinton’s private server by a Chinese government intelligence operation. “We have no comment,” she told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Earlier Wednesday, an FBI spokesman released what appeared to be a categorical statement about the Clinton server: “The FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised,” the FBI stated.

The statement does not refute anything so far reported by TheDCNF, which has confirmed that the ICIG briefed top bureau officials on three separate occasions to warn the FBI of an “anomaly” they found in 30,000 inbound and outgoing emails. The report is based on an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter. The anomaly showed a code embedded in Clinton’s server was producing in real time a “courtesy copy” to a third party.

The third party was a Chinese state-owned company based in Northern Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C., and was part of an ongoing Chinese government intelligence operation, according to two separate sources with direct knowledge of the matter. (Read more from “FBI Officials Refuse to Reveal If They Met With Inspector General Over Clinton Server” HERE)

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Abortions and Tonsillectomies? No Difference to Taxpayers, Says Dem Candidate

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Democratic opponent said in a recent interview that taxpayers should pay for abortions like they pay for “tonsillectomy or any other procedure.”

In an interview with the Weekly Standard’s John McCormack, Democrat Tony Evers also said “pro-life Democrats are welcome in the party, and I respect their decisions on this issue.”

TWS: One story I’m interested in is the role of pro-life Democrats: Do they have a place in the party? There’ve been fewer and fewer in Congress. What is your message to them? Do you want to see Medicaid funding of abortion generally? I know that’s restricted in Wisconsin.

EVERS: Yeah, we have a big tent here in Wisconsin. We have to in order to win elections. And yes pro-life Democrats are welcome in the party, and I respect their decisions on this issue. But we need to have the Medicaid money be available for all people and restricting it because of a certain procedure, whether it’s a tonsillectomy or any other procedure, seems to me a foolhardy thing to do. So, yes, we have to respect people’s people’s pro-life beliefs, and certainly they’re welcome in the Democratic party. Absolutely.

Sure, taxpayer funding for abortion will attract pro-lifers to the Democratic Party. Right. (For more from the author of “Abortions and Tonsillectomies? No Difference to Taxpayers, Says Dem Candidate” please click HERE)

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