Biden DOJ Ripped White House Over Clemency Grant to ‘Non-Violent Offenders’: ‘Stop Saying That Because It Is Untrue’

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Senior Justice Department officials were left befuddled by the sweeping pardons then-President Biden approved for thousands of convicts days before leaving office earlier this year — and rebuked the White House for falsely labeling the clemency recipients “nonviolent” offenders, according to emails reviewed by The Post.

Associate Deputy Attorney General Brad Weinsheimer struggled to make sense of the commutations granted nearly 2,500 federal convicts on Jan. 17 and requested “a list as to each inmate listing the offenses that are covered by the commutation.”

“I think the language ‘offenses described to the Department of Justice’ in the warrant is highly problematic and in order to resolve its meaning appropriately, and consistent with the President’s intent, we will need a statement or direction from the President as to how to interpret the language,” Weinsheimer wrote in a Jan. 18 email to members of the White House Counsel’s Office and the DOJ Pardon Attorney’s Office, adding that a statement directly from Biden would help clarify “the meaning of the warrant language.”

“One other important note,” the DOJ official continued, “in communication about the commutations, the White House has described those who received commutations as people convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

“I think you should stop saying that because it is untrue or at least misleading.” (Read more from “Biden DOJ Ripped White House Over Clemency Grant to ‘Non-Violent Offenders’: ‘Stop Saying That Because It Is Untrue’” HERE)

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Trump Clarifies Role American Troops May Play In Ukraine Peace Deal

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President Donald Trump told Fox and Friends the United States may give Ukraine air support as part of the peace deal with Russia.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. During the meeting, the president didn’t rule out American troops on the ground in Ukraine but on Tuesday, Trump suggested the U.S. would help by air.

“What did [the world leaders] say to you privately? It looks like they are on the same page as you are,” Fox and Friends host Lawrence Jones asked Trump.

“They are, they’re very good people, they are very good leaders of their country and they want to lead their country. They are consumed with this far more than we are because they are right there. We have an ocean separating us, a thing called an ocean. A big, beautiful ocean. They don’t. They are right there,” Trump began.

“It’s a different kind of a thing for them…when it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground, we’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have, really they don’t have,” the president said.

(Read more from “Trump Clarifies Role American Troops May Play In Ukraine Peace Deal” HERE)

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Las Vegas Child Sex Sting: Netanyahu Cyber Chief Arrested, Released, and Returned to Israel

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By The Guardian. An Israeli government cybersecurity official was reportedly arrested recently by Las Vegas police and other authorities in Nevada who were conducting an undercover investigation aimed at online users seeking to sexually prey on children.

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, 38, faces felony charges of luring a child with a computer for a sex act, alongside several other suspects who were apprehended during the two-week sting operation, the Las Vegas metropolitan police department said in a statement published on Friday. He has since been released from custody on $10,000 bail after an initial court appearance, records show, and returned to Israel.

As first reported by the news site Mediaite, a publicly posted screenshot of Alexandrovich’s page on the LinkedIn professional networking platform described him as the executive director of the Israel Cyber Directorate, an Israeli government agency under the purview of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Other information online attributes the same position to Alexandrovich.

The screenshot first reported by Mediaite also showed a post under Alexandrovich’s name alluding to his having been in Las Vegas earlier in August for the Black Hat Briefings, a yearly meeting of cybersecurity professionals.

“Two things you can’t escape at Black Hat 2025: the relentless buz of generative [artificial intelligence] and the sound of Hebrew … in every corridor,” Alexandrovich wrote in part in an accompanying post. Invoking an abbreviation for large language models and referring to one of Israel’s largest cities, the post continued: “The key takeaway? The future of cybersecurity is being written in code, and it seems a significant part of it is being authored in #TelAviv and powered by LLMs. An exciting time to be in the field!”

(Read more from “Las Vegas Child Sex Sting: Netanyahu Cyber Chief Arrested, Released, and Returned to Israel” HERE)

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Netanyahu associate, arrested in Las Vegas child sex sting, escapes without charges

By Press TV. An Israeli cyber official, who works directly under Benjamin Netanyahu, escaped to the occupied territories after his arrest in a US child sex operation in Nevada, US. . .

He has deep access to Israel’s cyber secrets and classified partnerships with foreign powers.

According to Las Vegas authorities, Alexandrovich and others were charged with luring a child with a computer for a sexual act. In Nevada, this felony carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

He was in Las Vegas for a professional conference, not as a registered diplomat. He has no diplomatic immunity. Yet US authorities allowed him to board a plane and return to Israeli-occupied territories within days, without trial, bail conditions, or public explanation.

Israeli outlet Ynet reported only that Alexandrovich was “briefly detained for questioning… before his release and return to Israel,” without mentioning the felony charges or the multi-agency child predator sting led by US authorities. (Read more from “Netanyahu associate, arrested in Las Vegas child sex sting, escapes without charges” HERE)

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Senior Israeli official arrested in US for child sex crimes

By The New Arab. . .[Tom] Alexandrovich, 38, was charged with attempting to lure a child with a computer for a sex act and detained in a facility near Las Vegas on 6 August, police records show. He was then released on $10,000 bail after appearing before a judge on 7 August.

It remains unclear who posted his bail or why he was allowed to leave the country. . .

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office initially denied that the official had been arrested and confirmed they had returned to Israel.

“A state employee who travelled to the US for professional matters was questioned by American authorities during his stay,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement to Israeli media. “The employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled.”

The Cyber Directorate later told Israeli media that the earlier statement “was accurate based on the information provided to us” and denied involvement in posting Alexandrovich’s bail. (Read more from “Senior Israeli official arrested in US for child sex crimes” HERE)

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Trump Admin Just Raised The Bar For Anyone Hoping To Become An American

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The Trump administration plans to more heavily scrutinize foreign nationals applying for American citizenship as it continues to tighten enforcement standards across the board.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency tasked with managing the country’s legal immigration system, will no longer only consider an alien’s absence of misconduct during the naturalization process, but will also identify their “positive attributes” to society, according to a new memo from the agency. The Trump administration argues the move will restore integrity to the citizenship application process.

“U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship — it should only be offered to the world’s best of the best,” Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS spokesperson, said in a public statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Today, USCIS is adding a new element to the naturalization process that ensures America’s newest citizens not only embrace America’s culture, history, and language but who also demonstrate Good Moral Character,” Tragesser continued. “This memo ensures that USCIS officers are accounting for an alien’s positive contributions to American society — including community involvement, achievements, and financial responsibility rather than the absence of their misconduct.”

Permanent legal residents on a pathway to American citizenship must demonstrate they are an individual of good moral character (GMC), according to USCIS. This evaluation typically involves an assessment of an alien’s behavior, including a review focused on the absence of any wrongdoing. Under these updated guidelines, the GMC assessment is expanded to involve a “holistic” evaluation of an applicant’s behavior and positive contributions. (Read more from “Trump Admin Just Raised The Bar For Anyone Hoping To Become An American” HERE)

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DC Attorney General Sues Feds To Stop Trump Admin From Cleaning Up Crime

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Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has had enough of criminal arrests and clearing out homeless encampments. He has announced that the city is suing the Trump Administration to stop its takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

President Donald Trump announced an executive order Monday invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act. It gives the federal government the authority to control MPD. Trump also declared a public safety emergency D.C., mobilizing the National Guard to address rampant crime in the nation’s capital.

The final straw for the city was Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Thursday order naming DEA Administrator Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner. Cole will assume “all of the powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police,” according to the order.

Schwalb will fight in court for MPD’s Chief Pamela Smith’s position.

“It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,” Schwalb said in an August 14 letter to Smith. (Read more from “DC Attorney General Sues Feds To Stop Trump Admin From Cleaning Up Crime” HERE)

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Putin Backs Trump’s Claim Ukraine War Wouldn’t Have Happened if He Won, as Trump Says Xi Vowed No Taiwan Invasion Under His Presidency

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By Fox News. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with Donald Trump’s claim that the war in Ukraine would not have ever even begun if he had not lost the 2020 election and was serving as president when the carnage began, instead of former President Joe Biden.

“I can confirm that,” Putin said at the tail-end of a press conferece that took place Friday evening after the pair met for a summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Trump made the assertion multiple times on the campaign trail, and continued saying it after he took back the White House. Trump has faced pushback on the claim, as well as on claims that Ukraine instigated the war’s inception and the Biden administration failed to do things that could have thwarted it from beginning in the first place.

“I’d like to add one more thing,” Putin said, as the two heads of state provided remarks to the press, according to a translation of the Russian president’s address. “I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with a previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to a point of no return when it would come to hostilities and I said it quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake. Today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then there would be no war – I am quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that.”

Earlier in his address, Putin lamented that bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia, prior to Trump, had “fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War,” and highlighted the fact that there have been no summits between the U.S. and Russia over the last four years. (Read more from “Putin backs Trump’s claim that the Ukraine war would not have happened if he’d won 2020 election” HERE)

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Trump reveals Xi Jinping told him China will not invade Taiwan while he’s US president

By New York Post. President Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him the People’s Republic will not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office.

Trump make the remarks during an interview Friday with Fox News’ “Special Report,” ahead of his sit-down in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” said Trump.

“He told me, ‘I will never do it as long as you’re president.’ President Xi told me that, and I said, ‘Well, I appreciate that,’ but he also said, ‘But I am very patient, and China is very patient.’”

Trump did not say when Xi made the comments, but both leaders in June had their first confirmed telephone call during Trump’s second term in the White House. (Read more from “Trump reveals Xi Jinping told him China will not invade Taiwan while he’s US president” HERE)

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How Trump’s Meeting With Putin Pivoted From Ukraine Cease-Fire to Full Peace Deal

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President Trump made an abrupt announcement about two hours into his private, roughly three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin Friday — declaring he wanted a full peace deal in Ukraine rather than a cease-fire, The Post has learned.

Convinced there were relatively few matters left to resolve, and believing a truce would only prolong the war, Trump set aside his publicly stated goal of a temporary halt in fighting.

“Figuratively, the president sort of threw up his hands and said, ‘I’m not interested in a cease-fire anymore,’” a source familiar with the discussion said.

Trump expressed concern that the “focus of the cease-fire” would be on “how long the cease fire will be” and “are they going to rearm?”

The pivot yielded “no pushback from the Russians,” leading Trump to exit Anchorage without a cease-fire in hand. Instead, he dialed up Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to see if a full peace deal was within reach.

The calls yielded a positive response, the source said, and Trump announced on social media that Zelensky would be at the White House Monday for talks. (Read more from “How Trump’s Meeting With Putin Pivoted From Ukraine Cease-Fire to Full Peace Deal” HERE)

Trump Administration Weighs Resettling Tens of Thousands of White South Africans

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The Trump administration is weighing a plan to allocate a significant portion of next year’s U.S. refugee slots to white South Africans, according to a Reuters report published Friday.

Two U.S. officials familiar with the discussions, along with an internal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) email, indicated that up to 30,000 Afrikaners — a minority group of predominantly Dutch descent — could be admitted to the United States under the 2026 refugee cap.

The administration is reportedly considering limiting overall refugee admissions to around 40,000 for fiscal year 2026, a sharp reduction from the 100,000 refugees accepted in 2024 under former President Joe Biden.

White House press secretary Anna Kelly defended the move in comments to the Daily Caller News Foundation, citing the violence and discrimination Afrikaners have faced in South Africa.

“Outlets like Reuters have long covered the persecution of Afrikaners, who have endured unspeakable horrors, including rape, murder, and other violent crimes while their government has abandoned them,” Kelly said. “President Trump has a humanitarian heart, which is why he has welcomed these courageous individuals to the United States. Refugee admission caps will be determined next month, and any numbers discussed at this point are pure speculation.”

In May, President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to prioritize resettlement for Afrikaners fleeing race-based discrimination and violence. The order accused the South African government of showing “disregard” for the rights of its citizens, citing “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”

The issue of South Africa’s treatment of Afrikaners has been a recurring point for Trump. During a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year, Trump warned of a possible “genocide” against the group and played a video montage of violent attacks and discrimination targeting white farmers.

The first group of 59 Afrikaner refugees arrived in the United States in May, with another 34 arriving by early August, according to Reuters.

However, the administration’s push has stirred controversy among refugee advocacy groups. Episcopal Migration Services and other organizations have ended their partnerships with the federal government in protest of Trump’s Afrikaner resettlement program, signaling a split within the broader refugee support network.

The final refugee cap for fiscal year 2026 is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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D.C. Sues Trump Over Federal Takeover of Police Department Amid Crime Crackdown

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A new lawsuit has been filed challenging President Donald Trump’s federal oversight of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, a move he initiated amid rising violent crime and growing concerns over public safety in the District. While critics claim federal involvement is an overreach, many Americans see it as a necessary response to years of failed local leadership and soft-on-crime policies that have turned D.C. into a cautionary tale of lawlessness.

The nation’s capital is pushing back against President Trump’s assertive move to place the city’s police force under federal control. On Friday, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit challenging what he called a clear overreach of executive authority, after the Trump administration appointed a federal official to act as the emergency head of the Metropolitan Police Department, effectively stripping local officials of command. The lawsuit argues that Trump’s action exceeds the legal bounds of federal power and requests an emergency court order to block the takeover and reaffirm the District’s authority over its own police force.

Schwalb called the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department illegal, asserting that D.C. police should only follow orders from officials appointed by the Mayor. In a memo, he instructed the police chief to ignore directives from Trump’s newly appointed federal official, setting up a direct legal battle. Schwalb warned that the move is a serious threat to D.C.’s self-governance — calling it the most severe challenge to Home Rule in the city’s history — and vowed to fight it in court. (Read more from “D.C. Sues Trump Over Federal Takeover of Police Department Amid Crime Crackdown” HERE)

Hillary Clinton Says Trump Would Deserve Nobel Peace Prize If He Ends Russia-Ukraine War

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Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton acknowledged on Friday that President Donald Trump would deserve recognition if he successfully negotiates an end to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking on the “Raging Moderates” podcast with host Jessica Tarlov, Clinton said she would personally consider nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize if he achieves peace without requiring Ukraine to cede territory.

“Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war, if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor, could really stand up to Putin — something we haven’t seen, but maybe this is the opportunity — if President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” Clinton said.

Clinton added that her primary goal is to prevent concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin, aided and abetted by the United States.” She also noted that she believes Trump “would very much like to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.”

President Trump has previously suggested that an end to the war may involve “land swapping,” which he described as having both positive and negative aspects for the countries involved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected any proposal that would require Ukraine to give up territory, emphasizing that the nation “will not give land to the occupier.”

Clinton’s remarks have drawn reactions from political commentators. Conservative commentator David J. Harris Jr. tweeted, “Did not have this on my 2025 bingo card!” while Paul Szypula wrote, “Of course, she sets conditions that’ll never happen like Ukraine not having to give up territory. Hillary is not serious.”

Clinton’s statement marks a notable acknowledgment from a longtime political rival, highlighting the potential political significance if the Trump administration is able to facilitate a resolution to the conflict.

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