U.S. Police Use Chinese Drones to Enforce Social Distancing

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Police in Elizabethtown, N.J., are using drones to spy on citizens in areas patrol cars cannot reach. Authorities claim the drones are not taking pictures or collecting evidence, but failure to comply with their orders could lead to a summons or $1,000 fine. Even worse, the drones come from a Chinese company that sent similar drones across the country — and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned that data collected on these Chinese-owned drones could be compromised and sent back to Beijing.

“The drones make it easier for police to see into certain areas where access by patrol cars is more difficult. That includes tight spaces between buildings, behind schools, and backyards,” an MSNBC anchor explained in a segment on Friday. “Failure to comply could lead to a summons or a thousand dollar fine.” . . .

DHS warned that Chinese-made drones may be sending sensitive flight data back to their manufacturers in China, where the Communist Party-dominated government can access it. The DHS sent an alert last May warning about the drones, almost a year before American mayors decided to use DJI drones to enforce social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus.

According to CNN, nearly 80 percent of the drones used in the U.S. and Canada come from DJI, which is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.

“The United States government has strong concerns about any technology product that takes American data into the territory of an authoritarian state that permits its intelligence services to have unfettered access to that data or otherwise abuses that access,” the alert stated. “Those concerns apply with equal force to certain Chinese-made (unmanned aircraft systems)-connected devices capable of collecting and transferring potentially revealing data about their operations and the individuals and entities operating them, as China imposes unusually stringent obligations on its citizens to support national intelligence activities.” (Read more from “U.S. Police Use Chinese Drones to Enforce Social Distancing” HERE)

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It’s Full Speed Ahead for GOP Congressional Probes Into Origins of Russia Investigation; Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG

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By PJ Media. Lost in the coronavirus crisis and Congress’s multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Americans has been some shocking revelations about the FBI’s actions in starting the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to the Kremlin.

Recently declassified footnotes in the inspector general’s report on FISA abuses show the FBI to have knowingly disseminated Russian disinformation using the Steele Dossier as part of the basis for beginning the investigation. This has given new impetus to Senate investigations into how the effort to tie the Trump campaign to Russian intelligence got it so wrong. . .

The Hill:

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), seizing on newly declassified details of a Justice Department watchdog report, are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to hand over all records related to “Crossfire Hurricane,” the name for the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.

“We are deeply troubled by the Crossfire Hurricane team’s awareness of and apparent indifference to Russian disinformation, as well as by the grossly inaccurate statements by the FBI official in charge of the investigation and its supervisory intelligence analyst,” the two GOP senators wrote Thursday in a letter to Wray.

(Read more from “It’s Full Speed Ahead for GOP Congressional Probes Into Origins of Russia Investigation” HERE)

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Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG

By The Hill. Democratic Sens. Mark Warner (Va.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) are calling on Justice Department watchdogs to investigate Attorney General William Barr’s comments about the firing of intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.

Warner and Feinstein — the top Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, respectively — sent a letter Friday to Jeffrey Ragsdale, acting director of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz arguing that Barr has “misstated key facts.”

“This is a disservice to ICIG Atkinson. It also raises broader questions about whether Attorney General Barr is following Department policies and rules of professional conduct that demand candor and impartiality from lawyers, particularly those who serve the public trust,” the senators wrote

“We request that you investigate whether Attorney General Barr’s statements in matters involving the interests of the President violate applicable Justice Department policies and rules of professional conduct,” they added. (Read more from “Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG” HERE)

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Donald Trump Vows to Investigate Wuhan Lab, Challenges China’s ‘Revised’ Death Toll

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump said Friday at the White House that the United States would continue to investigate the origin of the coronavirus.

Recent reporting has questioned whether the virus could have come from a virology lab in Wuhan that was studying bats, rather than a bat sold in a Wuhan wet market. . .

“It seems to make sense, they talk about a certain kind of bat, but that bat wasn’t in that area, if you can believe this, that’s what they’re down to now, is bats,” Trump said. . .

The president also challenged China’s death toll, noting that news reports were uncritically saying that the United States had the most coronavirus deaths in the world.

“We don’t have the most in the world deaths, the most in the world has to be China, it’s a massive country, it’s gone through a tremendous problem with this,” Trump said. “They must have the most.” (Read more from “Donald Trump Vows to Investigate Wuhan Lab, Challenges China’s ‘Revised’ Death Toll” HERE)

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China Decimated U.S. Intelligence Apparatus Years Ago, Posing Steep Challenge During Coronavirus Cover-Up

By Fox News. A glaring spotlight has been cast on U.S. intelligence operations in China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and how exactly the novel pathogen originated in the city of Wuhan.

While China’s official narrative is that the disease was born out of a wet market in the city, sources within the U.S. intelligence community are now examining the theory that the origin of the pandemic stemmed from a laboratory — not out of malicious intent, but from an accident while undertaking dangerous virus research to keep up with the United States. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin U.S. intel is investigating the origins.

Intelligence experts stress that the attempt to usurp the U.S. as the global superpower is at the heart of their brutal dismantling of intelligence operations within the country. But American intel has been working from a disadvantage ever since several operatives’ covers were blown over the last decade, leading to a purge by Beijing.

Reports emerged in 2017 that China had dealt a huge blow to the CIA’s infrastructure within its borders. From 2010 through to around 2013, according to The New York Times, more than a dozen carefully curated assets in China were jailed or killed — with one even brazenly shot outside a government building as a perceived warning to others.

“It was devastating. The setback probably delayed the U.S. national security community from fully comprehending Beijing’s move toward a more oppressive and assertive policy,” Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair for the Hudson Institute, told Fox News. “The gap in a sharper understanding of the Chinese Communist Party’s true aims bought it more time to enact greater information suppression at home and more aggressive political warfare abroad.” (Read more from “China Decimated U.S. Intelligence Apparatus Years Ago, Posing Steep Challenge During Coronavirus Cover-Up” HERE)

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Department of The Interior Proposes Access to 2,300,000 Acres for Hunting and Fishing

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. . .Secretary of the Department of the Interior David Bernhardt announced a public hunting and fishing access plan of historic proportions. Sec. Bernhardt is proposing a rule that would open 2.3 million acres to hunting and fishing at 97 national wildlife refuges and nine national fish hatcheries. It’s the largest ever expansion of public hunting and fishing opportunities in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s history.

For hunters, it is a welcome announcement that America’s heart is wild, open and welcomes the contributions of conservation-minded hunting.

The proposal dramatically increased hunting opportunities across the country. It increases hunting on National Wildlife Refuges to 399 locations and will open hunting and fishing on nine units of National Fish Hatchery Systems lands. When totaled up as one species at one station in one state, it’s nearly 900 distinct new hunting and fishing opportunities. Those opportunities will be in just about every corner of the country too. . .

This is another example of how the Trump Administration and Sec. Bernhardt continue to deliver to outdoorsmen and women they know are paying for the abundant wildlife in America. The administration already opened 1.4 million acres for new or expanded hunting and fishing opportunities. This proposed rule change would grow that to nearly 4 million acres for sportsmen and women to take the outdoors. (Read more from “Department of The Interior Proposes Access to 2,300,000 Acres for Hunting and Fishing” HERE)

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This Isn’t the First Time The WHO Director Was Accused of Covering up Epidemics; How the World Health Organization Collects Its Money

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By The Blaze. A report accusing the director of the World Health Organization of covering up epidemics has resurfaced in light of current accusations that the WHO aided China in covering up the global coronavirus pandemic.

The report was first documented in a 2017 New York Times article about Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who goes by the name Dr. Tedros, and his campaign to become the director of the WHO.

The accusations centered around his time as health minister of his native Ethiopia.

“Dr. Tedros is a compassionate and highly competent public health official,” said global health law expert Lawrence O. Gostin of Georgetown University at the time.

“But he had a duty to speak truth to power and to honestly identify and report verified cholera outbreaks over an extended period,” he added. (Read more from “This Isn’t the First Time the Who Director Was Accused of Covering up Epidemics” HERE)

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How the World Health Organization Collects Its Money

By Fox News. President Trump sent shock waves around the world this week when he slammed the World Health Organization, claimed it favored China, blamed it for causing thousands of coronavirus deaths and ordered a freeze on funding from the U.S. . .

The organization itself runs on a two-year budget cycle. For 2020 and 2021, its budget for carrying out its missions is $4.8 billion — about one quarter of the cash the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gets, said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, which is an independent agency that works with the WHO.

Funding for the WHO is split into two uneven categories.

The first are assessments or dues each member state is required to pay, and is based on population and income. The second category is labeled “voluntary” and includes extra money governments float to the organization as well as private donations. These assessed contributions make up about 20 percent of the WHO’s total budget while the voluntary funds make up the rest.

The United States is the largest single government donor to the WHO and accounts for about 20 percent of the WHO’s total budget. The U.S. also gives the most money in voluntary contributions. (Read more from “How the World Health Organization Collects Its Money” HERE)

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Roger Stone Reveals in New Interview That His Prison Sentence Will Likely Kill Him

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By The Blaze. Roger Stone claimed that he was being wrongly persecuted in the first interview free from a gag rule after he was denied a new trial on Thursday.

The former Trump campaign official and longtime friend to President Donald Trump talked to Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show on Friday.

“I’ll just get right to it. I’m a little bit confused by why with all the pardons going around, everyone I’ve ever met has been pardoned, you haven’t been by a White House that has done a lot to push criminal justice reform and let a lot of really bad people out of jail in the name of humanitarian concerns, but you’re not in that category,” said Carlson. “Why is that, do you think?”

“Well, I really don’t know, Tucker, I was very hopeful that the motion for a mistrial in my case based on flagrant and blatant, even egregious juror misconduct would have won me a new trial,” responded Stone. . .

“At this point, the judge has ordered me to surrender in two weeks, and at 67 years old, with some underlying health problems, including a history of asthma, I believe with the coronavirus, it is essentially a death sentence!” he claimed. (Read more from “Roger Stone Reveals in New Interview That His Prison Sentence Will Likely Kill Him” HERE)

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Roger Stone Must Report to Prison Within Two Weeks

By Newsweek. United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied a motion requesting a new trial for Roger Stone, the convicted former adviser to President Donald Trump, in a Thursday ruling. Court documents show that Stone must appear in person “at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons” within 14 days to serve out his sentence. Stone is currently out on bond.

Stone was found guilty in 2019 of obstructing an investigation conducted by Congress, witness tampering and making false statements to the U.S. Government in relation to alleged meddling in the 2016 election by Russia. . .

Legal counsel for Stone requested a new trial after the foreperson of the jury, Tomeka Hart, was revealed to have posted anti-Trump sentiments on her social media pages. Allegations were also made that Hart lied on her jury application to appear as if she were not biased against Republicans. (Read more from “Roger Stone Must Report to Prison Within Two Weeks” HERE)

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REVEALED: FBI Withheld Negative Information About Steele; Outlets That Covered Steele Dossier During ‘Russiagate’ Go Silent as Steele’s Ties to Kremlin Revealed

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By Daily Caller. Bill Priestap, the FBI’s former chief of counterintelligence, told Justice Department investigators he agreed not to disclose information he learned about Christopher Steele as a precondition for a meeting with British government officials regarding the former MI6 officer, according to recently declassified information.

Priestap and his deputy, Peter Strzok, traveled to the United Kingdom in November and December 2016 to assess the reliability of Steele, a former MI6 officer whose dossier the FBI used for its investigation into the Trump campaign.

Priestap and Strzok received mixed reviews about Steele from his former colleagues, according to a Justice Department inspector general’s report on the FBI’s probe.

Some vouched for Steele’s honesty and integrity, but several others questioned his judgement and “lack of self-awareness.” Some colleagues described Steele as “smart,” and a “person of integrity,” their notes said. . .

But their notes also reflected negative reviews on Steele. He “[d]emonstrates lack of self-awareness, poor judgment,” was “underpinned by poor judgment,” and “[r]eporting in good faith, but not clear what he would have done to validate,” one source said. (Read more from “REVEALED: FBI Withheld Negative Information About Steele” HERE)

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Outlets That Covered Steele Dossier During ‘Russiagate’ Go Silent as Steele’s Ties to Kremlin Revealed

By National Review. Many of the same news outlets that provided comprehensive coverage of Christopher Steele’s opposition research dossier during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation have yet to cover newly declassified information that indicates the much-publicized Steele Dossier contained Russian disinformation.

In response to requests from Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.), the Department of Justice on April 10 declassified four footnotes included in Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. As of Thursday — six days after the footnotes became public — The New York Times and CBS News are the only mainstream outlets to cover the development. A host of other news outlets that closely followed the “Russiagate” story — and reported constantly on information related to Steele’s findings — have thus far ignored the new information. . .

Buzzfeed — which published the entire dossier composed by former British spy Christopher Steele in January 2017 — CNN, The Washington Post, Politico, and other outlets still have yet to cover the developments, despite widely circulating Steele’s claims following the release of his dossier, which played a “central and essential” role in obtaining FISA warrants against the 2016 Trump campaign.

In February 2017, CNN cited anonymous officials who had corroborated some of Steele’s claims for the first time, giving them “greater confidence” about the dossier’s credibility, and whose television anchors have insisted multiple times that “much of the dossier has been corroborated.” (Read more from “Outlets That Covered Steele Dossier During ‘Russiagate’ Go Silent as Steele’s Ties to Kremlin Revealed” HERE)

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Democrats Hope to Tank the Economy and Take Down Trump; President Trump Pushes to Reopen U.S.

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By WND. The new unemployment numbers are out, and there’s really no way to butter this biscuit, folks. Unless America’s economic engine is restarted, we will be plunged into a Great Depression. . .

And the only way to stop this economic death spiral is for every freedom-loving citizen to embrace their constitutional rights, take to the streets and demand that their state leaders reopen this nation. . .

It’s hard to fathom what our country has been through over the past few months. The nation was shut down based on a virus death-count that thankfully proved not to be accurate. . .

The mainstream media did their part by fomenting national hysteria as part of a sick and twisted narrative that the nation was in the throes of a dystopian apocalyptic reality show.

On Thursday President Trump unveiled his plan to open up American again – a plan that has strong support across the country. And while there are glimmers of hope that a number of the states will soon be reopening for business, many Democratic leaders are balking. (Read more from “Democrats Hope to Tank the Economy and Take Down Trump” HERE)

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Trump Pushes to Reopen U.S. Economy

By NPR. President Trump on Friday said states are well equipped to adequately test for COVID-19, a position that has been contradicted by state leaders and health care experts.

The Trump administration this week released a plan to begin reopening the U.S. economy, even as experts warn that the country has a long way to go before it can responsibly ease restrictions.

The White House on Thursday issued guidelines to states outlining a three-tiered approach to relaxing social distancing measures.

But while Trump boasted of the country’s comeback from the coronavirus’ grip, health care authorities say that rushing to reopen the economy without adequate measures like widespread testing could have disastrous implications on containing the virus.

“There have been some very partisan voices in the media who have spread false and misleading information about our testing capacity,” Trump said during the Friday briefing. (Read more from “Trump Pushes to Reopen U.S. Economy” HERE)

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Tea Party-Style Protests Are Popping up Across the U.S. Over Stay-At-Home Restrictions

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By CNN. Protesters gathered in several state capitals this week to voice their opposition to stay-at-home orders issued to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina and Utah — states led by both Republican and Democratic governors — have all seen protests in recent days as people grow more concerned about the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. . .

Some protesters met Thursday outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul to voice opposition to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-home order, which has been extended through May 3. . .

Protesters demonstrated in the Kentucky capital of Frankfort, where Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, had to speak over the noise during a news briefing Wednesday. (Read more from “Protests Are Popping up Across the U.S. Over Stay-At-Home Restrictions” HERE)

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Tea Party-Style Protests Break out Across the Country Against Stay-At-Home Orders

By NBC News. Across the nation, protests against the stay-at-home orders that health experts say are needed to save lives are taking place, with more set for the coming days.

This week, about 100 protesters gathered outside the Ohio statehouse in Columbus to push for Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to reopen the state. In Raleigh, more than 100 demonstrators gathered to protest Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order, where at least one protester was charged with violating the order. In New York, a few dozen people gathered Thursday outside the state Capitol in Albany to rally for returning to normal. Kentucky, Utah and Wyoming also saw similar protests.

More events are scheduled for Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Oregon, Idaho and Washington state. . .

Push back to the orders is generating plenty of buzz online, where hundreds of thousands have joined groups, such as “Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine,” “ReOpen NC” and “Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine.” (Read more from “Tea Party-Style Protests Break out Across the Country Against Stay-At-Home Orders” HERE)

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How Each State Can Reopen Under President Trump’s Guidelines

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump announced Thursday at the White House the new set of guidelines created by the coronavirus task force to reopen states in the country.

Each state, Dr. Deborah Birx explained, would be required to set up screening and testing sites and be able to trace contacts of patients testing positive for the virus.

They would need to have the ability to also screen for asymptomatic cases in places serving vulnerable and older Americans in places like nursing homes.

The state would have to have a sufficient supply of medical protective equipment for doctors and medical professionals and be equipped for a surge in ICU capacity.

If each state could meet the core responsibilities, they could enter into a phase one stage of reopening. (Read more from “How Each State Can Reopen Under President Trump’s Guidelines” HERE)

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Governors Sketch out New ‘Normal’ as Trump Eyes Reopening Parts of Country

By Politico. Even as President Donald Trump prepares to release his guidelines for how states can ease stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions, governors in California, New York and other states are starting to roll out their own ideas.

The plans are less elaborate blueprints than outlines of what the new “normal” might look like. But they could give homebound, increasingly anxious Americans rattled by the economic toll from the pandemic some sense of what’s to come.

Most of the scenarios focus on an easing of restrictions at the end of this month or in the first half of May. And the governors already are warning that a premature reboot could spell disaster without a clear sense of who is sick and where.

“It would really be the worst possible time for us to try to put more people out there and endanger them,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, chairman of the National Governors Association, said Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show about the prospect of lifting restrictions now. (Read more from “Governors Sketch out New ‘Normal’ as Trump Eyes Reopening Parts of Country” HERE)

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