Disclosure: Another 41 Foreign-Born Individuals Snagged on Terror Charges

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Following the discovery of a terrorist cell in Texas allegedly operated by an Iraqi who entered the United States as a refugee, the Washington Free Beacon has learned of an additional 41 individuals who have been implicated in terrorist plots in the United States since 2014, bringing the total number of terrorists discovered since that time to 113, according to information provided by Congressional sources.

Since August, however, the Obama administration has stonewalled Congressional efforts to obtain more detailed immigration histories of these individuals, prompting frustration on Capitol Hill and accusation that the administration is covering up these histories to avoid exposing flaws in the U.S. screening process.

The disclosure of these additional 41 individuals linked to terror operations—many already identified as immigrants, others’ immigration histories shrouded in secrecy—has stoked further concerns about flaws in the U.S. screening process and is likely to prompt further congressional inquiry into Obama administration efforts to withhold details about these suspects, sources said.

As the number of legal immigrants connected to terrorism continues to grow, the Obama administration has sought to quash congressional inquiries and rally its allies behind an effort to fund efforts to boost the number of immigrants and refugees from the Middle East.

Many of these immigrants have been caught by authorities planning terrorist attacks on American soil, while others were found to be involved in efforts to provide funding and material to ISIS, according to an internal list of migrant terrorists codified by congressional sources and viewed by the Free Beacon. (Read more from “Disclosure: Another 41 Foreign-Born Individuals Snagged on Terror Charges” HERE)

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Ex-Agent: Secret Service Too Cozy With Clinton, Press Interference ‘Dangerous’

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The latest case of U.S. Secret Service agents blocking reporters from asking Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton are “dangerous,” and could lead to media being threatened for getting too close to the candidate, according to a long-time former agent.

Dan Bongino, who was on Clinton’s security detail when she ran for the Senate in 2008, told Secrets, “This is dangerous. This is a dangerous development.”

He explained: “It’s dangerous because you have an arm of the federal government now de facto controlling access for a free press to a major presidential candidate. I mean, where does it end? What’s next, do you start threatening people for asking questions?”

Bongino, author of the new book “The Fight, A Secret Service Agent’s Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine,” added, “When you get the guys with guns involved, you start breaching a dangerous red line here. This is a staff function only.”

Clinton’s agents were criticized last year when they roped off reporters covering Clinton’s participation in a parade. (Read more from “Ex-Agent: Secret Service Too Cozy With Clinton, Press Interference ‘Dangerous'” HERE)

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Watchdog: Feds Paid Amtrak Worker to Spy on Passengers

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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration inappropriately paid an Amtrak employee more than $850,000 over 20 years to provide information on passengers who may be smuggling drugs, according a report from the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General.

The OIG also released a separate report saying the DEA arranged to pay a government airport screener to act as a confidential source. The screener, however, never provided information of any value to the DEA.

But the OIG’s problem with these arrangements wasn’t that transportation officials were reporting people’s actions to the DEA. Instead, OIG said it made no sense for the DEA to pay these people for information, as they are already required by law to offer it up for free.

“The OIG determined that over a period of 20 years, the DEA paid the Amtrak employee $854,460 as of January 2014 for information that was available at no cost to the government in violation of federal regulations relating to the use of government property, thereby wasting substantial government funds,” the OIG wrote.

The report did find, however, that the DEA went too far at one point by asking the Amtrak employee to gather “specific information.” (Read more from “Watchdog: Feds Paid Amtrak Worker to Spy on Passengers” HERE)

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Dow Closes Down Triple Digits as Stocks End One of Worst First Weeks Ever

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U.S. stocks closed about 1 percent lower Friday, ending the year’s first trading week with sharp losses as concerns about China and global economic slowdown persisted.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 had their worst first five-day performance of a year in history, according to data from Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P 500 lost $1.05 trillion this week, he said.

The major indexes closed out the week with losses of nearly 6 percent or more, their worst since 2011. The Russell 2000 also had its worst week in more than four years . . .

“I don’t think anyone wants to take on any risk for the weekend. … You just had the worst week in the start of the (year in) market history. Why would you want to go out long?” said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed near session lows, down about 167 points, more than giving up opening gains of 137 points. Apple closed half a percent higher but lost nearly 7.9 percent for the week. (Read more from “Dow Closes Down Triple Digits as Stocks End One of Worst First Weeks Ever” HERE)

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Seriously? Man Arrested for Plotting to Steal Obama’s…

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A North Dakota man who allegedly planned to dognap Bo – one of the White House pooches – was arrested in Washington D.C. this week, according to court documents.

Scott Stockert was charged Wednesday after Secret Service agents were alerted that a man was intending to steal the Portugese water dog, according to Politico. The first family has two water dogs, Bo and Sunny.

Stockert’s car was found to contain a 12-gauge shotgun and a black bolt action rifle, as well as over 300 rounds of ammunition. He was arrested at a Washington hotel and charged with illegally carrying a rifle or shotgun outside a home or business . . .

The first family’s search for a dog to join them at the White House was widely publicized. On election night in 2008, then President-elect Obama said that his daughters, Sasha and Malia, had “earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House.” Bo, a male Portuguese water dog, joined the family in 2009 and was a gift from then Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. Sunny, a female Portuguese water dog, joined the family in 2013. (Read more from “Seriously? Man Arrested for Plotting to Steal Obama’s…” HERE)

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Obama Just Got Caught Red Handed at His Gun Speech- He Thought He Could Slip It by, Then…

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Twitter lit up Tuesday after President Obama made the claim that violent felons can go online and buy weapons “with no background check, no questions asked.”

The assertion came as part of a lengthy address from the East Room of the White House on the executive actions Obama is taking to increase gun control in America.

Gun-rights advocate and radio talk show host Dana Loesch was quick to call out the president on his claim.

In the article she linked, Loesch points out that those purchasing guns online must go through the same background checks as those purchasing them at retail locations:

Background checks already exist for purchases made online…When you purchase guns online they aren’t shipped to your house like an Amazon delivery. They must be shipped to a FFL [Federal Firearms Licensed dealer] where you then go, fill out a 4473 [Firearm Transaction Record], get your background check, and if cleared you can take it home. Period. This law already exists . . .

In an interview with Townhall, Lars Dalseide, with the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action confirmed Loesch’s statement. “When it comes to online sales, guns can only be transferred to the buyer through a federally licensed firearms dealer – that’s the law,” Dalseide said. (Read more from “Obama Just Got Caught Red Handed at His Gun Speech- He Thought He Could Slip It by, Then…” HERE)

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Huge: Hillary Clinton WILL Be Indicted

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A former U.S. Attorney predicts a Watergate-style showdown in the Department of Justice if Attorney General Loretta Lynch overrules a potential FBI recommendation to indict Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“The [FBI] has so much information about criminal conduct by her and her staff that there is no way that they walk away from this,” Joseph diGenova, formerly the District of Columbia’s U.S. Attorney, told Laura Ingraham in a Tuesday radio interview. “They are going to make a recommendation that people be charged and then Loretta Lynch is going to have the decision of a lifetime.

“I believe that the evidence that the FBI is compiling will be so compelling that, unless [Lynch] agrees to the charges, there will be a massive revolt inside the FBI, which she will not be able to survive as an attorney general. It will be like Watergate. It will be unbelievable.”

DiGenova is referring to the Watergate scandal’s “Saturday Night Massacre” Oct. 20, 1973, when President Richard Nixon sacked Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest.

DiGenova is well-sourced throughout the law enforcement community and his assessment has to be taken seriously. But interviews with other knowledgeable Washington insiders present a somewhat less concrete scenario developing around the former secretary of state. (Read more from “Huge: Hillary Clinton WILL Be Indicted” HERE)

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Stock Market Crash 2016: This Is the Worst Start to a Year for Stocks Ever

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We have never had a year start the way that 2016 has started. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have both posted their worst four-day starts to a year ever. Canadian stocks are now down 21 percent since September, and it has been an absolute bloodbath in Europe over the past four days. Of course the primary catalyst for all of this is what has been going on in China. There has been an emergency suspension of trading in China two times within the past four days, and nobody is quite certain what is going to happen next. Eventually this wave of panic selling will settle down, but that won’t mean that this crisis will be over. In fact, what is coming is going to be much worse than what we have already seen.

On Thursday I was doing a show with some friends, and we were amazed that stocks just seemed to keep falling and falling and falling. The Dow closed down 392 points, and the NASDAQ got absolutely slammed. At this point, the Dow and the NASDAQ are both officially in “correction territory”, and some of the talking heads on television are warning that this could be the beginning of a “bear market”. But of course some of the other “experts” are insisting that this is just a temporary bump in the road.

But what everyone can agree on is that we have never seen a start to a year like this one. The following comes from CNN…

The global market freakout of 2016 just got worse.

The latest scare came on Thursday as China’s stock market crashed 7% overnight and crude oil plummeted to the lowest level in more than 12 years.

The Dow dropped 392 points on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%, while the Nasdaq tumbled 3%.

The wave of selling has knocked the Dow down 911 points, or more than 5% so far this year. That’s the worst four-day percentage loss to start a year on record, according to FactSet stats that go back to 1897.

When CNN starts sounding like The Economic Collapse Blog, you know that things are really bad. I particularly like their use of the phrase “global market freakout”. I might have to borrow that one.

Even some of the biggest and most trusted stocks are plummeting. For instance, Apple dropped to $96.45 on Thursday. It is now down a total of 28 percent since hitting a record high of more than 134 dollars a share back in April.

So that means that if someone put all of their retirement money into Apple stock last April (which may have seemed like a really good idea at that time), by now more than one-fourth of that money is gone.

For months, I have been warning that the exact same patterns that we witnessed just prior to the great stock market crash of 2008 were happening again. To me, the parallels between 2008 and 2015/2016 were just uncanny. And now other very prominent names are making similar comparisons. According to the Washington Post, George Soros says that the way this new crisis is unfolding “reminds me of the crisis we had in 2008″…

Influential investor George Soros said that China had a “major adjustment problem” on its hands. “I would say it amounts to a crisis,” he told an economic forum in Sri Lanka, according to Bloomberg News. “When I look at the financial markets, there is a serious challenge which reminds me of the crisis we had in 2008.”

Don’t get me wrong – I am certainly not a supporter of George Soros. My point is that we are starting to hear a lot of really ominous talk from a lot of different directions. All over the world, people are starting to understand that the next great financial crisis is already here.

As I write this tonight, I just feel quite a bit of sadness. A lot of hard working people are going to lose a lot of money this year, and that includes people that I know personally. I wish that my voice had been clearer and louder. I wish that I could have done more to get people to understand what was coming. I wish that my warnings could have made more of a difference.

I just think about how I would feel if everything that I had worked for all my life was suddenly wiped out. And that is what is going to end up happening to some of these people. When you lose everything, it can be absolutely debilitating.

You only make money in the markets if you get out in time. And unfortunately, most of the general population will be like deer in the headlights and won’t know which way to move.

There will be up days for the markets in our near future. But don’t be fooled by them. It is important to remember that some of the greatest up days in U.S. stock market history were right in the middle of the stock market crash of 2008. So don’t let a rally fool you into thinking that the crisis is over.

The financial crisis that began in the second half of 2015 is now accelerating, and everything that we have witnessed over the past few days is just a natural extension of what has already been happening.

Personally, I am just really looking forward to this weekend when I will hopefully get caught up on some rest. Plus, my Washington Redskins will be hosting a playoff game on Sunday, and if they find a way to win that game that will put me in a particularly positive mood.

It is good to enjoy these simple pleasures while we still can. Unprecedented chaos is coming this year, and we are all going to need strength and courage for what is ahead. (For more from the author of “Stock Market Crash 2016: This Is the Worst Start to a Year for Stocks Ever” please click HERE)

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Conservatives Agree Standoff in Oregon Elevates Debate on Federal Land Ownership

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As protesters continue to engage in a standoff against the government at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, conservatives agree the events have elevated the debate over federal land ownership.

But, lawmakers stop short of endorsing the actions of the protesters occupying a federal building located south of Burns, Ore.

“It’s brought attention to a problem issue,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal. “I’m not an advocate of trespassing, taking over federal property, but now that they’ve brought attention to the issue, they don’t need to be violating laws, either—local, state or federal.”

“We do need to get to the bottom of what happened to the Hammonds. It sounds very abusive,” Gohmert, chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, continued. “We’ve got too much power in the hands of the [Bureau of Land Management], too much power in the hands of Fish and Wildlife [Service], too much power in the Department of the Interior.”

The federal government currently owns more than 630 million acres of land across the United States, and the Texas Republican warned that the federal government is beginning to creep further east in terms of the land it controls.

“If they’re doing it in the West, then eventually they’re going to come do it in the East, and people all over the country will feel the crush as the federal government takes over the land at a theater near you,” he said.

On Saturday, armed protesters took over an empty federal building located on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It’s unknown how many people are in the group, called Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and led by Ammon Bundy.

Ammon Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, engaged in an 11-day standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in 2014.

The protesters plan to occupy the refuge until the federal government returns the land to private ownership.

Citizens for Constitutional Freedom traveled to Burns to protest the five-year prison sentence of Dwight and Steven Hammond, ranchers who were convicted of arson on federal land.

Dwight and Steven Hammond originally received three month and one year sentences, respectively, for setting fires that spread to federal land in 2001 and 2006. However, the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals resentenced the father and son in October and said they have to serve out a five-year sentence mandated under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the law under which they were sentenced.

The trial judge who sentenced Dwight and Steven Hammond originally said the five-year mandatory minimum for arson on federal land was excessive.

Protesters with Citizens for Constitutional Freedom oppose not only the Hammonds’ sentence, which they say is unjust, but also the government’s control of land.

The latter issue, conservatives from western states say, has been the cause of frustration for many Americans for years, particularly as they see the federal government take more land from private citizens trying to make a living and feed their families.

“The issue in the West that people here in the East don’t understand is that, in Idaho, it’s over 65 percent of our lands are owned by the federal government. It’s the same thing in most of the states in the West,” Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, told reporters yesterday. “And what we have is frustration where you have the BLM, you have these other federal agencies that keep taking over the lands.”

In Oregon, specifically, the federal government owns 53 percent of the land, with the Bureau of Land Management managing the largest amount largest amount—more than 16 million acres— according to a 2014 report from the Congressional Research Service.

Labrador said the government’s attempts to take control of more and more land likely served as the catalyst for the current standoff in Oregon, which has so far been a peaceful takeover by Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.

“You have just a frustration that they feel the federal government is not listening to them, and that’s what leads to what so far has been a peaceful takeover of an abandoned building,” he said. Labrador continued:

I hope my colleagues who are not from the West can understand what’s happening in the West. There’s such a level of frustration with the federal government. … The laws are making it more difficult for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor and enjoy the freedoms out in the West.

Not only do lawmakers contend the protesters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are voicing concerns shared by many in the West, but Rep. Steve Pearce R-N.M., said the federal government was hypocritical in its punishment of the Hammonds for employing the same techniques the government does, and damaging far more land.

According to reports, the 2001 fire set by the Hammonds, which they said they had approval from the Bureau of Land Management to start, damaged 139 acres of federal land. The 2006 backfires set by Steven Hammond destroyed one acre of federal land.

“Now keep in mind we in the West are watching the backfires that were set [by the government] exactly the way [the Hammonds] set, the backfires are burning 300,000 acres when an agency sets them. They’re burning 255 houses in my district in one 30,000 acre fire,” Pearce said. He continued:

You get people put in jail for five years for burning 130 acres that they were given permission, it looks like they were given permission to set the fire, and the agency can burn 300,000 acres and nobody is accountable.

Such hypocrisy from the government, the New Mexico Republican said, has sparked outrage from Americans living in the West.

“That’s the reason people in the West are furious,” he said. “They’re furious going into this situation. Now, I’m not taking a side on the Bundys. I think that’s a side show. I think the Hammonds are the ones who have been badly treated, and that’s what we’re expressing in the West. We’re fed up.” (For more from the author of “Conservatives Agree Standoff in Oregon Elevates Debate on Federal Land Ownership” please click HERE)

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Obama Says It’s a ‘Conspiracy’ He Wants to Take Away Your Guns

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Stiff-armed by a Republican-led Congress, President Barack Obama took to national television Thursday night in an effort to sell stricter gun control laws to the American public.

During a town hall event televised live by CNN, the president called the suggestion that he wants to take guns away a “conspiracy.”

He said his efforts are instead a “modest” move toward curbing gun violence, which he called an epidemic in the United States.

“This is not a recipe for solving every problem,” Obama said. “The goal here is just to make progress.”

The hour-long program, called “Guns in America,” was broadcast two days after Obama delivered an emotional appeal to mitigate gun deaths through executive actions expanding background checks and investing in mental health.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper fielded questions to the president, offering an opportunity for both gun rights advocates and gun control proponents to discuss one of the nation’s most controversial issues.

In one exchange, Cooper said some Americans simply don’t trust Obama’s motives, asking the president if it was “fair to call it a conspiracy.”

“Yes, it is fair to call it a conspiracy,” Obama said. “What are you saying? Are you suggesting that the notion that we are creating a plot to take everybody’s guns away so that we can impose martial law is [not] a conspiracy? Yes, that is a conspiracy! I would hope that you would agree with that. Is that controversial?”

Taya Kyle, the widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, disputed Obama’s repeated claim that increased gun control would prevent violence, saying the administration’s measures provide a “false sense of hope.”

“The thing is that the laws we create don’t stop these horrific things from happening, right? And that’s a very tough pill to swallow.”

Obama attempted to appeal to gun owners in the audience, urging them to support measures that would close background check “loopholes” so that firearms are less likely to flow into the hands of criminals.

“I respect the Second Amendment; I respect the right to bear arms,” Obama said. “But all of us can agree that it makes sense to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of people who would do other people harm.”

The National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun rights organization, declined an invitation to partake in the event. In a statement to CNN, an NRA spokesman said that the advocacy group “sees no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle orchestrated by the White House.”

The event took place at George Mason University, just 3 miles west of the NRA’s national headquarters in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Though the group did not send a representative in person, it remained active on Twitter to rebuke the president’s remarks.

Obama has struggled through the past seven years of his presidency to advance substantial gun control proposals, moving him to act alone Tuesday to expand federal background checks in gun sales through greater firearm licensing requirements.

The president also ordered additional FBI staff to process applications and requested $500 million to invest in mental health.

A new CNN/ORC poll released Thursday found that 67 percent of Americans back the president’s executive actions on guns, while 32 percent oppose them.

But the majority of Americans—54 percent—are against Obama using executive actions to advance his measures, while only 44 percent support his use of executive power. (For more from the author of “Obama Says It’s a ‘Conspiracy’ He Wants to Take Away Your Guns” please click HERE)

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