Posts

Republicans Demand Answers on DOD Clearing Former Official of Alleged Misconduct on Amazon Jedi Bid

/0 Comments/in , /by

Based on newly revealed evidence, Republicans are now questioning the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s (DOD OIG) April 2020 finding that a former senior defense official — Sally Donnelly — did not engage in ethical misconduct by allegedly trying to steer a massive government contract to Amazon.

Now in control of the House, Republicans are reviewing the DOD OIG’s conclusion, which leaves the former official in a position to continue pursuing lucrative contracts for Amazon with the DOD, as well as to sit on a key DOD business advisory board.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently previewed their efforts in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “There are a number of members that have been looking into this contract, how the contract was made — is there any illegal activity done within there — and I think more of that will come to light,” he said in March.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who sits on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, is one of the members digging into the details of the investigation.

“The conflict of interest there is major,” she told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview in May. “This is a ‘what the f-ck’ moment.” (Read more from “Republicans Demand Answers on DOD Clearing Former Official of Alleged Misconduct on Amazon Jedi Bid” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

China Abruptly Shuts Down Pentagon Request for High-Level Defense Meeting

/0 Comments/in , /by

China on Monday officially shut down the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) request for a meeting between each country’s defense ministers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin intended to speak in-person with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Security Dialogue from May 31 to June 4, as he had done in 2022, when such meetings usually materialize without significant planning ahead. However, Beijing issued a last-minute rebuff to the Pentagon in an unusually straightforward rejection as relations between the two defense ministries further sour, according to the WSJ.

“Overnight, the PRC informed the U.S. that they have declined our early May invitation for Secretary Austin to meet with PRC Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Singapore this week,” the Pentagon in a statement to the WSJ, using the abbreviation for China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China.

The Pentagon sought for weeks to secure a meeting between Austin and China’s new defense minsiter, Li Shangfu, even taking a somewhat unusual step of sending a letter directly to Li, according to the WSJ. (Read more from “China Abruptly Shuts Down Pentagon Request for High-Level Defense Meeting” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

160-Plus Retired Military Brass Urge Congress to Root Out DOD’s Poisonous ‘Diversity’ and ‘Equity’ Programs

/0 Comments/in , /by

More than 160 retired generals and admirals recently signed a letter calling on Congress to remove so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the Department of Defense and remove funding for such programs from the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“As our Nation faces looming threats from ‘foreign’ adversaries/enemies, our military is under assault from a culture war stemming from ‘domestic’ ideologically inspired political policies and practices. … Our military must be laser focused on one mission — readiness, undiminished by the culture war engulfing our country,” Flag Officers 4 America wrote in the letter addressed to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Armed Services Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert.

The signatories — which included former National Security Advisor John Poindexter, Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, and former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense William Gerald Boykin — expressed concern about how divisive and discriminatory DEI policies affect national security. So-called “equity,” they wrote, “sounds benign, but in practice it lowers standards. While equality provides equal opportunities, equity’s goal is equal outcomes.”

The officers argued that equal opportunity and meritocracy provide the greatest foundation for both equality and national defense, while the cultural Marxism promoted by DEI policies is a domestic threat to our national security. (Read more from “160-Plus Retired Military Brass Urge Congress to Root Out DOD’s Poisonous ‘Diversity’ and ‘Equity’ Programs” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Department of Defense (DoD) issued on Easter Sunday its most detailed public statement to date regarding the apparent leak of classified information.

“An agency effort has been stood up, focused on assessing the impact these photographed documents could have on U.S. national security and on our Allies and partners,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement. “Over the weekend, U.S. officials have engaged with Allies and partners and have informed relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction about the disclosure.”

Up until Sunday, the Pentagon had only commented publicly on the matter to say it was aware of the images and that a criminal referral had been made to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Singh confirmed on Sunday the DOJ had opened a criminal investigation. “The Department of Defense’s highest priority is the defense of our nation and our national security,” she added. (Read more from “Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

‘Abortion Travel Agency’: Pentagon Will Pay for Travel to Other States for ‘Reproductive Health Care’

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Department of Defense (DOD) will pay for troops to travel to states that allow abortions and obtain so-called “reproductive health care” at non-military facilities, according to a new policy released Thursday evening.

The landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision gave states the authority to determine localized abortion policies. The Hyde amendment bars DOD from administering abortions at military medical facilities, the new policy carves out provisions for expanded leave times and set-aside funding for servicemembers stationed in states that restrict abortions to cross state boundaries to obtain the procedure.

“Our Service members and their families do not control where they are stationed, and due to the nature of military service, are frequently required to travel or move to meet operational requirements,” a DOD press release states. The DOD’s efforts will ensure pregnant servicemembers are “afforded time and flexibility to make private health care decisions” and access private abortion providers regardless of where they are stationed.

When the Dobbs ruling came down, DOD lacked procedures for allowing female service members to have abortions if they are stationed in one of the states that bans or tightly restricts the practice. (Read more from “‘Abortion Travel Agency’: Pentagon Will Pay for Travel to Other States for ‘Reproductive Health Care’” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Biden Defense Department Sued for Improper Use of U.S. Military

/0 Comments/in , /by

Joe Biden’s Department of Defense is being sued for details about the use of Marines during his politicized “hate-MAGA” speech in Philadelphia last year.

In the speech, Biden stood in front of a blood-red backdrop – and was flanked by two Marines – to allege that supporters of President Trump were “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

“Biden’s infamous ‘Red Speech,’ which included the abuse of our Marines in its totalitarian imagery, painted a target on Trump and tens of millions of Americans for political suppression and worse,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “And, to make matters worse, the Pentagon is violating federal law by hiding records about Biden’s misuse of our military in his attempt to intimidate Americans.” . . .

Judicial Watch said its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Biden’s DoD seeks records about the use of those U.S. Marines for political purposes at Biden’s “controversial September 1, 2022, campaign speech in Philadelphia.”

Judicial Watch explained, “Biden was widely criticized for using the Marines as props during a political speech in which he called ‘MAGA Republicans’ a threat to democracy.” (Read more from “Biden Defense Department Sued for Improper Use of U.S. Military” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

DOD Awards New Seven-Figure Grant to Group That Funded Wuhan Lab Research

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Department of Defense (DOD) in December awarded a seven-figure grant to EcoHealth Alliance Inc., the nonprofit organization that funneled millions in taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for dangerous bat virus research.

The DOD awarded a grant of $3 million to EcoHealth beginning Dec. 12 for the purpose of combatting pandemic threats emanating from the Philippines, according to USASpending.gov. The grant was awarded as part of a DOD program aimed at countering weapons of mass destruction.

Specifically, the grant is meant for “reducing the threat of viral spillover from wildlife in the Philippines.” EcoHealth has defended much of its work as being essential to detecting and preventing future pandemics that may begin in the wild, although it is unclear what real-world benefits that work has had up to this point.

Over the course of roughly a decade, EcoHealth Alliance funneled millions of dollars in U.S. government grants to the WIV as it conducted gain-of-function (GoF) research on bat-based coronaviruses. EcoHealth founder Peter Daszak was initially part of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of COVID-19 in China, which critics panned as a blatant conflict of interest. (Read more from “DOD Awards New Seven-Figure Grant to Group That Funded Wuhan Lab Research” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Pentagon Lays Out Expectations for Winter Months in Ukraine

/0 Comments/in , /by

A top Department of Defense official warned that the changing season has already affected the war in Ukraine and will continue to do so as winter comes.

Dr. Colin H. Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, predicted Tuesday that the fighting, which has already been altered by the increasingly colder conditions, will continue, “even if the intensity of the fighting goes down.”

“You’re already seeing the sloppy weather in Ukraine slow things down a little bit,” he said during a Project for Media and National Security event. “It’s getting really muddy, which makes it hard to do large-scale offensives. I think that that challenge is going to get worse in the coming weeks. So we’ll have to see whether the fighting slows down as a consequence of that.”

Both sides will likely continue to exchange artillery fire as “the fighting is not going to stop,” even if the fighting’s intensity decreases. For the troops on the front line, the winter months will be a chance to get resupplied and bring in reinforcements. (Read more from “Pentagon Lays Out Expectations for Winter Months in Ukraine” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Bombshell Report on Anti-White Posts Sends Biden Admin Official Into Hiding

/0 Comments/in , /by

A diversity chief at the Department of Defense’s education wing went dark on social media after Fox News Digital found that she posted disparaging posts about White people on Twitter.

The chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), Kelisa Wing, described herself on Twitter as a “woke administrator.” Fox News Digital reported that Wing published tweets calling White people “Karens,” a derogatory word.

Wing’s Twitter account was put on private and her LinkedIn account appeared to be deleted. Fox News Digital previously downloaded a copy of her account profile. It indicated she worked at the DoD for 16 years and was promoted as DEI chief in December 2021.

In June 2020, Wing said, “I’m exhausted with these white folx in these [professional development] sessions.”

“[T]his lady actually had the CAUdacity to say that black people can be racist too… I had to stop the session and give Karen the BUSINESS… [W]e are not the majority, we don’t have power,” she continued. “Caudacity” is a slang term that is used to describe audacity demonstrated by White people. (Read more from “Bombshell Report on Anti-white Posts Sends Biden Admin Official Into Hiding” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Phones of Pentagon Trump Officials Wiped of Jan. 6 Messages

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Defense Department wiped the data from the phones belonging to top officials in the Trump administration, deleting text messages that were sent at about the time of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog organization, sought as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the records from the officials’ phones in the days after the Jan. 6 attack to gain insight into how the government responded while rioters breached the Capitol. However, the DOD responded in March, saying the requested records “were not preserved and therefore could not be searched” because “when an employee separates from DOD or Army he or she turns in the government issued phone, and the phone is wiped,” according to the court filings.

“It’s just astounding to believe that the agency did not understand the importance of preserving its records — particularly [with regards] to the top officials that might have captured: what they were doing, when they were doing it, why they were doing, it on that day,” Heather Sawyer, executive director of American Oversight, told CNN.

The lost communications between top Defense officials such as former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, former chief of staff Kash Patel, and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy are considered crucial to understanding the government’s response during the Capitol riot. The Homeland Security Department inspector general has taken investigative steps looking into missing text messages between Secret Service members at about the time of the Capitol riot, though that inquiry has taken fire over allegations that the independent watchdog has participated in a cover-up. American Oversight called for an inquiry into the Defense Department, too. (Read more from “Phones of Pentagon Trump Officials Wiped of Jan. 6 Messages” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.