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Who Will Trump Pick as DHS Secretary If Kirstjen Nielsen Is Ousted?

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President Trump has reportedly commenced his search for a new Homeland Security chief, following news that the president is likely to relieve DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen of her duties in the coming weeks.

The president is reportedly not satisfied with Nielsen’s immigration and border work and has expressed frustrations that she is not implementing a hard line on those policy issues, according to the Washington Post. Meanwhile, dozens of House Democrats are demanding her resignation, arguing that she is being too tough on these issues and on illegal migrants.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan are considered to be high on the list of possible replacements for Secretary Nielsen, the Washington Examiner reports.

Pekoske served over three decades in the U.S. Coast Guard and achieved the rank of vice admiral. In August 2017, Pekoske was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as the chief officer at the TSA.

McAleenan was Senate-confirmed as CBP commissioner in March with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 77-19. He was deputy commissioner of the agency from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, McAleenan was acting assistant commissioner of CBP.

Another possible reported replacement is Thomas Homan, whom the president respects for his willingness and ability to defend and advance the Trump administration immigration policies. Homan is the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Politico reports that the president is also considering nominating Maj. Gen. Vincent Coglianese, who runs the Marine Corps Installations Command. Because that he is an active duty service member, nominating Coglianese might introduce legal and logistical challenges into the confirmation process.

The president has also discussed replacing Nielsen with Kris Kobach, who has widespread support among conservatives due to his hawkish immigration stance. Kobach lost his bid for governor of Kansas earlier this month.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s name has been floated for the DHS position, along with several other potential landing spots in the president’s inner circle.

Should Nielsen be relieved of her duties, acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady would assume her role until a replacement is found. Grady, a longtime official in the Department of Defense, should also be considered a potential permanent replacement. (For more from the author of “Who Will Trump Pick as DHS Secretary If Kirstjen Nielsen Is Ousted?” please click HERE)

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DHS: We Can Confirm There Are Criminals, Gang Members in the Illegal Caravan

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The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed there are in fact criminals and dangerous gang members traveling inside the illegal caravan headed to north to the U.S. southern border. In addition, they are confirming President Trump’s claims “middle easterners” and citizens of countries outside of North and South America, are also in the caravan.

(Read more from “DHS: We Can Confirm There Are Criminals, Gang Members in the Illegal Caravan” HERE)

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DHS Secretary Issues a Stern Warning About the Election

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By The Blaze. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a stern warning Tuesday to Russia about meddling in U.S. elections, and said that her department was in “crisis mode” over cybersecurity. . .

Nielsen was addressing an audience at a cybersecurity summit when she directly addressed the assessment by the U.S. intelligence community that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election. . .

“Two years ago, as we all know,” she continued, “a foreign power launched a brazen multi-faceted influence campaign to undermine public faith in our democratic process, and to distort our presidential election.”

“That campaign was multi-faceted – it involved cyber-espionage, leaks of stolen data, cyber-intrusions into voter registrations systems, online propaganda and more,” she added. . .

“We are in crisis mode—the Category 5 hurricane has been forecast and now we must prepare,” Nielsen said. (Read more from “DHS Secretary Issues a Stern Warning About the Election” HERE)

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Former Lobbyist Tony Podesta, Others Under Investigation by Federal Prosecutors Over Alleged Foreign Work

By NBC News. Former lobbyist Tony Podesta, Mercury Public Affairs partner and former Minnesota Republican Rep. Vin Weber and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig are all under federal investigation by prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News on Tuesaday.

Those sources say this months-long investigation in New York follows a referral from the Special Counsel’s Office.

The existence of this particular probe was first reported by CNN, which characterized the investigation as looking into whether lobbyists and operatives failed to register their work as foreign agents. None of the people identified as being investigated have been charged with any crime.

In October, NBC News was the first to report that Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta and the Podesta Group were being investigated by Mueller’s office.

Tony Podesta is the chairman of the Podesta Group and the brother of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s former presidential campaign chairman. John Podesta is not currently affiliated with the Podesta Group and is not part of the investigation. (Read more from “Former Lobbyist Tony Podesta, Others Under Investigation by Federal Prosecutors Over Alleged Foreign Work” HERE)

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GETTING NASTY: Homeland Security Official Warned With Decapitated Animal on His Porch

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According to an official who is familiar with recent threats directed against the Department of Homeland Security, the department determined that there is now a “heightened threat against DHS employees.” The official said roughly two dozen threats have been made in the last few days.

One specific example: a senior DHS official living in the Washington, D.C. area found a burnt and decapitated animal on his front porch.

On Saturday, Claire Grady, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, wrote to employees, “This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees.” Her memo recommended not displaying work badges in public, being careful with public conversations and being circumspect on social networks. It also recommended DHS employees “always keep doors and windows locked” and “be aware of unexpected changes in and around your home.” (Read more from “Getting Nasty: Homeland Security Official Warned With Decapitated Animal on His Porch” HERE)

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Watch: Socialists Harass, Attack DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen While She’s Eating Dinner

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen received an earful from angry demonstrators as she dined Tuesday at a Mexican restaurant in D.C.

According to USA Today, members of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter showed up to MXDC to confront her over the Trump administration’s schismatic “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

The group shared a video of the interaction in a Facebook post.

“We’re in downtown DC disrupting DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s dinner at MXDC,” the group wrote. “The irony isn’t lost on us that this is a Mexican restaurant.”

The post claimed Nielsen “has led the program to tear apart (families)” and that Tuesday’s demonstration was “to tell her to put an end to separating families, to step down as head of the department, and that (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) must be abolished.”

Nielsen has faced mounting calls for her resignation in recent days as reports of families being separated by federal officials have outraged social, political and religious leaders across the ideological spectrum.

In what is believed to be the video of Tuesday’s confrontation, protesters can be heard taunting Nielsen and shouting questions in the direction of her table.

“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people who come here seeking asylum in the United States?” Jesse Rabinowitz asked. “We call on you to end family separation and abolish ICE.”

The protester later told USA Today that Nielsen did not acknowledge the demonstration and everyone involved had already left the restaurant by the time law enforcement arrived. Another video appeared to show Secret Service officers questioning protesters in the area.

A subsequent statement from the group indicated police “attempted to detain several members of MDCDSA to no avail.”

Nielsen left MXDC a short time later, according to a Twitter video posted Tuesday evening.

The secretary’s spokesperson confirmed the disruption in a series of tweets the same night.

“While having a work dinner tonight, the Secretary and her staff heard from a small group of protestors who share her concern with our current immigration laws that have created a crisis on our southern border,” Tyler Q. Houlton wrote.

A member of the left-wing political group said the protest was “nothing compared to the horrors” Nielsen has caused to families impacted by Trump administration policies enforced through the Department of Homeland Security.

“We will not stand by and let Secretary Nielsen dine in peace, while she is directing her employees to tear little girls away from their mothers and crying boys away from their fathers at our borders,” Margaret McLaughlin said. (For more from the author of “Watch: Socialists Harass, Attack DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen While She’s Eating Dinner” please click HERE)

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National Guard Going to Border, DHS Wants ‘Military Installations’ Built

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On Wednesday, Department Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced that President Donald Trump is sending the National Guard to protect the United States’ southern border and also indicated that DHS is looking into constructing military installations along the border.

Nielsen’s announcement that the National Guard is being deployed to the southern border comes after Trump said on Tuesday that he will use the military to defend the border.

“It’s time to act,” Nielsen said, adding that the deployment force sent to the border “will be strong.” Nielsen said that the logistics involved in deploying the National Guard are being worked out with governors and that “we do hope that the deployment begins immediately.”

(Read more from “National Guard Going to Border, DHS Wants ‘Military Installations’ Built” HERE)

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DHS Head Demands That Social Media Firms Censor “Extremist Propaganda” – Like Advocating for Constitutional Liberty

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The acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke has called on Silicon Valley to remove extremist content, Reuters reported.

The United States and Britain are set to push social media firms to deal with the problem at a G7 meeting of interior ministers this week, Duke told reporters in London where she had been meeting British Home Secretary (interior minister), Amber Rudd.

“There has been a shift and for us somewhat with the Charlottesville incident,” she said. “There are a lot of social pressures and they want do business so they really have to balance between keeping their user agreements and giving law enforcement what they need.”

But that’s not all; the Trump administration is also trying to go after encryption technology.

“We would like to have the ability to get encrypted data with the right legal processes,” Duke said.

It’s an argument that has persisted since the Obama administration – should the government have backdoor access to encrypted chat apps despite being in a violation of civil liberties?

Duke said there’s been a change in the behavior of tech companies since a rally organized by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August turned deadly when a counter-protester was killed after a man drove his car into the crowd deliberately killing a woman Heather Heyer.

“The fact they are meeting with us at G7 is a positive sign. I think they’re seeing the evidence of it being real and not just hyperbole,” Duke said.

Now the tech companies themselves are going to be meeting with G7 leaders to handle this problem of “extremist content.” But does that define just ISIS videos, or is the definition broader? She actually answered that question, and so has Google and its subsidiary YouTube who have begun a crackdown on content on the video platform and search engine.

“The number of foreign fighters we have returning is declining,” she said. “The number of home-grown violent extremists, most of them inspired by terrorist organizations, is increasing.”

Notice how she didn’t state ISIS, she said the broad definition “terrorist organizations.”

Google and YouTube have even begun targeting “conspiracy theories” and websites spreading “conspiracy theory as factual information without basis.”

Obama’s DHS didn’t hesitate to call those who believe in conspiracy theories potential right-wing terrorists, stating the following points might make someone a terrorist in a study by the University of Maryland, which was funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security.

Americans who “are fiercely nationalistic, as opposed to universal and international in orientation”
Americans considering themselves “anti-global”
Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
Americans who are “reverent of individual liberty (especially their right to own guns and be free of taxes)”
Americans exhibiting a belief in “conspiracy theories that involve grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty and a belief that one’s personal and/or national way of life is under attack”

Specifically listing Americans who love liberty as terrorists, noting two subgroups of “right-wing extremism” were identified as “gun rights” and “tax protest,” according to PJ Media.

After all, according to U.K. think tank Demos, literature from more than 50 extremist groups includes “conspiracy theories.”

So how will Trump’s administration compare to his predecessor? It has almost been a year since President Donald Trump took office and we seem to be losing more and more of our rights day by day. I guess in the eyes of the DHS I am a terrorist and so are you if you just read this article. (For more from the author of “DHS Head Demands That Social Media Firms Censor “Extremist Propaganda” – Like Advocating for Constitutional Liberty” please click HERE)

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DHS Secretary Just Warned of ‘Severe Threat’ of New 9/11-Style Attack by ISIS and Al-Qaeda

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Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting to take down a plane and carry out a devastating explosion on the same scale of 9/11 according to the United States Security Chief.

“The terrorist organizations, be it ISIS or Al-Qaeda or others, want to have the big explosion like they did on 9/11. They want to take down aircraft, the intelligence is clear on that,” the acting US secretary of homeland security, Elaine Duke said during a visit to the UK, as cited by the Telegraph.

The attack on September 11, 2001, was the deadliest attack in US history and has been surrounded by controversy since which makes this tying it in with this warning of new attacks particularly worrisome.

“The threat is still severe,” said Duke on Wednesday in London following her meeting with Home Secretary Amber Rudd, where the officials discussed terrorist content online.

According to Duke, the terrorists are just using these recent smaller attacks to keep their members “engaged.”

“In the interim, they need to keep their finances flowing and they need to keep their visibility high and they need to keep their members engaged, so they are using small plots and they are happy to have small plots,” Duke said.

Duke warned that at the same time, however, smaller plots can be followed with major ones.

“Creating terror is their goal. A bladed weapon attack causes terror and continues to disrupt the world, but that does not mean they have given up on a major aviation plot,” she said.

What makes this warning particularly ominous is that, according to reports, just one day before the US security chief’s warnings, Andrew Parker, director general MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, said that Britain was under unprecedented threat from Islamist terrorists.

Naturally, this new series of threats comes with a price. To protect you from these attacks, social media companies will have to better cooperate with authorities to help them spy on you.

“We will continue to push as far as we can go. I think that we have the cooperation of those companies and we just need to work on that,” she said. Social media firms joining a meeting of G7 interior ministers to discuss the issue this week “is a positive sign,” she said.

“We would like to have the ability to get encrypted data with the right legal processes,” said Ms. Duke.

The surveillance state has capitalized on the recent tragic attacks in the United Kingdom and used them to push for less privacy and more oversight of your online activities.

After the series of jihadi attacks, British Prime Minister Theresa May called on “allied democratic governments” to “regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremism and terrorism planning.”

The United States is now using Charlottesville as their reason for demanding access to your social media data.

As the Telegraph notes:

Ms. Duke said the US and Britain would push social media firms at a meeting of G7 interior ministers this week to do more to tackle online militant material.

She said there had already been a change in the attitude of tech companies since a rally organized by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August turned deadly when a counter-protester was killed by a car driven into a crowd.

Sadly, however, no amount of online spying would’ve prevented a psychopath from driving his car into a crowd.

“There has been a shift and for us somewhat with the Charlottesville incident,” she said. “There are a lot of social pressures and they want do business so they really have to balance between keeping their user agreements and giving law enforcement what they need.

“The fact they are meeting with us at G7 is a positive sign. I think they’re seeing the evidence of it being real and not just hyperbole.”

Hopefully, for the sake of innocent people, this new threat of a 9/11-style attack is just that, hyperbole.

As TFTP has noted on several occasions, the government needs you to constantly fear an attack, as the FBI has stated it is their mission “to keep fear alive.”

David Steele, a 20-year Marine Corps intelligence officer, the second-highest-ranking civilian in the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence, and former CIA clandestine services case officer, had this to say about these most unscrupulous operations:

Most terrorists are false flag terrorists, or are created by our own security services. In the United States, every single terrorist incident we have had has been a false flag, or has been an informant pushed on by the FBI. In fact, we now have citizens taking out restraining orders against FBI informants that are trying to incite terrorism. We’ve become a lunatic asylum.

Indeed, we’ve become a lunatic asylum.

(For more from the author of “DHS Secretary Just Warned of ‘Severe Threat’ of New 9/11-Style Attack by ISIS and Al-Qaeda” please click HERE)

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DHS Was Wrong About Russia Targeting State Election Systems — Here’s the Whole Story…

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. . .The DHS notified 21 states including California and Wisconsin that Russian-linked individuals had tried to target either voter registration files or public election sites. The DHS is now claiming that these hackers targeted the California Department of Technology and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

“The work of our intelligence agencies is critical in defending against cyber threats. I remain committed to a partnership with DHS and other intelligence agencies, however, elections officials and the American public expect and deserve timely and accurate information,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement Wednesday.

Mark Thomsen, chairman of Wisconsin’s Elections Commission, said Tuesday, “Either they were right on Friday and this is a cover up, or they were wrong on Friday and we deserve an apology.”

DHS spokesman Scott McConnell was rather unapologetic in a Tuesday statement to The Daily Caller.

“While we defer to each state whether to disclose the circumstance surrounding their networks, it’s important to point out that discussions of specific IP addresses do not provide a complete picture of potential targeting activity. The Department stands by its assessment that Internet-connected networks in 21 states were the target of Russian government cyber actors seeking vulnerabilities and access to U.S. election infrastructure,” McConnell told TheDC. (Read more from “DHS Was Wrong About Russia Targeting State Election Systems — Here’s the Whole Story…” HERE)

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Sheriff David Clarke Says He’s Accepted DHS Job

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Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wis., said Wednesday he has accepted a job in the Department of Homeland Security.

Clarke told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna during an interview on 1130 WISN that he will leave his post as sheriff to serve as a deputy secretary of Homeland Security.

“I’m both honored and humbled to be appointed to this position by Secretary Kelly, working for the Trump administration,” he said during the radio show.

Clarke said he will leave his position as sheriff in June to work in the Office of Partnership and Programs as a liaison with state, local and tribal law enforcement.

While the DHS did not confirm Clarke’s reported role, it did note the position in question does not require Senate confirmation. (Read more from “Sheriff David Clarke Says He’s Accepted DHS Job” HERE)

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