I can confirm that there is a petition circulating in the Secret Service community calling for an @GOPoversight committee investigation and the removal of Kimberly Cheatle as Secret Service director. The petition raises issues about DEI hiring superseding training and creating security issues first reported on in this @RCPolitics story from two weeks ago:
realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/… Just three days ago, the House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into DEI hiring and recruiting practices at the FBI. Now anonymous whistleblowers are calling for the same sort of Congressional investigation at the Secret Service.

https://x.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1787557894537277849

BREAKING: Sources within the Secret Service community tell me the agent assigned to VP Kamala Harris was armed during the fight - that the gun was secured in the agent's holster until other agents physically restrained the agent and took the gun from the agent's possession.
I'm also told there are DEI concerns among the USSS community about the hiring of this agent. Other agents and officers within the USSS are asking questions about the agent's hiring process, whether the USSS did enough to look into the agent's background and monitor the agent's mental well-being because there have been widespread concerns about other strange behavior before this incident. For now, I am also withholding the agent's name. Other details: Sources say the agent in question was acted erratically upon showing up for a traveling shift at Joint Base Andrews. The agent ended up tackling the Senior Agent in Charge of the VP detail, got on top of him and started punching him. At this point, I'm told, the agent who was attacking the SAIC did indeed have a gun, but it was in the holster. Other agents are expressing relief that the agent did not shoot the SAIC.

Did U.S. Companies, Including Sen. Kelly’s, Help Propel China’s Balloon Fleet? If so, what should Washington do about it? #decoupling #China #technology ⁦@RealClearNews⁩ realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/… “Sen. Kelly himself has first-hand knowledge of #China’s interest in near-#space balloon technology. He co-founded a balloon space-exploration company named World View in 2012. Just 2 yrs later, he helped facilitate investments for it from Chinese tech giant Tencent, #spyballoon

In this story from 7/21, I reported on the controversy regarding whether the Penn Biden Center and Biden's $1M+ "professorship" at Penn could have been funded -- at least in part -- by Chinese donations.

realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/… U. Penn pres. said Penn never “solicited any gifts for the Penn Biden Center” b did not say if the U. directed any Chinese funds to the center.

In 2020, the Phil. Inquirer reported Penn received at least $258M in foreign $ - $68M from Chinese entities.
inquirer.com/business/unive…

.@IRFSummit International Religious Freedom Summit co-chairs @SamuelBrownback and @LantosSwettK condemn the $500,000 bounty put on Enes Kanter Freedom @EnesFreedom by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s govt. “We are appalled that the Turkish government has labeled Enes Kanter Freedom a ‘most wanted’ terrorist and put a bounty on his head. It is flatly unacceptable that any govt would openly target and endanger Enes — a courageous human rights activist and American citizen..."

Rep. Chris Smith on #Nicaragua's Ortega regime and its crackdown on the Catholic church, jailing of priests, kicking out nuns:

"It is unconscionable that we have not done everything we can to stop [international] loans from going to prop up this dirty dictatorship." .@TheWilsonCenter's Eddy Acevedo highlights #Russian military presence, GPS satellite in #Nicaragua:

"Ortega has allowed Russian military activity in Managua...He has posted military hardware from #Russia, including t T-72 tanks, and Russia's Tu-160 Blackjack bombers..."

.@ChuckGrassley in "strongly" opposing Garcetti for amb. to #India, laces into him over his claim he didn't know that his top staffer was sexually harassing people.

"For mayor Garcetti to claim he didn't know what was going on, defies reason."
Grassley points to a photo of a group that includes Garcetti in which the staffer, Rick Jacobs, is making a lewd gesture.

He stresses that his investigation into the matter talked to 19 credible witnesses who either witnessed Jacobs' behavior or were victims of it.

Thread:

So in the middle of these Jan. 6 hearings, the
@HouseForeign Affairs Committee is having a classified "briefing" on #Afghanistan tomorrow morning with several sr. @StateDept officials, according to multiple notices sent to members saying briefing will be "classified." Why is it a briefing and not a full hearing when there are American citizens who still remain in #Afghanistan and untold thousands of Afghan allies who Biden promised safe haven?

@StateDept referred me to the House Foreign Affairs Comm Dems for ?s about the ground rules.

Only 30 Americans and 170 Afghans/other foreign citizens on the first flight out of Afghan since 8/31 | Associated Press is reporting "A foreign diplomat, likewise speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn´t authorized to brief the media, said another 200 foreigners, including Americans, would depart in the next couple of days."

Contrary to claims made by the WH and State Dept that there were only a small # of Americans waiting to depart on the grounded planes in Mazar-e-Sarif, my sources tell me there are over 140 Americans on those flights that the Taliban is clearing to depart out of Kabul airport. These include Americans citizens, green-card holders (many wives) and their children.

The Taliban continues to block 6 planes from leaving while lawmakers, military vets and groups involved press @StateDept for more action.

143 Americans waiting to depart, and State could help clear passports and verify SIV applicants, sources tell RCP.

realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/… Sources familiar with the situation playing out at Mazar-i-Sharif airport in N. Afghanistan dispute the State Dept's assertion that only a "small number of Americans" are waiting to board planes to depart.

They place the number at 143, which includes Americans citizens and LPRs

Dam is breaking...Hunter Biden’s business associate on key email chain verifies the email publicly, says Joe Biden was “the big guy” in long public statement. breitbart.com/politics/2020/… Here is the lengthy statement from Tony Bobulinski, who is on the email chain and was a business partner if Hunter Biden’s:

Toured the border wall in San Diego today - with ⁦@USBPChief⁩ Rodney Scott - viewed nearly 14-mile stretch from coast, inland - a lot of new housing, condos and shopping on both sides have cropped up in recent yrs as the area has grown safer.

I wrote a story a couple of decades ago about Burkman being a shameless self-promoter. It was pretty critical. Early warning sign?

https://twitter.com/cam_joseph/status/1305576793496322049

Found it—Oct. 1999 issue of Capital Style magazine. Burkman was calling me up repeatedly asking that I do a story on him. So I did one entitled “Stalking Head.”

The USS Dewey was greeted by @realDonaldTrump flotilla in San Diego today - all of the Sailors are manning the rails right now. Coincidence??

Trump came to Dover after my wife was killed fighting ISIS. He absolutely respects our service. nbcnews.com/think/opinion/… As we unclasped our hands, the president said to me, “Shannon was the real deal, we are lucky to have people like her willing to go out there and face evil for us.” He kept his arm on my shoulder.

True, but these violent protests over police killings of black men began under Obama/Biden watch in Ferguson '14.
And they continued until they left office in '16. Martin, Garner, Brown, Sterling, Castile.
-Also who could forget a sniper ambushing five police officers in Dallas?

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1299184932384768001

The sniper shooting rampage in Dallas in 2016 killed 5 police officers and injured nine others. Those police officers were actually helping protect otherwise peaceful protesters assembled to decry Sterling's and Castile's killings by police in La. and Minn., respectively.

.@realDonaldTrump says he wants the “money to follow the student” but the emergency COVID education choice plan Senate GOP is now considering would give the $ to governors to decide how parents can use it

https://twitter.com/club4growth/status/1287765959416184834

Guaranteed Dem govs will not allow $10K in tax rebates or grants for parents to use on emergency COVID education plan of their choice — such as hiring a tutor/instructor for in-home tutoring - only choice 4 parents in states like Calif where Newsom has closed schools for the fall

.@DNC just cut me off on their conf. call when I tired to correct the record and say Republicans want to provide $70 billion in additional funds over and above the $70 billion DOE's annual budget to give each child $10k in funds for private schools, in-home tutors from my story from this morning:
A senior administration official countered union opposition to the plan by calling that argument that they are defundign public schools “the height of dishonesty.”
realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/…

Exclusive: Mark Kelly, the former NASA astronaut trying to oust Arizona GOP Sen. Martha McSally, was far more involved in facilitating a Chinese investment in a space exploration company Kelly co-founded than his campaign has previously acknowledged. realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/… japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/0…

Breaking: For the 2nd x in a week, District Court Judge Howell ruled in favor of @usagm new chief Michael Pack's legal right to fire several network heads + replace the governing board.
Howell on Tuesday denied plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration of her ruling last wk (cont)

https://twitter.com/susancrabtree/status/1278852884298252288

Plaintiffs were trying to get Judge Howell to reconsider their motion for a temporary injunction against Pack's firings, which the media labeled "a Wed. night massacre," but the judge said was fully legal based on a 2016 law Congress passed.