nivek
As Above So Below
The leftists are making lists of who they want to be killed next...
View: https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1966064272552906996
.
View: https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1966064272552906996
.
nivek
As Above So Below
nivek
As Above So Below
nivek
As Above So Below
Our government let in too many muslims...
Siblani founded the Arab American News, the first bilingual Arab weekly paper in Dearborn. He's previously come under fire for comments sympathetic to Hamas, calling the Palestinian group 'freedom fighters'. Barham said the sign was 'provocative' and accused Siblani of being a supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas, which are considered terrorist organizations by the US. 'I feel like having that sign up there is almost like naming a street Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street,' Barham argued. 'Hezbollah bombed the embassy in Beirut, including many Americans. I just feel it's quite inappropriate'.
'He talks about how the blood of the martyrs irrigates the land of Palestine,' Barham continued. He then quoted Siblani as saying: 'Whether we are in Michigan and whether we are in Yemen. Believe me, everyone should fight within his means. They will fight with stones, others will fight with guns, others fight with planes, drones, and rockets'.
Siblani had made the remarks during a Nakba Day rally in 2022. He clarified to the Daily Mail that the quote was a call for justice, not violence, and that he stood by his comments. 'People have the right to fight occupation and oppression by all necessary means and it is justified and accepted under international law. I said here in America we fight with our words of support for free Palestine,' Siblani said. 'Mr. Barham, and people like him are blind and their racist minds prevent them from seeing the atrocities being committed by the Israeli government against Palestinians in Gaza. I see it and condemn it in the strongest terms'.
Barham argued that the quote incited violence, to which the council disagreed, declaring that Siblani was not a violent person. Council President Michael T. Sareini informed Barham that the Wayne County Commission had approved the road sign, which wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Dearborn City Council.
(More on the link)
.
Mayor of majority Muslim city warns white resident he's 'not welcome' after complaints about signs hailing pro-Hamas local
The mayor of a Michigan city with a large Muslim population has faced backlash for telling a Christian resident he was 'not welcome' after a tense exchange over a road sign honoring a local who expressed support for Hamas. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud made the comment after Edward 'Ted' Barham told a City Council meeting that he opposed a road sign being erected at an intersection honoring Lebanese-American journalist Osama Siblani.Siblani founded the Arab American News, the first bilingual Arab weekly paper in Dearborn. He's previously come under fire for comments sympathetic to Hamas, calling the Palestinian group 'freedom fighters'. Barham said the sign was 'provocative' and accused Siblani of being a supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas, which are considered terrorist organizations by the US. 'I feel like having that sign up there is almost like naming a street Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street,' Barham argued. 'Hezbollah bombed the embassy in Beirut, including many Americans. I just feel it's quite inappropriate'.
'He talks about how the blood of the martyrs irrigates the land of Palestine,' Barham continued. He then quoted Siblani as saying: 'Whether we are in Michigan and whether we are in Yemen. Believe me, everyone should fight within his means. They will fight with stones, others will fight with guns, others fight with planes, drones, and rockets'.
Siblani had made the remarks during a Nakba Day rally in 2022. He clarified to the Daily Mail that the quote was a call for justice, not violence, and that he stood by his comments. 'People have the right to fight occupation and oppression by all necessary means and it is justified and accepted under international law. I said here in America we fight with our words of support for free Palestine,' Siblani said. 'Mr. Barham, and people like him are blind and their racist minds prevent them from seeing the atrocities being committed by the Israeli government against Palestinians in Gaza. I see it and condemn it in the strongest terms'.
Barham argued that the quote incited violence, to which the council disagreed, declaring that Siblani was not a violent person. Council President Michael T. Sareini informed Barham that the Wayne County Commission had approved the road sign, which wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Dearborn City Council.
(More on the link)
.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Just a guess but I'd be willing to bet that ABC had already been looking at demographics and advertising revenue and expensive show hosts and saw this as an opportunity, an off ramp.
Kimmel isn't the only overpaid host to find out it isn't really about them after all. That late night show format is dead but hasn't figured it out yet and is still thrashing.
ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely over his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death
Kimmel isn't the only overpaid host to find out it isn't really about them after all. That late night show format is dead but hasn't figured it out yet and is still thrashing.
ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely over his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Here’s the real reason ABC has suspended ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk weren’t just noxiously offensive and seemingly misleading — their timing was also incredibly bad: They threaten to derail Nexstar’s $6.2 billion takeover of rival broadcaster Tegna, telecom insiders tell On The Money.
The already controversial deal — which would combine two of the nation’s largest owners of local TV stations — poses significant antitrust questions and needs a close review by the Federal Communications Commission and its conservative firebrand chairman, Brendan Carr.
Kimmel’s comments made that approval even dicier. That’s why Nexstar publicly announced Thursday that its stations would no longer carry the show, telecom insiders tell On The Money. Ditto for ABC, which produces and distributes “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to broadcasters like Nexstar — and likewise has business before the FCC.
Disney CEO Bob Iger greets reporters in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July. Getty Images
Here’s the latest on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after Charlie Kirk comments
Bob Iger, the CEO of its parent, Disney, was also quick to suspend the show indefinitely.
On Thursday, Sinclair Broadcasting — a rival local TV giant with a conservative bent — upped the ante even further, saying ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel was insufficient and announcing it will yank “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its stations until the host apologizes directly to Kirk’s family and donates to his political activist group.
The backdrop to all this is Carr, a longtime telecom lawyer who is the new sheriff of the broadcast industry. Carr has been warning networks large and small that he’s taking one of the most expansionary views of the agency’s regulatory edict to make sure programming is in the “public interest,” First Amendment concerns be damned.
His impact has been nothing short of dramatic: Paramount settled a suit with President Trump over CBS’s controversial interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign, fearing that the FCC wouldn’t approve its $8 billion sale to independent studio Skydance.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr speaks during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2025 Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 9, 2025. REUTERS
It also cancelled the late-night show of the money-losing and politically charged comic Steven Colbert.
Other broadcast networks have been settling various lawsuits with Trump – ABC forking over $16 million to settle a suit with the president over comments made by news host George Stephanopoulos – to stay on Carr’s good side.
Unlike cable, the FCC has the authority to throttle content that airs on “public airwaves” – aka local TV networks – by withholding broadcast licenses. That includes local stations owned by the likes of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, as well as those that have agreements to run their programming, like Nexstar.
In the past, the FCC has given wide latitude for broadcasters to air anything except obscenity; that’s why people like Steven Colbert, Kimmel and even alleged straight news broadcasts like “60 Minutes” could get away with left-wing commentary despite wide swaths of the country hating those views.
Jimmy Kimmel’s show has been suspended by ABC indefinitely. GC Images
Kimmel’s odd comments on Monday riled Carr not only for mocking conservatives as they mourned Kirk’s assassination, but also seeming to imply a misleading narrative that his assassin was conservative himself: “we hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Yes that too would have been considered First Amendment protected speech during previous administrations. Carr would argue the constitution’s speech clause isn’t absolute. It only means the government can’t jail Kimmel or Colbert for their opinions.
“Cleary Nexstar is sucking up to Carr,” one telecom lawyer told me Wednesday just after the show’s cancellation. “Kimmel’s comments are noxious but from a First Amendment standpoint they would have been protected in the past. He’s a comedian, so how is he distorting the news unless you have a deal to be approved by the FCC?”
Either way, it doesn’t mean that the FCC has to grant you a license when it can make a case – which is what Carr is doing now in the broadcast industry – that one-sided politics is anathema to the public interest.
As Carr put it in a Wednesday interview with my Fox colleague Sean Hannity: “running a narrow partisan circus, whatever the public interest means, it’s not that.”
Nexstar is headquartered in Irving, Texas. Google Maps
Nexstar is particularly vulnerable to Carr’s public interest interpretation given its plans to expand. It is already one of the biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations carrying Kimmel’s show, controlling more than 30 around the country.
The deal to buy Tegna announced in August would extend the company’s reach even more. Both companies combined would cover 80% of households, operating 265 stations in 44 states. In some markets the new company will control three or four stations.
All of that needs FCC approval.
Reps for Nexstar and the FCC didn’t return a request for comment.
Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk weren’t just noxiously offensive and seemingly misleading — their timing was also incredibly bad: They threaten to derail Nexstar’s $6.2 billion takeover of rival broadcaster Tegna, telecom insiders tell On The Money.
The already controversial deal — which would combine two of the nation’s largest owners of local TV stations — poses significant antitrust questions and needs a close review by the Federal Communications Commission and its conservative firebrand chairman, Brendan Carr.
Kimmel’s comments made that approval even dicier. That’s why Nexstar publicly announced Thursday that its stations would no longer carry the show, telecom insiders tell On The Money. Ditto for ABC, which produces and distributes “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to broadcasters like Nexstar — and likewise has business before the FCC.
Disney CEO Bob Iger greets reporters in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July. Getty Images
Here’s the latest on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after Charlie Kirk comments
Bob Iger, the CEO of its parent, Disney, was also quick to suspend the show indefinitely.
On Thursday, Sinclair Broadcasting — a rival local TV giant with a conservative bent — upped the ante even further, saying ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel was insufficient and announcing it will yank “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its stations until the host apologizes directly to Kirk’s family and donates to his political activist group.
The backdrop to all this is Carr, a longtime telecom lawyer who is the new sheriff of the broadcast industry. Carr has been warning networks large and small that he’s taking one of the most expansionary views of the agency’s regulatory edict to make sure programming is in the “public interest,” First Amendment concerns be damned.
His impact has been nothing short of dramatic: Paramount settled a suit with President Trump over CBS’s controversial interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign, fearing that the FCC wouldn’t approve its $8 billion sale to independent studio Skydance.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr speaks during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2025 Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 9, 2025. REUTERS
It also cancelled the late-night show of the money-losing and politically charged comic Steven Colbert.
Other broadcast networks have been settling various lawsuits with Trump – ABC forking over $16 million to settle a suit with the president over comments made by news host George Stephanopoulos – to stay on Carr’s good side.
Unlike cable, the FCC has the authority to throttle content that airs on “public airwaves” – aka local TV networks – by withholding broadcast licenses. That includes local stations owned by the likes of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, as well as those that have agreements to run their programming, like Nexstar.
In the past, the FCC has given wide latitude for broadcasters to air anything except obscenity; that’s why people like Steven Colbert, Kimmel and even alleged straight news broadcasts like “60 Minutes” could get away with left-wing commentary despite wide swaths of the country hating those views.
Jimmy Kimmel’s show has been suspended by ABC indefinitely. GC Images
Kimmel’s odd comments on Monday riled Carr not only for mocking conservatives as they mourned Kirk’s assassination, but also seeming to imply a misleading narrative that his assassin was conservative himself: “we hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Yes that too would have been considered First Amendment protected speech during previous administrations. Carr would argue the constitution’s speech clause isn’t absolute. It only means the government can’t jail Kimmel or Colbert for their opinions.
“Cleary Nexstar is sucking up to Carr,” one telecom lawyer told me Wednesday just after the show’s cancellation. “Kimmel’s comments are noxious but from a First Amendment standpoint they would have been protected in the past. He’s a comedian, so how is he distorting the news unless you have a deal to be approved by the FCC?”
Either way, it doesn’t mean that the FCC has to grant you a license when it can make a case – which is what Carr is doing now in the broadcast industry – that one-sided politics is anathema to the public interest.
As Carr put it in a Wednesday interview with my Fox colleague Sean Hannity: “running a narrow partisan circus, whatever the public interest means, it’s not that.”
Nexstar is headquartered in Irving, Texas. Google Maps
Nexstar is particularly vulnerable to Carr’s public interest interpretation given its plans to expand. It is already one of the biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations carrying Kimmel’s show, controlling more than 30 around the country.
The deal to buy Tegna announced in August would extend the company’s reach even more. Both companies combined would cover 80% of households, operating 265 stations in 44 states. In some markets the new company will control three or four stations.
All of that needs FCC approval.
Reps for Nexstar and the FCC didn’t return a request for comment.
nivek
As Above So Below
Sinister truth about the violent, intolerant Left - as conservatives are accused of Charlie Kirk cancel culture
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has ignited a cultural reckoning - and chilling new figures reveal a deep and widening gap in how Americans think about political violence. According to new YouGov polling, almost one in four Americans identifying as 'very liberal', 24 percent, believe it's acceptable to celebrate a political opponent's death.Among those who call themselves 'very conservative', just three percent find it acceptable to feel happy about the death of a public figure they disagree with.
The chasm widens in the younger generation. Among liberals aged 18 to 44, a whopping 22 percent think it's acceptable to celebrate political deaths. Just six percent of conservatives in the same age bracket believe it's permissible.
The survey suggests conservatives overwhelmingly reject political violence and its celebration, while liberals, especially younger and more radical ones, show far more permissiveness. Kirk's murder shows just how dangerous that gulf has become.
Historically, political violence in America skewed to the right. DOJ data show that since 1990, far-right extremists were responsible for more than 520 ideologically motivated murders, compared to 78 by far-left actors.
But since 2020, that dynamic has changed. The Cato Institute reports that right-wing attackers now account for just over half of such murders, but left-wing violence has surged to 22 percent, and Islamist violence makes up the rest.
(More on the link)
.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
I don't know who Dave Rubin is beyond being a NY Times reporter but couldn't find this YT clip without some commentary - his is neutral.
As a kid I watched a lot of Johnny on the Tonight Show and Tom Snyder who came on afterwards. Carson is spot on. Make all the political jokes you want just don't use your bully pulpit to preach. That said I wish DT would shut up about revoking licenses.
As a kid I watched a lot of Johnny on the Tonight Show and Tom Snyder who came on afterwards. Carson is spot on. Make all the political jokes you want just don't use your bully pulpit to preach. That said I wish DT would shut up about revoking licenses.
nivek
As Above So Below
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash
Mr. Homan came under scrutiny after he was said to be recorded last year taking $50,000 in cash from undercover F.B.I. agents.
Tom Homan at the White House last week.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
By Devlin BarrettGlenn ThrushAlan FeuerMaggie Haberman and Hamed Aleaziz
Sept. 20, 2025
Tom Homan, who was later named President Trump’s border czar, was recorded in September 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in an undercover F.B.I. investigation, according to people familiar with the case, which was later shut down by Trump administration officials.
The cash payment, which was made inside a bag from the food chain Cava, grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Mr. Homan, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the case.
Mr. Homan’s encounter with the undercover agents, recorded on audiotape, led him to be investigated for potential bribery and other crimes, after he apparently took the money and agreed to help the agents — who were posing as businessmen — secure future government contracts related to border security, the people said.
After Mr. Trump took office this year, Justice Department officials shut down the case because of doubts about whether prosecutors could prove to a jury that Mr. Homan had agreed to do any specific acts in exchange for the money, and because he had not held an official government position at the time of the meeting with undercover agents, the people added.
One person familiar with the case said the evidence gathered had not met all the necessary elements of relevant federal crimes, while another contended that the case was effectively ended prematurely, before such additional evidence could be gathered.
Justice Department officials ultimately decided that the evidence against Mr. Homan was insufficient to support charges of wire fraud, bribery or conspiracy, the people said. Emil Bove III, a former senior Justice Department official and onetime personal attorney for Mr. Trump who is now a federal appeals court judge, expressed skepticism about the case as early as February, one person said. The existence of the investigation was reported earlier by MSNBC.
What you should know. The Times makes a careful decision any time it uses an anonymous source. The information the source supplies must be newsworthy and give readers genuine insight.
Learn more about our process.
It remains unclear whether the investigation into Mr. Homan would have been dropped regardless of which party controlled the White House, given recent Supreme Court rulings that delineated a high bar for what constitutes a bribe or other corrupt act. But the revelation about the inquiry and the decision to shut it down comes amid broader fights over the degree of control Mr. Trump holds over how the Justice Department handles criminal cases, particularly those related to his perceived enemies.
The episode raises questions about whether the administration has sought to shield one of its own officials from legal consequences, and whether Mr. Homan’s actions were considered by the White House when he was appointed to his government role.
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement on Saturday that the investigation “was subjected to a full review by F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”
They added that the Justice Department “must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed.”
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, called the Homan case a “blatantly political investigation,” and said it showed the Biden administration “was using its resources to target President Trump’s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country.”
Ms. Jackson added that Mr. Homan “has not been involved with any contract award decisions,” calling him “a lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country.”
Mr. Homan did not respond to requests for comment. He told The New York Times earlier this year that he would not get involved with specific contract decisions.
In the first Trump administration, Mr. Homan served as the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After leaving government, he emerged as a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policies, in his role as a paid contributor on Fox News. He founded an organization called the Border911 Foundation, whose mission was “to educate Americans on what it means to have a secure, well-managed border — and why it matters.”
He also opened a consulting business that has worked for companies seeking immigration-related contracts, including those poised to benefit from Mr. Trump’s policies, The Times reported in January. At one point, he was paid between $100,000 and $150,000 to lobby in Texas for Fisher Industries, a construction firm that last year secured a $225 million contract with the state to build a section of border wall.
Mr. Homan made it clear that he planned to rejoin Mr. Trump in government if he were re-elected. “I promised President Trump when he announced that if he goes back, I go back,” he wrote on social media in November 2023. “And I’m going to run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
He was drawn into the F.B.I. case after a target of the investigation suggested in 2023, on his own initiative, that a $1 million payment to Mr. Homan could lead to lucrative federal contracts for border security work, according to people familiar with the matter.
Undercover agents posing as businessmen seeking contracts met with Mr. Homan in September 2024, these people said.
On the tape of that meeting, Mr. Homan seemed to agree to help the undercover agents secure contracts from the next administration if Mr. Trump won re-election, the people said.
The investigation, which was originally run out of Texas, became more consequential once Mr. Trump won and the chances of Mr. Homan taking a government role increased.
On Nov. 10, Mr. Trump announced that Mr. Homan would be his administration’s border czar and have wide authority over deportations.
Later that month, prosecutors with the Justice Department’s public integrity division were asked to help with the investigation.
During the transition, law enforcement officials notified the incoming administration about the case as Mr. Trump’s team considered whom to appoint to to government positions, the people familiar with the case said.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice for The Times and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons.
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
Mr. Homan came under scrutiny after he was said to be recorded last year taking $50,000 in cash from undercover F.B.I. agents.
Tom Homan at the White House last week.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
By Devlin BarrettGlenn ThrushAlan FeuerMaggie Haberman and Hamed Aleaziz
Sept. 20, 2025
Tom Homan, who was later named President Trump’s border czar, was recorded in September 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in an undercover F.B.I. investigation, according to people familiar with the case, which was later shut down by Trump administration officials.
The cash payment, which was made inside a bag from the food chain Cava, grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Mr. Homan, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the case.
Mr. Homan’s encounter with the undercover agents, recorded on audiotape, led him to be investigated for potential bribery and other crimes, after he apparently took the money and agreed to help the agents — who were posing as businessmen — secure future government contracts related to border security, the people said.
After Mr. Trump took office this year, Justice Department officials shut down the case because of doubts about whether prosecutors could prove to a jury that Mr. Homan had agreed to do any specific acts in exchange for the money, and because he had not held an official government position at the time of the meeting with undercover agents, the people added.
One person familiar with the case said the evidence gathered had not met all the necessary elements of relevant federal crimes, while another contended that the case was effectively ended prematurely, before such additional evidence could be gathered.
Justice Department officials ultimately decided that the evidence against Mr. Homan was insufficient to support charges of wire fraud, bribery or conspiracy, the people said. Emil Bove III, a former senior Justice Department official and onetime personal attorney for Mr. Trump who is now a federal appeals court judge, expressed skepticism about the case as early as February, one person said. The existence of the investigation was reported earlier by MSNBC.
What you should know. The Times makes a careful decision any time it uses an anonymous source. The information the source supplies must be newsworthy and give readers genuine insight.
Learn more about our process.
It remains unclear whether the investigation into Mr. Homan would have been dropped regardless of which party controlled the White House, given recent Supreme Court rulings that delineated a high bar for what constitutes a bribe or other corrupt act. But the revelation about the inquiry and the decision to shut it down comes amid broader fights over the degree of control Mr. Trump holds over how the Justice Department handles criminal cases, particularly those related to his perceived enemies.
The episode raises questions about whether the administration has sought to shield one of its own officials from legal consequences, and whether Mr. Homan’s actions were considered by the White House when he was appointed to his government role.
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement on Saturday that the investigation “was subjected to a full review by F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”
They added that the Justice Department “must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed.”
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, called the Homan case a “blatantly political investigation,” and said it showed the Biden administration “was using its resources to target President Trump’s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country.”
Ms. Jackson added that Mr. Homan “has not been involved with any contract award decisions,” calling him “a lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country.”
Mr. Homan did not respond to requests for comment. He told The New York Times earlier this year that he would not get involved with specific contract decisions.
In the first Trump administration, Mr. Homan served as the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After leaving government, he emerged as a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policies, in his role as a paid contributor on Fox News. He founded an organization called the Border911 Foundation, whose mission was “to educate Americans on what it means to have a secure, well-managed border — and why it matters.”
He also opened a consulting business that has worked for companies seeking immigration-related contracts, including those poised to benefit from Mr. Trump’s policies, The Times reported in January. At one point, he was paid between $100,000 and $150,000 to lobby in Texas for Fisher Industries, a construction firm that last year secured a $225 million contract with the state to build a section of border wall.
Mr. Homan made it clear that he planned to rejoin Mr. Trump in government if he were re-elected. “I promised President Trump when he announced that if he goes back, I go back,” he wrote on social media in November 2023. “And I’m going to run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
He was drawn into the F.B.I. case after a target of the investigation suggested in 2023, on his own initiative, that a $1 million payment to Mr. Homan could lead to lucrative federal contracts for border security work, according to people familiar with the matter.
Undercover agents posing as businessmen seeking contracts met with Mr. Homan in September 2024, these people said.
On the tape of that meeting, Mr. Homan seemed to agree to help the undercover agents secure contracts from the next administration if Mr. Trump won re-election, the people said.
The investigation, which was originally run out of Texas, became more consequential once Mr. Trump won and the chances of Mr. Homan taking a government role increased.
On Nov. 10, Mr. Trump announced that Mr. Homan would be his administration’s border czar and have wide authority over deportations.
Later that month, prosecutors with the Justice Department’s public integrity division were asked to help with the investigation.
During the transition, law enforcement officials notified the incoming administration about the case as Mr. Trump’s team considered whom to appoint to to government positions, the people familiar with the case said.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice for The Times and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons.
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
nivek
As Above So Below
Talk about censorship, pot meet kettle...
...
Included in some of those impacted are Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon, Trump's Deputy Assistant to the president Sebastian Gorka and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Bongino was banned from YouTube in 2022 for questioning the effectiveness of masks in preventing COVID-19, an infraction the company labeled as misinformation at the time. The sprawling letter notes how senior Biden administration officials conducted 'repeated and sustained outreach' to coerce Alphabet - Google and YouTube's parent company - to censor and remove content related to COVID-19.
Alphabet was repeatedly pestered by unnamed senior Biden administration officials to remove content that the federal officials deemed inappropriate, despite it not violating the company's policies. The letter mentions how 'the Administration's officials, including President Biden, created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms.'
'It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how the company moderates content,' it continues. Jordan, who has been investigating how tech companies worked with the Democrats to suppress free speech since 2023, lauded Alphabet's admission. 'This is another victory in the fight against censorship,' he wrote on X. 'But that's not all. YouTube is making changes to its platform to prevent future censorship. YouTube is committing to the American people that it will never use outside so-called 'fact-checkers' to censor speech,' Jordan continued.
Last year, Meta similarly admitted that the Biden administration 'pressured' Facebook to censor Americans' posts. It also admitted to throttling the now-infamous Hunter Biden laptop story on the eve of the 2020 election on the advice of 'fact-checkers.' The company then implemented changes to prevent similar instances in the future, and no longer employs fact-checkers YouTube is now doing the same, the attorneys wrote on Tuesday.
(More on the link)
.
...
Explosive document reveals how Joe Biden 'pressured Google to suppress content'... as YouTube makes U-turn on banned conservatives
Google has committed to reinstating YouTubers who had their accounts banned over medical and political content after Joe Biden's administration pressured the company to censor dissidents. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, published a letter sent to him from the company's attorneys on Tuesday. Within the five-page 'statement of facts' sent to the panel are claims that the former president and his administration applied 'unacceptable and wrong' pressure on YouTube to silence creators with whom the Democrats disagreed.Included in some of those impacted are Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon, Trump's Deputy Assistant to the president Sebastian Gorka and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Bongino was banned from YouTube in 2022 for questioning the effectiveness of masks in preventing COVID-19, an infraction the company labeled as misinformation at the time. The sprawling letter notes how senior Biden administration officials conducted 'repeated and sustained outreach' to coerce Alphabet - Google and YouTube's parent company - to censor and remove content related to COVID-19.
Alphabet was repeatedly pestered by unnamed senior Biden administration officials to remove content that the federal officials deemed inappropriate, despite it not violating the company's policies. The letter mentions how 'the Administration's officials, including President Biden, created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms.'
'It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how the company moderates content,' it continues. Jordan, who has been investigating how tech companies worked with the Democrats to suppress free speech since 2023, lauded Alphabet's admission. 'This is another victory in the fight against censorship,' he wrote on X. 'But that's not all. YouTube is making changes to its platform to prevent future censorship. YouTube is committing to the American people that it will never use outside so-called 'fact-checkers' to censor speech,' Jordan continued.
Last year, Meta similarly admitted that the Biden administration 'pressured' Facebook to censor Americans' posts. It also admitted to throttling the now-infamous Hunter Biden laptop story on the eve of the 2020 election on the advice of 'fact-checkers.' The company then implemented changes to prevent similar instances in the future, and no longer employs fact-checkers YouTube is now doing the same, the attorneys wrote on Tuesday.
(More on the link)
.
nivek
As Above So Below
Dejan Corovic
As above, so bellow
Just watched Trump arriving to Ryder's coup.
In a light of recent shooting its really strange that security did it's job and Trump didn't get shot at.
In a light of recent shooting its really strange that security did it's job and Trump didn't get shot at.
nivek
As Above So Below
The UN headquarters needs to go somewhere else, the United States should not be host to this organization any longer, it serves no peaceful purpose in the world, its corrupt and broken...
"An HHS official was followed into a bathroom, recorded, physically assaulted and verbally accosted by a deranged leftist at the UN who somehow entered the venue past multiple layers of security," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. "Thankfully, the official is safe, and the lunatic was arrested, but this is part of a disturbing and dangerous set of failures by the UN after their sabotage of President Trump ahead of and during his speech."
Kelly told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Secret Service will investigate "how this violent protester was admitted into a major national security event." A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the individual has been charged with assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. The individual was released from custody at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, the source said. The individual is expected in court next on Nov. 13.
"The UN must answer why these highly concerning incidents continue to happen against the president and his staff," Kelly said. "We are outraged that a member of the U.S. delegation was physically assaulted inside of UN Headquarters the afternoon of September 25," a U.S. UN spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This attack must be addressed swiftly, and consequences must be felt."
The spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "the UN itself recognizes that it has lost its way." "Now, it has devolved into an arena where an American delegation member is harassed and assaulted," the spokesperson said. "If you can’t keep people safe in your own building, how can you claim to be the world’s diplomatic center?"
The spokesperson called the incident "unacceptable," and told Fox News Digital that the United Nations "will use every available resource to support the U.S. Secret Service into their investigation of this incident."
"We know the UN needs dramatic reform and now must also immediately implement a thorough review of the UN’s security operations," the spokesperson said. "The UN’s failures are evident worldwide, and now in its own halls." The U.S. UN spokesperson added: "Enough is enough." The official recounted her experience of being followed, harassed, and physically assaulted inside the United Nations in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
The official told Fox News Digital that she was walking down the hallway at the UN when a woman began berating her and shining a bright light in her face. "It was very disorienting," the official said. "Once I took a step back and regained my footing, it didn’t stop. I realized what was happening. I realized I was being yelled at and that the light was also a recording device." The official tried to get away from the woman who was screaming derogatory and pro-Palestinian comments at her as she followed closely behind.
The official said the woman called her a "fascist" and a "Nazi." "The insults changed to specific insults," the official said, telling Fox News Digital that she went into the women’s bathroom to get away, but that the woman kept following her. "Her yelling turned into screaming—hyper-aggressive insults," the official said.
The official tried to hide in a bathroom stall, but told Fox News Digital that the woman was pushing and trying to get into the stall. Once the official was able to close the door, the woman put the camera over the door of the bathroom stall to continue filming the official and screaming. The official waited for the screaming to stop, and exited the stall, hoping the woman had left, but the woman was waiting for her at the door, and continued to follow her into the hallway, continuing to yell at her and shine the light in her face. Eventually, the official was able to get away.
The official told Fox News Digital the incident lasted approximately 10 minutes. "It felt very political in nature," she said. "Secretary Kennedy gets a tremendous number of bows and arrows and threats that he deals with, but it seems that it’s not enough, and it is trickling down." She added: "That’s a scary thing for the team. But we’re more empowered, and we have amazing leadership."
Fox News Digital has learned that the woman was arrested by the New York City Police Department. It is unclear whether she is still in custody. The NYPD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The United Nations did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
.
Trump administration official physically assaulted at UNGA by 'deranged leftist,' White House says
A Trump administration official was physically assaulted by a "deranged leftist" inside the United Nations Thursday afternoon during the gathering of the UN General Assembly, Fox News Digital has learned. An official working in international relations for the Department of Health and Human Services was in New York City serving in a support role for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the department’s leadership team at UNGA."An HHS official was followed into a bathroom, recorded, physically assaulted and verbally accosted by a deranged leftist at the UN who somehow entered the venue past multiple layers of security," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. "Thankfully, the official is safe, and the lunatic was arrested, but this is part of a disturbing and dangerous set of failures by the UN after their sabotage of President Trump ahead of and during his speech."
Kelly told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Secret Service will investigate "how this violent protester was admitted into a major national security event." A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the individual has been charged with assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. The individual was released from custody at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, the source said. The individual is expected in court next on Nov. 13.
"The UN must answer why these highly concerning incidents continue to happen against the president and his staff," Kelly said. "We are outraged that a member of the U.S. delegation was physically assaulted inside of UN Headquarters the afternoon of September 25," a U.S. UN spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This attack must be addressed swiftly, and consequences must be felt."
The spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "the UN itself recognizes that it has lost its way." "Now, it has devolved into an arena where an American delegation member is harassed and assaulted," the spokesperson said. "If you can’t keep people safe in your own building, how can you claim to be the world’s diplomatic center?"
The spokesperson called the incident "unacceptable," and told Fox News Digital that the United Nations "will use every available resource to support the U.S. Secret Service into their investigation of this incident."
"We know the UN needs dramatic reform and now must also immediately implement a thorough review of the UN’s security operations," the spokesperson said. "The UN’s failures are evident worldwide, and now in its own halls." The U.S. UN spokesperson added: "Enough is enough." The official recounted her experience of being followed, harassed, and physically assaulted inside the United Nations in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
The official told Fox News Digital that she was walking down the hallway at the UN when a woman began berating her and shining a bright light in her face. "It was very disorienting," the official said. "Once I took a step back and regained my footing, it didn’t stop. I realized what was happening. I realized I was being yelled at and that the light was also a recording device." The official tried to get away from the woman who was screaming derogatory and pro-Palestinian comments at her as she followed closely behind.
The official said the woman called her a "fascist" and a "Nazi." "The insults changed to specific insults," the official said, telling Fox News Digital that she went into the women’s bathroom to get away, but that the woman kept following her. "Her yelling turned into screaming—hyper-aggressive insults," the official said.
The official tried to hide in a bathroom stall, but told Fox News Digital that the woman was pushing and trying to get into the stall. Once the official was able to close the door, the woman put the camera over the door of the bathroom stall to continue filming the official and screaming. The official waited for the screaming to stop, and exited the stall, hoping the woman had left, but the woman was waiting for her at the door, and continued to follow her into the hallway, continuing to yell at her and shine the light in her face. Eventually, the official was able to get away.
The official told Fox News Digital the incident lasted approximately 10 minutes. "It felt very political in nature," she said. "Secretary Kennedy gets a tremendous number of bows and arrows and threats that he deals with, but it seems that it’s not enough, and it is trickling down." She added: "That’s a scary thing for the team. But we’re more empowered, and we have amazing leadership."
Fox News Digital has learned that the woman was arrested by the New York City Police Department. It is unclear whether she is still in custody. The NYPD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The United Nations did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
US to revoke Colombian president's visa over comments at pro-Palestinian gathering
By Ismail Shakil and Brendan O'Boyle
September 27, 20252:09 AM EDTUpdated 5 hours ago
Colombian President Gustavo Petro addresses pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza outside U.N. headquarters during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United States said it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa after he took to New York's streets on Friday in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump's orders.
"We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions," the State Department posted on X.
Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here.
Petro, addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding, "This force has to be bigger than that of the United States."
"That's why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity," Petro said in Spanish.
Reuters could not immediately confirm whether Petro was still in New York. His office and Colombia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the assembly on Friday, denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending the message that "murdering Jews pays off."
Israel began its assault on Gaza after an attack led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage. Since then, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and displaced the entire population of the narrow enclave.
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was shot dead during an arrest attempt on September 12, shortly after dropping off his two children at elementary school in Deca.
Multiple rights experts say this amounts to genocide, a charge angrily denied by Israel, which says the war is in self-defense.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the U.N. by video on Thursday after the Trump administration said it would not give him a visa to travel to New York.
Abbas' office said at the time that his visa ban violated the 1947 U.N. headquarters agreement, under which the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
Petro said his country's citizens were being treated like criminals. But he quickly reversed course, agreeing to accept the migrants, after both countries threatened tariffs on each other and after the U.S. canceled visa appointments for Colombians.
Trump this month put Colombia on a list of countries that Washington says have failed to uphold their counter-narcotics agreements, blaming Colombia's political leadership.
Petro came to office in 2022 promising agreements with armed groups but pivoted last year, pledging to tame coca-growing regions with massive social and military intervention. The strategy has brought little success.
By Ismail Shakil and Brendan O'Boyle
September 27, 20252:09 AM EDTUpdated 5 hours ago
Colombian President Gustavo Petro addresses pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza outside U.N. headquarters during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United States said it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa after he took to New York's streets on Friday in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump's orders.
"We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions," the State Department posted on X.
Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here.
Petro, addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding, "This force has to be bigger than that of the United States."
"That's why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity," Petro said in Spanish.
Reuters could not immediately confirm whether Petro was still in New York. His office and Colombia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Petro, Colombia's first leftist president and a vocal opponent of Israel's war in Gaza, hit out at Trump in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, saying the U.S. leader was "complicit in genocide" in Gaza and calling for "criminal proceedings" over U.S. missile attacks on suspected drug-running boats in Caribbean waters.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the assembly on Friday, denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending the message that "murdering Jews pays off."
Israel began its assault on Gaza after an attack led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage. Since then, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and displaced the entire population of the narrow enclave.
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was shot dead during an arrest attempt on September 12, shortly after dropping off his two children at elementary school in Deca.
Multiple rights experts say this amounts to genocide, a charge angrily denied by Israel, which says the war is in self-defense.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the U.N. by video on Thursday after the Trump administration said it would not give him a visa to travel to New York.
Abbas' office said at the time that his visa ban violated the 1947 U.N. headquarters agreement, under which the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
The United States is Colombia's main trading partner and its greatest ally in the fight against drug trafficking, but U.S.-Colombia relations got off to a bad start shortly after Trump returned to office in January, when Petro refused to accept military flights carrying deportees in Trump's immigration crackdown.Petro said his country's citizens were being treated like criminals. But he quickly reversed course, agreeing to accept the migrants, after both countries threatened tariffs on each other and after the U.S. canceled visa appointments for Colombians.
Trump this month put Colombia on a list of countries that Washington says have failed to uphold their counter-narcotics agreements, blaming Colombia's political leadership.
Petro came to office in 2022 promising agreements with armed groups but pivoted last year, pledging to tame coca-growing regions with massive social and military intervention. The strategy has brought little success.