Is Obama in the Crosshairs Now?; Trump to visit Federal Reserve; US Olympics Will Ban Men From Women’s Competitions; Gabbard Exposes Evidence that Obama Advanced Coup Against Trump’s Election; Six Months In, Here’s What Sets Trump 2.0 Apart; and more
Justice Department Announces Formation of Strike Force to Assess Evidence Publicized by Director of National Intelligence
Today, the Department of Justice announced the formation of a Strike Force to assess the evidence publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and investigate potential next legal steps which might stem from DNI Gabbard’s disclosures.
This Department takes alleged weaponization of the intelligence community with the utmost seriousness.
Upon the formation of the Strike Force, Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated:
“The Department of Justice is proud to work with my friend Director Gabbard and we are grateful for her partnership in delivering accountability for the American people. We will investigate these troubling disclosures fully and leave no stone unturned to deliver justice.”
Read at US Department of Justice
Tulsi Gabbard: President Obama led conspiracy to subvert the will of the American people
“There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an Intelligence Community assessment that they knew was false … In doing so, they conspired to subvert the will of the American people, who elected Donald Trump in that election in November of 2016.”
Watch @Trump War Room on X
Karoline Leavitt & Tulsi Gabbard Hold White House Press Briefing After Obama Report
Watch at Forbes Breaking News (Gabbard begins at 5:44)
Tulsi Gabbard Exposes Evidence that Obama Advanced Coup Against Trump’s Election
Watch at Right Side Broadcasting Network (13 min)
New Docs Contradict Top Obama Officials’ Claims Steele Dossier Wasn’t Included In Critical Russiagate Report
Newly declassified records show the phony dossier intel agencies used to spy on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was included in a critical Obama-era report on Russia’s activities in the 2016 election — despite claims from top Obama officials that it wasn’t.
The information was disclosed Wednesday in a declassified 2020 report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Approved for release by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the unsealed records paint a damning picture of how high-ranking Obama administration officials included unsubstantiated dirt about Trump in its 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Moscow’s shenanigans in the 2016 contest.
Read more at The Federalist
Is Obama in the Crosshairs Now? – essay by John Zmirak
Harry Truman famously said of his presidential desk, “The buck stops here.” Richard Nixon finally had to resign in (vastly exaggerated) disgrace over the petty crimes his underlings committed in the Watergate scandal. In previous Western history, anointed monarchs got forced to abdicate, and sometimes were even executed, for corrupt or tyrannical acts.
In any political system, the person in highest authority must take responsibility for abuses he ordered or even enabled. We call that principle accountability, and we insist on it for the future safety of freedom. Power tends to corrupt, and if there’s no price for abusing it, it corrupts absolutely.
Read more at The Stream
Trump to visit Federal Reserve amid scrutiny of renovations
President Trump is scheduled to visit the Federal Reserve’s headquarters on Thursday, joining other administration officials who have requested a site tour because of scrutiny of the central bank’s renovations.
Trump is set to visit the Fed at 4 p.m. on Thursday, according to his public schedule released by the White House. The visit is slated to last roughly an hour.
Read more at The Hill
US Olympics Will Ban Men From Competing in Women’s Competitions After Trump Order
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) will formally prohibit men from competing in women’s sports amid the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back transgender policies throughout the United States.
USOPC said in an email to Olympic groups and stakeholders on Tuesday that leaders had “engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations” with federal leaders after President Donald Trump’s February executive order that moved to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports.”
Read more at National Catholic Register
Abrego Garcia to remain behind bars for at least a month even as judge rejects Trump administration’s claim he’s dangerous
A federal judge in Tennessee declined on Wednesday to undo a separate judge’s decision to let Kilmar Abrego Garcia remain free while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges — though he’ll continue to remain behind bars for at least another month.
The ruling from US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw said federal prosecutors had not shown “through clear and convincing evidence” that Abrego Garcia would present a danger to others or the community if he were allowed to remain out of criminal custody as his case unfolds.
Read more at CNN
Six Months In, Here’s What Sets Trump 2.0 Apart
President Trump’s first four years in the White House were already a big success, which is why I fought so hard to bring him back for a second go-round. Yet I think Trump’s second has already surpassed it in just one-eighth the time. Completely and instantly securing the U.S.-Mexico border after the four-year Biden invasion is one of the most important and impressive accomplishments in American presidential history. TV news said the president’s tough trade talk would crash the economy in days; instead the stock market hit record highs this very week and blue-collar wages are rising faster than they have in 60 years.
Under any other recent president, I am convinced the June Iran crisis would have ballooned into a full regime-change war, with far more money spent and many American lives lost. But …
Read more at Real Clear Politics
Columbia [University] to pay over $220 million in deal with Trump that restores federal funding
Columbia University announced it will pay over $220 million in total to the Trump administration on Wednesday as part of an agreement that restores federal funding to the Ivy League school, which has been accused of failing to discipline antisemitism on campus adequately.
The university is expected to pay a $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government and an additional $21 million to settle investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The deal also results in the closure of more than half a dozen civil rights investigations.
Read more at Washington Examiner
Secretary of State Rubio launches new investigation into Harvard
The State Department will investigate Harvard University’s eligibility to sponsor international students and researchers, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pressure the Ivy League university.
“The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,” Rubio said in a statement. “The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation’s interests.”
Read more at Politico
How Strong Is the Ivy League Curriculum? A new book argues, “Not very.”
We hear over and over that the eight universities comprising the Ivy League are elite institutions. They train our future leaders and do so much to advance knowledge. That’s what they want everyone to believe so we’ll keep going to great expense to send our sons and daughters to them.
But is there really anything so wonderful about the education students receive in the Ivy League? The new book Slacking: A Guide to Ivy League Miseducation will cause readers to be skeptical about that.
Read more at The James G Martin Center for Academic Renewal
Complicit Clergy: Archbishop Weisenburger Fires Two World-Renowned Professors From Sacred Heart Seminary
We have just received word from a reliable source that Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit has just fired two highly-esteemed professors from Sacred Heart Major Seminary. No reason was provided for their termination.
Eduardo Echeverria was Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. His publications include Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II Revised and Expanded Second Edition (Lectio Publishing, Hobe Sound, FL, 2019) and Revelation, History, and Truth: A Hermeneutics of Dogma. (2018). His new book is Are We Together? A Roman Catholic Analyzes Evangelical Protestants.
Ralph Martin was Director of Graduate Theology Programs in Evangelization and an assistant professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Angelicum University in Rome. …
Read more at Complicit Clergy; see also @Eric Sammons on X
Rochester [New York] diocese reaches $246M settlement in clergy abuse case
The Diocese of Rochester has reached a significant settlement with survivors of clergy sex abuse, marking a pivotal moment in its ongoing bankruptcy case.
The settlement, totaling $246 million, includes a $120 million agreement with Continental Insurance Company, a holdout insurer.
Read more at 13WHAM
Russian Supreme Court Outlaws ‘International Satanist Movement’
Russia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday outlawed the so-called “International Satanist Movement,” granting a request from state prosecutors to designate it as an “extremist” organization.
During the hearing, justices said the group’s activities were aimed at undermining Russia’s constitutional order, promoting violence and inciting religious hatred, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The ruling takes effect immediately.
Read more at The Moscow Times
Survey: Majority Believe Biden Administration ‘Deliberately’ Left Border Open
A majority believe the Biden administration deliberately left the border open, a recent Harvard-Harris survey revealed.
The vast majority fundamentally agree that the Biden administration left the southern border open — 67 percent. A majority of both Republicans and independents — 84 percent and 68 percent, respectively — believe the border was effectively open during the Biden administration, although a slight majority of Democrats, 51 percent, believe it was “secure.”
When asked if they believe the open border was a “deliberate policy or not deliberate,” 69 percent agreed that it was “deliberate.” Only 31 percent believe it was not.
Read more at Breitbart
Europe Wants to Stop Sexual Assaults by Immigrants … With Spiked Condoms
With the endless stream of sexual assaults in Europe this summer at pools and beaches, committed by immigrants against young European women and girls, you’d think the urgent response would be to halt illegal immigration, stop funding hundreds of centers for unaccompanied African minors in major European cities, and toughen penalties, starting with the immediate deportation of offenders. European social democrats and Christian democrats — two sides of the same coin — don’t see it that way.
Germany, one of the countries hit hardest by rapes and sexual assaults by illegal immigrants and so-called war refugees, has analyzed the problem and come up with a grand solution: female condoms with spikes to pinch attackers’ penises. This is not a joke. German researchers are promoting the possible use of a vaginal device with internal spikes designed to injure assailants during a sexual attack, similar to the the Rape-aXe device that was created in South Africa. It could be absurdly hilarious if it weren’t real, if it weren’t so unbelievable. …
Read more at The American Spectator
British bishop calls on UK government to support asylum seekers in response to protests
A British bishop has spoken out on the need for the UK government to support asylum seekers after six people were arrested during protests at a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
Over 1,000 people protested outside the Bell Hotel, where asylum seekers have been housed, in the market town of Epping in the English county of Essex. Although most of the people protested peacefully, some were arrested for throwing bottles and for other violent acts. The protests…
Read more at The Catholic Herald (subscription required for full article)
A church in Democratic Republic of Congo desecrated by an armed group allied with the army
The Catholic Church of Saint John of Capistrano, in Lopa, Ituri province, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was desecrated in a new episode of violence affecting the region. The sacrilegious act took place on July 21, in the context of clashes between several armed groups fighting for control of the territory.
According to a statement from the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace of Bunia, those responsible for the desecration are apparently members of the armed group CODECO (Coopérative pour le Développement du Congo), which has been responsible for similar acts in the past.
Read more at Agenzia Fides
Arson and Break-in: Repeated targeting of churches in Sierck-les-Bains, France
On the night of 13 July, the room adjoining the church in Sierck-les-Bains was vandalised. The white plastic door was completely destroyed. A week earlier, two teenagers had been arrested for setting fire to a chapel in the same municipality.
Nothing was stolen from the room, which was used solely to store flowers and vases for the parish. However, the destroyed door will have to be replaced. The parish council also reported that a speaker was damaged by someone pulling the cable out of the wall during the same week. A complaint was filed following the break-in at the rear of the building.
Read more at Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe
Woman deliberately crashed pickup truck into Texas Catholic church, police say
A 61-year-old woman drove her pickup truck into the sanctuary of a Texas Catholic church on the morning of July 21, and local police said they believe the crash wasn’t an accident.
According to local CBS affiliate KFDM, the woman first drove around Infant Jesus Catholic Church in Lumberton and then headed to the front of the building. A KFDM reporter who viewed footage of the incident said the woman threw a large painting of a bird at the church. Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins added that the driver also had a picture of Jesus with her.
Read more at Catholic Vote
Trump posted a video showing all the charity work Mike Johnson does
Watch @MAGA Voice
Thousands gather at Our Lady of Champion for Jubilee Mass
Thousands of people gathered at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin, for a Mass celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope on July 20.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion was designated as a “Jubilee Pilgrimage Site” for the Jubilee Year of Hope. Mass was celebrated by Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay.
Our Lady of Champion is the name given to the Marian apparition that took place at the site in 1859. It is the first, and so far, only, Marian apparition in the United States to have been approved by the Catholic Church.
Read more at Aleteia
Pope Leo’s words ‘I am a son of Augustine’ thrilled Algeria, home of the saint’s diocese
The Diocese of Constantine-Hippo, located in Algeria and a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Algiers, is proud to have had as its bishop — appointed in 395 — one of the most illustrious doctors of the Church: St. Augustine of Hippo.
Endowed with a fervent intellect, he transformed this vibrant port city, nestled on the coast of present-day Algeria, into a nexus of theological debates that forever shaped the Catholic Church. In this diocese, St. Augustine wrote some of his major works, such as “Confessions” and “The City of God.”
Read more at Catholic News Agency
