This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday officers have apprehended two alleged leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most dangerous organized crime syndicates in the world.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, delivered remarks on the arrests, and stated: "Last year, I said that the Justice Department would never stop working to hold accountable those who are responsible for the fentanyl epidemic."
The cartel is largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans because of fentanyl members are smuggling over the southern border. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada allegedly ran the Sinaloa cartel's drug smuggling operation for decades and was a co-founder.
Zambada was arrested alongside Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the son of Zambada's ex-partner, by authorities in Texas on Thursday, according to the DOJ. The cartel is well known for smuggling fentanyl and other illicit drugs over the border, and money laundering.
"On Thursday, the Justice Department took into custody in El Paso two more alleged leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States, for leading the cartel's criminal operations including its deadly drug manufacturing and trafficking networks," Garland said.
Zambada is facing charges for fentanyl trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder. Guzman faces charges for trafficking large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
Human trafficking has also become part of the cartel's smuggling business, and the Sinaloa cartel has grown rapidly since 2000. Today, it is one of the most prolifically violent crime organizations, surpassing Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel during its prime.
Data published by Our World in Data, shows the rate of violence within Mexican cartels has increased exponentially, spiking from 1,500 to 4,000 deaths per year, to over 18,000 deaths per year in 2021.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, contributes to nearly 70% of all overdoses. Opioid deaths involving fentanyl in the U.S., are 25 times greater than they were in 2010. Over 70,000 people died from an overdose involving fentanyl in 2022.
Newly released police bodycam video from the Trump assassination attempt shows police discovering a transmitter for an explosive device next to the shooter's dead body.
The dramatic video also shows police and a Secret Service agent identifying the dead shooter as the same man who was photographed acting suspiciously before the attack.
The video was recorded by a Beaver County Emergency Services Unit officer and shared with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley (IA).
In the video, officers are seen rushing to access the rooftop that Thomas Matthew Crooks used to shoot at Trump.
A trail of blood is seen on the roof leading to Crooks' body. Next to his body, police make a troubling discovery: an electronic transmitter.
"It is a remote control device. It is gray in color, about five, six inches tall," an officer says, urging the FBI to "hurry the (expletive) up."
FBI director Christopher Wray told Congress Wednesday that Crooks had two explosive devices in his car and another at home.
It's unclear why the bombs were left in his car, but Wray said they were capable of being blown up remotely.
Secret Service has faced scrutiny for its failure to secure the rooftop, as well as its response to numerous warnings of suspicious activity before the shooting. A Beaver County sniper noticed a suspicious man using a rangefinder on the ground and took a photo.
The bodycam video shows Secret Service and police confirming that the dead body matches the man in the photo.
"A Beaver County sniper seen and sent the pictures out, this is him," the officer with the bodycam says.
"I don't know if you got the same ones I did?" the officer asks the Secret Service agent.
"I think I did, yeah, he's got his glasses on," the agent replies.
The men also discuss a suspicious abandoned bike. The officer says the sniper saw the shooter walk from the bike and set a bag down, then "lost sight of him."
FBI director Wray told Congress that Crooks had a collapsible stock, which made it easier to conceal his gun. He may have accessed the rooftop by climbing pipes.
Wray also said Crooks used a drone to scout the area two hours before the shooting. The drone would have given Crooks a view of the area behind him when he was on the rooftop.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The United States Secret Service refused an offer to use drones from local law enforcement in Butler, Pennsylvania, at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally July 13, according to a whistleblower.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., shared a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with the allegation on Thursday.
He noted the FBI probe of the scene included evidence Trump's shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, used his own drone to survey the rally site just two hours before Trump took the stage.
"This raises the obvious question: why was the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) not using its own drones?" Hawley asked.
"According to one whistleblower, the night before the rally, U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied offers from a local law enforcement partner to utilize drone technology to secure the rally," Hawley wrote.
"This means that the technology was both available to USSS and able to be deployed to secure the site. Secret Service said no. The whistleblower further alleges that after the shooting took place, USSS changed course and asked the local partner to deploy the drone technology to surveil the site in the aftermath of the attack.
"It is hard to understand why USSS would decline to use drones when they were offered, particularly given the fact the USSS permitted the shooter to overfly the rally area with his own drone mere hours before the event.
Hawley noted: "The American people deserve answers about your historic failure to protect former President Trump."
[postpoll]
The senator is giving Mayorkas seven days to provide "all records and communications concerning the availability or use of drones" at the rally.
"You must also testify next week about these staggering security failures by your department."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Kamala Harris will have to face a lot of questions if she, as presumed, becomes the Democratic nominee for president this year.
She'll probably want to promote herself as pro-law-and-order, with her resume including stints as a prosecutor and California's attorney general.
But what she'll see will be questions about how she advocated for the release of violent criminals, some of whom committed horrific crimes after they were released.
At issue is her support during the summer of riots after the George Floyd death in Minneapolis for a special fundraising campaign to bail suspects, suspects often facing charges for extremely violent crimes, out of jail.
A report in the Minnesota Sun noted that Harris endorsed the Minnesota Freedom Fund in a social media comment in 2020.
She insisted, "If you're able, chip in now to the MN Freedom Fund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota."
The report said the fund got $40 million after being promoted by Harris and other celebrities.
Those protesters were fomenting riots in cities all across the United States, leaving behind billions of dollars in damages, over the alleged racism in the case of Floyd's death. He died while being restrained by police.
However, in an interview, while those riots were burning city blocks, MFF chief Greg Lewin confirmed only about a dozen people were recipients of MFF bail funds.
At the time, it was Crime Watch Minneapolis that documented a list of violent offenders "who committed more serious crimes after the Minnesota Freedom Fund secured their release," the report confirmed.
One was George Howard, arrested for domestic assault, who was charged with murder just days after being bailed out.
Another was Gregory Jones, arrested for attacking a woman in a bar bathroom, and later charged with committing lewd acts in front of children after being bailed out.
The Republican State Leadership Committee already has highlighted Harris' advocacy for jailed violent criminals.
Spokeswoman Stephanie Rivera explained, "Regardless of who Democrats nominate for president, the Biden-Harris agenda remains in the states and on the ballot heading into November. Minnesotans have felt the negative impacts of these destructive pro-criminal policies and will hold them accountable for their failures at the ballot box in November."
A Trump super PAC already has promoted the slogan, "Kamala Harris bails out criminals, and Americans pay the price."
Fox News explained Harris' "tough talk about serving as a prosecutor in California may crumble quickly due to her past support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund in June 2020 amid Black Lives Matter riots."
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, confessing to "full responsibility" for the security failures that led to the failed assassination of President Trump.
"As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse," she wrote in an email to staff.
For days, Cheatle had said she was responsible for the security breakdown, but she rejected calls to step down. As recently as Monday, she told lawmakers that she wasn't going anywhere.
The July 13 assassination attempt was the most serious Secret Service failure since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
Many have questioned why the Secret Service failed to secure an obvious rooftop that a gunman used to shoot at Trump. The former president narrowly escaped death, turning his head just in time as a bullet grazed his ear.
During a congressional hearing Monday, Cheatle refused to answer questions about the security failures, pointing to the FBI's investigation. Her stonewalling led lawmakers in both parties to call for her resignation.
A day after claiming she was the "best" person for the role, Cheatle realized her time was up.
“The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she said.
“I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) took a victory lap.
"The Oversight Committee’s hearing resulted in Director Cheatle’s resignation and there will be more accountability to come," he said. "The Secret Service has a no-fail mission yet it failed historically on Director Cheatle’s watch."
Despite Cheatle's role in one of the greatest security catastrophes in U.S. history, she received a glowing send-off from President Biden.
"Jill and I are grateful to Director Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service. She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service," Biden said.
President Trump wrote, "The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO."
The Department of Homeland Security has appointed an independent panel to look into the security breakdown.
The man who tried to kill President Trump likely acted alone but his motive is unclear, FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday, as he shared details about the agency's investigation of the attempted assassination.
The FBI hasn't found anything like a manifesto, Wray told the House Oversight committee, and images of public figures that were stored on the shooter's phone do not appear to have any significance.
The hearing reflected usual partisan divides, with Democrats defending the FBI's integrity and pushing back on calls to defund the agency, which Republicans have accused of targeting Trump and his supporters.
Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) noted to Wray that many Americans are skeptical of the FBI's involvement in investigating the assassination attempt. But questioning from Republicans was mostly cordial as Wray shared bits of information.
Wray said that photos on the gunman's phone, including of Trump and Joe Biden, were saved automatically in a "cache" from searching news articles.
“This does not appear to be some sort of target list," he said.
Wray said there is currently no evidence the shooter had any accomplices. The gunman's list of phone contacts was "short", and he appeared to be a "loner."
The FBI is working to get inside the gunman's encrypted chats, Wray said.
"There doesn't appear to be a whole lot of interactions between him, face-to-face or digital, with a lot of people," Wray said. "That doesn't mean there's not any."
The gunman became focused on Trump around a week before the shooting, Wray said. On July 6, he registered for the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The same day, he looked up the Kennedy assassination on Google, typing, "how far away from Oswald was Kennedy?"
The gunman visited the rally site a week before the shooting for about 20 minutes and returned on the morning of for 70 minutes. He then returned a third time in the afternoon "for good."
Roughly two hours before the shooting, from 3:50 p.m. to 4 p.m., the shooter flew a drone about 200 yards away from the rally stage. The drone was livestreaming footage. The camera was pointed toward the rally stage, giving a "rear view" of what would have been behind the shooter during the attack.
A purchase of a five-foot ladder was traced to a bloody receipt on the shooter's person, but the ladder was not found at the scene, Wray said.
Investigators believe the gunman climbed on the roof using "mechanical equipment" and piping on the side of the building, he said. The director declined to answer questions about the failure to secure the scene, which has led to backlash against the Secret Service and the resignation of its director Kimberly Cheatle.
The security posture is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Wray said, while the FBI is focusing on the shooter.
The Secret Service reportedly asked former President Donald Trump to nix outdoor rallies after the agency failed to protect him from an assassination attempt, Breitbart reported. Trump was wounded in the right ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Anonymous sources claim that the Secret Service is urging Trump to move his popular rallies to indoor venues. Following this advice, the Trump campaign reportedly said it is attempting to book "basketball arenas and other large spaces" for upcoming events.
Trump has good reason to follow this advice after the Secret Service allowed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to fire on the former president. Trump sustained a wound from "a bullet that pierced the upper part" of his ear, which outraged the campaign.
During a congressional hearing this week, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted that her agency dropped the ball on his security detail. Cheatle resigned following her appearance before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Tuesday.
Trump's campaign has agreed to the move because it's easier for security personnel "to control who comes through a finite number of doors." However, the change does pose other challenges for the Trump campaign.
Renting indoor spaces has higher costs associated with it, which means more funds are drained from the campaign coffers for the same rallies. Moreover, one campaign official pointed out that it also changes the impact of these rallies.
"Obviously, with an indoor venue, you have a capacity. It doesn’t pack the same punch," the anonymous campaign official said.
"There’s something about being at one of those outdoor rallies," the unnamed official added. Indeed, Trump has built his reputation on drawing large, energetic crowds that motivate his loyal supporters.
However, it seems that the Secret Service is either unable to or not interested in making sure the former president is safe anymore. If that's the case, Trump has more to worry about than just his rallies.
The agency in charge of protecting the former president is guilty of profound failures that almost cost Trump his life. In the aftermath of the shooting, several shocking facts have come to light about the state of Secret Service protection.
According to the New York Post, Cheatle admitted that her agency made several blunders that led to the assassination attempt. One of the most notorious was her claim that the roof Crooks reportedly fired his shots from was unguarded because it was "sloped" and became a "safety factor."
Because of this decision, Crooks had a perfect vantage point just 130 years away from the former president. The gunman was killed by Secret Service counter-snipers, but not before wounding Trump, killing one man, and wounding two others.
Crooks also wasn't stopped despite Secret Service spotting the young man more than an hour before Trump took the stage. Rather than telling the former president to wait before going on, the agency allowed the one person they were charged with protecting to walk right into the would-be assassin's sites.
Trump relies on his outdoor rallies to drum up enthusiasm among voters. He shouldn't have to curtail them because the Secret Service didn't adequately perform its duties.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned her position Tuesday after coming under heavy fire for her agency's colossal failures protecting President Trump during his assassination attempt Jully 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Her resignation letter to the Secret Service states:
To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service,
The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders and financial infrastructure.On July 13th, we fell short on that mission. The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.
However, this incident does not define us. We remain an organization based on integrity and staffed by individuals of exceptional dedication and talent. As I've stated, the Secret Service will move forward with our investigatory and protective mission in a steadfast manner. We do not retreat from challenge. However, I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.
When I got the call asking if I would return to the Secret Service after my brief retirement, I did not hesitate. I love this agency, our mission, and the great men and women who sacrifice so much every day. I have, and will always, put the needs of this agency first.
In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director
When I assumed the role as your Director, I pledged to do so with honor and integrity. These values have guided my entire career for 29 years.
As many of you know, I served as a special agent for 27 years – securing events for FPOTUS Clinton, working as a supervisor on VP Cheney's detail, leading RTC, operating as the SAIC of ATL, supervising VP Biden's detail, and finally overseeing the agency's protective mission under the Trump Administration as AD-OPO.
As I stated in the hearing yesterday, all of you are worthy of trust and confidence. You deserve the nation's support in carrying out our critical mission. One of my favorite things about this workforce is that the men and women are fiercely committed to our mission.
Thank you for all that you do, and will continue to do, for our great nation.
President Trump said on Truth Social: "The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!"
Joe Biden issued a statement saying Cheatle "has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career."
Regarding the assassination attempt on July 13, Biden said: "We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new director soon."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
With Joe Biden's departure from the race for the Democrat party's nomination for president in the 2024 election, pundits naturally are turning their attention to Kamala Harris, his vice president.
But she's been an unrelenting source of pro-abortion ideology as vice president, and even before she was a California senator, when she was attorney general in California.
"Harris is bought and paid for by Planned Parenthood," explained Operation Rescue's chief, Troy Newman. "Short of a celebratory conversion to Christ, she will never stop extending her political power to facilitate the abortion cartel's profit-driven goal of killing as many babies as possible."
He pointed out drug traffickers are given a free pass while Americans are dying of fentanyl overdoses.
Murderers and rapists are allowed across the border.
"But that's her style," Newman said. "Kamala has spent decades nurturing a financially beneficial relationship with Planned Parenthood, the abortion giant that kills hundreds of thousands of innocent vulnerable human beings every year."
Her campaign coffers previously received over $81,000 from five California Planned Parenthood affiliates that were implicated for some of the worst wrongdoing in the 2015 Center for Medical Progress) video exposé.
Newman was a founding board member of CMP, which released undercover videos showing the behavior of those in the abortion industry, including one abortionist who wanted more money for the body parts of unborn babies because, "I want a Lamborghini."
OR reported, "In a shocking turn of events, Harris used her position to protect her pet campaign contributor. Instead of ordering an investigation into Planned Parenthood, she ordered a raid on the home of David Daleiden, one of the undercover investigators who exposed the organization's appalling practice of manipulating abortions to sell intact organs of murdered children. During the raid, the original work products obtained during the CMP undercover investigation were improperly seized."
The report confirmed Harris "radically supports the cold-hearted murder of preborn babies through all nine months of pregnancy without a single limit, and she opposes the existence of pregnancy resource centers that support women and families through unexpected pregnancies."
"We must commit ourselves to intercessory prayer and show up en masse in November to support Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance at the ballot box. We must be watchful and do everything within our power to preserve election integrity. If we don't, we will have Kamala Harris, or someone just like her, pushing for a radical, globalist population-control agenda at the expense of innocent preborn babies," Newman explained.
A report in 2021 from Live Action News pointed out that Daleiden and others were targeted with both criminal and civil cases for their revelations about the profit motive in the abortion industry.
At that time, Fox News reported a campaign organized by Harris invaded Daleiden's home to take his computers, then provided private information to the National Abortion Federation.
The report noted: "After [Judge] Orrick issued an injunction against the release of any new videos, Harris met with Planned Parenthood executives. Daleiden has alleged that Planned Parenthood General Counsel Beth Parker told Harris she wanted access to his computers. E-mail exchanges also show Harris and Planned Parenthood working together to get a search warrant to obtain CMP's full, unedited videos. She further worked with Planned Parenthood to craft a bill which would make recording undercover conversations with 'health care providers' a crime, with the parties passing copies of the bill back and forth before submitting it."
Two weeks later, Harris ordered that raid on Daleiden, seizing computers and more.
"From there, Harris gave NAF lawyers access to the unreleased videos," the report said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Graphic new footage of the immediate aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump shows the shooter lying in his own blood on the roof from which he killed a firefighter and injured two others.
The shocking footage, released by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reveals local police standing with a Secret Service agent over the body of shooter Thomas Crooks, and appearing to confirm the 20-year-old had been identified as a suspicious person before the first shot was ever fired.
One man in a red tie and wearing sunglasses appears to be a Secret Service agent who tells a Beaver County Emergency Service Unit officer that the deceased male on the roof appeared to be the suspicious person to whom they were previously alerted.
"So this is the guy," the agent says.
The local officer explains another sniper saw and photographed Crooks from his window position in another building.
"He would be right inside that window. He's the one that physically seen this, sent the pictures and called it out."