Politics

Probe into Border Patrol agents still ongoing, 6 months after false ‘whipping’ claims

Published

2 years ago

March 28, 2022

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The investigation into Border Patrol brokers on the heart of claims that they “whipped” Haitian migrants making an attempt to illegally enter the USA continues to be ongoing, six months after the claims have been made and rapidly debunked.

The controversy started amid the Haitian migrant disaster in Del Rio in September, the place greater than 10,000 migrants have been gathered beneath the realm’s Worldwide Bridge. Because the scenario worsened, brokers have been despatched out on horseback.

BORDER PATROL STUNNED AS BIDEN GOES TO WAR WITH HIS OWN AGENTS OVER FALSE ‘WHIPPING’ ALLEGATIONS

Brandon Judd, president of the Nationwide Border Patrol Council, instructed Fox Information Digital in an interview that the scenario on the bottom in Del Rio was a “powder keg” as migrants had simply found that they have been in actual fact prone to be eliminated reasonably than allowed into the U.S.

“These brokers have been particularly despatched to that location to cease extra individuals from crossing, that was what they have been despatched there to do,” Judd stated. “This was beneath the orders of their administration which in fact is beneath the management of Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas.”

On Sept. 19, a Sunday, pictures started to flow into on Twitter of the brokers making an attempt to dam migrants from getting into the U.S., and in a single case grabbing a migrants’ shirt. The controversy escalated as some media shops and Democratic lawmakers misidentified the brokers’ cut up reins, which they use and twirl to regulate and direct the horse — and falsely claimed the brokers have been utilizing “whips” on the migrants.

U.S. Customs and Border Safety mounted officers try and include migrants as they cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Picture/Felix Marquez)
(AP Picture/Felix Marquez)

“With primary information and two mind cells, anybody is aware of these brokers use cut up reins. They do use them as a whip, on their horses,” one agent instructed Fox Information on the time. “This helps get a faster response from the horse to maneuver out when wanted, particularly when the horse could also be hesitant with teams of individuals or different animals.”

Nevertheless, that didn’t cease high Democrats from weighing in, with Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer decrying “pictures of inhumane therapy of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol—together with the usage of whips.”

A photographer who took the pictures in query stated that “no one noticed a Border Patrol agent whipping,” and Mayorkas initially backed the brokers alongside Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.

By Tuesday, his message modified, telling CNN that the pictures “troubled me profoundly” earlier than including that “one can not weaponize a horse” towards migrants. Vice President Kamala Harris additionally weighed in, saying she wished an investigation and was “deeply troubled” concerning the alleged therapy of migrants.

BIDEN WARNS MOUNTED BORDER PATROL AGENTS CHARGING MIGRANTS IN DEL RIO SECTOR: ‘THOSE PEOPLE WILL PAY’

Shortly after that, Mayorkas introduced that horses would now not be utilized in Del Rio, and the brokers have been shifted to desk responsibility pending an investigation into their conduct. He would go on to vow that the investigation can be “accomplished in days, if not weeks.”

That Friday, President Biden elevated the strain on the besieged brokers by repeating the false claims of whipping, and likewise previewed what he hoped can be the result of the investigation.

“To see individuals handled like they did, horses barely operating over, individuals being strapped – it is outrageous,” Biden stated, making a whipping movement along with his hand.

“I promise you, these individuals can pay,” he stated, referring to frontline Border Patrol brokers. “There can be an investigation underway now and there can be penalties. There can be penalties.”

Six months later, the investigation continues to be ongoing. A DHS spokesperson instructed Fox on Friday that the company “will share the outcomes of the investigation as soon as it’s full and supply updates, as out there, per the necessity to shield the integrity of the investigation and people’ privateness.”

The spokesperson referred to an replace from November, which outlined how the matter had been referred to the Workplace of Inspector Normal — which declined to research and as an alternative referred it to Customs and Border Protections (CBP) Workplace of Skilled Accountability — and the steps which might be to be taken.

However Judd, the top of the Border Patrol union, is one in every of quite a few officers who consider it’s being dragged out as a result of the administration backed itself right into a nook on the matter.

“I consider that they are making an attempt to tug this out and get the American public to overlook about it as a result of finally they’ll have to come back again and say [the agents] did nothing mistaken, or they’ll need to make some fees up and attempt to match some fees beneath coverage,” he stated. “That’s the one conclusion that we will come to on why that is taking so lengthy.”

A DHS official who spoke to The Washington Examiner in January shared that evaluation, and even questioned whether or not the administration would ever launch the report.

“I doubt that the present administration will launch this report on the horse patrol incident as a result of it makes the administration look horrible,” the official stated. “They basically convicted the mounted brokers based mostly upon a lie, which the investigation after 120 days would absolutely have revealed.”

BORDER PATROL SPAT DURING MAYORKAS VISIT LATEST IN A PATTERN OF GROWING TENSION WITH BIDEN ADMIN

Judd instructed Fox that it was right down to politics that the brokers have been nonetheless not capable of return to the sector.

“They didn’t whip anyone, they didn’t do something that was mistaken, and but they’re nonetheless on administrative duties, they haven’t been launched again to the sector to carry out their patrol duties just like the American public expects,” he stated of the brokers.

Border Patrol brokers have continued to face excessive numbers of migrant site visitors all through the winter months, and with spring and summer season months approaching there are fears of a large migrant surge across the nook. Judd warned that the shadow of the whip controversy, and the Biden administration’s response, looms over brokers as they exit into the sector to guard America’s borders and will have an effect on their skill to do their jobs within the coming months.

“Any time one thing like this occurs it will make you second guess the actions that you simply take, and the issue with that’s once you’re second guessing what you are imagined to be doing, individuals might evade apprehension, you could possibly find yourself getting your self harm, you could possibly find yourself getting harmless third events harm — since you do not take the actions which might be obligatory since you’re fearful you are going to be second guessed by the president of the USA,” he stated.

“We’re not speaking about being second guessed by somebody with a digital camera, we’re speaking about being second guessed by the president of the USA and that is the political scenario we’re presently beneath, and any time that occurs in fact we’re going to be very, very leery concerning the actions we take.”

Politics

Trump's answer to foreign policy woes: Never would have happened

Published

4 mins ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

Trump's answer to foreign policy woes: Never would have happened

WASHINGTON —

In the presidential debate former President Trump insisted repeatedly that if he had still been in the White House, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine and Hamas would not have invaded Israel.

Both claims are unprovable. But Trump repeated the assertion again and again in his debate Thursday night with President Biden.

It is true, foreign policy analysts have said, that Trump might have been able to discourage Putin from invading Ukraine — but, they’ve asked, at what cost?

Trump, a vocal admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, might have made concessions to Moscow — such as sacrificing Ukrainian territory — that many in the West would find unpalatable.

After the Russian invasion in 2022, Biden was able to rally and fortify NATO in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine. It seems unlikely Trump would have had that influence, given that the largest of NATO countries were generally contemptuous of Trump during his administration.

Trump’s claim that Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both militant groups backed by Iran, became emboldened because Biden’s policies built up Iran are also not completely true. The Obama administration did unfreeze some Iranian assets in foreign banks as part of the landmark Iran nuclear deal in 2015, which curbed Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

It was Trump’s decision in 2018, however, to abandon the nuclear deal — he said it didn’t go far enough — that sent Iran on a major quest to enrich uranium, which has now brought the Islamic Republic closer than ever to being able to produce a nuclear bomb.

Trump, whose support for Israel essentially eliminated Palestinian statehood aspirations from the picture, took a swipe at Biden in the debate for what he described as failing to supply Israel with the weapons it needs to fight Hamas. Biden said that is not true. The Biden administration held up a single shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to prevent them from being used in the overly crowded Gazan city of Rafah during an offensive earlier this month.

Robust weapons shipments have continued, the Pentagon says. Trump attacked Biden for his bungled handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. To be sure, it was a chaotic disaster that killed 13 American service members and dozens of Afghans.

It was one of the darkest stains on Biden’s foreign policy record. However, he was fulfilling the agreement that Trump executed — in rare negotiations with the Taliban — before leaving office.

Trump also revived a lie he told in the months leading up to his first impeachment over attempts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Biden family. He said Biden, as vice president, had sought to get fired a Ukrainian attorney general who was targeting his son Hunter Biden.

In fact, the prosecutor was blacklisted by the European Union, the U.S. and other groups because of his refusal to tackle corruption, which international entities had established as a task for Kyiv before it could be considered for EU membership and other benefits.

On the Ukraine war, Trump said he would be able to “get it settled fast” before he even took office on Jan. 21. In other venues, he has also said he could get Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich freed from Russian authorities who arrested him on what the U.S. says are trumped-up espionage charges. In both cases, Trump is making claims impossible to test.

Politics

Read Judge Cannon’s Ruling

Published

6 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Case 9:23-cr-80101-AMC Document 655 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/27/2024 Page 2 of 11
CASE NO. 23-80101-CR-CANNON
showing” that the affidavit in support of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant contains any material false
statements or omissions. The balance of the Motion cannot be resolved on the current record,
however, because of pertinent factual disputes, and thus the Court RESERVES RULING on those
issues as stated below, pending an evidentiary suppression hearing to be scheduled by separate
order.
DISCUSSION
A. LEGAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING A FRANKS HEARING
The Supreme Court has expressed “a strong preference” for searches conducted pursuant
to a warrant and has directed courts to accord “great deference” to a magistrate’s determination of
probable cause. United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 914 (1984) (internal quotation marks
omitted); id. at 922 (“[A] warrant issued by a magistrate normally suffices to establish that a law
enforcement officer has acted in good faith in conducting the search.”) (internal quotation marks
omitted). To this end, affidavits supporting warrants are presumptively valid, Franks v. Delaware,
438 U.S. 154, 171 (1978), and courts should not invalidate warrants by interpreting affidavits in a
“hypertechnical, rather than . . . commonsense, manner,” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 236,
(1983) (internal quotation marks omitted).
As enunciated in Franks, however, deference to a magistrate’s determination of probable
cause “does not preclude inquiry into the knowing or reckless falsity of the affidavit on which that
determination was based.” Leon, 468 U.S. at 914. This derives from the root assumption that,
when the Fourth Amendment requires probable cause for the issuance of a warrant, the showing
of probable cause will be “truthful.” Franks, 438 U.S. at 164–65. “Truthful” in this context does
not mean, however, “that every fact recited in the warrant affidavit is necessarily correct, for
probable cause may be founded upon hearsay and upon information received from informants, as
well as upon information within the affiant’s own knowledge that sometimes must be garnered
2

Politics

The many faces of Donald Trump from past presidential debates

Published

7 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

The many faces of Donald Trump from past presidential debates

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Former President Trump and President Biden have spent weeks in preparation leading up to their center stage appearances tonight for the highly anticipated CNN Presidential Debate.

The debate is the first of the 2024 presidential election cycle to include both men, and millions of Americans across the country are seeking answers to questions about critical issues important to voters.

However, Americans are also awaiting viral moments brought on by both the remarks and facial expressions of each presidential candidate, especially as neither nominee is a stranger to social media virality.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

President Biden and former President Trump will go head-to-head tonight in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A few times since Biden began his presidency, the incumbent has attracted hundreds of thousands of clicks for a number of speaking gaffes and a few falls.

In 2022, Biden was recorded falling off his bike while cycling in Delaware, which quickly circulated across social media platforms.

Last summer, Biden drew social media attention when he tripped and hit the stage floor during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.

Last weekend, Trump went viral during a moment shared with a young fan in Philadelphia where the child was wearing a Trump-like suit and wearing a wig. The kid met the former president, who signed and gifted him with a $20 bill, and the exchange was captured on video. It garnered nearly 900,000 views on X at midday on Sunday.

“I like that kid! So, if your parents don’t want you, I’ll take you,” Trump said in the video.

PRESIDENT BIDEN ALMOST FALLS WHILE WALKING UP AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS

Biden falls on Air Force graduation stage

Biden has gone viral for falling down several times since becoming president. (Fox News)

In 2023, following his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump’s mugshot immediately went viral and has since been used to decorate coffee mugs, sweatshirts and T-shirts, including those sold on his own campaign website.

While there will be no audience present tonight in Atlanta at CNN’s Midtown studio, and microphones will be controlled by media personnel, viewers everywhere will be looking at the candidates for clashing reactions to one another, especially the usually unabashed expressions provided by Trump.

Here are some of the most memorable facial expressions by the former president during previous presidential debates.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he has no COVID plan

During the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate between Trump and Biden, hosted by Fox News, Biden said of Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, “He went on record and said to one of your colleagues, recorded, that in fact he knew how dangerous it was, but he didn’t want to tell us, didn’t want to tell us because he didn’t want us to panic.”

He added, “He didn’t want us. Americans don’t panic. He panicked,” and went on to say that Trump “still doesn’t have a plan” regarding next steps to combat the disease at the time.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he “doesn’t have a plan” during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump reacts to a question about paying $750 in federal income taxes in 2017

During the same presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020, Trump was asked by the moderator if he would tell Americans how much he paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, to which he responded, “Millions of dollars.”

He added, “And you’ll get to see it.”

In late 2022, Democrats revealed Trump’s tax returns and made his finances public to the American people, though Trump worked to stop them in court.

HILLARY CLINTON COMPLAINS IT’S ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ TO DEBATE TRUMP, ‘WASTE OF TIME’ TO REFUTE ARGUMENTS

Trump reacts to a question about his federal tax filings during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump’s reactions during debate with Hillary Clinton

During a 90-minute CNN-hosted presidential debate on Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis, Hillary Clinton and Trump went head-to-head on topics including taxes, a travel ban on Muslims, Syrian refugees and two-faced politicians, among other topics.

Early in the debate, Clinton said, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,”

Trump responded ominously, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Later in the debate the former Secretary of State said, “Well, everything you’ve heard from Donald is not true. I’m sorry I have to keep saying this, but he lives in an alternative reality and it is sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn’t paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he’s going to do, but I’ll tell you what he’s going to do.”

Trump reacts to energy policy statement from Biden

During the final presidential debate between Trump and Biden on Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the former president and incumbent disagreed over energy policies when Biden said he wanted to move away from fossil fuels.

Biden said of Trump, “He won’t give federal subsidies to the gas, excuse me, to solar and wind,” to which Trump subsequently reacted with “Oooh!” a couple of times.

Trump reacts to Biden’s remarks during an ABC-hosted presidential debate in 2020. (ABC)

Trump reacts to Clinton and climate change remark

The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump drew over 84 million viewers.

During the debate on Sept. 26, 2016, Clinton said of the former president, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” to which Trump subtly raised his eyebrows and followed with “I did not. I do not say that.”

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