Tag: Homeland Security

Posted on

Connor Storrie In Slasher Parody + DOJ Goes After Minnesota (Again) + More

Connor Storrie in "Look Behind You"

Some news stories for you as we get over this Hump Day:

• OUT: Fresh off his SNL hosting stint, Connor Storrie (Heated Rivalry) stars in this clever slasher-horror parody for Verizon in the cheekily titled “Look Behind You.” Continue reading “Connor Storrie In Slasher Parody + DOJ Goes After Minnesota (Again) + More”

Posted on

Senate Agrees To End Homeland Security Shutdown Minus ICE Funding

Senate agrees to
Senate agrees to fund Department of Homeland Security minus funds for ICE and Customs and Borders Protection operations
Senate Majority Leader John Thune

After two months of playing a political blame game, the U.S. Senate voted early Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security except for its ICE and Customs and Borders Protection operations – which is what the Democrats had been suggesting all along. Continue reading “Senate Agrees To End Homeland Security Shutdown Minus ICE Funding”

Posted on

Markwayne Mullin’s DHS Confirmation Hearing Gets Crunchy Fast

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pulled no punches in his opening statement at today’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).

Trump nominated Mullin to replace outgoing DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, who hits the doors on March 31.

Paul, who’s the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, opened the hearing calling out Mullin for past remarks saying he “understands completely” why Paul was savagely attacked in his own front yard by a neighbor in 2017. Continue reading “Markwayne Mullin’s DHS Confirmation Hearing Gets Crunchy Fast”

Posted on

Senate Democrats Reach A Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown

U.S. Senate

Democrats in the U.S. Senate have reached a deal with Senate Republicans to pass five spending bills to fund much of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

But the agreement includes just a two week stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security while both sides negotiate guardrails to rein in ICE agents. Continue reading “Senate Democrats Reach A Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown”

Posted on

News Round-Up: February 2, 2021

Texas

Road sign reading Texas Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: The Human Rights Campaign’s State Equality Index for 2020 measures the rights and protections each state has in place for LGBTQ+ individuals. Texas is ranked in the bottom category, and referred to as a “high priority to achieve basic equality.” • Dallas Voice: With more calls to expel QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from Congress for her wild conspiracy claims and more, here’s a break down of what it takes to expel a member of of the House or Senate plus some history of those who were expelled. • Twitter: If you’ve never watched the far-right leaning outlet Newsmax, all you need to know here is Dominion Voting Systems threatened to sue the online newser into oblivion if they continued airing baseless claims of ‘vote manipulation.’ Now hit the play button.

• Raw Story: Moderate ‘Blue dog’ Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has told the media he will support President Biden’s coronavirus relief package even if Senate Democrats have to use ‘budget reconciliation’ (bypassing a 60-vote filibuster) to get there. Manchin’s vote is critical with the Senate’s current 50-50 makeup of Dems and Republicans. • AP News: Republicans in Georgia’s state Senate are moving to limit voting in future elections with bills that would restrict who can vote absentee by mail, require a photo ID for those who do vote absentee by mail, ban ballot drop boxes, block outside groups from sending out absentee ballot applications, end automatic voter registration when obtaining a driver’s license and ban new residents from voting in a runoff election. #votersuppression • CNBC: The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday to lead the nation’s Department of Homeland Security, making him the first Latino to hold the role. The Senate voted 56 to 43.

Posted on

Trump Fires Senior Official Responsible For Security Of Presidential Election

Donald Trump has asked a federal court to force Twitter to reinstate his account

Donald Trump (image public domain/White House)
Donald Trump has fired Christopher Krebs, the Department of Homeland Security cyber chief who declared the 2020 general election was the most secure in U.S. history. From the New York Times:

President Trump fired Christopher Krebs on Tuesday night, retaliating against his administration’s most senior official responsible for securing the presidential election.

Mr. Krebs, who has systematically disputed Mr. Trump’s baseless declarations in recent days that the presidency was stolen from him through fraudulent ballots and mysterious software glitches that changed millions of votes, had worked in the Department of Homeland Security.

The announcement came via Twitter, the same way Mr. Trump fired his defense secretary two weeks ago.

Mr. Trump seemed set off by a statement released by Homeland Security late last week, the product of a broad committee overseeing the elections, that declared the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history.”

Posted on

Whistleblower: Top DHS Officials Told Analysts To Downplay White Supremacists & Russian Interference

L-R Donald Trump, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf (photo: Flickr/WhiteHouse)
A whistleblower alleges that top officials in the Department of Homeland Security instructed analysts to modify intelligence assessments to ensure they matched up with misleading public comments from Trump about Antifa and “anarchist” groups. From the New York Times:

Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay the threat of violent white supremacy and of Russian election interference, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by a top intelligence official with the department.

Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a whistle-blower complaint filed on Tuesday that he was directed by Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of the department, to stop producing assessments on Russian interference.

The department’s second highest-ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy “appear less severe” and include information on violent “left-wing” groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee.

Trump has regularly downplayed the threat of white supremacist violence during his time in office, including his infamous remarks that there were some “fine people” among the extremists who instigated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Murphy previously oversaw the intelligence division at DHS but was reassigned in August. He says the personnel change was retaliation for after he compiled intelligence reports on journalists and protesters in Portland, Oregon. He’s asking the inspector general to investigate.

Posted on

Former DHS Official Warns Of 2nd Term For Trump

Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, longtime Republican and former Trump official Miles Taylor warned about Donald Trump if he achieves a second term, “You will see the president align with dictators around the world.” Republican Voters Against Trump has released a new Miles Taylor ad in which the former DHS chief of staff revealed he will vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Posted on

Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen The Latest Target Of “Reputation Killer” Trump

Everyone is talking about the sudden departure of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen this past weekend.
Kirstjen Nielsen

Everyone is talking about the sudden departure of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen this past weekend.

She showed up for a meeting at the White House with Donald Trump on Sunday, and before she could even make her resignation public, Trump beat her via Twitter.

According to the New York Times:

“I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside,” Ms. Nielsen said in a resignation letter. “I hope that the next secretary will have the support of Congress and the courts in fixing the laws which have impeded our ability to fully secure America’s borders and which have contributed to discord in our nation’s discourse.”

Ms. Nielsen had requested the meeting to plan “a way forward” at the border, in part thinking she could have a reasoned conversation with Mr. Trump about the role, according to three people familiar with the meeting. She came prepared with a list of things that needed to change to improve the relationship with the president.

Mr. Trump in recent weeks had asked Ms. Nielsen to close the ports of entry along the border and to stop accepting asylum seekers, which Ms. Nielsen found ineffective and inappropriate. While the 30-minute meeting was cordial, Mr. Trump was determined to ask for her resignation. After the meeting, she submitted it.

This morning, folks believe Nielsen’s tenure in the Trump administration could be a “reputation killer.”

“Kirstjen Nielsen I think is a great example of what happens when you go to work for Donald Trump,” said CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin. “He is the great reputation killer. Here is this woman who was a reasonably admired bureaucrat. For the rest of her life people will look at her and think, ‘Oh, that’s the woman who put children in cages. That’s the woman who broke up families across the border.’ You know what? They’ll be right.”

The NY Times also notes that Trump reportedly urged Nielsen to take illegal actions to tamp down what he saw as the immigration ’emergency.”

The president called Ms. Nielsen at home early in the mornings to demand that she take action to stop migrants from entering the country, including doing things that were clearly illegal, such as blocking all migrants from seeking asylum.

She repeatedly noted the limitations imposed on her department by federal laws, court settlements and international obligations.

Those responses only infuriated Mr. Trump further.