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Obama's Corruption Chronicles:

Justice Department about to free 6,000 prisoners, largest one-time release

The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison — the largest ever one-time release of federal prisoners — in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades.

The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department’s Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release.

The early release follows action by the U.S. Sentencing Commission — an independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal crimes — which reduced the potential punishment for future drug offenders last year and then made that change retroactive.

The commission’s action is separate from an effort by President Obama to grant clemency to certain nonviolent drug offenders, an initiative that has resulted in 89 inmates being released early.

The panel estimated that its change in sentencing guidelines eventually could result in 46,000 of the nation’s approximately 100,000 drug offenders in federal prison qualifying for early release. The 6,000 figure, which has not been reported previously, is the first tranche in that process.

“The number of people who will be affected is quite exceptional,” said Mary Price, general counsel for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, an advocacy group that supports sentencing reform.

The Sentencing Commission estimated that an additional 8,550 inmates will be eligible for release between this Nov. 1 and Nov. 1, 2016.

The releases are part of a shift in the nation’s approach to criminal justice and drug sentencing. Along with the commission’s action, the Justice Department has instructed its prosecutors not to charge low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no connection to gangs or large-scale drug organizations with offenses that carry severe mandatory sentences.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously for the reduction last year after holding two public hearings in which they heard testimony from former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., federal judges, federal public defenders, state and local law enforcement officials, and sentencing advocates. The panel also received more than 80,000 public comment letters with the overwhelming majority favoring the change.

Congress did not act to disapprove the change to the sentencing guidelines, so it became effective on Nov. 1, 2014. The commission then gave the Justice Department a year to prepare for the huge release of inmates.

The policy change is referred to as “Drugs Minus Two.” Federal sentencing guidelines rely on a numeric system based on different factors, including the defendant’s criminal history, the type of crime, whether a gun was involved and whether the defendant was a leader in a drug group.

The sentencing panel’s change decreased the value attached to most drug-trafficking offenses by two levels, regardless of the type of drug or the amount.

An average of about two years is being shaved off eligible prisoners’ sentences under the change. Although some of the inmates who will be released have served decades, on average they will have served 8 1/ 2 years instead of 10 1/ 2 , according to a Justice Department official.

“Even with the Sentencing Commission’s reductions, drug offenders will have served substantial prison sentences,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said. “Moreover, these reductions are not automatic. Under the commission’s directive, federal judges are required to carefully consider public safety in deciding whether to reduce an inmate’s sentence.”

In each case, inmates must petition a judge who decides whether to grant the sentencing reduction. Judges nationwide are granting about 70 sentence reductions per week, Justice officials said. Some of the inmates already have been sent to halfway houses.

In some cases, federal judges have denied inmates’ requests for early release. For example, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth recently denied requests from two top associates of Rayful Edmond III, one of the District’s most notorious drug kingpins.

Federal prosecutors did not oppose a request by defense lawyers to have the associates, Melvin D. Butler and James Antonio Jones, released early in November. But last month Lamberth denied the request, which would have cut about two years from each man’s projected 28 1/ 2 -year sentence.

“The court struggles to understand how the government could condone the release of Butler and Jones, each convicted of high-level, sophisticated and violent drug-trafficking offenses,” Lamberth wrote. The Edmond group imported as much as 1,700 pounds of Colombian cocaine a month into the city in the 1980s, according to court papers.
Critics, including some federal prosecutors, judges and police officials, have raised concerns that allowing so many inmates to be released at the same time could cause crime to increase.

But Justice officials said that about one-third of the inmates who will be released in a few weeks are foreign citizens who will be quickly deported.

They also pointed to a study last year that found that the recidivism rate for offenders who were released early after changes in crack-cocaine sentencing guidelines in 2007 was not significantly different from offenders who completed their sentences.

“Prison officials and probation officers are working hard to ensure that returning offenders are adequately supervised and monitored,” Yates said.

Federal prison costs represent about one-third of the Justice Department’s $27 billion budget. The U.S. population has grown by about a third since 1980, but the federal prison population has increased by about 800 percent and federal prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent over capacity, Justice officials said.

Last week, a group of senators introduced a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, the first such legislation in decades. Although some advocates say it doesn’t go far enough, the measure, which is supported by a coalition that includes the Koch brothers and the American Civil Liberties Union, would shorten the length of mandatory-minimum drug sentences that were part of the tough-on-crime laws passed during the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s.

If passed by Congress and signed by Obama, the reforms would apply retroactively, allowing inmates who were previously incarcerated under mandatory minimums an opportunity for release.

“It’s a remarkable moment,” Price said. “Over the past several years, the tone of the discussion about incarceration has changed dramatically. We have come to the realization that our punitive approach to drug crimes is not working and has produced significant injustices.”

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Do you believe this Friggin' Bleeding Heart Liberal President...!?

Obama is destroying this nation one decree after another....until all the scumbags are roaming the streets raping and pillaging.

Does he think these career criminals are rehabilitated...have changed their evil ways...will find jobs and become productive citizens !!??

The prison system should have been privatized decades ago...with those inmates churning out products society needs for $1.00 an hour...

instead....they are unleashed into the public welfare system for the over-taxed middle class to support...!!!!

This country is hitting every step on the way down to the basement thanks to the worst president we have ever been stuck with for 8 years !!!

And now....the liberals want to elect a lying, scheming better than thou Hillary....the oldest socialist in Congress Bernie....or Uncle Joe "I got my foot in my mouth again " Biden.


Are you kiddin' me....!!??

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He called them "non-violent" criminals.

You know, the ones who were peddling dope and meth to kids on corners, sexual deviation from all forms of low lifes, money laundering, extortion, organized crime, gangs.

See, you can call it anything you want, but NON-VIOLENT criminals sound like they were the victims.
 
Top Law Enforcement Official: Terrorists Have Infiltrated U.S. Through Mexico

A few days ago a top law enforcement official finally confirmed that Islamic terrorists have infiltrated the United States through Mexico, a story that Judicial Watch broke last year as part of an ongoing series involving the dangerously porous southern border.

Last October JW reported that four members of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), who entered the U.S. through the Mexican border, were arrested in McAllen and Pharr Texas. Then, over the summer, JW reported that Mexican drug cartels are smuggling foreigners from countries with terrorist links into a small Texas rural town near El Paso and they’re using remote farm roads—rather than interstates—to elude the Border Patrol and other law enforcement barriers. The information comes from sources on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border who say the Special Interest Aliens (SIA) are being transported to stash areas in Acala, a rural crossroads located around 54 miles from El Paso on a state road – Highway 20.

Prior to that JW published a series of investigative articles citing high-level federal law enforcement, intelligence and other sources certifying that Islamic terrorist groups are operating in at least two Mexican border towns. In August, 2014 ISIS planned to attack the U.S. with car bombs or other vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) from a camp in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez. Agents across a number of Homeland Security, Justice and Defense agencies were all placed on alert and instructed to aggressively work all possible leads and sources concerning the terrorist threat.

This past spring JW sources that include a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police inspector disclosed that ISIS is actually operating a camp just a few miles from El Paso. The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as “Anapra” situated just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad Juárez, in Puerto Palomas, targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy access to the United States, the same knowledgeable sources told JW.
For the most part, government officials have refused to go on the record about these serious terrorist threats and in fact many have outright denied they exist or have tried silencing sources. For instance, a congressman (Beto O’Rourke) who represents El Paso in the U.S. House of Representatives telephoned area offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) in an effort to identify—and evidently intimidate—sources that may have been used by JW to break the ISIS in Juarez story.

This makes it refreshing to hear a high-level government official confirm what JW has been reporting for more than a year. During a visit to Laredo a few days ago the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Steven McCraw, answered a question from a member of the public who asked if any suspected ISIS terrorists had ever been apprehended on the Mexican border. A local news outlet published McCraw’s answer: “Individuals that come across the Texas/Mexican border from countries with a known terrorism presence and the answer to that is yes. We have individuals that we’ve needed to debrief in Pashto/Dari. Not a lot of Pashto and Dari speakers around. But you can’t think about the last attack; you have to think of the next attack and where our vulnerabilities are. So, we’re concerned about that.” Before becoming DPS director in 2009 McCraw was an FBI special agent in several large U.S. cities as well as a DPS narcotics agent and a Texas state trooper.
 
Another DHS Official Confirms: No Way to Vet Syrian Refugees

As the Obama administration prepares to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, a second high-ranking Homeland Security official admits there’s no way to screen the new arrivals from the war-torn Muslim nation that’s a hotbed of terrorism.

During a recent congressional hearing a director with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which operates under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirmed that the U.S. has no method of vetting the new refugees because the Syrian government doesn’t have an intelligence database to run checks against. It’s actually embarrassing to watch the footage of the DHS director, Matthew Emrich, getting grilled by the senator who chairs the committee that conducted the hearing a few days ago. The session was held to address the fiscal and security implications of the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program.
Under questioning from Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Emrich admits that there is no reliable way to assure that individuals coming from Syria are properly checked. The exchange lasts about seven minutes and Emrich sounds desperate when he says “we check everything that we are aware of” and that “we are in the process of overturning every stone.” The bottom line is that there is no way to verify the identity of Syrians so the defeated Homeland Security official proceeds to say that “in many countries of the world from which we have traditionally accepted refugees over the years the United States government did not have extensive data holdings.”

Syria isn’t the typical country that sends over refugees, it’s a hotbed of Hezbollah militants and Al Qaeda-linked jihadists. Last year a study published by the RAND Corporation concluded that the most significant threat to the United States comes from terrorist groups operating in a handful of Middle Eastern countries that include Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The State Department also classifies Syria as a dangerous country plagued by terrorism. “There is a terrorist threat from violent extremist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, (ISIL), formerly known as al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQ), the al-Nusrah Front, and others,” according to the State Department assessment. “Tactics for these groups include the use of suicide bombers, kidnapping, use of small and heavy arms, and improvised explosive devices in major city centers, including Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, Dara, Homs, Idlib, and Dayr al-Zawr.”

Emrich’s testimony before the Senate panel comes on the heels of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Assistant Director Michael Steinbach’s revelation that the U.S. government has no system to properly screen Syrian refugees. “The concern in Syria is that we don’t have systems in places on the ground to collect information to vet,” Steinbach said. “That would be the concern is we would be vetting — databases don’t hold the information on those individuals. “You’re talking about a country that is a failed state, that is — does not have any infrastructure, so to speak. So all of the data sets — the police, the intel services — that normally you would go to seek information don’t exist.”

National security has never stopped the Obama administration from assisting potential terrorists to settle in the U.S. Just last month Judicial Watch reported on a “temporary” amnesty that DHS is offering to nationals of Yemen, another Islamic Middle Eastern country well known as an Al Qaeda breeding ground. Under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) illegal aliens from Yemen, headquarters of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), get to stay in the U.S. for at least 18 months. In its latest Country Reports on Terrorism, the State Department reveals that AQAP militants carried out hundreds of attacks including suicide bombers, vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), ambushes, kidnappings and targeted assassinations. The media has also documented this for years with one in-depth reportconfirming that “Yemen has emerged as the breeding grounds for some of the most high-profile plans to attack the U.S. homeland.”
 
$70 Mil in Stimulus Grants to Build Unneeded, Empty Jails

Yet another case of government waste has surfaced, this one involving two huge prisons that sit mostly empty because there was never a need for them in the first place and now there’s not enough money to operate them.

It would be a comical tale if it didn’t fleece American taxpayers out of a whopping $70.3 million. The two new tribal jails were built by the Navajo Nation in Arizona with economic stimulus grants and there were all sorts of problems with the projects from the start, according to a federal audit. Besides the fact that there was never really a demand for the compounds, the projects incurred $656,921 in “unsupported costs” (code for fraud) and $2,554,924 in “unallowable costs” (code for bigtime fraud), the audit found. The two facilities should have cost less than $40 million to build, which means someone pocketed a chunk of change.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) was responsible for overseeing the projects, but the agency failed to do its job, according to the probe which was conducted by the DOJ Inspector General. The Navajo Nation didn’t provide much oversight either, investigators found, and around half of the allocated funds were improperly spent on the “excessive” and “larger than planned” size of the unnecessary jails. “The excessive size of both facilities creates increased costs for operations and maintenance staff— costs that are mostly funded by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs,” the DOJ IG writes in its report.

One of the new tribal prisons, in Tuba City, Arizona, was supposed to have 48 beds, but has enough room for 132 inmates. The other facility, in Kayente, Arizona, was only scheduled to accommodate 32 beds and instead has 80. There has never been a need for that much jail space in either area, according to the probe. The average monthly jail occupancy for Tuba City from 2008 through 2014 was between 14 and 22 inmates, the DOJ IG writes. Kayenta’s average occupancy during the same period was between seven and 11 inmates.

Not only are the new compounds too big, now the federal agency that’s supposed to run them, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, can’t even afford to operate them. This may sound like a joke, but it’s not. The agency can afford only 40% of the staffing for prisons the size of these two new boondoggles. It can only pay for 25 of the 63 full-time correction officers necessary to staff the Tuba City prison and just 20 of the 51 officers required to run the Kayenta jail. The Tuba City prison is only at 18% capacity and Kayenta hasn’t officially opened yet and, at this rate, may never house a single inmate.

The Navajo Nation is the country’s biggest and most populous Indian reservation with around a quarter of a million members. It extends into Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and covers 27,000 square miles. Navajoland has a sophisticated form of American Indian government with a council that includes 88 delegates representing 110 Navajo Nation chapters. Last year the Obama administration paid the tribe $554 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming that the federal government mismanaged its funds and natural resources for decades.

The Navajos claimed that the feds failed to manage, invest and account for tribal money and resources associated with millions of acres of trust lands, which are leased for mineral development, timber harvesting, farming, mining and grazing, among other purposes. The historic settlement was part of President Obama’s promise to strengthen ties between the U.S. government and the Navajo Nation. Then Attorney General Eric Holder said the case demonstrated the DOJ’s “firm commitment to strengthening our partnerships with tribal nations — so we can expand cooperation, empower sovereign tribes, and keep moving forward together with mutual respect and shared purpose.”

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I say...just move the 100,000 Syrian refugees coming soon right into these facilities.

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Sanctuary Cities Ignore ICE Orders to Free 9,295 Criminal Aliens

As the U.S. Senate considers a bill to slash funding for local governments that protect violent illegal immigrants, a new study reveals that hundreds of sanctuary cities nationwide released thousands of criminal aliens from jail rather than turn them over to federal authorities for deportation.

This proves that legislation to crack down on jurisdictions that obstruct enforcement of federal immigration law is long overdue. In fact, the measure was inspired by the summer murder of a San Francisco woman by an illegal immigrant with seven felony convictions and five deportation orders. Because San Francisco is an illegal alien sanctuary, local law enforcement officials don’t notify the feds about detainees who should be deported. Federal lawmakers want to send those municipalities a message, says the senator that introduced the measure, Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act.

If it passes federal funding will be withheld from sanctuary states or cities that fail to comply with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued detainer requests for illegal aliens. The money would be redirected to states and localities that follow the law. “There is absolutely no reason that any U.S. city should be allowed to ignore our nation’s immigration laws and provide a safe harbor for illegal immigrants,” said Louisiana Senator David Vitter, in a statement introducing the measure this month. Illegal immigrants have committed other murders and terrible acts of violence across the U.S. since the San Francisco incident that drew national attention, Vitter said.

That’s because in less than a year 340 sanctuary cities, counties and states around the U.S. released 9,295 alien offenders that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was seeking to deport. More than half had significant prior criminal histories and 600 were released at least twice by jurisdictions that protect criminal aliens from deportation by refusing to comply with ICE detainers. The figures were made public recently by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a nonprofit dedicated to researching the consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the United States.

Of the illegal immigrants released into unsuspecting communities, 58% had prior felony charges or convictions and 37% had serious prior misdemeanor charges, the CIS probe found. An astounding 2,320 of the freed offenders were subsequently arrested within the eight-month time period studied for new crimes. Here’s an enraging example included in the CIS document: Victor Aureliano Hernandez Ramirez, arrested in July 2015 for raping and bludgeoning a 64-year-old California woman who died eight days later. Ramirez had been arrested for battery a year earlier but the county sheriff blew off an ICE detainer that would have deported him in accordance with California’s state sanctuary law.

Once these criminal illegal aliens are freed by sanctuary cities, ICE has difficulty tracking them down, according to records obtained for the study. As of last year, 6,460 (69%) were still at large. Of those still at large, 1,377 (20%) had another criminal arrest following the one that resulted in the original ICE detainer. This is why a violent criminal, Francisco Javier Chavez, is on the loose. In August 2015 he was arrested for beating his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter and, despite an extensive criminal record that includes felony drug and drunk-driving convictions, a California sheriff’s department ignored an ICE detainer and released him.
California is the biggest offender when it comes to blowing off federal orders to hand over criminal illegal aliens, according to ICE records cited in the study. A chart offers a breakdown of the cities and counties that release the largest amount of criminal aliens identified by the feds for removal. Santa Clara County takes the prize with 1,349 for 2014 followed by Los Angeles and Alameda counties with 572 each. Miami Dade County in south Florida came in fourth with 491. “We need to send a loud and clear message to any sanctuary cities that their dangerous policies are not acceptable,” Senator Vitter said.
 
New State Documents Show Quick White House Effort to Link Benghazi to Internet Video
OCTOBER 20, 2015

State Department documents detail delays and lack of support in hours after attack...

(Washington, DC)
– Newly released State Department documents raise more questions about the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission at Benghazi, Libya. The documents show the White House contacted YouTube over an Internet video as one of its first moves after the initial attack.

The documents, from the agency’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, were provided to Judicial Watch in response to a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on October 16, 2014. The lawsuit seeks “any and all logs, reports, or other records” the Washington-based Diplomatic Security Command Center produced between September 10, 2012, and September 13, 2012, relating to the terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.”

The documents detail that only three hours after the initial attack on U.S. personnel in Benghazi, the White House contacted YouTube in an apparent effort to initially blame the assault on an obscure “Pastor John video,” rather than filmmaker Nakoula “Mark” Basseley Nakoula. The administration falsely claimed that Nakoula’s video, “Innocence of Muslims,” provoked the attack. The email also references the involvement of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

From: [REDACTED]
Sent: September 11, 2012 9:11 PM
To: DSCC_Managment_Team; DSCC_Watch Team
Subject: (S//NF) [REDACTED] Libya

Per Ambassador Mull [Stephen Mull, then Executive Secretary of the State Department] after SVTS [Secure Video Teleconference System] conference:

DOD is looking at various resources.

[REDACTED INFORMATION]

S [then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] expected to make statements one of which may confirm KIA, notification of next of kin is pending confirmation. DCM The Hague was to call OPS when completed.
White House is reaching out to U-Tube to advise ramifications of posting of the Pastor Jon video.

(The “Pastor Jon” reference may have been to a rarely viewed video by Oregon-based Pastor Jon Courson entitled God vs. Allah, a low-key exposition of the Biblical book of Kings.)

The documents also include a previously Secret “Attack Timeline,” dated September 12, 2012, which raised additional questions about the Obama administration’s response to the attack. The State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security makes no mention of any spontaneous demonstration or Internet video in describing the Benghazi assault:

At 1549 hrs, DSCC was notified that U.S. Mission Benghazi was under attack. At 1600 hrs, DSCC [Diplomatic Security Command Center] was notified by Regional Security Officer (RSO) Benghazi that armed individuals had entered the compound, and at 1614 hrs RSO Benghazi reported that an armed group had set fire to buildings inside the compound. The US Ambassador was visiting post from Tripoli, and as of 1614 hrs it was suspected that one of the buildings that had been set on fire was the building where the Ambassador was sheltering. [Redacted] Quick Reaction Force (QRF) responded from their off-compound Annex, but was turned back due to heavy hostile fire.

As of 1700 hrs, [REDACTED] QRF and host nation militia (17 February Brigade) have redeployed to the compound. One Assistant RSO (ARSO) suffered injuries from smoke inhalation. This agent was in the Principal Officer’s Residence with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Information Program Officer (IPO) Sean P. Smith. All three moved to the safe haven when the attack began, but had to relocate to the roof as the building caught on fire. The agent reached the rooftop but lost contact with the other two. The agent reentered the residence and found the IPO killed in action (KIA), and was unable to locate the Ambassador. The agent had given his cell phone to the Ambassador.

The new timeline also confirms prior Judicial Watch disclosures that the State Department received intelligence that Ambassador Stevens may have been alive after the attack:

The QRF and friendly militia forces were unable to locate the Ambassador, and pull back to the off-compound Annex. All classified material on the compound is secured by RSO [REDACTED] personnel. Embassy Tripoli receives a phone call from the injured ARSO’s cell phone (which had been left with the Ambassador) from a male caller saying he is at the hospital with an unresponsive male who matches a physical description of the Ambassador. [REDACTED MATERIAL]. Tripoli charters an airplane and sends it to Benghazi with six personnel onboard as a response team.

The document also raises questions about whether a delay of personnel sent to Benghazi led to additional deaths:

At 2215 hrs, Benghazi ARSO called DSCC to report that the [REDACTED] response team has been on the ground in Benghazi for approximately 60 minutes, but are waiting for the 17 February Brigade to escort them to [REDACTED]. DS Seniors ask ARSO about the identity of the reported white male in the hospital. [REDACTED MATERIAL] hospital for about two hours. Henderson will call him after this call.

The timeline later details that the team did not leave for the airport for another 45 minutes and did not arrive at the Annex until 2313 hrs, nearly two hours after the team first arrived. The timeline then details the second attack, which takes place only 17 minutes after the response team arrives:
  • At 2332 hrs, ARSO reports that they are under mortar attack, with 3 to 4 rounds hitting the Annex. There are [REDACTED] injured and [REDACTED] the need for medical evacuation. The response team is on site and either inside or deployed to the roof. The agents are sheltering in place with 45-minutes to sunrise.
  • At 2349 hrs, DS Special Agent [REDACTED] was reported hit during the mortar attack, which has since ceased. [REDACTED MATERIAL] All other DS agents are accounted for.
More than six hours after the initial terrorist assault, there remains only one plane available to evacuate injured and other personnel from Benghazi. The timeline details that the plane takes off, leaving some personnel behind, including those killed in action. Those remaining behind initially have to wait for the one plane to return from Tripoli, but are eventually rescued several hours later by a Libyan Air Force C-130 airplane.

The attack timeline also includes a section labeled “Causes and Responsibility,” which is redacted completely.

Other timelines are included in the State Department materials.... For example one declassified timeline details:

1550 The Diplomatic Security Command Center (DSCC) receives word that US Mission Benghazi is under attack by 15-20 armed hostiles.

1615 RSO Benghazi advises hostile individuals setting fire to buildings on compound, including the one housing Ambassador Stevens, IPO Sean Smith, and ARSO [REDACTED] responds with a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and takes fire from hostiles. QRF returns to Annex to regroup with host militia and redeploys.

The documents also reveal that at the time of the attack, the Department of Defense apparently had two government contractors in Benghazi working on weapons removal without the knowledge of the Department of State.


“These documents show the Obama White House rushed to tie yet another video to the Benghazi attack, even before Ambassador Stevens was accounted for. The Obama White House, evidently, was confused as to which Internet video to falsely blame for the Benghazi terrorist attack,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These documents show that the Obama White House should have been focused on rescuing our people under fire. These documents detail delays and lack of support that raise questions about whether American lives were needlessly lost and put at risk during the Benghazi attack.”

In April 2014, Judicial Watch forced the release of State Department documents it had obtained, including an internal email showing then-White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes and other Obama administration public relations officials attempting to orchestrate a campaign to “reinforce” President Obama and to portray the Benghazi consulate terrorist attack as being “rooted in an Internet video, and not a failure of policy.”

 
Migrants from Terrorist Nations in Texas ICE Center Seeking Asylum
OCTOBER 20, 2015

The Obama administration insists the southern border is secure, yet dozens of illegal aliens from terrorist nations entered the United States through Mexico and are being held in a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center.

The detainees are nationals of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and they are seeking asylum in the U.S. This week the 54 migrants from terrorist nations started a hunger strike to protest their detention at an ICE facility in El Paso. A local news report reveals that the foreign nationals “refused to eat or drink water” and a leftist immigrant advocacy group blasted the government for jailing the Afghans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis without proper medical care.

One of the detainees released from the ICE processing center over the weekend said he arrived in El Paso after traveling from South America to Juarez, Mexico. He is a national of Bangladesh, his name is MD Nasir Uddin and he claims to be a refugee seeking asylum. In the news report Uddin complains that he was jailed for no valid reason and was not provided with an interpreter, legal documents or judgements against him. “We are not criminals and they don’t have any proof of criminals,” Uddin is quoted.

Just last month the U.S. issued a terrorism alert warning that militants in Bangladesh may be targeting westerners. “The U.S. government continues to receive information that terrorist groups in South Asia may also be planning attacks in the region, possibly against U.S. government facilities, U.S. citizens, or U.S. interests,” the bulletin states. “Terrorists have demonstrated their willingness and ability to attack locations where U.S. citizens or Westerners are known to congregate or visit.” Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been known as the headquarters of Al Qaeda’s global leadership and the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism offers all the juicy details.

The fact that individuals from these three terrorist nations have made it all the way to the U.S. through the Mexican border is downright alarming. Judicial Watch contacted officials from several Homeland Security agencies—including ICE and the Border Patrol—but none would comment on the 54 Afghans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis held in El Paso. The reality is that it’s unlikely the story would have been covered if not for the hunger strike and involvement of a publicity-seeking immigrant advocacy organization. In fact, the focus of the El Paso news report is the “critical medical condition” of some of the detainees and the fact that one was held in solitary confinement.

The reality is that this is part of a very serious issue involving the dangerously porous southern border. Judicial Watch has covered this extensively and over the summer published a story detailing how Mexican drug cartels are smuggling foreigners from countries with terrorist links into a small Texas rural town near El Paso. To elude the Border Patrol and other law enforcement barriers, they use remote farm roads—rather than interstates—and they are being transported to stash areas in Acala, a rural crossroads located around 54 miles from El Paso on a state road. The foreigners are classified as Special Interest Aliens (SIA) by the U.S. government, which prefers to keep this from the American public.
 
Post #68 proves the reports from the soldiers on the ground (CIA attachment) were correct despite white house attempts to say they were not.

I watched the interview myself.




 
Just to prove to us that they have no fear of our "Commander-in-Chief...

Russian Jets Buzz USS Ronald Reagan

Russian bomber warplanes came within one nautical mile of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan earlier this week, prompting the nuclear-powered vessel to scramble fighter jets, according to spokesperson from the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, who spoke with Stars and Stripes Thursday. The giant Tupolev bomber aircraft, also known as the Bear, flew as low as 500 feet as it approached the Reagan, which had been conducting scheduled maneuvers with the South Korean Navy in the Korean Peninsula.

As the two Tupolevs approached, the Reagan launched four F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets to intercept and identify, a standard procedure when encountering unidentifiable aircraft, according to 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Lauren Cole.

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( Above: Tupolev Russian "Bear" Bombers fly in formation over US warship )

While the USS Ronald Reagan sent up four combat aircraft to deal with the two bombers, the entire incident took place in international waters, making the approach completely legal if not somewhat provocative and potentially dangerous.

“We are advocates of any country being able to operate within international norms,” Cole said. “We do caveat that with the fact that all of these operations need to be conducted in accordance with the rights and regulations of other countries, and within a safe manner.”

Russian aircraft have made a habit over the last year of using its aircraft to test international boundaries by violating the airspace of other countries and approaching U.S. and NATO ships in what the U.S. have previously described as “provocative” action.
 
Yet another incident...

China: Will respond to US ships with all necessary means

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(In this April 8, 2008, file photo, guided missile destroyer USS Lassen arrives at the Shanghai International Passenger Quay in Shanghai, China, for a scheduled port visit. )

BEIJING — China's military will take "all necessary" measures in response to any future U.S. Navy incursions into what it considers its territorial waters around islands in the South China Sea, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The statement by Col. Yang Yujun followed the sailing of a U.S. guided missile destroyer within the 12-nautical mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit of one of the islands newly created by China in the strategically vital region. The U.S. refuses to recognize the man-made islets as deserving of sovereign territory status.

The Chinese side took no forceful action during the USS Lassen's sail-by on Tuesday, but strenuously protested the maneuver. China's reaction fits the pattern in similar such incidents in recent years. Yang offered no details on how Beijing might respond differently in the future.

"We would urge the U.S. not to continue down the wrong path. But if the U.S. side does continue, we will take all necessary measures according to the need," Yang said. China's resolve to safeguard its national sovereignty and security interests is "rock-solid," he added.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and its islands, reefs and atolls as its sovereign territory, an assertion challenged by five other regional governments.

While the U.S. takes no formal position on sovereignty, it insists on freedom of navigation and has urged China to cease its ambitious project to construct new islands complete with buildings, harbors and airstrips.
Yang reiterated Beijing's claim that the USS Lassen violated Chinese sovereignty and international law, although the sail-by appeared to fall under internationally allowed "innocent passage" rules. Yang gave no details of China's claims.

Yang said a pair of Chinese navy ships had shadowed the Lassen, monitored its actions and issued warnings.

The spokesman said China supported the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, but accused the U.S. of abusing those for its own interests.

"We are strongly against any kind of effort in the name of freedom of navigation that might damage the interests and security of the littoral states," Yang said.

Yang said that the commander of the Chinese navy, Adm. Wu Shengli, would present China's "solemn position" on the issue in a video conference later Thursday with the U.S. head of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson.

However, he indicated that the incident wouldn't disrupt official exchanges between the sides, saying that planning was still underway for a visit by Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, later this year. Harris recently stated that the South China Sea is no more China's than the Gulf of Mexico is Mexico's.
 
He called them "non-violent" criminals.

You know, the ones who were peddling dope and meth to kids on corners, sexual deviation from all forms of low lifes, money laundering, extortion, organized crime, gangs.

See, you can call it anything you want, but NON-VIOLENT criminals sound like they were the victims.

Non-violent criminals are forgers and embezzlers: guys with a pencil and a phone. Certainly not drug smugglers, bookies, pushers, panderers and their ilk, who as a whole are pretty schizo people. Calm one minute and wild/aggressive/violent the next. Don't get in the way of one on their way to a fix.

I'd like to see some test of non-violent leanings on the part of the people being released.
 
BTW, Sheriff Jones web site has some interesting stories...

"Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones reports that there is a new scam trend that is not just targeting the elderly population. There have been several reports in the last few weeks where the suspect informs the victim by phone that they are calling for the Internal Revenue Service because the victim owes back taxes that need to be collected as soon as possible. The amount the suspect tells the victim they owe is normally between 5 and 6 thousand dollars. The scammer will agree to a compromise if the victim offers money.

Scamming is nothing new, but the way these criminals are handling the situation is. “The last report we received, the victim told the suspect he could get him $3,000 of the $6,485.00 he was told he owed. The suspect then told the victim that a United States Marshal would be at the residence shortly to collect the money. About 45 minutes later an unknown male was on the victim’s porch flashing a badge and demanding the money,” said Lieutenant Langmeyer of Investigations.

The Sheriff is encouraging everyone to report suspicious activity, especially when demands of money are made or there are threats of incarceration. “This is a much more brazen operation. These criminals have a very well thought-out plan, and they are obviously not afraid to pretend like law enforcement. I have plenty of room for them here in our jail where they belong,” said Sheriff Jones."
 
BTW, Sheriff Jones web site has some interesting stories...
This is not the first letter he has sent. He does not shirk his responsibility to the citizens. Told all the illegals to pack up, get out or go to jail (not unlike the Arizona sheriff, Arpaio). Played FB tag with an ignorant criminal who taunted him until he was finally arrested. Supports the 2A.
 
After Paris attacks, many US Governors refuse to accept Syrian refugees

WASHINGTON -- At least eight governors say they will not accept Syrian refugees in their states in response to Friday's attacks in Paris.

The governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Texas say their top concern must be the safety of state residents, and they say there's a chance the refugees include people with terrorist ties.
"I just signed an Executive Order instructing state agencies to take all available steps to stop the relocation of Syrian refugees to LA.," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal tweeted on Monday.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a statement saying the plan to resettle Syrian refugees in the United States is "is not the right strategy."

And Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told reporters at a State House event Monday, “No, I’m not interested in accepting refugees from Syria,” according to the Boston Globe.

“My view on this is the safety and security of the people of the Commonwealth of Mass. is my highest priority,” he added. “So I would set the bar very high on this.”

Despite such reactions, President Obama is continuing with plans to accept refugees from Syria. Responding to calls to admit Christians but not Muslims into the country, he said, "That’s shameful. That’s not American, it’s not who we are."
"We don’t have religious tests to our compassion," he said, speaking from the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a letter to the president that, "Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity. As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril."

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence issued a statement saying his state "has a long tradition of opening our arms and homes to refugees from around the world but, as governor, my first responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of all Hoosiers.. Unless and until the state of Indiana receives assurances that proper security measures are in place, this policy will remain in full force and effect.”

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley acknowledged Sunday there are no plans to settle refugees in his state, or credible terror threats directed at Alabama. But he issued a statement saying he would "not place Alabamians at even the slightest possible risk of an attack on our people."

“Please continue to join me in praying for those who have suffered loss and those who will never allow freedom to fade at the hands of the terrorists,” Bentley said.

Also Sunday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's office released a statement saying the state would not be accepting any Syrian refugees until the Homeland Security Department fully reviews its procedures.

"Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration," Snyder said in the statement. "But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."

The civil war in Syria, which has raged since 2011, has killed 250,000 people and, according to the United Nations, sent more than 4 million refugees into other countries to flee the violence in what has been called the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

The vast majority of the refugees have gone to Europe or neighboring countries. The United States accepted 1,854 Syrian refugees through September; more than 10 times as many have been admitted from Myanmar. The Obama administration has indicated that it plans to increase that number to 100,000 by 2017, which human rights advocates call inadequate to address the depths of the crisis. The U.S. accepted at least 130,000 South Vietnamese refugees in the months after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

At least 132 people were killed and hundreds injured in a series of attacks that took place around Paris on Friday evening. Several of the attackers have been identified as French citizens. According to French prosecutors, a bomber who targeted the national stadium was found with a Syrian passport.

The passport's discovery raised concerns that Islamic State militants may be crossing into Turkey before moving to Western Europe alongside the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants who have entered Europe this year, many of them fleeing the civil war in Syria.

Snyder's announcement Sunday is a step backward from recent efforts and comments from his administration offering to aid refugees. In September, Snyder said he was working with the federal government to determine the process for accepting refugees from the ongoing crisis in Syria and the Middle East.

His reversal drew immediate and divisive reactions across the nation on Sunday, but especially in metro Detroit, home to one of the largest Middle Eastern populations in the nation.

Detroit-area Arab-American leaders and refugee advocates said Sunday they understand the governor's concern about security, but argued the Department of Homeland Security already does extensive security checks before allowing any refugees into the U.S.

"The United States should be a safe haven," said Dr. Yahya Basha, a Syrian-American advocate from West Bloomfield, Mich., who has family members who are refugees. He was at the White House recently to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis with U.S. officials: "We should welcome them."

Sean de Four, vice president of child and family services with Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, said the U.S. has a moral obligation to help.

The agency has helped resettle about 1,800 to 2,000 refugees in Michigan over the last year; about 200 of them are from Syria and many others are from Iraq, another war-torn country.

"I certainly understand and appreciate Gov. Snyder's desire to be cautious and put the safety of Michiganders first," said de Four. But "the State Department already uses an overabundance of caution in its screening of refugees before they gained entry into the United States. In fact, refugees spend an average of five to seven years in refugee camps being screened and background checks before access to any country."

More Syrian refugees were expected in Michigan in coming months, but Snyder's decision could bring an end to that.

According to the U.S. Census, 3.5% of Alabama’s population in 2014 was born in a foreign country. The national average was 12.9%.

Bentley in 2011 signed a sweeping bill that attempted to criminalize undocumented immigrants living in the state. Most elements of the law have been struck down by the federal courts.

Bentley's statement said neighboring states had accepted Syrian refugees; Louisiana has accepted 14; Syrian refugees also have settled in Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville.

Snyder has been known for his pro-immigrant views, in contrast to strong anti-immigrant sentiment heard on the national level in the Republican Party during the presidential race.

Two weeks ago, Snyder visited Hamtramck, which has the highest percentage of immigrants among all cities in the state, telling a crowd of Bangladeshi Americans: "I believe I'm the most pro-immigration governor in the country."

The Office of Refugee Settlement in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 107 refugees were settled in Alabama in fiscal year 2014. Thirty-six came from Iraq; 22 came from Somalia. In all, 381 refugees were settled in Alabama between 2011 and 2014. One Syrian refugee was settled in Alabama in fiscal year 2012. The state's total population is 4.8 million.

Bentley's statement said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency "is working diligently with the FBI, DHS and federal intelligence partners to monitor any possible threats."
 
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