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NASA Seeks Public Input to Better Support Minorities Year after Launching Equity Mission

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

A year after launching an extensive Equity Action Plan that gave around $2 billion to “small disadvantaged businesses,” the nation’s space agency wants to do more to advance racial equity and support underserved communities with the billions of dollars in grants and contracts it distributes annually. To complete this important mission the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking input from the public on the barriers and challenges that prevent members of underserved communities from receiving funds. The agency is explicitly “seeking for the public to provide specific feedback on the procurement, grant and cooperative agreement regulations, policies, practices, and processes that deter entities from pursuing opportunities for NASA procurements, grants, and cooperative agreements,” according to a recently published Federal Register announcement.

NASA will review the input and use the information to evaluate, implement, modify, expand, and streamline how it doles out money to “remove systemic inequitable barriers and challenges facing members of underserved communities,” the new Request for Information (RFI) document states. NASA’s fiscal year 2023 budget is $32.35 billion and it plans to spend a big chunk, about one-third or $10.42 billion, on the type of awards it wants to give more minorities via thousands of grants and contracts. It is not enough that under its Equity Action Plan NASA already requires contractors to submit diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility plans for contracts and that at least one quote be from a minority-owned business. When the agency published the plan about a year ago it promised to assess programs, identify systemic barriers, and engage in outreach to ensure fair and impartial access and representation for all those who seek to contribute to work in space. The areas of focus include increasing contractors from underserved communities, expanding equity in the procurement process, mitigating environmental challenges in underserved communities, and expanding access to Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations within underserved communities.

As for the new public input venture, NASA provides a list of questions as guidance. The agency asks for additional Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) suggestions (besides its minority contract quota) to ensure grants include members of underserved communities. It also wants ideas to investigate and ensure contractors are “diligently working to include members of underserved communities” and specifics on regulations, policies and practices that have prevented minorities from receiving awards. NASA also wants to know what resources it could provide to better assist underserved communities in identifying new opportunities and suggestions to better collaborate with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) to advance outreach and increase the number of contracts and grants awarded to the “underserved communities.”

To clarify certain terms, the space agency offers definitions in the new announcement. It describes equity as the consistent and systematic treatment of all individuals in a fair, just, and impartial manner, including individuals who belong to communities that often have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous, Native American, other persons of color and LGBTQI+ persons. Underserved communities are defined as populations and geographic communities that have been systematically denied the opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. Under NASA’s “journey towards equity” a key agency goal is to overcome visible and invisible systemic barriers that hinder equitable, inclusive access to government programs, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The former astronaut and Democratic Florida senator claims his agency’s new objective “seeks to further identify and remove the barriers that limit opportunity in historically underserved and underrepresented communities and anchor equity as a core component in every NASA mission to inspire a new, more inclusive generation.”

The post NASA Seeks Public Input to Better Support Minorities Year after Launching Equity Mission appeared first on Judicial Watch.

U.S. Funds Million-Dollar Race, Ethnicity, Social Inclusion Project in Latin America

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Weeks after earmarking a million dollars to empower marginalized racial and ethnic communities in Europe, the Biden administration is spending another million on a State Department program in Latin America known as Race, Ethnicity, and Social Inclusion (RESI). The new allocation will help Brazil and Colombia “advance reforms that promote equity and equality, eliminate barriers to inclusion, and create equal access and opportunities for members of marginalized and underserved communities,” according to a grant announcement published a few days ago.

The recent European and Latin American grants appear to be the global expansion of the Biden administration’s costly, domestic effort to advance racial equity and support for underserved populations through taxpayer-funded programs. The president launched the governmentwide initiative on his first day in office with a lengthy executive order titled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. The 2021 document claims that “entrenched disparities” in laws, public policies, and private institutions have denied equal opportunity to individuals and communities and that the health and climate crises have exposed inequities while a “historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism.” Therefore, the order states, the federal government should pursue a “comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” It further says that “by advancing equity across the Federal Government, we can create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone.”

Many key federal agencies have implemented racial equity plans as per Biden’s order. The Department of Labor has dedicated $260 million to promote “equitable access” to government unemployment benefits by addressing disparities in the administration and delivery of money by race ethnicity and language proficiency. The Treasury Department named its first ever racial equity chief, a veteran La Raza official who spent a decade at the nation’s most influential open borders group. The Department of Defense (DOD) is using outrageous anti-bias materials that indoctrinate troops with anti-American and racially inflammatory training on diversity topics. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created an equity commission to address longstanding inequities in agriculture. The nation’s medical research agency has a special minority health and health disparities division that issued a study declaring COVID-19 exacerbated preexisting resentment against racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized communities.

Last month the administration launched the initiative’s global version by dedicating a million dollars to “empower marginalized racial and ethnic communities in Europe,” focusing on people of African descent and Roma people. Among the goals is to mitigate structural racism, xenophobia, and discrimination found in institutions designed to protect and serve all people in society and ensure the fair administration of, and access to, justice for marginalized racial and ethnic communities. The U.S. also aims to counter societal discrimination and violence by advancing equity, social inclusion, and equality for all. The overseas investment is critical, according to the Biden administration, because members of marginalized racial, ethnic, and indigenous communities around the world often are disproportionately discriminated against, forced to endure high levels of violence and excruciating labor conditions in migration, are systematically denied access to justice, and continually bear the brunt of racial discrimination, xenophobia, and violence in society.

The administration’s latest allotment in Latin America will fund two programs, the Colombia Action Plan on Racial and Ethnic Equality (CAPREE) and the Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER). CAPREE recognizes the important contributions of African-descendent and indigenous peoples and seeks to elevate recognition of their cultures in the U.S. and Colombia by implementing programs to address social barriers that affect Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities. JAPER targets racism and addresses racial health disparities, environmental justice, equal access to economic opportunities and equal access to the justice system. The initiative recognizes that Brazil and the U.S. are multi-ethnic, multi-racial democracies that celebrate the rich contributions of people of African descent and indigenous populations. Similar to the domestic initiatives, the goal in Colombia and Brazil is racial and ethnic equality as well as social inclusion.

The post U.S. Funds Million-Dollar Race, Ethnicity, Social Inclusion Project in Latin America appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Hackers Tied to China’s Govt. Steal $20 Mil in U.S. COVID Relief Funds

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Nearly a year after Judicial Watch launched an investigation into the theft of U.S. COVID relief funds by foreign hackers, the Secret Service confirms that cyber criminals connected to China’s government stole $20 million in benefits. This includes Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and unemployment insurance money in multiple states, according to a national news story that identifies the perpetrators as a APT41, a hacking group based in Chengdu. The report cites U.S. law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts who believe the multi-million-dollar theft of government pandemic funds by the Chinese faction “may just be the tip of the iceberg.”

Back in February Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the SBA as part of an ongoing investigation into the pervasive fraud associated with the government’s COVID-19 cash giveaway. Specifically, Judicial Watch requested memoranda, reports, email communications, investigative reports, and other communications or data concerning the following: COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) deposits originating from a foreign Internet Protocol (IP) address, account holders attempting to transfer funds to foreign accounts of any type and loans approved utilizing a fraudulent social security number. On February 23, the SBA acknowledged via electronic mail that it received Judicial Watch’s FOIA request and issued an official tracking number. So far no records have been provided to Judicial Watch and the SBA is in violation of the federal deadline—20 working days—to produce the information.

Most government agencies practice similar stonewalling tactics and Judicial Watch has repeatedly been forced to file lawsuits to compel the release of records. Our goal as a nonpartisan educational foundation is to promote transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics, and the law. Pandemic relief has been a colossal multi-billion-dollar debacle rife with fraud and corruption. The problem is so bad that the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to “enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.” The special unit has been quite busy prosecuting a multitude of scams, false statements, and money laundering related to pandemic relief. Earlier this year House Republicans issued a report documenting 500 days of massive waste, fraud, and abuse in the American Rescue Plan. It includes more than $783 million in stimulus checks for convicted prisoners including the Boston Marathon bomber, $40 million to expand libraries in Delaware, $2 million for a Florida golf course and $16 million for electric vehicle charging stations in Maine and $20 million to modernize the state’s fish hatcheries. The list goes on and on.

The SBA got on Judicial Watch’s radar because it has disbursed approximately $390 billion to nearly four million small businesses and nonprofits under its COVID-19 EIDL. The program provides up to $2 million in financial assistance to help small businesses recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. Like many of the other COVID relief initiatives, the government made it way too easy to obtain cash and failed miserably to implement adequate vetting protocols. Officials cited in the recent news article confirm that other federal investigations of pandemic fraud also seem to point back to foreign state-affiliated hackers. The Secret Service admits there are over 1,000 ongoing investigations involving transnational and domestic criminals defrauding public benefits programs and Chinese hackers are key among them. As if it were not serious enough that Chinese hacks are stealing American taxpayer funds, one senior Justice Department official points out the cybercrimes also have serious national security implications.

Besides the SBA’s EIDL, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress to provide over $2 trillion in “fast and direct economic aid” to Americans negatively impacted by the pandemic, also launched another fraud-infested initiative known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In addition to the DOJ’s special task force, federal prosecutors across the nation have charged dozens of individuals with crimes associated with PPP scams. A recent example includes a father and son convicted of illegally obtaining $1.7 in loans. A federal jury in North Carolina convicted the men of money laundering and other offenses with the father sentenced to four years in prison and the son three years. This month the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia revealed that in 2022 her office has charged more than 50 defendants in 26 cases of fraud schemes connected to COVID relief that defrauded the government out of nearly $125 million.

The post Hackers Tied to China’s Govt. Steal $20 Mil in U.S. COVID Relief Funds appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Decorated Vet, FBI Analyst Sues FBI

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Decorated Veteran and FBI Analyst Sues FBI after Falsely Being Accused of Disloyalty to the United States
FDA Records: Significant Number of mRNA Test Rats Born with Skeletal Deformations
Driver’s License Security Law Delayed Another Two Years over COVID

 


Decorated Veteran and FBI Analyst Sues FBI after Falsely Being Accused of Disloyalty to the United States

This week, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of FBI analyst Marcus Allen in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina against FBI Director Christopher Wray for violating Allen’s constitutional rights by falsely accusing him of holding “conspiratorial views,” stripping his security clearance, and suspending him from duty without pay (Marcus O. Allen v Christopher Wray (No. 22-cv-4536)).

The FBI revoked his security clearance because apparently, the FBI believes that any views contrary to its own regarding what occurred on January 6 constitutes disloyalty to the United States.

The new lawsuit details Allen’s outstanding military and FBI service:

Because of his outstanding military service, [Allen] was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. In 2004, [Allen] was designated the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity Runner-Up for Intelligence NCO of the year.

***

In 2015, [Allen] joined the FBI as a staff operations specialist. Among other tasks, he has provided ad hoc all-source analytical support to the FBI Charlotte Field Office Joint Terrorism Task Force. He has consistently been rated “Exceeds Fully Successful” on his FBI performance evaluations. He received the FBI Charlotte Field Office Employee of the Year Award in 2019.

[Allen] first received a Top Secret security clearance in early 2001.

Despite Allen’s exemplary service, in a January 10, 2022, letter the FBI asserted:

The Security Division has learned you have espoused conspiratorial views both orally and in writing and promoted unreliable information which indicates support for the events of January 6th. These allegations raise sufficient concerns about your allegiance to the United States and your judgment to warrant a suspension of your clearance pending further investigation.

In a February 17, 2022, letter the FBI further notified Allen that he was being placed on administrative leave without pay due to the suspension of his security clearance.

The lawsuit states:

[Allen’s] allegiance is to the United States, as he has demonstrated during his years of exemplary military and law enforcement service to his country.

[Allen] was not involved in the events of January 6 and did not support them in any material way.  The FBI has made no allegation or offered any evidence to the contrary.

[Allen] has expressed no view that could be reasonably interpreted as personally expressing support or sympathy for any unlawful activity that occurred on January 6.

The FBI has not identified any specific statements or actions supporting its contention that Plaintiff has done otherwise.

We contend that the FBI did not give Allen a chance to clear himself, despite his repeated inquiries. In early May 2022, however, the FBI requested that Allen appear for an interview. He promptly complied. The interview request came only days after FBI Director Wray was confronted by members of Congress over concerns that the FBI was weaponizing the security clearance process to target politically conservative employees. Since that time, Allen has received no further word on the status of the FBI’s investigation.

On June 7, 2022, Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Wray regarding the firing of FBI employees, noting that, “Multiple whistleblowers have called it a ‘purge’ of FBI employees holding conservative views.”

The lawsuit alleges several violations of Allen’s First and Fifth Amendment rights and asks that Allen’s security clearance and employment be restored.

The FBI can’t purge employees based on political smears. We are reminding the FBI that it is not above the law with this civil rights lawsuit for Mr. Allen, a decorated Marine veteran and highly regarded FBI employee.

 

FDA Records: Significant Number of mRNA Test Rats Born with Skeletal Deformations

We continue to investigate the government’s approval of the COVID vaccines.

Most recently, we received 699 pages of records from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding data Moderna submitted to the FDA on its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, which indicate a “statistically significant” number of rats were born with skeletal deformations after their mothers were injected with the vaccine.

The documents also reveal Moderna elected not to conduct a number of standard pharmacological studies on the laboratory test animals.

We obtained the records through a September 2021 FOIA lawsuit we filed after the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) failed to respond to a June 2021 FOIA request biodistribution studies and related data for the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccines (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-02418)).

These previously hidden records about the COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy studies raise a number of disturbing questions. The fact that it has taken a federal lawsuit to get access to this material is yet another scandal.

The records include a “Nonclinical Overview” prepared by Moderna and submitted to the FDA for approval of its vaccine revealing that a number of rats were born with skeletal deformations, known as “wavy ribs” and “rib nodules,” to mothers injected with the mRNA vaccine. The study dismissed the anomalies as “not considered adverse:”

mRNA-1273-related variations in skeletal examination included statistically significant increases in the number of F1 rats with 1 or more wavy ribs and 1 or more rib nodules. Wavy ribs appeared in 6 fetuses and 4 litters with a fetal prevalence of 4.03% and a litter prevalence of 18.2%. Rib nodules appeared in 5 of those 6 fetuses. Skeletal variations are structural changes that do not impact development or function of a developing embryo, are considered reversible, and often correlate with maternal toxicity and/or lack of other indicators of developmental toxicity (Carney and Kimmel 2007). Maternal toxicity in the form of clinical observations was observed for 5 days following the last dose (GD 13), correlating with the most sensitive period for rib development in rats (GDs 14 to 17). Furthermore, there were no other indicators of mRNA-1273-related developmental toxicity observed, including delayed ossification; therefore, these common skeletal variations were not considered adverse.

(Non-adverse deformations receive a different perspective in the July 2009 Environmental Research article, “Dose–response relationships of rat fetal skeleton variations: Relevance for risk assessment:”

(Whether or not a substance-induced increase in the incidence of fetal skeleton variations should be taken into account for human risk assessment is a long-standing controversial issue. It has been argued that chemical-produced increases in variations are not to be considered for risk assessment because they are “unlikely to adversely affect survival or health.” The counter argument is that even not being overtly adverse and conveying no apparent selective disadvantage, a treatment-induced increase in the occurrence of variations means that the chemical agent has the potential to perturb skeleton development. According to this view, under a different condition of exposure, or in another species, this perturbation of normal bone formation may give rise to a different and more severe outcome.))

A “Pharmacokinetics Written Summary” marked “Confidential,” indicates that the information it contains is related to the mRNA-1273 (Moderna vaccine) strain; however, much of the data comes from work with mRNA-1647. The study states:

The results of a biodistribution study of mRNA-1647 support the development of mRNA-1273.

***

The biodistribution of mRNA-1647 was evaluated in a non-Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), single-dose, intramuscular (IM) injection study in Sprague Dawley rats…. mRNAs that are within an LNP of the same composition (e.g., mRNA-1273 and mRNA-1647) are expected to distribute similarly.

mRNA-1273 is Moderna’s covid vaccine, which was delivered to the National Institutes of Health in February 2020 for study. mRNA-1647 is a previously developed vaccine for the cytomegalovirus.

The “Summary” indicates:

  • No absorption studies with mRNA-1273 [used in Moderna’s COVID vaccine] have been performed.
  • No metabolism studies with mRNA-1273 have been performed.
  • No excretion studies with mRNA-1273 have been performed.
  • No PK [pharmacokinetic] studies with mRNA-1273 have been performed.
  • No other PK studies with mRNA-1273 have been performed.

(According to PubMed.gov, “Pharmacokinetics studies are performed to clarify the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drug candidates…[and] are required for establishing the efficacy and safety in humans.”)

A separate study submitted to the FDA sponsored by Moderna Therapeutics Inc. and conducted by Charles River Laboratories in Montreal, Canada, is titled “A Single Dose Intramuscular Injection Tissue Distribution Study of mRNA-1647 in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats” in which “[t]he objective … was to determine the tissue distribution of mRNA-1647,” as opposed to mRNA-1273 used in Moderna’s COVID vaccine.

In one appendix to the study, a “clarification” was issued in the toxicokinetic report regarding the half-life of mRNA injected into the rats, noting: “The average value of terminal half-life for the muscle (i.e. injection site) in Sections 4.2 and 5 of the toxicokinetic report should be read 14.9 [hours] instead of 8.39 [hours] based on the results of the toxicokinetic evaluation.”

The study further notes that the wording of the conclusion was modified to read, “The half-life … of mRNA-1647 was reliably estimated in muscle (site of injection), proximal popliteal and axillary distal lymph nodes, and spleen with average values for all construct t½ [half-life] of 14.9 8.39, 34.8, 31.1 and 63.0 hours, respectively.” [Emphasis in original]

Another appendix, titled “Summary Mean (±SE) mRNA-1647 Pharmacokinetic Parameters in Sprague-Dawley Rat in Plasma and Tissues Following 100μg Intramuscular Injection Administration of mRNA-1647 on Day 1,” reveals that, in addition to distributing to the muscle site, lymph nodes and spleen, the mRNA particles also distributed to the bone marrow, brain, eyes, heart, liver, lungs, stomach and testes.

A separate study indicates that the mRNA-1647 particles injected into rats were “observed in muscle (i.e. site of injection), followed by proximal (popliteal) lymph nodes, axillary lymph nodes and spleen, suggesting the mRNA-1647 distribution to the circulation by lymph flow.” (The mRNA was delivered via “lipid nanoparticle dispersion.”)

Through FOIA we have uncovered a substantial amount of information regarding COVID-19 issues:

  • In October 2020, we received FDA records that detailed pressure for COVID-19 vaccine booster approval and use.
  • NIH records revealed an FBI “inquiry” into the NIH’s controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The records also show National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about “gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth Alliance’s lack of compliance with reporting rules and use of gain-of-function research in the NIH-funded research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
  • HHS records revealed that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277 was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
  • NIAID records showed that it gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.
  • HHS records included an “urgent for Dr. Fauci ” email chain, citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth Alliance. The government emails also reported that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help “raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from China on important international counsels as high level commitment from China.”
  • HHS records included a grant application for research involving the coronavirus that appears to describe “gain-of-function” research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses, attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
  • HHS records showed the State Department and NIAID knew immediately in January 2020 that China was withholding COVID data, which was hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.
  • University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) records show the former director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), James W. Le Duc warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the COVID issue by Congress.
  • HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and related data for the COVID-19 vaccines show a key component of the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), were found outside the injection site, mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals, eight to 48 hours after injection.
  • Records from the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP) reveal safety lapses and violations at U.S. biosafety laboratories that conduct research on dangerous agents and toxins.
  • HHS records include emails between National Institutes of Health (NIH) then-Director Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), about hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19.
  • HHS records show that NIH officials tailored confidentiality forms to China’s terms and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an unreleased, “strictly confidential” COVID-19 epidemiological analysis in January 2020.
  • Fauci emails include his approval of a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus.

 

Driver’s License Security Law Delayed Another Two Years over COVID

The Biden administration is not in a hurry to enact a commonsense safeguard, adopted after the 9/11 attack in 2001, to protect against the misuse of driver’s licenses by terrorists. Two decades later, we’re still waiting, as our Corruption Chronicles blog reports.

More than two decades after the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, the Biden administration is using COVID-19 as an excuse to further delay enforcement of a law requiring minimum security standards for driver’s licenses and identification cards. The measure, known as the REAL ID Act, was passed by Congress after 9/11 to establish a more secure national system less prone to fraud after several of the hijackers exploited loopholes to obtain dozens of driver’s licenses from various states. The cards allowed them to take flight lessons and board planes to carry out the 2001 attacks. At the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission Congress passed the law in 2005 and states originally had until 2011 to comply, though the Obama administration tried to drastically weaken the legislation. Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano granted a 20-month extension on the deadline as she worked behind the scenes to undermine the REAL ID Act, asserting that it violates civil liberties and privacy.

In the fall of 2020 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that, after multiple delays, all 50 states were finally in full compliance with the REAL ID Act with most states becoming compliant under pressure from the Trump administration. “To date, the 50 states have issued more than 105 million REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, representing 38 percent of all driver’s licenses and identification card holders,” DHS revealed at the time. In less than a year full enforcement of REAL ID will take effect at all federally regulated airports, federal facilities, and nuclear power plants, the 2020 bulletin further states. That means federal agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will be prohibited from accepting licenses and ID cards that do not meet the law’s standards. Though it was welcome news at the time, it was still outrageous that it took 15 years after Congress passed the legislation to protect national security.

This month, the Biden administration is extending REAL ID full enforcement for another two years to give states more time to ensure residents have driver’s licenses and identification cards that meet the law’s security standards. “The extension is necessary, in part, to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card,” according to a DHS notice issued last week. The pandemic hindered REAL ID progress, the agency writes, because state driver’s licensing agencies had to work through backlogs and many automatically extended license expiration dates and shifted operations to appointment only. Keep in mind the agencies had more than enough time to comply before COVID. Rest assured however, DHS continues to work closely with states to finally meet REAL ID requirements, according to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely,” Mayorkas said.

The continued delays are inexcusable considering what is at stake. The measure’s crucial verification process requires states to certify the authenticity of every driver’s license applicant by requiring that documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, be submitted to get the card are legitimate and that the applicant is in the United States legally. It also calls for a newly created federal database to link all licensing information that must be checked before states issue new cards. This will establish a much-needed standardized national driver’s license system less vulnerable to fraud and will prevent terrorists from abusing it as did September 11 hijackers. Once the law is fully enforced, federal agencies will be prohibited from accepting driver’s licenses or ID cards from noncompliant states for official purposes, including boarding an aircraft, accessing a federal facility, and entering a nuclear power plant.

It is not clear how the Biden administration plans to handle the dozen states—including Arkansas, California, Maine, and Oregon as well as the District of Columbia—that offer gender-neutral licenses and ID cards in violation of the REAL ID Act. Title II of the act specifically states that “features on each driver’s license and identification card issued to a person by the State” must include: The person’s full legal name; the person’s date of birth; the person’s gender; the person’s driver’s license or identification card number; a digital photograph of the person; the person’s address of principle residence; the person’s signature; physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes; a common machine-readable technology with defined minimum data elements.

Until next week,

The post Decorated Vet, FBI Analyst Sues FBI appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Driver’s License Security Law Passed after 9/11 Delayed Another Two Years Over COVID

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

More than two decades after the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, the Biden administration is using COVID-19 as an excuse to further delay enforcement of a law requiring minimum security standards for driver’s licenses and identification cards. The measure, known as the REAL ID Act, was passed by Congress after 9/11 to establish a more secure national system less prone to fraud after several of the hijackers exploited loopholes to obtain dozens of driver’s licenses from various states. The cards allowed them to take flight lessons and board planes to carry out the 2001 attacks. At the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission Congress passed the law in 2005 and states originally had until 2011 to comply, though the Obama administration tried to drastically weaken the legislation. Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano granted a 20-month extension on the deadline as she worked behind the scenes to undermine the REAL ID Act, asserting that it violates civil liberties and privacy.

In the fall of 2020 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that, after multiple delays, all 50 states were finally in full compliance with the REAL ID Act with most states becoming compliant under pressure from the Trump administration. “To date, the 50 states have issued more than 105 million REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, representing 38 percent of all driver’s licenses and identification card holders,” DHS revealed at the time. In less than a year full enforcement of REAL ID will take effect at all federally regulated airports, federal facilities, and nuclear power plants, the 2020 bulletin further states. That means federal agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will be prohibited from accepting licenses and ID cards that do not meet the law’s standards. Though it was welcome news at the time, it was still outrageous that it took 15 years after Congress passed the legislation to protect national security.

This month, the Biden administration is extending REAL ID full enforcement for another two years to give states more time to ensure residents have driver’s licenses and identification cards that meet the law’s security standards. “The extension is necessary, in part, to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card,” according to a DHS notice issued last week. The pandemic hindered REAL ID progress, the agency writes, because state driver’s licensing agencies had to work through backlogs and many automatically extended license expiration dates and shifted operations to appointment only. Keep in mind the agencies had more than enough time to comply before COVID. Rest assured however, DHS continues to work closely with states to finally meet REAL ID requirements, according to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely,” Mayorkas said.

The continued delays are inexcusable considering what is at stake. The measure’s crucial verification process requires states to certify the authenticity of every driver’s license applicant by requiring that documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, be submitted to get the card are legitimate and that the applicant is in the United States legally. It also calls for a newly created federal database to link all licensing information that must be checked before states issue new cards. This will establish a much-needed standardized national driver’s license system less vulnerable to fraud and will prevent terrorists from abusing it as did September 11 hijackers. Once the law is fully enforced, federal agencies will be prohibited from accepting driver’s licenses or ID cards from noncompliant states for official purposes, including boarding an aircraft, accessing a federal facility, and entering a nuclear power plant.

It is not clear how the Biden administration plans to handle the dozen states—including Arkansas, California, Maine, and Oregon as well as the District of Columbia—that offer gender-neutral licenses and ID cards in violation of the REAL ID Act. Title II of the act specifically states that “features on each driver’s license and identification card issued to a person by the State” must include: The person’s full legal name; the person’s date of birth; the person’s gender; the person’s driver’s license or identification card number; a digital photograph of the person; the person’s address of principle residence; the person’s signature; physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes; a common machine-readable technology with defined minimum data elements.

The post Driver’s License Security Law Passed after 9/11 Delayed Another Two Years Over COVID appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Report: TSA Director Guilty of Fraud, Waste for Unlawfully Deploying Assets to Mexican Border

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

The head of the federal agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation’s transportation system is guilty of fraud, waste, and abuse of authority for unlawfully deploying assets to the Mexican border to perform duties unrelated to transportation, according to a report filed with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General. In the formal complaint to the DHS watchdog, the Air Marshal National Council, which represents thousands of Federal Air Marshals (FAM) nationwide, accuses Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske and FAM Director Tirrell Stevenson of violating federal law and overstepping their authority for assigning the highly trained aviation security specialists to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with the illegal immigration crisis. FAM operates under TSA and both function under DHS.

“The TSA personnel are being sent to El Paso TX, San Diego CA, Laredo TX, McAllen TX, Tucson AZ, and Yuma AZ,” the complaint states, adding that internal agency documents reveal the “highly skilled FAMs” are being sent to the southwest border to perform “Hospital Watch, Transportation, Law Enforcement Searches, Welfare Checks, and Entry Control.” The duties have no relation to TSA’s core mission of transportation security, the filing says, and instead the air marshals will assist migrants who have crossed the border into the United States. TSA was created after 2001 to help prevent another terrorist attack, though the agency is famous for its lapses, including a big one just days ago when a man was allowed to board a plane in Cincinnati with two box cutters. FAM is charged with protecting commercial passenger flights by deterring and countering the risk of terrorist activity. At the very least it seems like a waste to send the highly trained law enforcement agents to the border to babysit illegal immigrants.

“The statute does not give the Administrator any authority to deploy TSA or FAM employees to the southern border to perform non transportation security related matters,” the complaint to the DHS IG states. “Further, under section (g) the statute describes what the Administrators authority is if an emergency, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, is declared.” The act makes clear that the legislative intent is to only allow TSA to exercise authority and deploy its assets for transportation security, the report to the DHS watchdog confirms. “To date Mr. Pekoske nor Mr. Stevenson have declared the deployments to be related to transportation security,” according to the complaint. Furthermore, the duties, “Hospital Watch, Entry Control, Law Enforcement searches, and Transportation,” could not be interpreted to have any nexus to the TSA core mission of transportation security. Additionally, the document notes that Congress has not appropriated any funds in the TSA budget for border security, making any money expended for the cause a violation of the Antideficiency Act which prohibits federal employees from obligating funds unless Congress has approved the amount and purpose of the spending.

A few weeks ago Judicial Watch obtained the DHS memorandum to the nation’s air marshal force announcing that officers would soon be sent to the southern border to help deal with “a surge in irregular migration.” The notice states that “the unprecedented volume of Noncitizen Migrants (NCMs) currently apprehended mandates immediate further action to protect the life and safety of federal personnel and noncitizens in CBP [Customs and Border Protection] custody.” It is the first acknowledgment, albeit leaked involuntarily, by the Biden administration that there is indeed a crisis along the nation’s famously porous southern border. “To support its mission, CBP is seeking federal employees from DHS Components and other federal agencies to be placed on reimbursable TDY assignments to assist in critical support functions,” the widely circulated mandate reads, adding that “LE/FAMS has been directed by DHS to support this request.” Air marshals interviewed by Judicial Watch expressed outrage that they are being pulled from their critical inflight security duties to assist with the mayhem created by the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies.

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DHS Slammed for Failing to Counter Terrorism, Secure Border, Manage Explosive Devices

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Two decades after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created to protect the U.S. from another 9/11, the agency faces serious management and performance challenges that prevent it from fulfilling its critical mission, according to a federal audit that says DHS must improve how it identifies domestic terrorism threats and better manage its efforts to counter homemade explosive devices. DHS also got slammed for one of its biggest lapses, failing to secure the southern border. “Migrant surges require a whole-of-government approach,” according to the report issued days ago by the DHS Inspector General. However, a coordinated response did not occur because DHS failed to conduct multi-component planning between Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Furthermore, the surges in immigration exposed technology challenges which impede CBP and ICE personnel from tracking migrants from apprehension to release or transfer, the probe found. “Technology deficiencies also meant that data was not consistently documented in DHS’ systems of record, which can delay DHS from uniting children with families and sponsors, or cause migrants to remain in DHS custody longer than legally allowed,” the watchdog writes in its report. Investigators also trash the way DHS managed the sudden influx of Ukrainian and Afghan citizens. Specifically, screening, vetting, and inspecting all evacuees after the Biden administration withdrew American troops from Afghanistan was a “challenge,” the report reveals, adding that the watchdog continues to evaluate CBP’s access to critical data necessary to fully vet individuals trying to enter the U.S.

The report delves into other areas such as DHS’ cybersecurity weaknesses and the famously corrupt Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the 20,000-employee conglomerate created by former President Jimmy Carter’s executive order in 1979. FEMA operates under DHS and lists helping people before, during and after disasters as its mission. The agency has been involved in a multitude of scandals surrounding pervasive fraud in its COVID-19 relief programs. DHS and FEMA need to analyze systemic weaknesses across the spectrum of disaster-related funding and services, the IG writes, adding that the agencies must make overarching improvements in risk assessment, controls, policies, systems and applications, resources, training, and data. “As of July 31, 2022, OIG had received more than 7,500 complaints and initiated more than 300 investigations related to COVID-19, including allegations that fraud networks have secured pandemic-related benefits,” the new report states. Fraud and corruption is so rampant in the government’s massive COVID-19 cash giveaway that the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to “enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.”

This probe did not dig deeply into the pandemic fraud cases but offered enough information to convey the problem. Attached to the 17-page audit is a document issued by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the “leadership team across all DHS components” listing the agency’s 12 priorities for 2022. They include advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the workforce and to protect the privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights of the communities served as well to ensure DHS reflects the diversity of the communities it serves. Another priority is securing the nation’s borders by giving the agency’s workforce the tools to interdict irregular migration and illicit flows of drugs, weapons, and other contraband. Record-breaking illegal immigration in fiscal year 2022 proves that never materialized. DHS also made it a priority to build a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system and to implement lawful pathways as alternatives to irregular migration and enhanced policies to administer the nation’s laws and uphold our values as a nation of immigrants expeditiously and fairly. The rest of the priorities include preparing the nation to respond and recover from disasters and combat the climate crisis, increasing cybersecurity and combatting all forms of terrorism.

After getting blasted by auditors, DHS struck back claiming in a lengthy letter that the report is “misleading” and accusing its watchdog of being “inaccurate, contextually incomplete and confusing.”

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Millions in DHS Terrorism Prevention Grants go to Promote Media Literacy, Combat Disinformation

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

The agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation from another terrorist attack is giving nonprofits, local governments, and academic institutions millions of dollars to promote media literacy and combat what the Biden administration considers to be “disinformation.” Among the recipients of the grants awarded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a center founded by former President Jimmy Carter to implement a “media literacy curriculum” designed to mitigate the harms presented by disinformation. In all, DHS will dole out around $7 million for its new media literacy campaign, which is part of a broader and handsomely funded initiative called Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program (TVTP) launched in 2020 to “prevent targeted violence and terrorism.”

This year DHS is doling out $20 million in grants to dozens of recipients to meet TVTP’s mission of preventing incidents of domestic violent extremism, as well as to bolster efforts to counter online radicalization and mobilization to violence. In the press release announcing the $20 million investment, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency is equipping local communities and organizations, including those “historically underserved,” with needed resources to become more effective partners to strengthen security and help Americans feel safe and secure. In the announcement DHS reveals that it encouraged applicants from diverse groups and conducted extensive outreach to a variety of public and nonprofit sectors. In fact, the agency writes that among this year’s priorities is “advancing equity in awards and engaging underserved communities in prevention.”

A chunk of the TVTP money—$7 million—will be dedicated to the media literacy campaign, which will focus largely on combatting “misinformation and disinformation.” The Carter Center, which was founded by the former Democratic president, is getting $99,372 to implement its media literacy curriculum. The goal is to address the gap in media literacy education in the United States within a targeted violence and terrorism prevention context to demonstrate the effectiveness in mitigating the harms presented by disinformation, according to DHS. “This partnership would allow The Carter Center to deploy its curriculum modules over a two-year period in multiple classroom settings targeting a wide population aged 18 to 60 years old,” DHS writes in its recent announcement. “Media literacy trainings build capacities in evaluating media sources, assessing media intent, interpreting media messages, understanding how the brain processes information, understanding how online media shapes perception, recognizing false and misleading information, investigating suspicious claims, and practicing good media hygiene.”

The University of Rhode Island will receive $701,612 to combat disinformation, conspiracy theories and propaganda that have become large-scale social problems shaping the ways citizens view facts, define truth, and make decisions, according to DHS. The university will use the taxpayer dollars to create initiatives that help people critically analyze information, digital media, and popular culture to benefit all members of society by “diminishing the appeal of us-vs-them thinking that activates strong emotions and oversimplifies ideas and information.” The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will get $750,000 to create an “educational digital game” designed to help students understand different strategies used to spread disinformation and combat it at the institutional level. The Uran Rural Action, a group that strives for a “more inclusive democracy” across ideological and racial differences, will receive $769,190 to create a “Local Prevention Framework.”

Above is just a sample of the groups that will fill their coffers with public funds for this fictitious crisis created by the Biden administration to control information. Many more are getting six figures from the government for this nonsense. “Disinformation, conspiracy theories, and propaganda have become large-scale social problems, shaping the way citizens view facts, define truth, and make decisions,” according to the DHS grant document.

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Judicial Watch Sues to Clean Up New York Voter Rolls

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Top Headlines of the Week

Press Releases

Judicial Watch Sues after New York City Fails to Clean Voter Rolls for Years

The Judicial Watch lawsuit details that New York City’s “own recent data concedes that there were only 22 total” removals under this provision “during a six-year period, in a city of over 5.5 million voters. These are ludicrously small numbers of removals given the sizable populations of these counties.”

Judicial Watch: Records Show D.C. Schools Pushed Racial Segregation in Employee ‘Affinity Spaces’

Judicial Watch announced that it received 194 pages of records from District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) which show DC officials pushed segregated “Affinity Spaces” on the basis of race and sexual identity.

U.S. Devotes $195 Mil to “Redress the Legacy of Harm” in Racist Transportation Infrastructure

In the Biden administration’s latest racial equity project, American taxpayers will spend $195 million to help connect minority communities that are cut off from economic opportunities by racist transportation infrastructure. The costly plan is known as Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) and it is part of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) “Equity Strategy Goal to reduce inequities” across the nation’s transportation systems and the communities they effect.

New DOL Policy Shields “Vulnerable Workers who Lack Work Authorization” from Deportation

Days after an influential open borders group ordered the government to “promptly develop and implement” a policy to protect illegal immigrants involved in labor disputes from deportation, the Biden administration has obliged. This month the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new measure, drafted in English and Spanish, offering immigration related prosecutorial discretion for undocumented workers involved in labor disputes with their U.S. employers.

 

In The News

Fox News: ABC lets Reagan shooter John Hinckley advocate gun control, Twitter slams ‘off the rails’ interview

Several conservative Twitter accounts expressed shock and anger over ABC using the attempted-Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr. to promote gun control in a recent Nightline Interview.

Fox News: AOC ripped to shreds for mocking Kavanaugh getting harassed out of D.C. restaurant: ‘Disgusting’

On Friday, left-wing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., belittled Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after it was reported that he was chased out of a D.C. steakhouse by protesters angry over the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Breitbart: New York Sued for Failing to Remove Ineligible Voters from Voter Rolls

Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against New York election officials, accusing them of failing to remove ineligible voters from the state’s voter rolls.

The watchdog group filed the lawsuit on Wednesday after they claimed that New York election officials have violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by removing just 22 individuals from New York City’s voter rolls in the last six years.

 

Video Highlights

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New DOL Policy Shields “Vulnerable Workers who Lack Work Authorization” from Deportation

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Judicial Watch

Days after an influential open borders group ordered the government to “promptly develop and implement” a policy to protect illegal immigrants involved in labor disputes from deportation, the Biden administration has obliged. This month the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new measure, drafted in English and Spanish, offering immigration related prosecutorial discretion for undocumented workers involved in labor disputes with their U.S. employers. Created at the request of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the policy directs illegal alien workers to contact the agency if they fear supervisors will try to get authorities to deport them for reporting workplace abuse. The DOL will then contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to request the undocumented employee be protected from deportation, according to the measure.

“DOL’s mission and effective enforcement depends on the cooperation of workers,” the recently issued guidance states. “However, vulnerable workers who lack work authorization or sufficiently “portable” immigration status are often reluctant to report violations, engage with government enforcement agencies, or otherwise exercise their rights.” The document continues by offering the following example; undocumented workers who experience labor law violations may fear that cooperating with an investigation will result in the disclosure of their immigration status or that of family members, or that it will result in immigration-based retaliation from their employers and adverse immigration consequences for themselves or their family. “As a result, both workers and the Department face barriers to equitable and effective enforcement of workplace rights and protections, and the many employers that adhere to labor and employment laws face unfair competition.”

Undocumented workers experiencing a labor dispute are instructed to submit a statement of interest to the DOL in support of a request to DHS for immigration-related prosecutorial discretion, the new guidance says. Requesters should include a description of the labor dispute, any retaliation or threats experienced by workers, a description of how fear of potential immigration-related retaliation or other immigration enforcement in the future is likely to deter workers from reporting violations related to the labor dispute or otherwise cooperating with DOL. The agency will assess each request by considering several factors, including whether DHS’s use of immigration-related prosecutorial discretion would support DOL’s interest in holding labor law violators accountable and whether immigration enforcement of witnesses or victims could impede DOL’s ability to enforce labor laws or provide all available remedies within its jurisdiction. The agency will also consider the “likelihood that immigration enforcement could be an instrument used to undermine DOL’s enforcement of laws in the geographic area or industry and/or give rise to further immigration-based retaliation.”

In a press release celebrating the new policy the DOL explains that to carry out the laws it enforces, workers must feel free to participate in investigations and proceedings without fear of retaliation or consequences related to their immigration status. “The department has long supported DHS’ use of prosecutorial discretion – on a case-by-case basis – for certain workers subjected to abusive and exploitative labor practices,” the DOL writes, adding that “for decades, the department has memorialized this relationship through agreements with immigration officials.” As an example the agency lists an agreement between the DOL and DHS to work together to ensure that their respective civil worksite enforcement activities do not conflict and recognizing that effective enforcement of labor law is essential to ensure proper wages and working conditions for all workers regardless of immigration status.

It appears that the DOL issued its new policy to protect illegal immigrant workers in response to demands by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, an open-borders group that claims to protect the civil, constitutional, and human rights of immigrants, refugees, children, prisoners, and the poor. In the recent letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and DOL Secretary Martin Walsh the group asks the administration to increase the willingness of immigrant workers to assert their labor and civil rights and ensure immigration enforcement does not become a tool of unscrupulous employers. “This letter is to provide support for the effort to promptly develop and implement a more robust policy aimed at encouraging immigrant workers to report labor law violations and cooperate in their investigation and to extend temporary protection from arrest or removal to immigrant workers engaged in labor disputes,” the group writes. Within days the administration implemented the new policy.

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