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Russia Moves Former Marine to Solitary Confinement in Soviet-Era Gulag

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Washington Free Beacon

A former Marine held for years on false charges by Russia is in solitary confinement at a Soviet-era gulag for up to 23 hours a day, prompting renewed demands from family members and lawmakers to secure his release.

Trevor Reed, a Texas resident and former Marine assigned to an elite unit tasked with protecting Camp David under the Obama administration, has remained in Russian detention since August 2019 on false charges of assaulting a police officer. Courts have since sentenced Reed to nine years in prison on charges disputed by Reed and the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. He has spent the last two months in a forced labor camp. Reed’s family says the former Marine refuses to comply with demands that he engage in arduous work, and Russian authorities have placed him in solitary confinement as punishment.

“He’s angry, obviously, and he feels like he’s a hostage,” Joey Reed, the Marine’s father, told the Washington Free Beacon. “He just thinks, ‘Why would I go make products for my hostage takers to sell and make profit off of?'”

The Reed Family

Not much is known about the prison where Reed is held, but his family says that he spends most days in an 8-by-10-foot room with a hole in the ground as a toilet.

Though Reed’s parents are thankful for top hostage officials at the State Department—Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens holds weekly calls with the family—their patience with the Biden administration is running thin. President Joe Biden has only mentioned Reed’s name in public once at the Geneva summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, but little to no public progress has been made on the case since.

“It doesn’t get easier, as a matter of fact, I think it’s getting worse,” Reed’s mother Paula said. “It’s absolutely horrible. He’s just sitting there, and his life is just being wasted. We just feel helpless because we can’t make the government bring him home.”

Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Free Beacon the Biden administration is showing “weakness,” which is hindering efforts to bring Americans home worldwide.

“Evil regimes that take American prisoners—whether in North Korea, Iran, Russia, or Afghanistan—only respond to American government pressure when they think they have to,” Haley said. “Joe Biden is borrowing a page from Jimmy Carter’s book on weakness and that’s sure to result in failure to deliver for these hostages.”

The Reeds expressed interest in the government finding a prisoner exchange to secure their son’s release, but have no knowledge of any active efforts to do so. Putin meanwhile has smeared Reed as a “drunk,” and Russian authorities continue to deny any wrongdoing or mistreatment, even as they moved the former Marine eight hours away from the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

The Biden administration has only secured the safe release of one American since taking office in January. Another former Marine, Paul Whelan, is also detained on arbitrary charges by the Russian government and has remained in custody since December 2018. Outside of Russia, more than 50 Americans are held hostage by foreign adversaries everywhere from Venezuela to Afghanistan to Burma.

“Due to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on specifics,” a State Department spokeswoman told the Free Beacon. “We are monitoring Trevor’s health and welfare closely. We consistently advocate for fair treatment from the Russian authorities and continue to call for his immediate release.”

The Biden administration’s apparent inaction on the issue also ignores a mounting bipartisan consensus in Congress that Reed, Whelan, and others need safe passage home immediately. Reps. French Hill (R., Ark.) and Ted Deutch (D., Fla.) started a caucus devoted to hostage affairs in June, and prominent Democrats such as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) have joined Republicans in resolutions to call for Reed’s release. Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas), the Reed family’s congressman and a former member of the Trump administration’s national security council, told the Free Beacon the Biden administration needs to respond to Congress with its own statements of strength.

“We had a great bipartisan briefing a couple of months ago, the administration would do well to take note of that,” Pfluger said. “We need President Biden to step up and send a strong message that no American will be left behind. It is the sense of Congress that we will bring these people home.”

Reed’s family expressed confusion and frustration at the Biden administration’s callousness and lack of focus on their son, as well as other hostages around the world.

“We’ve got over 50 hostages around the world, what are we doing?” Joey Reed said. “These guys are Americans. That used to mean something to other Americans. We need to bring these people stuck all over the world home.”

“If it was their son, what would they do?” asked Paula Reed. “I just don’t understand why it hasn’t happened yet, especially since they brought him up at the summit.”

The post Russia Moves Former Marine to Solitary Confinement in Soviet-Era Gulag appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

TONE DEAF CNN Allows Ex-Planned Parenthood Prez to Demand: ‘Protect Our Children’

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Newsbusters

On Wednesday, CNN actually had the audacity to bring on the former president of Planned Parenthood to demand that public officials “protect our children” by backing draconian COVID regulations being pushed by the Biden administration. In the 1:00 p.m. ET hour, Newsroom host Ana Cabrera referenced the total COVID death count, noting that 1 in 500 Americans have died from COVID. She then brought on Dr. Leana Wen and Dr. Jeremy Faust to discuss.

Dr. Wen, who Cabrera introduced as “CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore health commissioner,” was the president/CEO of Planned Parenthood from October 2018 through July 2019. During the 2018-2019 business year, according to their own annual report, Planned Parenthood facilitated 354,871 “abortion procedures,” or, to be less euphemistic, killed 354,871 babies.

 

 

Wen expressed shock that Americans have not done more to stop the spread of COVID-19, saying “Imagine if 1 in 500 Americans have died in a war due to a foreign adversary in the last year and a half. How would we be processing that information and what would we be doing differently? Wouldn’t we be doing everything we can to end the war, to end the suffering and death?”

She seemed especially appalled at one North Carolina school district’s decision to end quarantining and contact tracing for COVID-exposed students. “Overall we need to decrease the level of transmission in the community, but in the meantime we need to be protecting our children,” Wen emphasized. “It’s, again, really unconscionable that we’re not doing everything we can.”

It seems that “protecting our children” only applies when the children are outside of the womb, and therefore subject to onerous and often unscientific COVID restrictions.

Just what is Wen suggesting for schools? Masking, quarantining, contact tracing, improving ventilation, and eligible students getting vaccinated, just to name a few. Currently, only children age 12 and older can get vaccinated, but companies are still collecting trial data for younger children. Wen’s repeated emphasis on the phrase “everything we can” communicates that there is no sacrifice too great or requirement too strenuous in order to prevent COVID cases among children.

The irony of a former leader of Planned Parenthood, America’s leading baby-killing regime, claiming to stand up for the health and well-being of children, is apparently lost on CNN. In fact, Wen’s position at CNN as a medical analyst is disturbing, given her track record of violating the Hippocratic Oath. She has done inconceivable harm to hundreds of thousands of babies, along with their mothers – but CNN is perfectly fine with letting her accuse schools and viewers of not taking sufficient care of their own children.

This segment on CNN was sponsored by DirecTV and Allegra.

The relevant portions of Wednesday’s transcript are below. Click “expand” to read:

CNN’s Newsroom

09/15/21

1:21:49 p.m. Eastern

 

ANA CABRERA: Another sobering milestone in this pandemic: 1 in every 500 Americans has now died of COVID-19. As of last night, the official count is nearly 664,000 deaths nationwide. To a large degree, this remains a pandemic of the unvaccinated. And just two days from now a key panel of FDA advisors will debate whether to authorize COVID booster shots for the general population. There is little agreement on this even within the medical community. With us now is Dr. Leana Wen, CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore health commissioner and also with us is Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Thank you both for being here. Dr. Wen, just your reaction first to this pandemic now taking the life of 1 in every 500 Americans. Did you ever think it would get to this point? 

LEANA WEN: No. It’s actually a number that is very difficult to process. Imagine if 1 in 500 Americans have died in a war due to a foreign adversary in the last year and a half. How would we be processing that information and what would we be doing differently? Wouldn’t we be doing everything we can to end the war, to end the suffering and death? And yet right now we actually have the tools. We know that vaccines are our best and only way out of the pandemic. We have the tool that it will take for us to save lives and for us to not do everything that we can with vaccines and masks in the meantime, it’s really unconscionable. 

(…)

CABRERA: Dr. Wen, one of the places that COVID is really surging right now in the US is inside schools. Georgia health officials say 60% of COVID outbreaks in that state are occurring in K-12 schools. Schools are still struggling to respond. One North Carolina school district is deciding it’s gonna end quarantines. It’s gonna stop contact tracing for the students and staff who may have been exposed but are asymptomatic or they test negative. Does that approach make sense to you? 

WEN: No. I mean, that’s the same as saying, if we just don’t look for disease, we’re not going to find it. But just because you’re not looking for it doesn’t mean the disease isn’t there, it just means that you don’t know about it, and then there’s further spread, chains of transmission that could be occurring at home and in the community due to what’s happening in schools. I think what’s really frustrating about what’s going on in schools is that we know what it takes to keep COVID out of schools. We know what it takes to prevent the COVID from spreading in schools. That is everybody who is able to be vaccinated, 12 and older getting vaccinated, that’s indoor masking, that’s quarantining, contact tracing, all these measures that we’ve been talking about, improved ventilation. All of these things are layers of protection. The more virus there is in the school, the more layers you’re going to need. Overall we need to decrease the level of transmission in the community, but in the meantime we need to be protecting our children. Nearly 30% of all new infections are occurring in kids. In the last two weeks, there have been half a million new COVID-19 infections in our children. It’s, again, really unconscionable that we’re not doing everything we can. We have the tools. We know what works. Why not deploy these tools to protect our children? 

CABRERA: Dr. Leana Wen and Dr. Jeremy Faust, I appreciate both of you. Thanks so much for joining us. 

Liam McHugh Will Join WarnerMedia’s TV Hockey Team

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

Former NBC Sports host Liam McHugh will join Turner Sports as the WarnerMedia outlet prepares for its first season of NHL telecasts under a new rights deal, joining hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and a new team of analysts and sportscasters devoted to coverage of the sport. McHugh joins Turner Sports from NBC Sports, where he [
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Ex-HBO Marketing Exec Chris Spadaccini Joins CAMP, Family-Focused Retail Startup

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

Chris Spadaccini, a former longtime marketing exec at HBO and WarnerMedia, has joined family-oriented retail and experiential startup CAMP as chief marketing officer. In the new role, Spadaccini will lead CAMP’s brand, advertising, creative, media and growth marketing strategies as the company prepares for expansion. He reports to founder and CEO Ben Kaufman. Spadaccini departed [
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Media Give Zero Seconds to Antifa’s Domestic Terror Plot

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Newsbusters

It’s been nearly a week since a former field organizer for the Washington State Democrats was found guilty of terrorist attacks and violence against a railroad carrier; and so far, the liberal TV networks have not given the story a solitary second of airtime.

In December of 2020, antifa “activists” Samantha Frances Brooks and Ellen Brennan Reiche were indicted on terror charges after placing disrupting cables (or shunts) on train tracks near Bellingham, Washington. This caused a train carrying hazardous materials to decouple from some of its cars, which, according to authorities, could have led to a dangerous derailment in a residential area.

Yet despite the media’s professed interest in domestic terrorism stories, they refuse to give this one any coverage whatsoever. None of the liberal cable (CNN, MSNBC) or broadcast (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks have breathed so much as a word about this story as of September 14.

Brooks pled guilty back in July of this year, but Reiche opted for a jury trial, which ended with a guilty verdict on September 9. From the Associated Press:

They’re accused of putting a shunt on tracks near Bellingham in late November. Such devices consist of a wire strung across the tracks, mimicking the electrical signal of a train. The devices can cause trains to automatically brake and can disable railroad crossing guards, investigators have said.

Around that same time, the hysterical Antifa news blog It’s Going Down published an anonymous letter by someone boasting about placing shunts on railroad tracks. “YOU SHOULD DO THIS TOO,” the letter urged in large, bold font.

Here we have two convicted domestic terrorists who not only attacked public infrastructure and endangered lives in the process, but appear to have gone on to brag about it online and encourage others to follow their lead. And still not a peep from the media. Maybe Reiche’s previous work with the Washington State Democrats have something to do with the TV news-wide blackout (but that’s just speculation).

Let’s roll that January 6 footage again, though.

Al Franken Keeping ‘Options Open’ on Return to Politics

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Washington Free Beacon

Disgraced former Democratic senator Al Franken says he is keeping his political “options open.”

Franken, who has returned to stand-up comedy since he resigned from the U.S. Senate in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, told a Massachusetts paper that he is considering another bid for public office. “I’m keeping my options open,” Franken told the Republican.

Franken’s soon-to-begin comedy tour, “The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently on Tour,” is an attempt by the two-term senator to impact politics from outside Washington, D.C. “I believe comedy and satire is a very valid way—and sometimes almost a more productive way—of affecting public opinion,” Franken said.

Franken also criticized his Democratic colleagues for forcing him out without giving him a chance to defend himself. “I wanted due process, but I had 36 colleagues and a majority leader who wouldn’t give it to me, so it was impossible. But you do have some regrets. It was a very weird, tough situation at that moment,” Franken said. “I love the Senate. I love the work that I did.”

It is unclear when Franken will have an opportunity to return to the Senate. His party holds both of the state’s seats in the legislative body, and neither Sens. Amy Klobuchar nor Tina Smith has indicated any intention of stepping aside. Minnesota’s Democratic governor Tim Walz is also running for reelection.

Franken has maintained his political fundraising operation through his political action committee, Midwest Values PAC, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars this year even with Franken on the political sidelines. The committee raises money using ActBlue, which earlier this year kicked New York Democrat Andrew Cuomo off the fundraising platform due to accusations of sexual misconduct. ActBlue has not responded to requests for comment on Franken’s status on the platform.

The post Al Franken Keeping ‘Options Open’ on Return to Politics appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

7 reasons why Gavin Newsom has got to go!

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, WND

When I heard that the former President Barack Obama was running in a few last-ditch-effort ads for the struggling California Gov. Gavin Newsom in his recall election this week, I knew they were getting desperate. They are worried, and they should be.

Newsom has been playing experimental politics with the residents of California for years, and they are the ones paying a hefty price. California has been on a constant free fall for a decade, and Newsom has only sped up its rate of descent.

Even Newsweek had to confess this past week that there are “10 Huge Problems for California’s Next Governor.” Let me just address seven, and you’ll see why California is up against insurmountable odds and why Gavin Newsom has got to go. Republicans, Democrats and Independents can all agree on these:

1. Public health and unemployment crisis

Newsom has royally botched and mishandled COVID for over 18 months, and jeopardized tens of millions of people’s health and livelihood. He is personally responsible for the fact that nearly a third of all California’s restaurants are permanently closed. In June, almost 50% of businesses in San Francisco alone remained closed. The Mercury News just reported, in light of COVID job recoveries, California’s rebound is “among the worst in nation,” ranking No. 41 out of 50 states.

2. Homelessness and housing crisis

At least 160,000 people are living on the streets of California, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. California cities and towns have been degraded as myriad tent encampments have sprung up in parks and residential neighborhoods, with no sign of removal in the near future. And you already know about skyrocketing housing costs in California – the majority of even middle-income residents will never be able to afford a home if Newsom remains in office. California has the second-lowest rate of home ownership in the country.

3. Severe drought crisis

Severe drought is ravaging the state, and Sacramento is making it worse. Despite the fact California is by far the largest agricultural producer in the United States, Newsom’s government is literally turning off the water to hundreds of farmers, killing thousands of acres in crops and hurting those who make their livelihood working them. And consider the 1,000,000 acres more of forest burned just this year. Why? Primarily because Sacramento’s governor refuses to create a plan that deals with the massive amount of dry fuel underbrush and overcrowded forests. They will remain a gas tank waiting for a match if Newsom remains in office.

4. Public education crisis

Again, even Newsweek had to confess: “California used to have one of the best public education systems in the country. Then came Prop. 13 and tax-cutting – and now the state has among the worst public schools in the country.” What more needs to be said?

5. Energy crisis

Again, Newsweek reported: “Most of the electricity in California is controlled by private companies. Pacific Gas and Electric has been responsible for several of the worst fires in the state; the company, courts have found, doesn’t properly maintain its power lines (diverting tree-trimming money to executive bonuses in some cases).” In addition, Newsom has signed at least six more bills to kill off his state’s fossil fuel industry.

6. Criminal Justice crisis

The Los Angeles Times reported, “California’s jails are so bad some inmates beg to go to prison instead.”

Newsweek added: “California has 737 people on death row, almost all of whom will die of something else before they are (if they are) executed. The prisons are packed with people, who were locked up for long sentences during the Three Strikes Era. Many were imprisoned for fairly minor crimes; some may be entirely innocent. The state prison system alone costs taxpayers $15 billion a year.”

7. Business and citizen exodus crisis

This crisis is the clearest “writing on the wall,” and I just don’t get why Californians tolerate it.

California has a massive exodus crisis of businesses and residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the last decade alone, 1.3 million more people have left California. Read that number again and ponder it. It gets worse. Thousands of businesses have already left California, and according to the California Globe, “A new analysis recently released by the Hoover Institution of Stanford University found that the number of businesses leaving California in 2021 has significantly picked up compared to the previous three years.” What?!

Newsom is so buried in the mire of California’s decline that he has reached his hand up out of his murky drowning waters to be saved by none other than the former President Obama, who is starring in a few of Newsom’s closing campaign ads. So desperate is Newsom that Joe Biden flew out on Monday to resuscitate his flailing campaign. But not even Obama and Biden can save or resurrect the groveling Gavin.

Bottom line: It’s clear that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is way over his head in running the Golden State. That’s why the people of California have called for a state recall election of its governor this week, on Sept. 14, “when voters will be asked first whether they want to recall Newsom and then who they want to replace him. It will take at least 50% of voters to vote in favor of recalling Newsom for the election to move forward and the winner will be whichever candidate receives the highest number of votes,” according to Fox News.

My wife, Gena, and I have lots of family and friends living all over California, and we’ve heard their cries and criticisms of the present administration. They want change. They need change. There’s no way out or forward without it.

There’s truly one person who could lead the Golden State back to fiscal and future sanity and soundness. Larry Elder is head and tail above the other 46 candidates and will be an outstanding governor, bringing to the office stellar credentials and personal leadership abilities.

Let me tell or remind you why Elder is the man for the job.

Obama doesn’t live in California, but Elder was born and bred there. Larry was raised in South Central Los Angeles. During an Associated Press interview, he shared how he worked his way through a disadvantaged high school in a historically Black neighborhood to eventually get to Brown University, then through law school.

Growing up, “when he was bused for a semester to another district in Los Angeles, he was stunned by the difference in teaching and parental involvement,” the Associate Press reported. “When he told his mother about the difference in the schools, she cried and told him: ‘If your father and I had enough money, we could have put you in a better school, but we couldn’t.'” (He is now an advocate for school choice programs.)

Larry’s campaign website shares that “His father was born in Athens, Georgia, served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, and moved to California and opened his own restaurant – Elder’s Snack Bar. Elder’s mother, originally from Huntsville, Alabama, was a clerical worker for the U.S. Department of War (now the U.S. Department of Defense) and raised three boys as a stay-at-home mom.”

Larry’s parents modeled and taught him from a young age that he would have to work very hard and often go against the flow to discover the real American Dream. They also showed him that a truly fulfilled life would also bolster others’ lives and help them acquire the American Dream, too.

All of that became a reality when Larry became a nationally syndicated radio host and newspaper columnist, bestselling author, award-winning documentary filmmaker and one of the best-known media figures in America today. His flagship daily radio program, “The Larry Elder Show,” is heard every weekday in all 50 states, on more than 300 stations.

Asked why he was running, Elder, now 69, said in a press release: “I’m running for governor because the decline of California isn’t the fault of its people. Our government is what’s ruining the Golden State. Our schools are closed to both students and their parents. Our streets aren’t safe from rising violent crime or the disaster of rising homelessness. And the scandals of Sacramento aren’t going to stop on their own. It’s time to tell the truth. We’ve got a state to save.”

Elder explained to the Associated Press, “I have common sense. I have good judgment. I’m born and raised here. I think I understand the state.”

“I know it’s a long shot,” he added, referring to Newsom’s ability to raise unlimited funds. But he said he was driven by a “fire in the belly to see if I can do something 
 to move the needle in the right direction.”

Larry is right. The truth is: It will not be easy for him to beat Newsom, but I believe he can win if the people of California rise up right alongside him. The Golden State has a Democratic super-majority in its Assembly, Senate and with its majority of voters. Nevertheless, I believe the majority of Californians want out of the chasm Newsom put them in. More of the same won’t fix California’s seven huge problems mentioned above.

California, I’m absolutely convinced Larry Elder is your man. Check him out at ElectElder.com. Listen especially to his video titled, “Why I’m running,” to understand his heart and mission for the Golden State and you.

Most of all, if you’re a Californian, on the Sept. 14 recall election, there are only two heroic moves you must make: Vote Gov. Newsom out and Larry Elder in. Elect Elder!

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The post 7 reasons why Gavin Newsom has got to go! appeared first on WND.

Former Senate Colleague Suggests Dianne Feinstein Should Step Aside

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Washington Free Beacon

Dianne Feinstein

Former senator Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) implied Thursday that her longtime colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) should step aside because of age.

“If Sen. Feinstein were to call me today and asked my advice” on stepping aside, “I would say only you can decide this,” Boxer said in a Los Angeles Times interview. “But from my perspective, I want you to know I’ve had very productive years away from the Senate doing good things. So put that into the equation.”

Boxer, who was elected in 1992 to represent California alongside Feinstein, retired in January 2017. Feinstein, who is 88, remains in the Senate.

Many Democrats want Feinstein to retire in favor of a younger and more progressive candidate. Some fear that a Republican will end up representing deep-blue California if Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) loses Tuesday’s recall election and Feinstein is unable to finish her term.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) last year had to tell Feinstein twice to step down as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee because she forgot their first conversation. According to a New Yorker report at the time, Feinstein’s “short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic.”

One of the New Yorker‘s sources compared what Feinstein’s staff has to do to taking “the car keys away from an elderly relative.”

Feinstein has filed paperwork so that she can run for a sixth term in 2024. She will then be 91 years old.

The post Former Senate Colleague Suggests Dianne Feinstein Should Step Aside appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.