Judge back under fire for allegedly helping twice-deported illegal alien accused of drug crimes evade ICE



A Massachusetts judge may lose her job after she allegedly helped an illegal alien arrested on drug charges to evade ICE agents several years ago.

In April 2018, just a few months after she rose to the Massachusetts District Court bench, Judge Shelley Joseph presided over a hearing for Jose Medina-Perez, a native of the Dominican Republican who had been deported from the U.S. in 2003 and 2007.

'ICE is gonna get him? ... What if we detain him?'

Medina-Perez had been arrested on two misdemeanor counts of drug possession as well as a charge of fugitive from justice. ICE considered him a "deportable alien," and agents were on hand at the courthouse to obtain custody of him as soon as he was released from the state.

During the hearing, Judge Joseph ordered the ICE agents to wait outside her courtroom, but these agents appeared to give several court officials cause for concern.

According to a press release from the Commission on Judicial Conduct, while conducting a sidebar conversation during the hearing, the defense attorney noted, "If he’s bailed out ... ICE will pick him up."

Joseph then replied, "ICE is gonna get him? ... What if we detain him?"

Moments later, the defense attorney asked whether he could speak with Judge Joseph off the record. The judge then asked for the official recording of the proceeding to be turned off temporarily, in apparent violation of state law. The recording was stopped for approximately 52 seconds, the press release said.

During those 52 seconds, the defense attorney allegedly requested that he be allowed to escort his client back to the lockup area, where the defendant could slip "through the rear sally-port exit of the courthouse" and avoid the ICE agents who were waiting for him, the press release indicated.

When the court recording resumed, the defense attorney stammered: "I would ask that he, uh — I believe he has some property downstairs. I’d like to speak with him downstairs with the interpreter if I may," the press release claimed, citing the court transcript.

Judge Joseph agreed: "That's fine. Of course." She later reiterated to the session clerk that the defense attorney had "asked if the interpreter can accompany him downstairs, um, to further interview him — and I’ve allowed that to happen."

After another pretrial hearing was scheduled, Medina-Perez, his attorney, an interpreter, and another court officer went down to the lockup area. "Once inside the lockup area, the court officer used his security access card to open the rear sally-port exit of the courthouse and released the defendant out of the courthouse through the sally-port exit," the press release said.

When questioned about Medina-Perez's apparent escape from the courthouse, Judge Joseph allegedly replied: "I assumed that the defendant was in the custody of ICE. I was not aware until two days later when I returned to the Newton District Court that he had not been taken into ICE custody."

She later added: "I regret the harm that my handling of the matter caused the reputation of the Massachusetts judiciary."

'This judge should never see another day in court as a judge. This type of reckless behavior doesn’t belong in our courtrooms.'

Judge Joseph was also charged with federal crimes and temporarily suspended from the bench in connection with the incident, but prosecutors later agreed to drop those charges when Joseph promised to refer herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Joseph returned to the bench and eventually moved to Boston Municipal Court, where she currently serves.

On Monday, the Commission on Judicial Conduct filed formal charges against Joseph, alleging that she had violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Furthermore, the commission alleged that her actions that day amounted to "willful judicial misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming a judicial officer, and that brings the judicial office into disrepute."

A hearing regarding these non-criminal charges will be held within the next 60 days after a hearing officer can be appointed to preside over it. Depending on the outcome of the hearing, Joseph could be removed from the bench.

In her rebuttal to the charges, which was also included in the press release, Joseph denied intentionally assisting Medina-Perez and professed to have "fully cooperated and responded truthfully to the inquiries of her judicial colleagues, supervisors, and judicial disciplinary authorities." She did acknowledge that she "unknowingly" violated state statute when she paused the official court recording.

"Judge Joseph looks forward to a hearing where all the circumstances finally become public," said a statement from her attorney, Thomas Hoopes, according to Boston.com.

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance called the entire situation "unfortunate."

"It's unfortunate this rogue judge decided to work against our law enforcement agency in charge of keeping the public safe. This judge should never see another day in court as a judge. This type of reckless behavior doesn’t belong in our courtrooms," Craney said in a statement to Blaze News.

Medina-Perez apparently managed to evade ICE that day, but ICE apprehended him two weeks later. In December 2021, he was even "HELD WITHOUT BAIL DUE TO IDENTITY ISSUES," a court docket showed. However, all charges against him in connection with this hearing were eventually dropped.

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Immigrant — just 13 years old — stabs man with help of 3 masked accomplices because victim wouldn't snap their photo: Report



A 13-year-old immigrant from Ecuador stabbed a man in New York City with help from three masked accomplices after the victim wouldn't photograph them, the New York Post reported, citing police and sources.

A young teenage male and his comrades approached the 23-year-old victim around 9 p.m. Sunday at West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue and asked him to take a photo of them, police and sources told the Post.

'We are seeing juveniles commit five, six, seven robberies.'

When the man declined, the 13-year-old and the other three ganged up on the man, punching him in the face and stabbing him in the back and leg with a brass-knuckle knife, the paper said, citing authorities.

Police added that they unsuccessfully tried to grab the victim's cellphone, the Post reported, adding that authorities and police said the victim refused medical attention as the stab wounds were superficial.

The suspects ran off, but officers managed to nab the male teen in question after searching the area with the victim, police added to the paper.

The Post said ViralNewsNYC first reported the incident. A pair of NYPD officers can be seen escorting a handcuffed young male into the Midtown Precinct South station in a video ViralNewsNYC posted to X.

The 13-year-old male was charged with second-degree robbery, police and sources told the paper.

The Post said his last known address is the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been converted into a immigrant shelter.

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa in September said illegals were flooding into the area "every day," according to the Post: "They're still checking in at the [city intake center at] the Roosevelt Hotel. And they have complete immunity. You arrest an illegal alien, they get cut loose."

More from the paper:

The arrested teen was previously busted Oct. 26 in connection to a chain snatching on a northbound F train at McDonald Avenue and Avenue X in Brooklyn, law enforcement sources said. Four other suspects were involved — with all five holding down the victim, who had been sleeping before the robbery but then tried to fight off the muggers, the sources said.

The teen’s bust — just steps from the Crossroads of the World — came weeks after NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri told the Post the force is “arresting juveniles at the highest level than we have ever seen before.”

“We are seeing juveniles commit five, six, seven robberies," Lipetri said, according to the paper. "Most of them get dealt with under the Family Court statutes.”

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Illegal alien NOT in custody after deadly crash claims life of beloved Michigan pastor



A beloved Detroit-area pastor was fatally struck while out on a morning walk earlier this month, yet the illegal alien believed to be involved in his death is still out roaming the streets.

Around 6:45 a.m. on November 3, Stephen Singleton — a 72-year-old pastor, family man, and avid athlete — was out for his usual morning walk in Rochester Hills, Michigan, a city of some 76,000 residents about a half-hour north of Detroit. Wearing a reflector vest, Singleton stepped into the designated crosswalk so that he could safely cross Rochester Road near Avon Road.

He didn't make it.

At some point, an individual driving a 2013 Ford Focus struck Singleton with such force that he flew in the air and shattered the windshield, his grieving widow said.

"The car hit him so hard that he flew in the air and hit the windshield and broke it," Teri Singleton told WXYZ-TV.

The injuries he sustained were catastrophic.

"He had almost every bone in his body broken," she told WJBK. "He had his collarbone fractured, internal organ damage, and his skull was cracked. He had two craniotomies in the hospital."

Deputies initially told Mrs. Singleton that her husband was responsive despite his injuries, but by the time the family arrived at the hospital, he had taken a serious turn for the worse. He was placed on life support and died a few days after the crash.

'I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me.'

Stephen Singleton, always known for his devotion to others, went to New York City in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, praying with those in need and searching desperately — but ultimately in vain — for survivors.

"I started tearing because I couldn't find survivors," he recalled in a 2022 interview with WXYZ-TV, where Singleton once worked. "We would find people who were perished, but we couldn't find survivors."

A GoFundMe page established following his death gives even more insight into the man Stephen Singleton was:

He never met a stranger, was a friend to everyone and made lifelong friendships. His motto was everyone was his brother or sister and sharing support, wisdom and the love of the Lord was his responsibility. He was a father to the fatherless, as well as all his nieces and nephews and every child in all the neighborhoods he frequented.

While the Singleton family is left to mourn the loss of such a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, the man believed to be involved in his death is not in custody.

"I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me, and then to know that the person who did this is walking around is very difficult to deal with," Teri said, adding, "He’s dead and they’re walking around. That’s bothering me."

Investigators told WJBK that the individual is a Colombian national and that U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that he crossed the border illegally and was released pending a future hearing in federal court. WXYZ-TV also noted that the man had a valid foreign driver's license, "which is accepted in Michigan."

According to WJBK, police do not believe alcohol or speed were factors in the crash.

A spokesperson from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Blaze News that the crash remains under investigation but declined to comment further.

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Laken Riley Needed A Daniel Penny

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-20-at-2.04.12 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-20-at-2.04.12%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]If you don't want your daughter to meet Laken Riley's fate, raise your sons to be like Daniel Penny.

'She's not very smart': Boston mayor vows to hinder deportation of illegal aliens. Homan signals it won't matter.



Boston's Democratic mayor has worked hard to depreciate the value of citizenship and degrade the quality of living in her city.

Michelle Wu, a soft-on-crime defender of race-segregated events who drafted a list of critics for police to check on, has funneled taxpayer funds to nonprofits that aid illegal aliens; advocated for closing the Boston Police gang database as well as for allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections; conditioned participation in city life on vaccination status; stood idly by while undocumented migrants overwhelm her city; and looked to noncitizens and children to make potential budgetary decisions.

Given her track record and Boston's "sanctuary city" status, Wu's recent suggestions that Beantown might try to hinder the incoming Trump administration's efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens were altogether unsurprising. She may have, however, been surprised by the frankness of the response by President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar."

'They can't cross a clear line.'

Wu, who is planning to run for re-election in 2025, reminded GBH News last week that Boston law prohibits police and city officials from helping federal authorities track down and deport illegal aliens. While the laws on the books only guarantee passivity from local law enforcement, she intimated that the city might take an active role in impeding deportation efforts, noting that she has been planning for a number of different scenarios.

"We still have other mechanisms where we can identify spaces that might be most targeted and think about protections there," said Wu.

When speaking to WCVB-TV on Sunday, Wu appeared to suggest that the city will exhaust its options when protecting illegal aliens from consequence.

What we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact. And then we are providing the spaces to reach out directly to our residents because the last thing we want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community and the fabric of our city to feel that all of a sudden, they have to retreat in the shadows.

In response to Wu, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas D. Homan told Newsmax TV's Greg Kelly, "She's not very smart."

"President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats. What mayor or governor doesn't want public safety threats out of their communities? That's our number one responsibility: to protect their communities, and that's exactly what we're going to do," said Homan. "So she helps us [or] she gets the hell out of the way because we're going to do it."

Homan stressed that federal law is explicit and Wu would do best to follow it.

"There's a clear line here. They can't cross a clear line. I would suggest that she read Title 8, United States Code 1324 iii that says you can't harbor, conceal an illegal alien from federal law enforcement officers," said Homan. "I hope she don't cross that line. They can not cooperate, but there are certain laws in place that they can't cross."

The law that Homan referred to makes it a punishable offense if one "conceals, harbors or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor or shield from detection" illegal aliens.

If violating the statute and placing someone's life in jeopardy, the offender could be fined and/or imprisoned for up to 20 years for each alien involved. If by violating the statute an individual gets someone killed, then the offender could be "punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life."

Like Wu, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has indicated that she would use "every tool in the toolbox" to shield "residents" from accountability.

Blaze News previously reported that Homan intends to send more ICE officers to sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

"If they're not gonna help us, then we'll just double the manpower in those cities. They don't want ICE agents in their neighborhoods, but they don't let ICE agents in the jail. They don't understand, if you let us in the jail, that'd be less agents in your neighborhood," Homan told "Fox News Live."

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Mother of Puerto Rican woman allegedly murdered by illegal alien endorses Trump: 'We have to stop this'



The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced last week that they found the likely remains of 25-year-old Minelys Rodriguez-Ramirez of Cornelia. The man suspected of kidnapping and murdering the Puerto Rican native is an illegal alien, Angel DeJesus Rivera-Sanchez.

Keen to spare other families from similar heartbreak, Rodriguez-Ramirez's mother endorsed President Donald Trump at his Sunday rally in Macon, Georgia, emphasizing that it's high time to end this trend of illegally imported barbarism.

Rodriguez-Ramirez, the mother of a 9-year-old girl who had a popular TikTok account where she shared fitness routines, was engaged to be married. Julio Tovor, the victim's fiancé, told Now Hambersham, "Minelys talked about her daughter a lot. She treasured her daughter."

According to Tovor, his fiancée went to Walmart to exchange a photo with an acquaintance. Her car was later found pulled over on the side of Hazel Creek Road.

The victim's family reported her missing on Oct. 23, and six days later the GBI announced that her likely remains were found near the Walmart where she was last seen.

Rivera-Sanchez, 24, was arrested last week and charged with both kidnapping and murdering Rodriguez-Ramirez. Georgia state Sen. John Albers (R) indicated that the suspect was apprehended in Atlanta "as he tried to flee back to Mexico."

Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell confirmed to the Northeast Georgian that Rivera-Sanchez is an illegal alien and accused the Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security of staying tight-lipped on the matter due to the election.

'I will not let them spill one more drop of precious American blood.'

"[Rodriguez-Ramirez] moved from Puerto Rico and secured employment with Mt. Vernon Hills, Inc. and tirelessly supported her daughter, mother and fiance. She did everything right, yet her life was cut short because of our federal government's repeated failure to protect its own citizens," Albers said in a statement. "Once again, our open-border policies have claimed another innocent life on American soil, right here in Georgia."

Albers asked, "How many more lives must be lost due to the open-border policies in Washington, D.C.?"

The victim's mother, Carmen Ramirez, took the stage at Trump's rally Sunday, holding a flag that read, "Don't blame us[.] We voted for Trump. The Milholen-Ramirez Fam."

After hugging the president, Ramirez introduced herself as the murdered woman's mother, indicating, "She was murdered last Tuesday. I lose my daughter, but I don't lose my faith."

"I know Donald Trump is the best choice for the U.S.A.," continued the bereaved mother. "He is the only one we need to save our country."

"I have a 25-year-old daughter with a lot of life, and somebody stopped her life. And we have to stop with this and keep going with Donald Trump," added Ramirez.

After Ramirez implored Trump to "make America great again," Trump discussed Democrats' border policies then played a video endorsement from another mother who lost her daughter allegedly as a result of illegal aliens.

Following a video endorsement from Alexis Nungaray, who underscored that her 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, would not have been allegedly raped and murdered by two illegal Venezuelan nationals had border czar Kamala Harris secured the border, Trump told Georgians Sunday, "The day I take the oath of office, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins."

"When you vote on Tuesday, remember this: Kamala is importing illegal alien rapists and murderers; draconian monsters who are killing our children, our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our friends. They're willing to kill anyone," said Trump. "When I win I will not let these animals into our country any longer. I will not let them spill one more drop of precious American blood."

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Country over party: Dem DA in Texas supports Sen. Ted Cruz in new ad



The lame-duck Democrat district attorney of the largest county in Texas has endorsed the re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, appearing in an ad to discuss their shared goal of protecting Texans against criminal illegal aliens.

After eight years as district attorney of Harris County, Texas, which includes most of Houston, Democrat Kimberly Ogg has fallen out of favor with her party. Not only did she doggedly pursue criminal indictments against high-level staff members of County Judge Lina Hidalgo in connection with COVID funding, but she has also strongly opposed the "catch-and-release" policies implemented by the Biden-Harris administration.

'Democrats and Republicans must work together to solve Texans' problems now.'

In July, Ogg and Cruz penned an op-ed together suggesting that these border policies apparently gave two Venezuelan nationals the opportunity to murder 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray of Houston.

"Both men charged with Jocelyn’s murder had just recently entered Texas illegally and been captured in El Paso, where they were enrolled in the 'Alternatives to Detention' program," Ogg and Cruz wrote. "This meant they were released into the interior of the United States, despite the availability of ICE detention center beds, where they could have been held until their immigration court hearings. This program did not protect Jocelyn. In fact, such 'catch and release' policies don’t protect anyone."

The following month, Ogg officially endorsed Cruz in his re-election race against U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), claiming that curtailing violent crime was "bigger than partisanship."

Now, Ogg appears in a new ad for Cruz, similarly touting their cooperative efforts to prevent criminal illegal aliens from wreaking havoc on American soil.

As "the top law enforcement official in Harris County," Ogg insists in the video that she is "voting for Ted Cruz because he's working to keep Texans safe."

"Ted introduced legislation that would keep violent illegal aliens behind bars until trial," Ogg continues, referring to the Justice for Jocelyn Act, which would effectively counteract catch-and-release.

"Democrats and Republicans must work together to solve Texans' problems now," Ogg adds in the ad.

"Our safety is on the line."

Ogg's 30-second pitch for Cruz can be seen here.

Ogg may be the "top law enforcement official in Harris County" now, but she won't be for long. In March, challenger Sean Teare, who used to work for Ogg, trounced her in the Democratic primary. Her second term in office will expire on December 31.

While Cruz and his team hope that Ogg's endorsement will sway independents and less partisan Democrats frustrated by the problems at the border, state Democrat leaders aren't buying it.

"Because of Kim Ogg’s divisive tenure as DA, Harris County voters resoundingly rejected her by 50 points. Everyone knows that outside of an election year, Ted Cruz has no real interest in working with both parties. Voters will reject this failed rebrand attempt come November," said Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Monique Alcala.

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Sen. Johnson slams FBI's apparent indifference to threat of illegal aliens thumbing scale in election



Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) penned an op-ed Friday blasting the FBI and other federal intelligence agencies over their apparent disinterest regarding threats to the integrity of American elections posed by illegal aliens, Democratic "smurfing" operations, and political actors inside the intelligence community.

During a classified meeting for members of the U.S. Senate on Sept. 25, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and CISA Director Jen Easterly reportedly discussed the efforts of foreign actors to meddle in the upcoming election.

Johnson indicated that, barring a few details, he heard nothing new about foreign threats — "certainly nothing that should be considered or kept classified."

The senator noted further that while forthcoming about supposed foreign threats, the intel leaders said "absolutely nothing about the most egregious examples of election interference in our lifetime, or the most significant threats to the integrity of the 2024 election."

'We already have plenty of evidence that illegal immigrants are registering.'

They were reportedly mum, for instance, on the matter of alleged Democratic campaign contribution fraud.

Smurfing

Johnson indicated that he asked Wray what the FBI was doing to investigate Democratic smurfing — a money laundering technique whereby large sums of money are fragmented into smaller portions for distribution with the aim of avoiding reporting thresholds and detection by regulatory authorities.

Chronicles noted that in the context of elections, smurfing is used to launder illegal contributions to political campaigns, sometimes through identity theft, avoiding campaign limits.

"This clear violation of campaign finance law was first revealed in March 2023 by investigative journalist, James O'Keefe. Using ActBlue, the Democrats' donation platform, thousands of low-dollar donations are attributed to individuals allegedly without their knowledge — in one instance 5,776 donations totaling $754,124," wrote Johnson.

In late August, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) raised similar concerns about ActBlue in a letter to the organization's CEO, Regina Wallace-Jones.

The South Carolina Daily Gazette reported that in his letter, Wilson referenced specific examples of donors in the state making an "implausible and highly suspicious" number of smaller donations.

"Alarmingly, some of these individuals list their occupations as 'unemployed' or report jobs that could not be reasonably commensurate to the total amount of financial contributions made by others in similar positions," wrote Wilson. "The allegations also raise the question of whether contributions were made without the reported donors' consent or awareness, which is equally troubling."

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares also raised concerns about fraud with ActBlue in August, noting that his office "has become aware of multiple serious allegations that ActBlue, ActBlue Civics, Inc., and ActBlue Charities, Inc. ... have engaged in fraudulent, deceptive, and/or otherwise illegal activities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and/or have aided and abetted others in doing so. This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions through individual donors in the Commonwealth in volumes that are facially implausible and appear suspicious."

ActBlue responded in the first case with a statement claiming, "These false so-called 'allegations' are intentionally designed to mislead the public."

According to Sen. Johnson, Wray "seemed clueless on the issue" during the classified briefing and provided no indication that the FBI was looking into the matter.

Illegal voters

The meeting was terminated before Johnson could ask about illegal aliens registering voting, but he nevertheless made his concerns known in the op-ed, writing, "Don't be under the illusion that just because noncitizens are ineligible to vote, Democrats aren't willing to overlook that legal technicality to win an election. We already have plenty of evidence that illegal immigrants are registering, sometimes without their knowledge."

The senator referred to the cancellation of nearly 500 noncitizen voter registrations in Ohio. Other states have similarly found noncitizens on voter rolls.

In August, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an executive order in early August removing over 6,000 noncitizens who had "accidentally or maliciously attempted to register" to vote.

'Federal law enforcement won't have any interest in investigating those crimes.'

"Call me crazy, but I think American elections should be decided by American citizens and Virginia elections should be decided by Virginians," Youngkin said in an interview.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced weeks later that his state had removed over 1 million ineligible voters from the voter rolls, including 6,500 noncitizens.

Oregon officials admitted last month to registering over 1,200 noncitizens to vote, nine of whom were found to have already voted.

The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project published troubling footage in July showing a handful of noncitizens in Georgia admitting they were registered to vote.

"Systems are being taken advantage of, and the outcome of the 2024 election will be difficult to determine given the near-impossibility of auditing in a short period of time," said the Oversight Project.

"President Biden threw open the borders and directed federal departments to register voters," Johnson wrote, apparently referring to Biden's Executive Order 14019. "Does anyone believe that registration effort will be non-partisan, or that some percentage of the millions of illegal immigrants won’t vote in November? Based on last Wednesday's briefing, I'm confident federal law enforcement won't have any interest in investigating those crimes either."

No accountability for the intel letter

Extra to highlighting "egregious examples" of election interference he figures will impact the 2024 election, Johnson reflected on an instance that proved consequential in the 2020 presidential election.

Johnson noted that he raised what he regards as the most egregious example of election interference in recent memory: "the letter solicited by current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, engineered by former Deputy CIA Director Mike Morrell and fast-tracked by then-CIA Director Gina Haspel."

Less than a month ahead of the 2020 election, the New York Post reported about the incriminating contents of Hunter Biden's laptop and raised various questions about then-candidate Joe Biden, especially about his shady ties to Ukraine.

This report easily had the potential to sink Biden and his campaign. However, elements of the intelligence community hostile to President Donald Trump swooped into action, releasing a public letter on Oct. 19, 2020, asserting that the Hunter Biden laptop story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation" intended to hurt the Democrat's candidacy.

Michael Morell, one of the former CIA directors Biden referred to, later testified to Congress that he organized the letter to "help Vice President Biden" but more specifically to help "him to win the election."

The House Committee on the Judiciary, its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence revealed in a June report that former CIA acting Director Michael Morell and ex-CIA Inspector General David Buckley were both active contractors with top-secret clearances for the agency when they signed the letter.

Blaze News previously reported that none of the intelligence officials had apparently seen the evidence of which they spoke before signing the letter, and no signatory has since expressed regret.

Biden repeatedly used the misleading letter, including in his Oct. 22 debate with Trump, where he said, "Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this, he's accusing me of, is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics — four — five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani."

Johnson stressed in his op-ed that the FBI had seized Hunter Biden's laptop roughly a year earlier and "knew full well it was authentic."

"That letter itself was a 'U.S. intelligence information operation,'" wrote Johnson. "And it worked exceedingly well. Because of that letter, the Hunter Biden laptop story was effectively suppressed as Russian disinformation, and Joe Biden became president."

The ODNI and FBI did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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Illegal alien released after attack on NYC cops in May just got arrested, released for another alleged crime



An illegal alien who was accused of attacking two New York Police Department officers in May — after which he was granted a supervised release — was just released on his own recognizance for a different alleged crime.

According to a criminal complaint reviewed by the New York Post, 24-year-old Alexander Ayala around 3:30 p.m. Aug. 12 allegedly grabbed an unidentified woman's cellphone and Amazon credit card near the intersection of 11th Avenue and West 49th Street and then bolted on a bicycle. Ayala later that day tried to use the credit card at two businesses, the Post said, citing the complaint.

'The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk.'

Ayala was charged with two counts of third-degree identity theft and one count of criminal possession of stolen property, the paper said. Since neither charge is eligible for bail, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office — headed by Democrat Alvin Bragg — requested that the court grant Ayala supervised release, the Post added.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Simiyon Haniff agreed, allowing Ayala to walk free on his own recognizance, the paper noted.

Yet, Ayala at the time was already facing several charges for previous, more severe crimes.

Earlier this year, Ayala was released from custody after he was charged with two counts of assault and one count of obstruction for allegedly participating in a brawl with NYPD officers at the Roosevelt Hotel, which is functioning as a shelter for illegal immigrants.

On May 19, a group of people at the shelter were accused of attacking two officers who were responding to reports of a dispute between two groups of illegal immigrants. In addition to allegedly participating in the melee, Ayala was also accused of attempting to steal one of the officer's hats to keep as a trophy. Three other illegal aliens also were arrested for their alleged participation in the assault.

One of the officers sustained injuries, including a bite on his left arm and bruises on his left leg. The other cop suffered head injuries and wounds on his arm. The NYPD officers were treated at a nearby hospital.

Prosecutors in that case recommended Ayala be held in jail on a $20,000 cash bond or a $20,000 insurance bond and a $40,000 partially secured surety bond, the Post reported. Instead, he and his alleged accomplices were granted supervised release. At least two other individuals involved in the scuffle also were reportedly released for earlier arrests.

What's more, Ayala at that time reportedly had a domestic violence charge on his rap sheet from December.

He's expected in court Sept.12 for both the May assault and recent theft charges.

Sources told the Post that the attack on the cops was similar to a caught-on-camera assault in January where a large mob of illegal aliens kicked and punched two NYPD officers in Times Square.

A group of 20 New York Republican senators wrote a letter in February to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to remove Bragg. They slammed his handling of the Times Square assault, stating that his failed actions "must be the final straw."

"The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk," lawmakers wrote.

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Illegal alien allegedly beats man to death in Virginia after Fairfax County sheriff apparently ignores multiple ICE detainers



A Honduran national with multiple immigration detainers against him and at least one assault and battery conviction to his name allegedly beat a man to death in Virginia earlier this month.

On July 20, a resident taking a stroll down a path in a wooded area near the 9500 block of Route 29 in Oakton, Virginia, spotted "a male lying unresponsive," the Fairfax County Police Department said. The victim — later identified as 47-year-old Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez of Fairfax — had "obvious" signs of "trauma" on his body and was soon pronounced dead, the statement added.

In response to the uproar about the immigration detainers issued against FCADC's 'undocumented' inmates, such as Guzman-Videl ... Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid wrote a letter insisting that without a judicial warrant, detainers are just 'an informal request.'

By Wednesday, three suspects had been arrested in connection with Gonzalez's death: 27-year-old Maudin Anibal Guzman-Videz, 45-year-old Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo, and 20-year-old Wilmer Adli Guzman, who was arrested in Washington, D.C., and awaits extradition to Fairfax County. All three have been charged with malicious wounding by mob.

None of the suspects has a fixed address in the U.S., and at least one of them — Guzman-Videz — apparently has no legal right to be here in the first place.

Guzman-Videz, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, has a long history with local and federal law enforcement agencies. In November 2018, he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol after he entered the U.S. illegally near Hidalgo, Texas. A year later, a judge ordered him deported.

Whether Guzman-Videz was ever deported is unclear, but between October 27, 2022, and June 28, 2023, ICE reportedly filed multiple immigration detainers against him with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center — but ICE said the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office refused to honor the detainers, WJLA-TV reported.

At least one of those detainers was in connection with a particularly brutal incident in March 2023 when Guzman-Videz reportedly broke into a building and severely beat a woman. That June, he was convicted of burglary and assault and battery and sentenced to 11 months behind bars plus a 364-day suspended sentence.

On June 17, 2024, his 11-month sentence was up, and Guzman-Videz walked out of jail. Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez was dead about a month later.

According to WJLA, 725 "undocumented individuals" have been incarcerated at the county's adult detention center in the last 12 months. Of those 725, just three have been transferred to ICE's custody.

In response to the uproar about the immigration detainers issued against "undocumented" inmates at the county jail who have been accused of heinous violent and/or sex-related crimes, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid wrote a letter insisting that without a judicial warrant, detainers are just "an informal request."

"ICE knows that should they wish to take one of these offenders into custody, all that is required on their part is a judicial warrant authorizing arrest," her letter continued. "ICE is notified every time an undocumented immigrant is taken into our custody. Yet, time and again, they make no effort to secure a warrant that would give judicial authority to detain."

Kincaid added, "This inaction is a failure of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not of the Sheriff’s Office."

The sheriff and other local elected officials reportedly have attempted to implement sanctuary policies in Fairfax County. According to her campaign website, Kincaid also has received endorsements from several high-profile Virginia Democrats, including former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, and current U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly.

Mike Chapman, the sheriff of nearby Loudon County, takes a decidedly different view of immigration detainers, and he said he honors them even without a judicial warrant as an important component of keeping his community safe.

"We need to make sure that we're not keeping these people in our community that can do further harm," Chapman told WJLA. "It makes no sense to me to allow these people to stay in the area and then commit another crime if we know for a fact that they're violent and that they're here illegally."

(H/T: The Post Millennial)

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