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Category: News
August 19, 2024
Raheem J. Kassam
News

Top Transparency Crusader, Adam Andrzejewski, Passes Away at 55.

Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of the influential government oversight group Open the Books, passed away suddenly over the weekend. His cause of death has not yet been divulged.

Andrzejewski was a former candidate for Governor of Illinois and campaigned ferociously for the vision of putting “Every Dime [of government spending] Online and “In Real Time” in a long-standing effort to keep government accountable to the public.

Tributes poured in for Andrzejewski, with Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya stating: “Sad news. Adam Andrzejewski, founder of Open the Books, has died. Adam was a brilliant young man. While [at] Forbes, he reported on Fauci’s salary & role as head of civilian biodefense. Open the Books brings vital transparency to federal spending.”

Prior to starting OpenTheBooks, Andrzejewski co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). He has been a senior policy contributor at Forbes since 2014.

Andrzejewski’s federal oversight work was included in the President’s Budget To Congress FY2021. A keen runner, Andrzejewski completed a whopping seven Chicago Marathons since 1995.

The Open the Books board issued a statement on Monday, stating: “It is with tremendous sorrow we announce the passing of Adam Andrzejewski. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Kerry, and his daughters.

“Adam was devoted to bringing transparency to government. He walked away from business 15 years ago with a singular idea: hold government accountable to the taxpayers it serves. He founded OpenTheBooks to accomplish that task. He was a happy warrior. Under his leadership, Open the Books has become a highly respected, well-known brand. His death is a loss not only to his family and his organization but the nation.

“Adam’s belief in the power of transparency to transform government and hold it accountable at every level is the driving force behind our work. His relentless pursuit of open records and forensic auditing has set new standards in the fight for government transparency.

“Adam’s dream was to spark a transparency revolution. The result of his leadership is a well-oiled machine that operates at enormous scale and efficiency, dedicated to posting ‘every dime online, in as close to real-time as possible. The organization now generates tens of thousands of media mentions, and our work is cited in dozens of Congressional hearings, oversight letters, and bill introductions each year.

“Guided by the dedicated team he built, Adam’s vision will guide us forward and inform our work in the years to come. We are more dedicated than ever to helping taxpayers hold government officials to account for their spending in a way that honors both Adam and our honorary chairman, the late Senator Tom Coburn.”

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Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of the influential government oversight group Open the Books, passed away suddenly over the weekend. His cause of death has not yet been divulged. show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
Adam was a personal friend of mine
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August 19, 2024
William Upton
Election 2024
Election Integrity

Another Election Integrity Win Secured In Georgia Ahead of the 2024 Vote.

The Georgia State Election Board voted three to two to adopt a new rule requiring the total number of votes cast to be reconciled with the total number of voters recorded for an election. If discrepancies in the count are discovered, the issue must be investigated, and a resolution must be found before the vote can be certified.

This marks the latest in a series of victories in Georgia for election integrity activists. Under the new rule, the State Election Board must meet within several days of an election to review precinct returns. In addition, the Board will oversee the compiling of a list of all voters who participated in a given election—including a breakdown by category of those “who voted Election Day In Person, Advanced Voting, Absentee and Provisionally.” The rule also adds that the number of “unique voter IDs from each precinct shall be counted.”

According to the rule, the total number of votes cast in each precinct will then be reconciled with the total number of votes counted in the same precinct. “In any precinct in which the number of ballots exceeds the number of unique votes, the Board shall determine the method of voting in which the discrepancy exists,” the new Georgia rule reads.

If the error cannot be resolved, “the Board shall determine a method to compute the votes justly” according to state law. If fraud is discovered, the Board is required to report its findings to the relevant district attorney.

The National Pulse reported in July that the Georgia State Election Board will also require local election officials to reconcile the number of votes cast with the number of ballots counted at the end of each day of early voting.

READ:

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The Georgia State Election Board voted three to two to adopt a new rule requiring the total number of votes cast to be reconciled with the total number of voters recorded for an election. If discrepancies in the count are discovered, the issue must be investigated, and a resolution must be found before the vote can be certified. show more
August 19, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
War
World

Germany Halts Military Aid to Ukraine After Nord Stream Sabotage Revelations.

Germany’s government has halted new military aid to Ukraine, supposedly prompted by a need to reduce spending. However, the move comes after new revelations that Ukraine may have been behind the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.

Germany has issued an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian national accused of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipeline, which supplied Germany with Russian natural gas. The suspect, a diver who was formerly part of the Ukrainian armed forces, is said to have been part of a small team, including Ukrainian special forces, that carried out the pipeline sabotage, which Western leaders previously blamed on Russia.

The aid moratorium affects only new requests for funding, leaving previously approved aid unaffected. Finance Minister Christian Lindner informed the German defense ministry on August 5 that future aid will come from frozen Russian assets, not Germany’s federal budget.

The G7 nations agreed in June to use approximately $300 billion of immobilized Russian assets to secure a $50 billion loan for Ukraine. However, the details of the plan are still under negotiation and may take months to finalize.

The dispute over Ukraine aid has exacerbated tensions within Germany’s ruling coalition, which has already been fraught with disagreements over various issues, including the budget and welfare policies.

Green leader and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who plans to run for Chancellor in the 2025 election, highlighted the coalition’s struggles to find common ground, saying, “The ideas are falling apart.”

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Germany's government has halted new military aid to Ukraine, supposedly prompted by a need to reduce spending. However, the move comes after new revelations that Ukraine may have been behind the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. show more
August 19, 2024
William Upton
Corruption
Politics

What Does the House Impeachment Inquiry Report Say?

The impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, formally adopted by the House of Representatives in December of last year, has released its final report and recommendation. Prepared by the Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees, the report concludes that investigators have “accumulated evidence demonstrating that President Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct.”

According to the House investigating committees, Biden—while serving as vice president to Barack Obama—abused his office for monetary gain for himself and his family. The report states that “the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence” with the U.S. federal government through then-Vice President Biden.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE.

In one 2014 instance cited in the inquiry report, Biden attended a dinner on behalf of his son Hunter with Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina. “Following the dinner, Baturina wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, a firm associated with Hunter Biden,” the report reads. “Then, months later, as Hunter Biden and his business associates continued to solicit more money from Baturina, Vice President Biden participated in a phone call with Baturina and Hunter Biden where Vice President Biden told Baturina, ‘you be good to my boy.'”

House investigators say, “Based on the totality of the evidence, it is inconceivable that President Biden did not understand that he was taking part in an effort to enrich his family by abusing his office of public trust.”

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS.

In addition to accusations of public corruption and abuse of office, the investigating committees allege they’ve uncovered evidence that Biden abused his office “to conceal his mishandling of classified information as a private citizen.” The report notes that while serving in Obama‘s White House, Biden removed classified documents and appears to have stored them post-vice presidency “at the Penn Biden Center, at his personal residence in a garage, and at the University of Delaware.”

FAVORABLE LOANS.

An underreported aspect of the House probe into the Biden family was certain aspects of domestic political corruption. While much of the media coverage of the impeachment inquiry focused on Joe and Hunter Biden‘s foreign business dealings, the report also details that members of the Biden family received favorable loan terms from major Democratic Party benefactors.

“The Biden family leveraged Joe Biden’s positions of public trust to obtain over $8 million in loans from Democratic benefactors. Millions of dollars in loans have not been repaid and the paperwork supporting many of the loans does not exist and has not been produced to the Committees,” the impeachment inquiry report notes, adding: “This raises serious questions about whether these funds were provided as gifts disguised as loans.”

SPECIAL TREATMENT.

One of the more disturbing accusations in the House report is that the Biden family, including Joe and Hunter, received special treatment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—essentially allowing their alleged criminal enterprise to operate without interference. The inquiry states that the DOJ and FBI slow-walked investigations into Hunter Biden and allowed the statute of limitations to run out on more serious charges against him.

Additionally, the House investigators contend that the Biden-Harris DOJ purposefully misled Congress “about the independence of law enforcement entities in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. Biden Administration political appointees exercised significant oversight and control over the investigation of the President’s son.”

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE. 

Finally, the report alleges that the Biden-Harris government has engaged in obstruction of justice by refusing testimony and withholding key documents from House investigators. “The White House has impeded the Committees’ investigation of President Biden’s unlawful retention of classified documents, by refusing to make relevant witnesses available for interviews and by erroneously asserting executive privilege over audio recordings from Special Counsel Hur’s interviews with President Biden,” the report reads.

It adds: “In addition, the White House is preventing the National Archives from turning over documents that are material to the Committees’ inquiry.”

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The impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, formally adopted by the House of Representatives in December of last year, has released its final report and recommendation. Prepared by the Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees, the report concludes that investigators have "accumulated evidence demonstrating that President Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct." show more
August 19, 2024
Jack Montgomery
1A
Religion
UK

Christian Wins Payout After Arrests for Silent Prayer Near Abortionist.

A pro-life Christian arrested and charged by England’s West Midlands Police force has received a payout after being wrongfully detained for praying silently inside her head near an abortion clinic in 2022 and 2023. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce lodged claims for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment against the force, whose officers had told her, “You’ve said you’re engaging in prayer, which is the offense,” as they arrested her.

Vaughan-Spruce was initially arrested for her silent prayers near a Birmingham abortionists’ clinic in late 2022 for violating a “buffer zone” in which expressing “approval or disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means” was outlawed. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) took her to trial, but she was acquitted of all charges in early 2023.

Undeterred, West Midlands Police—noted for its systematic failures concerning tackling Muslim grooming gangs—arrested Vaughan-Spruce for silent prayer again a few months after her acquittal. She was put through another six months of investigation. Efforts to charge her again were only abandoned after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman of the then-governing Conservative Party issued draft guidance confirming silent prayer is “not unlawful.”

Vaughan-Spruce’s claims against the police over the arrests and an invasive search have now been settled with a £13,000 (~$17,000) payout.

NOT OVER YET.

“Silent prayer is not a crime. Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads—yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that ‘prayer is an offense,’” Vaughan-Spuce said of her ordeal.

“There is no place for Orwell’s Thought Police in 21st-century Britain… Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned,” she continued, warning: “Our culture is shifting towards a clampdown on viewpoint diversity, with Christian thought and prayer increasingly under threat of censorship.”

Since Braverman issued her guidance against arresting Christians for silent prayer, the Conservatives have been replaced in government by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party. Labour is moving to ban silent prayer along with other forms of supposed protest near abortionist clinics, with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS)—which aborts more babies than any other organization in Britain, usually with taxpayer funding—pushing for further restrictions, such as banning Catholics from carrying rosary beads in the vicinity of clinics.

Image by James Chan.

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A pro-life Christian arrested and charged by England's West Midlands Police force has received a payout after being wrongfully detained for praying silently inside her head near an abortion clinic in 2022 and 2023. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce lodged claims for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment against the force, whose officers had told her, "You’ve said you’re engaging in prayer, which is the offense," as they arrested her. show more
August 19, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
Immigration
World

Thousands of Afghan Migrants Returning to Afghanistan… on Vacation.

Thousands of Afghan asylum seekers living in Germany are reportedly spending their vacations in the homeland they claim they were forced to flee. They are doing so through a passport trick that makes it appear as though they only traveled to Iran.

Of the 400,000 Afghans living in Germany, around 60,000 have a Blue Pass, a replacement for a passport given to asylum seekers that allows them to travel but explicitly states that they have no right to return to the country they supposedly fled.

Despite this, hundreds travel back to Afghanistan every week from Hamburg alone. They first travel to Iran, where they can secure a double entry visa. The double entry visas are not stamped into the passports or attached to them. This means they can be easily hidden from German authorities or simply discarded before returning to Germany, so it appears the asylum seekers’ only destination was Iran.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, roughly equivalent to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, expressed little interest when confronted with the allegations, denying the Interior Ministry was even responsible and insisting the issue is a matter for local immigration authorities. However, Heiko Teggatz, chairman of the Federal Police Union, called for a law to force countries to attach visas to passports. He says the Federal Police, who manage the border, are too short-staffed.

In recent years, there have been several high-profile stabbing attacks by Afghan asylum seekers in Germany, including a mass stabbing attack in May at an anti-Islamisation rally and another mass stabbing of soccer fans in June.

Despite these crimes, the German government refuses to deport Afghan criminals back to Afghanistan, claiming the country is too dangerous for them. This view is seemingly not held by the asylum seekers who are returning to the country on vacation.

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Thousands of Afghan asylum seekers living in Germany are reportedly spending their vacations in the homeland they claim they were forced to flee. They are doing so through a passport trick that makes it appear as though they only traveled to Iran. show more
August 17, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
Religion
UK

Thought Crime: UK’s New Leftist Govt To Ban ‘Silent Prayer’ Near Abortion Clinics.

The United Kingdom Home Office under the new Labour government is considering banning silent prayer outside abortion clinics after the previous Conservative government already banned any form of protest against the killing of unborn children near the clinics.

Last year, MPs approved legislation to ban protests, including silent prayer, within 150 meters of clinics and hospitals providing abortion services. However, this measure has not yet been implemented.

Draft guidance published in December allowed silent prayer within the new “safe access zones” and permitted “consensual” communication, such as handing out leaflets or engaging in conversation.

Pro-abortion advocates are now looking to ban anyone from even trying to offer alternatives to women seeking an abortion in and around the clinics, which can include counseling or other forms of help.

Government sources did not specify which aspects of the draft guidance might be revised. All three Home Office ministers, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, had previously opposed allowing silent prayer within buffer zones.

The current guidance states that “silent prayer” is protected under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not be deemed unlawful.

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, confirmed earlier this month that the Government plans to implement safe access zones around abortion clinics “imminently.”

CATHOLICS UNDER FIRE.

Rachael Clarke of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service specifically targeted Roman Catholics who pray outside abortion clinics, stating those with rosary beads should be banned from being near clinics. She argued that such activities “are designed to influence women’s reproductive choices.”

Several pro-life activists have already been arrested for praying silently outside of abortion clinics in the UK, including Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested last year in October.

Even Roman Catholic priests have been arrested for protesting abortion in the UK. Father Sean Gough was accused of intimidating people outside a clinic in Birmingham, but a judge later dropped charges against him last year.

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The United Kingdom Home Office under the new Labour government is considering banning silent prayer outside abortion clinics after the previous Conservative government already banned any form of protest against the killing of unborn children near the clinics. show more
August 17, 2024
Health
News

Sweden Detects Deadlier Monkeypox Variant.

Sweden has reported the first confirmed case of the more deadly monkeypox virus variant, denoted as “clade I,” outside Africa. The case, publicly reported on August 15, is what prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global public health emergency a day earlier. According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the individual contracted the virus during a visit to an area in Africa affected by the outbreak.

Sweden’s state epidemiologist, Magnus Gisslén, stated that while this case does not require additional infection control measures, the outbreak of monkeypox clade I is being taken very seriously. The Swedish public health agency noted that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will soon issue a new risk assessment on monkeypox. The agency warned that more “isolated import cases” might occur.

Clade I is linked to more severe illness and higher fatality rates compared to clade II, which was prevalent during the 2022 outbreak in Europe and North America. The monkeypox virus variant also appears to affect children more frequently. Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia suggested that clade I is “almost certainly” present in the UK.

The WHO reported that the first known case of sexually transmitted monkeypox clade I in the DRC involved a Belgian resident, although no evidence of clade I circulation has been found in Belgium so far. During the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, homosexual men were at particular risk of the virus, which was initially spread in Europe due to sexual activity between men at raves in Spain and Belgium.

Monkeypox is also known as Mpox following a rebranding of the virus, as the name was considered “discriminatory and stigmatizing.”

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Sweden has reported the first confirmed case of the more deadly monkeypox virus variant, denoted as "clade I," outside Africa. The case, publicly reported on August 15, is what prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global public health emergency a day earlier. According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the individual contracted the virus during a visit to an area in Africa affected by the outbreak. show more
August 16, 2024
Health
News

Monkeypox Found in San Francisco Water.

The Monkeypox virus has been detected in the wastewater of southeast San Francisco. Records show the virus appeared in samples collected between July 26 and August 12, according to the WastewaterSCAN Dashboard, a public health surveillance tool.

Currently, it remains unclear if these detections originate from human sources. The virus is known to spread among homosexual men, who are at particular risk, and San Francisco is well-known for its large gay community.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.”

While the database tracking monkeypox cases in San Francisco shows no data for August yet, one case was recorded in July. In May, the San Francisco Health Department urged the public to maintain their sexual health vigilance and ensure vaccinations for monkeypox as summer approached.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also monitoring an outbreak of a different monkeypox strain currently affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This variant is more severe, with almost 96 percent of Africa’s 17,000 suspected cases and 517 confirmed deaths this year have been reported in Congo.

Sweden reported its first case of the more severe variant of monkeypox outside Africa on Thursday. Sweden’s public health agency confirmed that a person from Region Stockholm contracted this variant during a stay in an affected African region and has since received the necessary care.

Following the initial 2022 monkeypox outbreak, the Biden-Harris regime appointed a monkeypox czar who later turned out to be an openly gay man obsessed with Satanism and the occult.

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The Monkeypox virus has been detected in the wastewater of southeast San Francisco. Records show the virus appeared in samples collected between July 26 and August 12, according to the WastewaterSCAN Dashboard, a public health surveillance tool. show more
trump mar a lago
August 16, 2024
News

Mar-a-Lago is More Profitable Than Ever.

In his latest financial disclosure, former President Donald J. Trump reports $56.9 million in resort-related revenue at Mar-a-Lago, an increase from the previous year’s $52.3 million. The documents, released on Thursday, list Mar-a-Lago among Trump’s employment assets, income, and retirement accounts—revealing the club’s value as exceeding $50 million.

In the disclosure, Mar-a-Lago Club, L.L.C. is stated to have produced $56,935,122 in resort-related revenue this year, up from the sum reported in last year’s filing to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The luxurious Palm Beach resort has emerged as a focal point for Trump’s political engagements—including where he launched his 2024 presidential bid and has held numerous news conferences and campaign events.

A historic landmark and so-called Winter White House from 1973 to 1981, Mar-a-Lago has become synonymous with the MAGA movement and a hub for right-wing events. A New York Times analysis indicates that since 2021, the resort has predominantly been booked by right-wing organizations and political fundraisers, including Turning Point USA and the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).

The surge in Mar-a-Lago’s revenue might also be attributed to increased membership fees. During a recent New York civil fraud trial, a Trump Organization analyst revealed that the club’s initiation fee had escalated to $600,000, up from $100,000 in 2016. Four new membership spots, priced at $1 million each, are set to become available in October.

Judge Arthur Engoron—who presided over the civil fraud case—bizarrely ruled that the historic property was only worth $18 million despite having been listed for sale at $20 million in 1981 when the federal government moved to liquidate the estate. In reality, Mar-a-Lago is likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, given its location, historic nature, and revenue stream.

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In his latest financial disclosure, former President Donald J. Trump reports $56.9 million in resort-related revenue at Mar-a-Lago, an increase from the previous year’s $52.3 million. The documents, released on Thursday, list Mar-a-Lago among Trump’s employment assets, income, and retirement accounts—revealing the club's value as exceeding $50 million.

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