Trump National Security Official Says Evidence for Wuhan Lab Error ‘Far Outweighs’ Other Theories

Matt Pottinger, who served as deputy national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, said Sunday that the evidence that the coronavirus resulted from human error in a Chinese lab “far outweighs” other theories about the origins of the pandemic.

“If you weigh the circumstantial evidence, the ledger on the side of an explanation that says that this resulted from some kind of human error, it far outweighs the side of the scale that says this was some natural outbreak,” Pottinger said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

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Commentary: Biden Signals Pivot Back to China with Controversial National Security Council Pick

President Joe Biden is signaling a pivot back to China with his most recent choice to sit on the National Security Council, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.

Campbell wrote the book, “The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia,” where he argued, “While the Asian Century detoured to the Middle East in the years following the September 11 attacks… the United States has led a ‘Pivot’ (or ‘rebalancing,’ as many prefer) of American diplomacy toward the nuanced yet demanding tasks of engaging a rising Asia. The Pivot is premised on the idea that the Asia-Pacific region not only increasingly defines global power and commerce, but also welcomes U.S. leadership and rewards U.S. engagement with positive returns on political, economic, and military investments.”

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Second Judge Blocks TikTok Ban in Latest Setback for Trump Administration

A federal judge blocked the Department of Commerce’s proposed restrictions on Chinese-owned social media app TikTok in an order Monday evening.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols’s order is the latest setback in the Trump administration’s attempt to effectively ban TikTok from the U.S. over national security concerns, according to Reuters. Nichols is the second federal judge to block the Department of Commerce’s TikTok restrictions after Judge Wendy Beetlestone blocked them on Oct. 30.

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Commentary: America Needs a Stable Bipartisan Consensus on National Security

Those of us who remember the years before Vietnam remember when, in foreign policy matters, “partisanship ended at the water’s edge.” There wasn’t much foreign policy in the United States until a rending national debate over participating in the League of Nations in 1919 and 1920. President Woodrow Wilson invented the League and asserted that, in entering World War I, the United States was waging “a war to end war and to make the world safe for democracy.” 

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Michigan: Ground Zero for Biden-Led Chinese Acquisition of Automotive Manufacturer with National Security Implications

A key presidential election battleground state of Michigan is also ground zero for a Chinese company’s acquisition of an automotive manufacturer with direct involvement by one of Hunter Biden’s businesses.

The transaction gave Chinese companies direct control of technology with possible military applications and, therefore, has national security implications.

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U.S. Bans WeChat, TikTok from App Stores Citing Security Risk

The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will saddle the apps with technical restrictions that could seriously limit their functionality in the U.S.

The order, which cited national security and data privacy concerns, follows weeks of dealmaking over the video-sharing service TikTok. President Donald Trump has pressured the app’s Chinese owner to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a domestic company. It is not clear how the latest prohibitions will affect a deal recently struck by California tech giant Oracle aimed at satisfying U.S. concerns over TikTok’s data collection and related issues.

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Commentary: Chinese Market Meddling in Pebble Mine Threatens National Security

One of America’s foremost energy experts is raising alarms over China’s latest meddling in U.S. mineral production. Dan Kish, a distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, says the attempt by a dubious Chinese investment firm to undermine Alaska’s Pebble Mine is one of many “war tactics” China is using against the United States.

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Americans Overwhelmingly Favor a Pause on Immigration During Coronavirus Pandemic

A vast majority of Americans – 8 in 10 – now favor dramatic restrictions on immigration amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey has found.

American attitudes about the coronavirus and its impact on our way of life has changed dramatically over the course of one month, a USA Today/ Ipsos poll discovered. The survey had asked voters questions about their feelings on the coronavirus March, when the virus first began spreading through the U.S., and then posed the same questions roughly one month later.

With more than 95% of the country under lockdown orders, millions filing for unemployment benefits, and more than 22,000 deaths from the virus, the U.S. population is, by leaps and bounds, more willing to implement strong measures to combat the pandemic.

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Border Patrol Catches Child Sex Offender Attempting to Illegally Enter the US

CBP detainee

Border Patrol agents on Thursday apprehended a 29-year-old Honduran national after he unlawfully entered United States territory via the Arizona-Mexico border.

Rudy Chirinos-Hernandez was arrested by agents patrolling the desert near Sells, Arizona, according to a press release by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Following his apprehension, agents conducted a records check and discovered that Hernandez had been convicted of sexual assault against a minor — a felony offense — in 2012 in Dallas, Texas.

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Commentary: The Genius of Trump’s Terrorist Designation for Mexican Cartels

President Trump last week signaled his intention to designate the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO). In doing so, he takes the most aggressive step yet toward addressing the brutal violence that plagues Mexico and is fueling a migrant crisis at the southern U.S. border.

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Commentary: ‘Orange Man Bad’ Becomes Foreign Policy

Have you noticed an uptick in the appearance of a specific talking point from the political and military elite about President Trump’s recent drawdown in northern Syria? It goes something like this: Yes, the president was in a tight spot in Syria – caught between Turkey, a NATO ally, and the Kurds, who we were allied with against ISIS. But the president was wrong to pull U.S. forces out of northern Syria the way he did. Very often, these detractors say the president ordered the precipitous drawdown of U.S. forces in Syria without “consulting the Pentagon.”

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The Tennessee Star Report: ‘Transnational Crime is the Real Threat to America’, says Former Director of Special Ops Division Derek Maltz

  On The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy was in Washington, D.C. last week talking to Derek Maltz who is the former Director of the Special Ops Division with 28 yrs in…

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Commentary: Deficits Are Secondary to What You’re Paying For

US Capitol

“I am not worried about the deficit,” Ronald Reagan famously said. “It is big enough to take care of itself.”

If you pay attention to the libertarian purists, President Reagan earns mixed reviews on his economic policies. After all, in 1983, the federal budget deficit exceeded 6 percent of GDP. But Reagan was untroubled by federal budget deficits for at least two reasons, and in both cases he has been vindicated by history.

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Democrats Join Forces to Urge the Supreme Court to Block the Southern Border Barrier Based on ‘the Environment’

by Kevin Daley   Environmental groups and House Democrats urged the Supreme Court not to disturb a lower court order blocking the reallocation of military funds for border wall projects. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to put that ruling on hold while litigation continues July 12. Granting that request — called…

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Senator Tom Cotton Fires Back at Fellow Senator Chuck Schumer: ‘Democrats Have A Radical, Open-Borders Position’

by Jason Hopkins   Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton had a response of his own after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the president of threatening to “tear families apart” with his upcoming illegal immigration raids. “When things aren’t going well, [President Donald Trump] plays to his base. Instead of putting…

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Bernie Sanders Stands by ‘Fake Border Crisis’ Comments, Criticizes Trump’s Deal with Mexico

by Jason Hopkins   Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders dodged questions Sunday when explicitly asked if he would call the situation at the U.S.-Mexico a “crisis.” CNN host Dana Bash asked Sanders on CNN’s “State of the Union” about a tweet he sent Wednesday in which he called the situation at the…

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Analysis: The Exploitation of the U.S. Asylum System

by Andrew Kerr   Tens of thousands of apprehended migrants from the Central American countries driving the border crisis exploit loopholes in the immigration system by making false asylum claims, according to data, experts and surveys. The loopholes allow “people with suspect asylum claims … to make their way into…

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Commentary: President Trump’s Immigration Pitch Has Real Merit

by Rachel Bovard   President Trump on Thursday rolled out his administration’s first, substantive take on immigration reform, and the reactions have been what you’d expect. Democrats and some Republicans immediately panned the proposal because it doesn’t provide amnesty to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (otherwise known as President Obama’s illegal executive…

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Border Wall Going Up in National Monument, Wildlife Refuge

  The U.S. government plans to replace barriers through 100 miles of the southern border in California and Arizona, including through a national monument and a wildlife refuge, according to documents and environmental advocates. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday again waived environmental and dozens of other laws to…

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Nearly 100 Indicted, 50 in Custody After ICE Uncovers Large-Scale Marriage Fraud Scheme

by Jason Hopkins   Fifty people have been arrested and 98 have been indicted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) busted an enormous marriage fraud operation allegedly taking place in Vietnam and Houston. A months-long Homeland Security Investigations probe uncovered a criminal operation that enabled numerous foreign nationals to fraudulently…

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Commentary: The Democrats Are Humanitarian Frauds on the Border

by Rachael Bovard   The evidence that Democrats are now an unapologetically open borders party is piling up, and Republicans need to start calling them on it. From opposing expanded detention facilities, actively blocking legislation to fix family separation policies, and even voting against legislation that would prohibit illegal immigrants…

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Commentary: Mr. President, Close the Border

by CHQ Staff   We have said on a number of occasions that the Constitution is not a suicide pact and that a dysfunctional or politically gridlocked Congress should not be able to use specious separation of powers arguments to put the sovereignty of the United States and the lives…

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Senator Rand Paul Will Vote Against Trump’s National Emergency Declaration

Rand Paul

by Henry Rogers   Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said he will vote against a resolution in an attempt to terminate President Donald Trump’s national emergency for border wall funding. Paul will join a group of three Republicans who have expressed their concerns with Trump’s declaration for a national emergency, saying…

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Border Patrol Chief Agrees With Trump That There Is a Border Crisis

by Jason Hopkins   U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost broke down in testimony to Congress why the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border qualifies as a national security crisis. “There is an ongoing debate as to whether this constitutes a border security crisis or a humanitarian crisis. Let me be…

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Border Patrol Wives Who Rebuked Nancy Pelosi Speak Out

by Nick Givas   Two wives of border patrol agents who rebuked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on “Fox & Friends” Monday to explain the letter they wrote to her. “I just felt that it was really important that our leaders come here and see what’s happening firsthand. It’s important…

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Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer Commentary: Terror Attack in France Is a Fresh Reminder of Why We Need the Wall

By Lt. Col Tony Shaffer (Ret.)   The terrorist attack on a French Christmas market should serve as a wakeup call to America. The stakes are too high for Congress to keep playing political games with border security. We need to build the wall. Americans awoke Wednesday to yet another…

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Legal Immigrant Explains How to Enter America the Right Way and Says Illegals are a ‘Threat to National Security’

by Nick Givas   A U.S. immigrant from Nicaragua explained how she legally came to the United States, on “Fox & Friends” Monday, and said those who are coming in illegally are a “threat to national security.” Amapola Hansberger referred to the caravan of migrants headed for the U.S. southern…

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Trump Says US Will Pull Out of Intermediate Range Nuke Pact with Russia

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would pull the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because Russia had violated the agreement, but he provided no details of the violations. The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the…

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Welcomes 44 New US Immigration Judges

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions welcomed 44 new immigration judges, the largest class of immigration judges in U.S. history according to the Justice Department. The event took place as the Trump administration struggles to reunite families separated at the border after its “zero tolerance policy” resulted in unprecedented numbers of…

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Twenty-Five Straight Minutes Of People Illegally Crossing The US Border Through Arizona Ranch

by Will Racke   Arizona rancher John Chilton’s 50,000-acre spread along the U.S.-Mexico border is allegedly ground zero for human smugglers, drug cartel members and illegal immigrants, and he has videos showing trespassers sneaking through his property. A fifth-generation cattleman, the 79-year-old Chilton has long warned the government about the…

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Jim Jordan Tells Republicans How They Can Keep House Majority: ‘Build The Wall’

Jim Jordan

by Nick Givas   GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said Republicans must fund and build a southern border wall if they hope to maintain their congressional majority this November. “We should do what we said. What was probably the single biggest promise Republicans made to the voters in 2016?…

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President Trump Decries ‘Coalition of Open Borders Extremists’

Donald Trump

by Steve Herman   President Donald Trump is referring to opposition lawmakers, as well as local and state officials who oppose his immigration control agenda, as “a coalition of open borders extremists.” Trump at the White House on Monday afternoon accused opponents of waging “an unprecedented assault on American law…

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President Trump Expects to Revoke DOJ Official Bruce Ohr’s Security Clearance

Bruce Ohr

President Trump said Friday he plans to revoke the security clearance of Bruce Ohr, a Justice Department official whose wife was employed at the company that was involved in producing the dossier on Trump’s links to Russia. Trump called Ohr a “disgrace” outside the White House and said, “I suspect…

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Prosecutors: Reality Winner Faces ‘Longest’ Sentence Ever Imposed For Media Leak

Reality Winner, NSA

by Chuck Ross   Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner’s 63-month prison sentence will be the “longest” ever served by a federal employee in a case involving leaks to the media, prosecutors said Tuesday. Winner, who worked for an NSA contractor based in Augusta, Georgia, pleaded guilty in June…

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Senior CIA Official: China Threatens US Interests ‘Far More Significantly By Any Extreme’ Than The Russians

Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin

by Ryan Pickrell   A senior CIA official warned of the dangers of China’s rise Friday, stressing that Beijing is determined to see China replace the U.S. as the world superpower. Arguing that China is fundamentally waging a “cold war” against the U.S., Deputy Assistant Director for the CIA’s East Asia…

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President Trump Looks Forward to More Talks with Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin

by Steve Herman   U.S. President Donald Trump, amid the uproar over his initial summit this week with Russia’s president, is indicating there could be a second such meeting with Vladimir Putin. Trump, writing on Twitter, called Monday’s summit in Helsinki “a great success, except with the real enemy of…

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Evidence from Many Nations Confirms That Border Walls Stem the Tide of Illegal Immigration

Great Wall of China

by Daniel Marulanda and James D. Agresti   The border between the United States and Mexico stretches for 1,960 miles, parting two major regions of the world with vastly different governments, standards of living, and levels of crime. Consequently, many millions of people have risked their lives to illegally cross the border into the United States. During…

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Trump-Putin Summit Shows Why the President Is Ahead of the Curve

Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump

By Robert Romano   President Donald Trump will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland on July 16. There the two will discuss nuclear weapons and U.S.-Russian relations. This is not only the right time to cool tensions between the two foremost nuclear powers — who have clashed over Syria,…

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Cynthia Nixon Calls ICE a ‘Terrorist Organization’

Cynthia Nixon

by Julia Cohen   New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a “terrorist organization” in a Thursday night tweet. “ICE is a terrorist organization, and its egomaniacal leader is Donald Trump,” the tweet says. ICE is a terrorist organization, and its egomaniacal leader is Donald…

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Seven Reasons US Should Not Ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

by Ted Bromund, James Jay Carafano, and Brett Schaefer   President Donald Trump recently proclaimed June 2018 to be National Ocean Month and stated his support for better utilizing the vast resources contained in America’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the 200-nautical mile zone off U.S. coasts over which the U.S. has jurisdiction.j There are now sure…

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Here’s What A Top General Had To Say When Asked If The US Could ‘Blow Apart’ China’s Artificial Islands

American Navy

by Ryan Rickrell   The U.S. military has a talent for “taking down small islands,” a top general reportedly replied Thursday to questions about America’s ability to “blow apart” China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. “I would just say that the United States military’s had a lot of…

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