Israel, Ukraine and American Divisiveness

The fight for Ukraine and Israel’s security is vital not just for those nations, but for America as well. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Hunter “Rip” Rawlings, who has served in the affected regions, explains why. Author Brent Hamachek describes what has caused the extreme divisiveness in America today. If you missed the program on your local TV station, watch it here: https://rumble.com/v4q11ni-the-american-political-zone-april-16-2024.html

Photo: Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder conducts a news briefing at the Pentagon, April 15, 2024.

Quick Analysis

Report Finds “Innocent Explanations” for Biden’s Willful Retention of Classified Materials

To summarize Hur’s additional reasons for not recommending a prosecution of Joe Biden for his retention of classified documents; Hur believes that jurors hearing any such case would believe that Biden may have thought it was no big deal that he had these documents, may not have had these documents in his possession at the time he made the statement admitting to possession of these documents, and may have been referring to other documents, even though Biden and his ghostwriter were discussing Biden’s opposition to Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, the subject of those same classified documents. These reasons, in addition to the “maybe he forgot” defense, all lead Hur to conclude that any prosecution of Joe Biden couldn’t possibly succeed. These jaw-dropping findings are made even more incredible by the additional evidence of wrong doing discussed in Hur’s Report; “FBI agents recovered from unlocked drawers in the office and basement den of Mr. Biden’s Delaware home a set of notebooks he used as vice president. Evidence shows that he knew the notebooks contained classified information. Mr. Biden wrote down obviously sensitive information discussed during intelligence briefings with President Obama and meetings in the White House Situation Room about matters of national security and military and foreign policy…at least three times Mr. Biden read from classified entries aloud to his ghostwriter nearly verbatim.” Let us understand these findings; besides the “classified stuff” that Biden told his ghostwriter he’d found in the basement of his Virginia home, Biden also kept notebooks that contained classified information in an unsecured location at his Delaware home, materials that he discussed with his ghostwriter, who did not have any security clearance. Further, Hur details Biden’s purposeful reasons for retaining these notebooks; “[w]hen Mr. Biden left office, he also knew his staff decided to store notecards containing his classified notes in a Secure Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at the National Archives, and he knew his notebooks contained the same type of classified information. As he told his ghostwriter during a recorded interview, the same staff who arranged to secure his classified notecards ‘didn’t even know’ he had retained possession of his classified notebooks. Twice in 2017, Mr. Biden visited the National Archives SCIF to review his classified notecards while writing his book. Yet he kept his notebooks, which also contained classified information, in unlocked drawers at home. He had strong motivations to do so and to ignore the rules for properly handling the classified information in his notebooks. He consulted the notebooks liberally during hours of discussions with his ghostwriter and viewed them as highly private and valued possessions with which he was unwilling to part.” Despite this evidence for Biden’s willful retention of classified documents while a private citizen, Hur persists in claiming that :”[w]e do not…believe this evidence would meet the government’s burden at trial – particularly the requirement to prove that Mr. Biden intended to do something the law forbids. Consistent with statements Mr. Biden made during our interview of him and arguments made by the White House Counsel and Mr. Biden’s personal counsel, we expect Mr. Biden’s defense at trial would be that he thought his notebooks were his personal property and he was allowed to take them home, even if they contained classified information.” Let us restate these facts; Joe Biden maintained notebooks in which he kept classified information. Biden knew there was classified information contained in those notebooks, and he conveyed classified information to a person without a security clearance (his ghostwriter) on at least three occasions. Do these allegations remind you of a recent case involving another public figure? Someone who was prosecuted and convicted of the unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials? David Petraeus had a very storied career – up to a point. As he is described in a Factual Statement provided by the US Attorney’s Office in 2015, Petraeus “was a United States Army four-star general when he retired from the Army on or about August 31, 2011. From on or about July 4, 2010, to on or about July 18, 2011, (he) served as Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (“ISAF”) in Afghanistan. From on or about September 6, 2011, to on or about November 9, 2012, (he then) served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”).” According to the US Attorney’s office, “[d]uring his tenure as Commander of ISAF in Afghanistan, [General Petraeus] maintained bound, five-by-eight-inch notebooks that contained his daily schedule and classified and unclassified notes he took during official meetings, conferences, and briefings. The notebooks had black covers and, for identification purposes, [General Petraeus] taped his business card on the front exterior of each notebook. A total of eight such books (hereinafter the “Black Books”) encompassed the period of [General Petraeus’] ISAF Command and collectively contained classified information regarding the identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings, and…discussions with the President of the United States of America.” These Black Books also “contained national defense information, including Top Secret//SCI and code word information.” In 2011, after the General’s return from Afghanistan, the Department of Defense (DOD) “historian gathered and organized the classified materials that [General Petraeus] collected during his DOD tenure. [General Petraeus] never provided the Black Books to his DOD historian. Instead, [General Petraeus] personally retained the Black Books.” General Petraeus than began work with a biographer named Paula Broadwell on his memoirs. “[D]uring a conversation, recorded by his biographer, [General Petraeus] stated that the Black Books were ‘highly classified’ and contained ‘code word’ information: Biographer: By the way, where are your black books? We never went through,.. PETRAEUS: They’re in a rucksack up there somewhere. Biographer: Okay .. . You avoiding that? You gonna look through ’em first? PETRAEUS: Umm, well, they’re really – I mean they are highly classified, some of them. They don’t have it on it, but I mean there’s code word stuff in there.” Nonetheless, despite their “highly classified” status, General Petraeus eventually let Broadwell, […]

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Weak Foreign Policy’s Dangers

Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL and Republican Congressional Candidate for Virginia’s 7th district, describes how the Biden administration’s weak leadership has promoted instability and conflict around the world. Another fascination conversation follows as author Jason Morgan describes the perilous situation in the Indo-Pacific. If your missed the program on your local TV station, watch it at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sIo2JVHjF6_hPQzr6CVrMegRF_7YxSnp/view?ts=66295e0a