Badlands News Brief
Ethics Complaints & COVID Comeuppance
The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.
That’s where we come in.
In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand pick news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.
Many items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ Substack accounts and check out their other work.
Now, onto the news from Tuesday, April 30 …
Stefanik files ethics complaint against Jack Smith
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) filed an ethics complaint against special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, accusing the prosecutor overseeing the federal investigations into former President Trump of trying to “unlawfully interfere with the 2024 presidential election.”
Stefanik, the House GOP conference chair and a close Trump ally, filed the complaint with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, arguing Smith is trying to “rush” Trump’s federal election subversion case.
“It’s obvious to any reasonable observer that Jack Smith is trying to interfere with the 2024 election and stop the American people from electing Donald Trump,” Stefanik said in a statement. “At every turn, he has sought to accelerate his illegal prosecution of President Trump for the clear (if unstated) purpose of trying him before the November election.”
Smith should be censured for violating the Justice Department’s manual, she argues, citing a section that says attorneys may “never select the timing of any action … for the purpose of affecting any election.”
“Smith’s conduct has brought disrepute to the Department of Justice and the entire federal government, and the … Office of Professional Responsibility should impose the discipline that such conduct warrants,” Stefanik said in her statement.
The New York Republican points to Smith’s actions in court to support her claims of political animus, including asking the Supreme Court to weigh Trump’s immunity claims before they had yet been weighed by an appeals court. — The Hill
Our Take: “Judge Merchan’s clown rodeo is dubbed the ‘NY Election interference Trial,’ one of many examples of the left alleging election interference against President Trump. Now Elise Stefanik is alleging election interference against Jack Smith and, ostensibly, the Biden DO—and by extension, Biden himself.
So, both wings of the uniparty are now making open accusations of election interference in official forums against the two main candidates in the upcoming Presidential election. In other words, both wings of the uniparty are sowing distrust in our elections. That’s a threat to democracy, right?
What the official allegations fail to assert and consider is that the elections are rigged and interference is the status quo. The only one in this specific saga alleging that truth is President Trump. No wonder everyone wants to shut him up.” —
Trump rips Israel’s Netanyahu over Oct. 7 Hamas attack: ‘Should have never happened’
Former President Donald Trump has slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in which around 1,200 people were butchered “should have never happened.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine published Tuesday, the 45th president said he believed the assault on southern Israel has had “a profound impact” on Netanyahu, 74.
“They have the most sophisticated equipment,” said Trump, 77, of Israeli security forces. “They had — everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed.”
“I will say this,” he added. “Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.”
The presumptive Republican nominee has beef with Bibi dating back to January 2020, when, Trump claims, Israel pulled out of the operation that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
“That was going to be a joint [attack] and all of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it,” he told Time. “And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something.” — NY Post
Our Take: “Yesterday, we examined the geopolitical landscape now engulfing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu—A multipronged counterinsurgency comprised of sovereign nations who are determined to maintain, or recapture, their autonomy; and watching this counterinsurgency envelope, its nemesis—the extranational oligarchy of sociopaths who want to rule the world—and successfully subvert it on multiple fronts.
World War 3 has not happened. And it does not appear that it is going to happen, despite the best efforts and rhetoric of these nefarious actors. All observers agree that there is some sort of odd kabuki theater happening, with lots of signaling and back-channel communication between the two opposing sides, and flaccid ‘attacks’ against unmanned sites that are rather limited in proportion to the inflammatory rhetoric being espoused.
Iran not taking the bait to escalate, Syria not taking the bait to escalate, Europe recognizing Palestinian statehood, South Africa (and others) filing war crime charges, the UN Security Council voting to implement a ceasefire, Russia and the US calling for peace, China demanding a free Palestine, the US issuing sanctions against half a dozen IDF Battalions for human rights violations, the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his cabinet, and the Saudis guaranteeing peace in the Middle East if Israel will recognize Palestinian statehood.
All of these flanks closing in on Netanyahu is like an anvil forming beneath him, and Trump just became the hammer.
It is undeniable that President Trump has been the greatest thing to happen for Israel in living memory. He has made allies with good men in neighboring countries, and brought those people together to strike a lasting peace with Israel and the Middle East.
There is only one thing now standing in the way, and it's the same thing that stood before Congress in 2002 and testified that American military invasion and occupation of the Middle East was absolutely essential.
This is the closing of an age, and the fulfillment of the 1993 Oslo Accords. A two-state solution.
It is difficult to fathom how different the world will be, should the Middle East become a thriving haven of prosperity. Like many other places, it has not really been allowed to function organically. When permitted to act in their own best interest, people tend to cooperate in pursuit of a better life.
Trump is sending a signal about Bibi that he has sent before.
Hammer and anvil.” —
AstraZeneca admits for first time its Covid vaccine CAN cause rare side effect in tense legal fight with victims of 'defective' jab
AstraZeneca has admitted in court for the first time that its Covid jab can cause a deadly blood clotting side effect.
The exceedingly rare reaction is at the heart of a multi million-pound class action by dozens of families who allege they, or their loved ones, were maimed or killed by the pharmaceutical titan's 'defective' vaccine.
Lawyers representing the claimants believe some of the cases could be worth up to £20m in compensation.
Cambridge-based AstraZeneca, which is contesting the claims, acknowledged in a legal document submitted to the High Court in February that its vaccine 'can, in very rare cases, cause TTS'.
TTS is short for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome – a medical condition where a person suffers blood clots along with a low platelet count. Platelets typically help the blood to clot. — The Daily Mail
Our Take: “I always think of the chaos and ambiguity element of fifth-generation warfare when I contemplate the damage of the Covid jab bio weapon.
It would certainly be highly effective to develop a bio weapon designed to result in such a wide variety of illnesses that span out over such a long period of time, that tracking the origins back to the injection will become impossible.
Chaos and ambiguity.
With this particular tactic in place, admitting to a ‘1 in 50,000 chance of severe injury or death’ acts as cover for companies like AstraZeneca. In fact, the more media and attention they can draw to that (and how responsible they’re being!) the more this can take attention away from the rise in mortality rates in every country that mandated the injections.
Consider how this small admittance by AstraZeneca compares to the massive red pill RFK Jr. just dropped on Bill Maher: 25% of Americans believe they personally know someone who died from the COVID jab, with 50% believing it causes severe injury and death.
Friends, they will never be able to thread this needle. Even admitting to killing a small number of people fractures the dam holding back all the rage from the forceful mandates.
We may never be able to calculate the impact of this attack, however, the flip side is Big Pharma losing its authority over public minds and bodies. This resulting health freedom movement is spreading, as companies like AstraZeneca are put on trial for corruption.
Nurturing health freedom and medical sovereignty in ourselves and others is a most noble means of honouring our fallen neighbours, family and friends. After all, the problem didn’t begin with corrupt pharmaceutical companies. The problem began with us giving away our authority on health and wellness at all.” —
DoJ Charges 'Bitcoin Jesus' With Tax Fraud
The early crypto investor, often called ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ faces extradition to the U.S. after being charged with evading nearly $50 million in taxes.
Officials with the United States Department of Justice announced charges against early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver, known by many as ‘Bitcoin Jesus.’
In an April 30 notice, the Justice Department said authorities in Spain had arrested Ver based on criminal charges in the United States, including mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
The U.S. government alleged Ver defrauded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) out of roughly $48 million with his failure to report capital gains on his sale of Bitcoin and other assets.
According to the indictment filed on Feb. 15 but unsealed on April 29, Ver allegedly took control of roughly 70,000 BTC in June 2017 - before the now famous bull run - and sold many of them for $240 million. U.S. officials said they planned to extradite Ver from Spain to the United States to stand trial.
Reactions to Ver’s arrest on social media were mixed.
However, Bitcoiner Dan Held, the former growth lead at Kraken, claimed Ver “deserves everything that he’s about to get” after he “nearly destroyed Bitcoin.” — CoinTelegraph
Our Take: “I’m well aware that the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can be somewhat controversial in the Truth Community—hell, it can be controversial in any community, but I found this particular story interesting for a few reasons:
For starters, I have become a believer that Bitcoin represents an opportunity to project peaceful sovereign power in a way that free-thinking, free-trading citizens have not had the opportunity to project in some time, up to and including a gold and silver standard. This is due to decentralized and open-source code, codification as a commodity and the lack of a central issuer or custodian.
That said, there are indeed MANY scammers within the cryptocurrency space, and many of them—some would argue, all of them—have attempted to spin up their own versions of that original crypto—Bitcoin—thereby painting themselves as anathema to the core tenets of decentralization in the first place.
I’m no fan of the IRS, and I’m not huge into people going to jail for tax ‘crimes,’ even though I’m forced to pay them just like the next supposedly-sovereign citizen … BUT, it seems they often represent convenient ways to roll up the meek and the wicked at once.
Which one of these Ver is is certainly up to interpretation.
Sometimes, you reap what you sow.” —
Middle schoolers who protested trans athlete’s participation are banned from future competitions
Five West Virginia middle schoolers who protested a transgender athlete’s participation in a track and field competition have been barred from future meets — prompting the state attorney general to ask the US Supreme Court to weigh in on transgender student-athlete bans for a second time.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education on the dissenting students’ behalf after they were blocked from upcoming meets following their protests at the April 18 shot put competition, West Virginia Watch reported.
Five girls from Lincoln Middle School stepped up to the circle for their turn before refusing to throw in the event, which was won by Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old girl who takes puberty-blocking medication and estrogen hormone therapy.
While West Virginia law bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams, a recent federal appeals court ruled that the law couldn’t lawfully be applied to the eighth-grader. — NY Post
Our Take: “This is middle school, and the current situation is that female athletes have been barred from competing because they peacefully and respectfully protested having to compete against biological males.
For years, we’ve been told that we cannot prevent males assigned at birth from participating in female sports because it’s mean and exclusive. But apparently it’s perfectly fine to prevent females from competing in female sports to protect the feelings of the mentally ill males.
Good on the WV AG for having these girls’ backs, and we will follow this story to see if the Supremes will weigh in. Unfortunately, these girls — the actual girls without Y chromosomes — are the ones who will suffer from their school district’s embrace of the latest political fad.
Erasing women and their spaces and sports is so inclusive and virtuous. If you don’t think so, you’re a female penis-denying transphobe. Do better.” —
BONUS ITEMS
Trump held in contempt for violating gag order in "hush money" trial. Here's how much he owes.
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York held him in contempt of court on Tuesday for violating a gag order that limits what he can say about those involved in the case, and warned him that he could be jailed if he violates the order again.
Judge Juan Merchan said Trump violated the order nine times in recent weeks in posts on Trump's Truth Social platform and campaign website, many of which targeted Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, key witnesses in the case. Merchan fined Trump $9,000, or $1,000 for each violation, and ordered him to delete the posts. All nine posts were taken down by Tuesday afternoon.
The judge announced the ruling from the bench and issued an accompanying written order. He wrote that Trump "violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding." — CBS News
China Threatens To Retaliate Against US Over Taiwan Aid And TikTok Ban
On Monday, the Chinese government threatened to retaliate against the United States after a $95 billion foreign aid package was signed into law, which included aid for Taiwan and a provision to ban the Chinese social media app TikTok.
As reported by Fox News, the bill signed into law by Biden on Wednesday included $2 billion to restock American weapons provided to Taiwan and other allies in the Indo-Pacific, in a direct attempt to deter Chinese aggression in the region. Additionally, the law demands that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance sell the popular app to another company within nine months, or else the app will be banned from use in the United States.
“China firmly rejects the U.S. passing and signing into law the military aid package containing negative content on China,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian in a briefing.
“We have lodged serious representations to the U.S.”
“This package gravely infringes upon China’s sovereignty. It includes large military aid to Taiwan, which seriously violates the one-China principle, and sends a seriously wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” Lin continued. — American Greatness
Michigan AG executes search warrants on Google and X in ongoing 2020 fake electors probe
Google and X, formerly Twitter, recently provided hundreds of files to Michigan prosecutors for their 2020 election subversion probe, complying with search warrants that investigators obtained after CNN revealed secret social media accounts belonging to pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who played a major role in the fake electors plot.
The previously unreported warrants gave prosecutors access to new Chesebro emails and his private direct messages on Twitter. The warrants make clear that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is still gathering new information in her probe, nine months after she charged the state’s fake electors with forgery and other crimes for signing certificates falsely claiming Donald Trump won the state in 2020.
A top member of her team testified last week that the investigation is ongoing and that Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, which is not expected to go to trial before the November election.
Michigan is among a number of states to investigate fake electors schemes. Just last week, Arizona prosecutors filed criminal charges against the pro-Trump electors there and allies of the former president who were involved in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
According to the new documents provided to Michigan prosecutors, which were obtained by CNN, Chesebro fruitlessly tried to bring several controversial pro-Trump figures to Washington, DC, to watch his “fake electors” strategy unfold on January 6, 2021. — CNN
We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.
As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.
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In relation to the "Bitcoin Jesus" comments by burning bright, it is important to note that "sovereign citizen" is an oxymoron. A citizen and claiming sovereign status are mutually exclusive. The first comes with duties and responsibilities. The second is the author of law as mankind and is not subject to duties and responsibilities by others of mankind. This is the base of the info war - the mind control over terms and words. That phrase is one pushed by media to conflate the two separate meanings into a nefarious weapon. The more mankind sees through the war of terms and words, the more mankind can break free of the mind war. The perpetuation of the terms used to control the masses only act as a reinforcement of the control scheme. Example: "person".
As another example, you as a man, do not need to pay taxes. Challenge: find in your State codes the use of the words "man", "woman" or "mankind". Best of luck in the search. There is a simple reason; mankind claims sovereign status and is the author of law as a creation of the Creator. However; the words "person", "individual", "resident", "owner" are in abundance in the codes. Why? Because they are fictitious entities with duties and responsibilities; including the duty to pay taxes. Taking on titles of ANYTHING other than a man or woman subjects that thing to legal codes, rules, procedures, acts and statutes.
“Inasmuch as every government is an artificial person, an abstraction, and a creature of the mind only, a government can interfere only with other artificial persons. The imaginary, having neither actuality nor substance, is foreclosed from creating and attaining parity with the tangible. The legal manifestation of this is that no government, as well as any law, agency, aspect, court, etc. can concern itself with anything other than corporate, artificial persons and the contracts between them.” Penhallow v Doane’s Administrators, 3 U.S. 54 (1795) at p 93
“It is difficult to fathom how different the world will be, should the Middle East become a thriving haven of prosperity. Like many other places, it has not really been allowed to function organically. When permitted to act in their own best interest, people tend to cooperate in pursuit of a better life.” — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
A lovely beautiful thought, the Brotherhood of Sovereign Nations! It is the rising consciousness of humanity across the globe, willing “to cooperate in the pursuit of a better life.”
And I would add that prosperous peaceful times are the best way to reverse and silence the alarm of declining birth rates.