[{"id":148341,"date":"2024-12-13T17:07:05","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?p=148341"},"modified":"2024-12-13T17:07:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:07:05","slug":"fani-willis-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Fani Willis Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"#anc1\">Fani Willis Hides Communications with January 6 Committee and Jack Smith<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#anc2\">Wray\u2019s Resignation Is a Good First Step<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#anc3\">Judicial Watch Sues Biden Admin for Info about Tulsi Gabbard Being Placed on Terrorist Watch List<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#anc4\">First Amendment Court Battle for Teacher Fired for Criticizing BLM!<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Fani Willis Hides Communications with January 6 Committee and Jack Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-response-002805\/\">refused to release<\/a> any non-public documents in response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-in-default\/\">a court order<\/a> finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We filed our March 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\">lawsuit<\/a> in the Superior Court of Fulton County, GA, after Willis and the county denied having any records responsive to an August 2023 Georgia Open Records Act request for communications with the Special Counsel\u2019s office and\/or the January 6 Committee (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-jack-smith-complaint-002805\/\"><em>Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al.<\/em><\/a> (No. 24-CV-002805)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\">lawsuit<\/a> we stated that Willis\u2019 \u201crepresentation about not having records responsive to the request is likely false.\u201d We referred to a December 5, 2023, <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3IqKOro\">letter<\/a> from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to Willis that cites a December 2021 letter from Willis to then-House January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In that letter Willis requested assistance from the committee and offered to travel to DC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May 2024, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/willis-fails-to-answer-lawsuit\/\">asked<\/a> the court to declare a default judgment, noting that Willis was served with the lawsuit in March 2024 and had \u201cnot filed an answer,\u201d which \u201cwas due 30 days after service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-judgment-002805\/\">default judgment<\/a> states: \u201cThe Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024.\u201d Further, Willis \u201cnever moved to open default on any basis (not even during the period when she could have opened default as a matter of right), she never paid costs, and she never offered up a meritorious defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court ordered Willis \u201cto conduct a diligent search of her records for responsive materials <strong>within five business days <\/strong>of the entry of this Order. Within that same five day period, Defendant is ORDERED to provide Plaintiff with copies of all responsive records that are not legally exempted or excepted from disclosure.\u201d [Emphasis in original] Willis\u2019 office responded with zero non-public documents:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Members of the District Attorney’s staff having conducted a search as directed by the Court, the Office provides the following response to Plaintiffs requests:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Regarding \u201c[a]ll documents and communication sent to, received from, or relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith or any employees in his office,\u201d a diligent search indicates that no such documents or communications exist.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Regarding “[a]ll documents and communication sent to or received from the United States House January 6th Committee or any of its employees,” a diligent search indicates that any such documents and communications are “legally exempted or excepted from disclosure” under O.C.G.A. \u00a7\u00a7 50-18-72(a)(4), 50-18-72(a)(41) and 50-18-72(a)(42). Per the direction of the Superior Court’s Order, the Office informs the Plaintiff that the records are exempted\/excepted from disclosure because they arose from the investigation, subsequent indictment, and prosecution in case number 23SC188947; are subject to attorney-client privilege; and are confidential work product. As a result, they are records in a pending, ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial Watch and a state court forced Fani Willis to confirm additional documents exist about her collusion with the partisan Pelosi January 6 Committee to get Trump. But Willis, citing legal exemptions for a prosecution that\u2019s essentially dead in the water, now wants to hide these records from the American public. We plan to push back in court against this disingenuous secrecy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits related to the prosecutorial abuse targeting Trump:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/names-of-top-staff-anti-trump\/\">asked<\/a> a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Before his appointment to investigate and prosecute Trump, Special Counsel Jack Smith ] was at the center of several controversial issues, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-doj-irs-and-fbi-plan-to-seek-criminal-charges-of-obama-opponents\/\">IRS scandal<\/a> among them. In 2014, a Judicial Watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/jw-guide-to-congressional-investigations\/\">investigation<\/a> revealed that top IRS officials had been in communication with Jack Smith\u2019s then-Public Integrity Section about a plan to launch criminal investigations into conservative tax-exempt groups. Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted\/\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January 2024, we filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis\/\">lawsuit<\/a> against Fulton County, Georgia, for records regarding the hiring of Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor by District Attorney Fani Willis. Wade was hired to pursue unprecedented criminal investigations and prosecutions against former President Trump and others over the 2020 election disputes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2023, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-fulton-co-complaint-03110\/\">sued<\/a> the DOJ for records and communications between the Office of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney\u2019s office regarding requests\/receipt of federal funding\/assistance in the investigation of former President Trump and his 18 codefendants in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-trump-georgia-indictment-text-document-pdf-copy-charges\/\">Fulton County indictment<\/a> of August 14, 2023. To date, the DOJ is refusing to confirm or deny the existence of records, claiming that to do so would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Judicial Watch\u2019s litigation challenging this is continuing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the New York Freedom of Information Law, in July 2023 we received the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/bragg-paid-to-shut-down-house-judiciary-oversight-into-indictment-of-trump\/\">engagement letter<\/a> showing New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg paid $900 per hour for partners and $500 per hour for associates to the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm for the purpose of suing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in an effort to shut down the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s oversight investigation into Bragg\u2019s unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc2\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Wray\u2019s Resignation Is a Good First Step<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FBI Director Christopher Wray\u2019s announced resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. Under Wray\u2019s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. (Judicial Watch and I witnessed firsthand the corruption of Wray\u2019s operation when FBI agents came to my home in what was obvious retaliation for our criticism and lawsuits exposing their abuses.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The FBI is irredeemably corrupt. From sitting on Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop in order to influence the 2020 election, the raid of President Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home, and the censorship of Americans, to the targeting of traditional Catholics, this FBI has been turned into the political police for partisan leftists. Accordingly, Wray should be subject to criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, as sunlight is the best disinfectant, President Trump and his FBI Director nominee Kash Patel should open wide the FBI files on its abuses of power targeting Trump and countless other American citizens.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime, Judicial Watch will continue to investigate and sue the FBI for the truth in its role in the worst government corruption in American history.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my new book <a href=\"https:\/\/judicialwatchbook.com\/\"><em>Rights and Freedoms in Peril<\/em><\/a> I detail a long chain of abuses officials and politicians have made against the American people and call readers to battle for \u201cthe soul and survival of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are perhaps the nation\u2019s leading Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigant against the FBI on its corruption issues. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>In October 2024,we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posts-critical-of-trump\/\">sued<\/a> the Justice Department for messages among top leaders of the FBI referencing social media posts of Special Agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jeffrey-b-veltri-named-special-agent-in-charge-of-the-miami-field-office\">Jeffrey Veltri<\/a>, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump.<\/li>\n<li>In May 2024, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/raid-of-trumps-home\/\">uncovered<\/a> a recording of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-secret-service-mar-a-lago-fbi-audio-03147\/\">phone message<\/a> left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump\u2019s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.<\/li>\n<li>In April 2024, Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posthumous-investigation-of-babbitt\/\">records<\/a> showed that the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and listed four \u201cpotential violations of federal law,\u201d including felony rioting and civil disorder.<\/li>\n<li>In January 2023 we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hunter-biden-laptop-story\/\">sued<\/a> the DOJ for records of communications between the FBI and social media sites regarding foreign influence in elections, as well as the Hunter Biden laptop story.<\/li>\n<li>In November 2023, along with CatholicVote Civic Action, we received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fbi-targeting-of-catholics\/\">FBI records<\/a> showing top officials rushing to craft a public response to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearreligion.org\/2023\/02\/10\/fbi_doubles_down_on_christians_and_white_supremacy_880887.html\">leaked<\/a> FBI intelligence memo that revealed its targeting of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on church issues. In December 2023, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/targeting-of-catholics\/\">heavily redacted records<\/a> from the FBI showed that the agency\u2019s Office of General Counsel reviewed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2023\/02\/08\/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023\/\">controversial targeting<\/a> of the Catholics by the Richmond field office of the FBI.<\/li>\n<li>In August 2022, the Department of Justice released a highly redacted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/usa-v-sealed-search-warrant-affidavit-08332\/\">affidavit<\/a> in response to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/court-grants-jw-request-trump-affidavit\/\">court request<\/a> to unseal the warrant materials used in the unprecedented raid on the home of President Trump.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"anc3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Judicial Watch Sues Biden Admin for Info about Tulsi Gabbard Being Placed on Terrorist Watch List<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On August 4, 2024, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2024\/08\/04\/fams-whistleblowers-report-tulsi-gabbard-on-quiet-skies-list\">reported<\/a> that \u201cseveral Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward with information showing that former U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is currently enrolled in the Quiet Skies program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On August 23, 2024, the House Oversight Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Letter-to-TSA-re-FAMS-whistleblower-retaliation-08232024.pdf\">wrote to<\/a> David P. Pekoske, the administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, that Gabbard was added \u201cto the Quiet Skies program on July 23, 2024 \u2013 one day after she criticized the Biden administration in an interview.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gabbard, who on November 13, 2024, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-appoints-tulsi-gabbard-director-national-intelligence-fearless-spirit\">director of national intelligence<\/a>, subsequently confirmed the reports, asserting in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TulsiGabbard\/status\/1831346487969698259\">video<\/a> she posted on X that she had learned that three air marshals were assigned to watch her every time she \u201ctraveled in the airport and on the flight.\u201d Gabbard added, \u201cTSA deployed explosive canine detection teams and a TSA explosion specialist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We want to dig deeper and filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\">lawsuit<\/a> against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsa.gov\/blog\/2018\/08\/22\/facts-about-quiet-skies\">Quiet Skies<\/a>\u201d terrorist watch program (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\"><em>Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/em><\/a> (No. 1:24-cv-03427)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-scheduling-order-03427\/\">December 11 court order<\/a>, we seek\u00a0 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-motion-to-expedite-03427\/\">expedite<\/a> the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We sued after Homeland Security failed to respond to three August 5, 2024, FOIA requests for records of Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Administration officials regarding both Gabbard and its \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d program.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the DHS website, \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d is a \u201ctool that allows the Federal Air Marshal Service to more efficiently deploy law enforcement resources to focus on travelers who may present an elevated risk to aviation security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Biden administration\u2019s decision to place Tulsi Gabbard on a terrorist watchlist is abusive on its face. Given her pending nomination to director of national intelligence, this issue should quickly be cleared up, and those responsible be held accountable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tsa-mexican-border-air-marshal\/\">reported<\/a> that the Transportation Security Administration, a federal agency created after 9\/11 to protect the nation\u2019s transportation system, has no idea how aviation security was impacted when \u201cit plucked Federal Air Marshal Service agents from their critical duties to help with the Mexican border crisis. Air Marshals operate under the Transportation Security Administration, and in the last few years the agency has forced the highly trained aviation security specialists to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with the onslaught of illegal immigrants entering the country under Biden\u2019s disastrous open border policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between the Biden administration misusing air marshals to help make sandwiches for illegal aliens or to harass Tulsi Gabbard, one must wonder what real dangers and mission critical issues are being missed!<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>First Amendment Court Battle for Teacher Fired for Criticizing BLM!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial Watch appeared in court this week for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-oral-argument-order-03790-1427\/\">oral argument<\/a> in a lawsuit we filed on behalf of Palatine, Illinois, high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired after posting comments on Facebook criticizing the riots, violence, and lootings in Chicago after the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hearing was in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Judicial Watch is being assisted by attorney Christine Svenson of Palatine, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hedgepeth had worked for 20 years in the suburban Chicago school district and was tenured.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She made the posts on her private Facebook page while vacationing after the end of the school year, just as some of the most severe violence was occurring. In her posts, Hedgepeth recommended studying Thomas Sowell, whom she described as a \u201ctreasure\u201d and a \u201ctruth seeker,\u201d and praised political commentator and activist Candice Owens and talk show host Larry Elder.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She alleges that the firing violated her First Amendment rights. The initial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/civil-rights-lawsuit-teacher\/\">lawsuit<\/a> asks for damages from the school district, Township High School District 211, and district board members and officials who participated directly in the firing (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-chicago-teacher-complaint-03790\/\"><em>Hedgepeth v. Britton et al<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em> (No. 1:21-cv-03890)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lawsuit explains:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">In late May and early June 2020, Hedgepeth was vacationing in Florida after the end of the 2019-20 school year when violent street protests, rioting, looting, and shootings erupted in Chicago and many other U.S. cities in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by Minneapolis police officers. In Chicago alone, 82 persons were shot, 19 fatally, over the May 30-31, 2020 weekend. On May 31, 2020, which the <em>Chicago Sun Times <\/em>described as the most violent day Chicago had seen in 60 years, Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked Governor J.B. Pritzker to deploy the Illinois National Guard in the city.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">That same day, May 31, 2020, Hedgepeth posted the following photos of herself on the beach in Florida along with the comment, \u201cI don\u2019t want to go home tomorrow. Now that the civil war has begun I want to move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">An individual responded, \u201cFollow your gut! Move!!!!!!!!!\u201d\u00a0 Hedgepeth answered, \u201cI need a gun and training.\u201d The individual replied, \u201cme too!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Another individual posted a meme that same day suggesting that the riots could be stopped with a septic tank truck and a pressure cannon. Hedgepeth reposted the meme, obviously in jest, adding, \u201cYou think this would work?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">On or about June 1, 2020, Hedgepeth posted the following comment on Facebook in the course of an exchange of posts begun the previous day with a third individual:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 80px;\">I am about facts, truth seeking and love. I will speak on any topic I choose because I live in a free country. I find the term \u201cwhite privilege\u201d as racist as the \u201cN\u201d word. You have not walked in my shoes either so do not make assumptions about me and my so called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you have been hoodwinked by the white liberal establishment and race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.\u00a0 Travel the world and go see that every nation has racism and some more than others but few make efforts such as we do to mitigate or eliminate it. I have lived and seen. The people I am informed by about the black experience in America are actually some of the smartest people in America.\u00a0 And it so happens they are black. I highly recommend studying Thomas Sowell, who is now retired and in his 80\u2019s. A treasure. A truth seeker. [D]oes REAL research and analysis. Candice Owens is one of the smartest and most courageous women in America and Larry Elders speaks the truth with a great sense of humor and FACTS not feelings. They are who I listen to when it comes to facts about the black experience in America.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think there is a deeper problem than racism when 50% of murders in America are committed by 13% of the population? Do you think there might be a subtle genocide of black babies when most planned parenthoods are put in poor neighborhoods and that 30% of abortions are black babies. [B]lack women only make up 7% of the U.S. population. The greatest power you have is what you believe about yourself. [W]hat have Democrats, mainstream media and intellectuals in ivory towers been telling the black community to believe about themselves for forty years? Wake up and stop believing them, then things will change.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">All of Hedgepeth\u2019s posts were on her personal Facebook page. None of Hedgepeth\u2019s posts identified her as a teacher or a District 211 employee, nor did Hedgepeth post them in her capacity as a teacher or a District 211 employee. None of the persons with whom Hedgepeth exchanged Facebook posts were current District 211 or Palatine High School teachers, staff, or students.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upon returning from her vacation in early June 2020, Hedgepeth learned that the school district was investigating her for her Facebook posts. She was fired by the school board six weeks later, on July 16, 2020, by a vote of 5-2. In her defense, Hedgepeth noted that the posts were on her private Facebook page and were made \u201cout of school.\u201d She also expressly invoked her First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lower court dismissed the lawsuit. Judicial Watch\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-appeal-03790-1427\/\">appeal<\/a> for Hedgepeth asserts the lower court allowed her First Amendment rights to be subject to \u201checkler\u2019s veto.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public school teachers don\u2019t lose their First Amendment rights for promoting conservative viewpoints. Jeanne Hedgepeth had every right to express herself freely and openly on her private Facebook page, outside of school, about matters of undeniable public concern. Firing her for opposing lawlessness, criticizing Democrats, and questioning the tenets of Critical Racial Theory violated the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until next week,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fani Willis Hides Communications with January 6 Committee and Jack Smith Wray\u2019s Resignation Is a Good First Step Judicial Watch Sues Biden Admin for Info about Tulsi Gabbard Being Placed on Terrorist Watch List First Amendment Court Battle for Teacher Fired for Criticizing BLM! Fani Willis Hides Communications with January 6 Committee and Jack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34896],"tags":[27479,40791,41419,42204,43523,43954,44434],"class_list":["post-148341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tom-fittons-weekly-update","tag-first-amendment","tag-joe-biden","tag-blm","tag-january-6","tag-jack-smith","tag-fani-willis","tag-tulsi-gabbard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/\",\"name\":\"Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627,\"caption\":\"wu\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch\",\"description\":\"Because no one is above the law!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\",\"name\":\"Tatiana Venn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tatiana Venn\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch","description":"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch","og_description":"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/","og_site_name":"Judicial Watch","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch","article_published_time":"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tatiana Venn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_site":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tatiana Venn","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/","name":"Fani Willis Update - Judicial Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-13T22:07:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4"},"description":"Notorious Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to our lawsuit seeking her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee.Willis\u2019 \u201cOpen Records Department\u201d denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with the January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-update\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.13.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","width":1200,"height":627,"caption":"wu"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/","name":"Judicial Watch","description":"Because no one is above the law!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4","name":"Tatiana Venn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tatiana Venn"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7682"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":148334,"date":"2024-12-13T12:05:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T17:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?p=148334"},"modified":"2024-12-13T14:02:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T19:02:04","slug":"tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><b>(Washington, DC)<\/b> \u2013 <span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201c<\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.tsa.gov\/blog\/2018\/08\/22\/facts-about-quiet-skies\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tsa.gov\/blog\/2018\/08\/22\/facts-about-quiet-skies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Quiet Skies<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u201d terrorist watch program (<\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-tulsi-gabbard-complaint-03427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\" data-ogsc=\"\"><i data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/span><\/i><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">(<\/span><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-scheduling-order-03427\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-scheduling-order-03427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"3\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">December 11 court order<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">, Judicial Watch seeks to <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-motion-to-expedite-03427\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-gabbard-motion-to-expedite-03427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"4\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">expedite<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> the lawsuit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">On August 4, 2024, it was <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2024\/08\/04\/fams-whistleblowers-report-tulsi-gabbard-on-quiet-skies-list\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2024\/08\/04\/fams-whistleblowers-report-tulsi-gabbard-on-quiet-skies-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"5\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">reported<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> that \u201cseveral Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward with information showing that former U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is currently enrolled in the Quiet Skies program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">On August 23, 2024, the House Oversight Committee <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Letter-to-TSA-re-FAMS-whistleblower-retaliation-08232024.pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Letter-to-TSA-re-FAMS-whistleblower-retaliation-08232024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"6\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">wrote to<\/span><\/a><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> David P. Pekoske, the administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, that Gabbard was added \u201cto the Quiet Skies program on July 23, 2024 \u2013 one day after she criticized the Biden administration in an interview.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Gabbard, who on Novebmer 13, 2024, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-appoints-tulsi-gabbard-director-national-intelligence-fearless-spirit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-appoints-tulsi-gabbard-director-national-intelligence-fearless-spirit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"7\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">director of national intelligence<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">, subsequently confirmed the reports, asserting in a <\/span><a title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TulsiGabbard\/status\/1831346487969698259\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TulsiGabbard\/status\/1831346487969698259\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"8\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"white\">video<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> she posted on X that she had learned that three air marshals were assigned to watch her every time she \u201ctraveled in the airport and on the flight.\u201d Gabbard added, \u201cTSA deployed explosive canine detection teams and a TSA explosion specialist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch sued after Homeland Security failed to respond to three August 5, 2024, FOIA requests for records of Homeland Security Department and <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Transportation Security Administration officials regarding both Gabbard and its \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d program. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">According to the DHS web site, \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d is a\u00a0\u201ctool that allows the Federal Air Marshal Service to more efficiently deploy law enforcement resources to focus on travelers who may present an elevated risk to aviation security.\u201d<\/span><span data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">\u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s decision to place Tulsi Gabbard on a terrorist watchlist is abusive on its face,\u201d said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. \u201cGiven her pending nomination to director of national intelligence, this issue should quickly be cleared up, and those responsible be held accountable.\u201dhttps:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-admin\/profile.php<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Judicial Watch recently <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tsa-mexican-border-air-marshal\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tsa-mexican-border-air-marshal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"9\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"\">reported<\/span><\/a> that the Transportation Security Administration, a federal agency created after 9\/11 to protect the nation\u2019s transportation system, has no idea how aviation security was impacted when:<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">[I]t plucked Federal Air Marshal Service agents from their critical duties to help with the Mexican border crisis. Air Marshals operate under the Transportation Security Administration, and in the last few years the agency has forced the highly trained aviation security specialists to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with the onslaught of illegal immigrants entering the country under Biden\u2019s disastrous open border policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" align=\"center\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34895],"tags":[44434,28595,28609,44435],"class_list":["post-148334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-tulsi-gabbard","tag-dhs","tag-tsa","tag-44435"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u00a0(No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u00a0(No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-13T17:05:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-13T19:02:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-13T17:05:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-13T19:02:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u00a0(No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627,\"caption\":\"tulsi\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch\",\"description\":\"Because no one is above the law!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\",\"name\":\"Tatiana Venn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tatiana Venn\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch","description":"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. 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As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch","og_description":"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) \u201cQuiet Skies\u201d terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u00a0(No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/","og_site_name":"Judicial Watch","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch","article_published_time":"2024-12-13T17:05:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-13T19:02:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tatiana Venn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_site":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tatiana Venn","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/","name":"Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Tulsi Gabbard being Placed on Terrorist Watch List - Judicial Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/tulsi-gabbard-terrorist-watch-list\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Subject_12.13.24-TulsiGabbard_1200x627_v1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-13T17:05:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-13T19:02:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4"},"description":"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. 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Live stream of the proceedings can be seen <a title=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LLLSCOFkVog\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LLLSCOFkVog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-ogsc=\"\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Hedgepeth made the posts on her private Facebook page while vacationing after the end of the school year, just as some of the most severe violence was occurring. In her posts, Hedgepeth recommended studying Thomas Sowell, whom she described as a \u201ctreasure\u201d and a \u201ctruth seeker,\u201d and praised political commentator and activist Candice Owens and talk show host Larry Elder. She alleges that the firing violated her First Amendment rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">The initial <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/civil-rights-lawsuit-teacher\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/civil-rights-lawsuit-teacher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\" data-ogsc=\"\">lawsuit<\/a><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"> asks for damages from the school district, Township High School District 211, and district board members and officials who participated directly in the firing (<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-chicago-teacher-complaint-03790\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-chicago-teacher-complaint-03790\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"3\" data-ogsc=\"\"><i data-ogsc=\"\">Hedgepeth v. Britton et al<\/i><\/a><\/span><i><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 112, 192)\">.<\/span><\/i> <span data-ogsc=\"black\">(No. 1:21-cv-03890)).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">The lawsuit explains:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">In late May and early June 2020, Hedgepeth was vacationing in Florida after the end of the 2019-20 school year when violent street protests, rioting, looting, and shootings erupted in Chicago and many other U.S. cities in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by Minneapolis police officers. In Chicago alone, 82 persons were shot, 19 fatally, over the May 30-31, 2020 weekend. On May 31, 2020, which the <i data-ogsc=\"\">Chicago Sun Times <\/i>described as the most violent day Chicago had seen in 60 years, Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked Governor J.B. Pritzker to deploy the Illinois National Guard in the city. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">That same day, May 31, 2020, Hedgepeth posted the following photos of herself on the beach in Florida along with the comment, \u201cI don\u2019t want to go home tomorrow. Now that the civil war has begun I want to move.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">An individual responded, \u201cFollow your gut! Move!!!!!!!!!\u201d\u00a0 Hedgepeth answered, \u201cI need a gun and training.\u201d The individual replied, \u201cme too!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Another individual posted a meme that same day suggesting that the riots could be stopped with a septic tank truck and a pressure cannon. Hedgepeth reposted the meme, obviously in jest, adding, \u201cYou think this would work?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">On or about June 1, 2020, Hedgepeth posted the following comment on Facebook in the course of an exchange of posts begun the previous day with a third individual: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 80px;\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">I am about facts, truth seeking and love. I will speak on any topic I choose because I live in a free country. I find the term \u201cwhite privilege\u201d as racist as the \u201cN\u201d word. You have not walked in my shoes either so do not make assumptions about me and my so called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you have been hoodwinked by the white liberal establishment and race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.\u00a0 Travel the world and go see that every nation has racism and some more than others but few make efforts such as we do to mitigate or eliminate it. I have lived and seen. The people I am informed by about the black experience in America are actually some of the smartest people in America.\u00a0 And it so happens they are black. I highly recommend studying Thomas Sowell, who is now retired and in his 80\u2019s. A treasure. A truth seeker. [D]oes REAL research and analysis. Candice Owens is one of the smartest and most courageous women in America and Larry Elders speaks the truth with a great sense of humor and FACTS not feelings. They are who I listen to when it comes to facts about the black experience in America.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think there is a deeper problem than racism when 50% of murders in America are committed by 13% of the population? Do you think there might be a subtle genocide of black babies when most planned parenthoods are put in poor neighborhoods and that 30% of abortions are black babies. [B]lack women only make up 7% of the U.S. population. The greatest power you have is what you believe about yourself. [W]hat have Democrats, mainstream media and intellectuals in ivory towers been telling the black community to believe about themselves for forty years? Wake up and stop believing them, then things will change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">All of Hedgepeth\u2019s posts were on her personal Facebook page. None of Hedgepeth\u2019s posts identified her as a teacher or a District 211 employee, nor did Hedgepeth post them in her capacity as a teacher or a District 211 employee. None of the persons with whom Hedgepeth exchanged Facebook posts were current District 211 or Palatine High School teachers, staff, or students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Upon returning from her vacation in early June 2020, Hedgepeth learned that the school district was investigating her for her Facebook posts. She was fired by the school board six weeks later, on July 16, 2020, by a vote of 5-2. In her defense, Hedgepeth noted that the posts were on her private Facebook page and were made \u201cout of school.\u201d She also expressly invoked her First Amendment rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">A lower court dismissed the lawsuit. Judicial Watch\u2019s <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-appeal-03790-1427\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/hedgepeth-v-britton-appeal-03790-1427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"4\" data-ogsc=\"\">appeal<\/a><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"> for Hedgepeth asserts the lower court allowed her First Amendment rights to be subject to \u201checkler\u2019s veto.<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u201cPublic school teachers don\u2019t lose their First Amendment rights for promoting conservative viewpoints,\u201d said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. \u201cJeanne Hedgepeth had every right to express herself freely and openly on her private Facebook page, outside of school, about matters of undeniable public concern. Firing her for opposing lawlessness, criticizing Democrats, and questioning the tenets of Critical Racial Theory violated the First Amendment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Judicial Watch is being assisted by attorney Christine Svenson of Palatine, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" data-ogsb=\"white\"><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(25, 60, 85)\">###<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that oral argument is scheduled for today, December 12, in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals at 9:30 a.m. CT, 10:30 a.m. ET, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palatine, Illinois, tenured high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired by the suburban-Chicago school district where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34895],"tags":[28661,42047,42508],"class_list":["post-148316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-chicago","tag-42047","tag-george-floyd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch: Federal Appeals Court Argument Set in Civil Rights Lawsuit of High School Teacher Fired for Facebook Posts Criticizing Chicago George Floyd Riots - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that oral argument is scheduled for today, December 12, in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals at 9:30 a.m. CT, 10:30 a.m. ET, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palatine, Illinois, tenured high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired by the suburban-Chicago school district where she had worked for 20 years after posting comments on Facebook criticizing the riots, violence, and lootings in Chicago in the aftermath of the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd. Live stream of the proceedings can be seen here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judicial Watch: Federal Appeals Court Argument Set in Civil Rights Lawsuit of High School Teacher Fired for Facebook Posts Criticizing Chicago George Floyd Riots - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that oral argument is scheduled for today, December 12, in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals at 9:30 a.m. CT, 10:30 a.m. ET, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palatine, Illinois, tenured high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired by the suburban-Chicago school district where she had worked for 20 years after posting comments on Facebook criticizing the riots, violence, and lootings in Chicago in the aftermath of the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd. Live stream of the proceedings can be seen here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T13:08:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T15:42:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Object_12.12_FederalAppealsCourtHearing_1200x627_v1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch: Federal Appeals Court Argument Set in Civil Rights Lawsuit of High School Teacher Fired for Facebook Posts Criticizing Chicago George Floyd Riots - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hs-teacher-fired-posts-criticizing-george-floyd-riots\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2023_PressRelease-Object_12.12_FederalAppealsCourtHearing_1200x627_v1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-12T13:08:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-12T15:42:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that oral argument is scheduled for today, December 12, in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals at 9:30 a.m. CT, 10:30 a.m. ET, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palatine, Illinois, tenured high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired by the suburban-Chicago school district where she had worked for 20 years after posting comments on Facebook criticizing the riots, violence, and lootings in Chicago in the aftermath of the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd. 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Under Wray\u2019s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. (Judicial Watch and I witnessed firsthand the corruption of Wray\u2019s operation when FBI agents came to my home in what was obvious retaliation for our criticism and lawsuits exposing their abuses.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The FBI is irredeemably corrupt. From sitting on Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop in order to influence the 2020 election, the raid of President Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home, and the censorship of Americans, to the targeting of traditional Catholics, this FBI has been turned into the political police for partisan leftists. Accordingly, Wray should be subject to criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">And, as sunlight is the best disinfectant, President Trump and his FBI Director nominee Kash Patel should open wide the FBI files on its abuses of power targeting Trump and countless other American citizens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">In the meantime, Judicial Watch will continue to investigate and sue the FBI for the truth in its role in the worst government corruption in American history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">In his new book <a title=\"https:\/\/judicialwatchbook.com\/\" href=\"https:\/\/judicialwatchbook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\" data-ogsc=\"\"><i data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">Rights and Freedoms in Peril<\/span><\/i><\/a> Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton details a long chain of abuses officials and politicians have made against the American people and calls readers to battle for \u201cthe soul and survival of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Judicial Watch is perhaps the nation\u2019s leading FOIA litigant against the FBI on its corruption issues. For example:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\">In October 2024, Judicial Watch<a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posts-critical-of-trump\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posts-critical-of-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-ogsc=\"\"> <span data-ogsc=\"blue\">sued<\/span><\/a> the <\/span>Justice Department for messages among top leaders of the FBI referencing social media posts of Special Agent <u><a title=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jeffrey-b-veltri-named-special-agent-in-charge-of-the-miami-field-office\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jeffrey-b-veltri-named-special-agent-in-charge-of-the-miami-field-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">Jeffrey Veltri<\/span><\/a><\/u>, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump.<\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\">In May 2024, Judicial Watch <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/raid-of-trumps-home\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/raid-of-trumps-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"3\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">uncovered<\/span><\/a> a recording of a <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-secret-service-mar-a-lago-fbi-audio-03147\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-dhs-secret-service-mar-a-lago-fbi-audio-03147\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"4\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">phone message<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<span lang=\"EN\">left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump\u2019s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\">In April 2024, Justice Department <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posthumous-investigation-of-babbitt\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/posthumous-investigation-of-babbitt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"5\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">records<\/span><\/a> showed that\u00a0 the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and listed four \u201cpotential violations of federal law,\u201d including felony rioting and civil disorder.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\">Judicial Watch in January 2023 <u><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hunter-biden-laptop-story\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hunter-biden-laptop-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"6\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">sued<\/span><\/a><\/u> the DOJ for records of communications between the FBI and social media sites regarding foreign influence in elections, as well as the Hunter Biden laptop story.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\">In November 2023, Judicial Watch, along with\u00a0 CatholicVote Civic Action, received <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fbi-targeting-of-catholics\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fbi-targeting-of-catholics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"7\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">FBI records<\/span><\/a> showing top officials rushing to craft a public response to the <a title=\"https:\/\/www.realclearreligion.org\/2023\/02\/10\/fbi_doubles_down_on_christians_and_white_supremacy_880887.html\" href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearreligion.org\/2023\/02\/10\/fbi_doubles_down_on_christians_and_white_supremacy_880887.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"8\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">leaked<\/span><\/a>\u00a0FBI intelligence memo that revealed its targeting of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on church issues. In December 2023, <span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/targeting-of-catholics\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/targeting-of-catholics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"9\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">heavily redacted records<\/span><\/a> from the FBI showed that the agency\u2019s Office of General Counsel reviewed the <a title=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2023\/02\/08\/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2023\/02\/08\/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"10\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">controversial targeting<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of the Catholics by the Richmond field office of the FBI.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\">In August 2022, the Department of Justice\u2019s <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/trump-raid-affidavit-released\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/trump-raid-affidavit-released\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"11\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">released<\/span><\/a> a highly redacted <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/usa-v-sealed-search-warrant-affidavit-08332\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/usa-v-sealed-search-warrant-affidavit-08332\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"12\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">affidavit<\/span><\/a> in response to Judicial Watch\u2019s <a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/court-grants-jw-request-trump-affidavit\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/court-grants-jw-request-trump-affidavit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"13\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">court request<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to unseal the warrant materials used in the unprecedented raid on the home of President Trump.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" align=\"center\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement on the pending resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray: Director Wray\u2019s resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. Under Wray\u2019s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34895],"tags":[370,43685],"class_list":["post-148314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-fbi","tag-christopher-wray"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch Statement on Resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Director Wray\u2019s resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. Under Wray\u2019s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. (Judicial Watch and I witnessed firsthand the corruption of Wray\u2019s operation when FBI agents came to my home in what was obvious retaliation for our criticism and lawsuits exposing their abuses.)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judicial Watch Statement on Resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Director Wray\u2019s resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. Under Wray\u2019s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. (Judicial Watch and I witnessed firsthand the corruption of Wray\u2019s operation when FBI agents came to my home in what was obvious retaliation for our criticism and lawsuits exposing their abuses.)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T00:23:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T15:15:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Judicial_TemporaryPR_Template-12.12.24-FBIDirectorWraysResignation_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch Statement on Resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/resignation-christopher-wray\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Judicial_TemporaryPR_Template-12.12.24-FBIDirectorWraysResignation_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-12T00:23:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-12T15:15:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"Director Wray\u2019s resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. 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It happens to involve a case Judicial Watch investigated and we obtained important government records that contradict the skeptical tone of the lengthy article, which portrays Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as somewhat of a fear-mongering embellisher who fabricated the seriousness of the matter. \u201cVirginia\u2019s governor has used the arrest of two undocumented men who misunderstood directions to stop at a check-in station to inflame fears over illegal immigration,\u201d according to the piece, published by the Washington Post a few days ago. The article quotes federal prosecutors dismissing the breach as an \u201cAmazon delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The incident involves two Jordanian illegal immigrants\u201432-year-old Hasan Yousef Hamdan and 28-year-old Mohammad Khair Dabous\u2014who tried to infiltrate Marine Corps Base Quantico on May 3. Both were released from federal custody after being charged for trying to breach the compound even though one of the men appears on a terror watch list, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/jordanian-illegal-alien\/\">records<\/a> obtained by Judicial Watch. The men posted bail in early June and were released by the Washington D.C. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the records show. A Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge in Annandale, Virginia set Dabous\u2019 bail at $10,000 and Hamdan\u2019s at $15,000 and they were freed after posting bond and agreeing to stay away from military facilities and to appear in court for immigration hearings.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia base is about 35 miles south of Washington D.C. and houses the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy and Laboratory as well as a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) facility and Marine Corps commands that include the unit that flies the president\u2019s Marine One helicopter. Initial reports revealed that in the early morning hours of May 3, Hamdan and Dabous drove a truck to the military installation\u2019s main gate and told guards they were making a delivery to Quantico Town\u2019s post office. They ignored guards\u2019 orders to stop when they could not provide credentials required to gain access to the facility. The illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing on military property. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/sir\/\">Serious Incident Report <\/a>(SIR) filed by Marine Base Quantico to Marine Headquarters confirms that a white box truck driven by Dabous tried to access the installation via a gate on Fuller Road. Guards asked for a license to conduct a visitor check and directed Dabous to move the truck into the inspection area.<\/p>\n<p>While the guard transmitted the drivers\u2019 license information for vetting, the truck moved forward from the holding area and final denial barriers were deployed, according to the SIR report obtained by Judicial Watch. The passenger, Hamdan, could only provide a Jordanian passport for identification and both men were taken into custody. \u201cHamdan illegally entered the United States 20 days ago from Mexico into California where Hamdan was arrested and sent to an immigration camp with a deportation court date in 2026,\u201d the SIR report states. An ICE officer, whose name is redacted in the document, \u201ctelephonically confirmed\u201d to the Marine Criminal Investigations Division (CID) that \u201cHamdan was on a terror watch list,\u201d the report says, further revealing that ICE personnel assumed custody of Hamadan and Dabous for further processing. Despite the Marine SIR documenting that Hamdan appears on a terror watch list, the government\u2014specifically ICE\u2014has consistently denied it. A spokesperson for ICE ERO in Washington D.C. told Judicial Watch that neither man posed a threat to national security or the public without offering any further information that one appears on the terror watch list.<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post story completely omits this pertinent information, instead downplaying the incident by describing it as \u201cconfusion\u201d during an \u201cAmazon delivery.\u201d The article cites a federal prosecutor\u2019s court filing noting that \u201cneither man had any known terrorist links\u201d even though it is clearly stated in the government records obtained by Judicial Watch. The Biden DOJ dropped the charges on October 3, the article reveals, before taking another jab at Governor Youngkin: \u201cThough court filings have since shown that the men have been cleared of wrongdoing beyond their illegal presence in the country, Youngkin seems unlikely to give up the talking point, relaying it as a cautionary tale about illegal immigration and potential terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adding to the mainstream media\u2019s huge credibility problems, a major newspaper has omitted critical facts in a story accusing a Republican governor of inflaming fears over illegal immigration for bringing attention to a serious breach at a U.S. military base earlier this year. It happens to involve a case Judicial Watch investigated and we obtained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":148279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34892],"tags":[1036,44426],"class_list":["post-148278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corruption-chronicles","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-marine-corps-base-quantico"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Feds Downplay Military Base Breach by Jordanian Migrant on Terror Watchlist as \u201cAmazon Delivery\u201d - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Adding to the mainstream media\u2019s huge credibility problems, a major newspaper has omitted critical facts in a story accusing a Republican governor of inflaming fears over illegal immigration for bringing attention to a serious breach at a U.S. military base earlier this year. It happens to involve a case Judicial Watch investigated and we obtained important government records that contradict the skeptical tone of the lengthy article, which portrays Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as somewhat of a fear-mongering embellisher who fabricated the seriousness of the matter. \u201cVirginia\u2019s governor has used the arrest of two undocumented men who misunderstood directions to stop at a check-in station to inflame fears over illegal immigration,\u201d according to the piece, published by the Washington Post a few days ago. The article quotes federal prosecutors dismissing the breach as an \u201cAmazon delivery.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feds Downplay Military Base Breach by Jordanian Migrant on Terror Watchlist as \u201cAmazon Delivery\u201d - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adding to the mainstream media\u2019s huge credibility problems, a major newspaper has omitted critical facts in a story accusing a Republican governor of inflaming fears over illegal immigration for bringing attention to a serious breach at a U.S. military base earlier this year. It happens to involve a case Judicial Watch investigated and we obtained important government records that contradict the skeptical tone of the lengthy article, which portrays Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as somewhat of a fear-mongering embellisher who fabricated the seriousness of the matter. \u201cVirginia\u2019s governor has used the arrest of two undocumented men who misunderstood directions to stop at a check-in station to inflame fears over illegal immigration,\u201d according to the piece, published by the Washington Post a few days ago. The article quotes federal prosecutors dismissing the breach as an \u201cAmazon delivery.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T18:57:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T22:34:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024CorruptionChronicle-BG_12.10_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irene\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irene\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/\",\"name\":\"Feds Downplay Military Base Breach by Jordanian Migrant on Terror Watchlist as \u201cAmazon Delivery\u201d - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/feds-downplay-military-base-breach\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024CorruptionChronicle-BG_12.10_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-10T18:57:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-10T22:34:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/80b4e0ba24dfb0bba8d53ec8dc51af0f\"},\"description\":\"Adding to the mainstream media\u2019s huge credibility problems, a major newspaper has omitted critical facts in a story accusing a Republican governor of inflaming fears over illegal immigration for bringing attention to a serious breach at a U.S. military base earlier this year. 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Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson. <\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">The March 2024 <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><\/span> <span data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, GA, after Willis and the county denied having any records responsive to an August 2023 Georgia Open Records Act request for communications with the Special Counsel\u2019s office and\/or the January 6 Committee <\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(25, 60, 85)\" data-ogsb=\"white\">(<\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-jack-smith-complaint-002805\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-jack-smith-complaint-002805\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"3\" data-ogsc=\"\"><i data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/span><i> <\/i><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(25, 60, 85)\" data-ogsb=\"white\">(<\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">No. 24-CV-002805)).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\">In its <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"4\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\"> <span data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch stated that Willis\u2019 \u201crepresentation about not having records responsive to the request is likely false.\u201d Judicial Watch referred to a December 5, 2023, <\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3IqKOro\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3IqKOro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"5\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">letter<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(25, 60, 85)\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> f<\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsb=\"white\">rom House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to Willis that cites a December 2021 letter from Willis to then-House January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In that letter Willis requested assistance from the committee and offered to travel to DC. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">In May 2024, Judicial Watch <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/willis-fails-to-answer-lawsuit\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/willis-fails-to-answer-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"6\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">asked<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\"> the court to declare a default judgment, noting that Willis was served with the lawsuit in March 2024 and had \u201cnot filed an answer,\u201d which \u201cwas due 30 days after service.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">The court\u2019s <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-judgment-002805\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-judgment-002805\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"7\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\">default judgment<\/span><\/a><\/span> <span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">states: \u201cThe Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024.\u201d Further, Willis \u201cnever moved to open default on any basis (not even during the period when she could have opened default as a matter of right), she never paid costs, and she never offered up a meritorious defense.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">The court ordered Willis \u201cto conduct a diligent search of her records for responsive materials <b data-ogsc=\"\">within five business days <\/b>of the entry of this Order. Within that same five day period, Defendant is ORDERED to provide Plaintiff with copies of all responsive records that are not legally exempted or excepted from disclosure.\u201d [Emphasis in original] Willis\u2019 office responded with zero non-public documents: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">Members of the District Attorney’s staff having conducted a search as directed by the Court, the Office provides the following response to Plaintiffs requests: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">Regarding \u201c[a]ll documents and communication sent to, received from, or relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith or any employees in his office,\u201d a diligent search indicates that no such documents or communications exist. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\">Regarding “[a]ll documents and communication sent to or received from the United States House January 6th Committee or any of its employees,” a diligent search indicates that any such documents and communications are “legally exempted or excepted from disclosure” under O.C.G.A. \u00a7\u00a7 50-18-72(a)(4), 50-18-72(a)(41) and 50-18-72(a)(42). Per the direction of the Superior Court’s Order, the Office informs the Plaintiff that the records are exempted\/excepted from disclosure because they arose from the investigation, subsequent indictment, and prosecution in case number 23SC188947; are subject to attorney-client privilege; and are confidential work product. As a result, they are records in a pending, ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u201cJudicial Watch and a state court forced Fani Willis to confirm additional documents exist about her collusion with the partisan Pelosi January 6 Committee to \u2018get Trump,\u2019\u201d Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. \u201cBut Willis, citing legal exemptions for a prosecution that\u2019s essentially dead in the water, now wants to hide these records from the America public. Judicial Watch plans to push back in court against this disingenuous secrecy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch is assisted in the case by John Monroe of John Monroe Law in Georgia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Judicial Watch has several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits related to the prosecutorial abuse targeting Trump:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/names-of-top-staff-anti-trump\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/names-of-top-staff-anti-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"8\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">asked<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">(Before his appointment to investigate and prosecute Trump, Special Counsel Jack Smith previously was at the center of several controversial issues, the <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-doj-irs-and-fbi-plan-to-seek-criminal-charges-of-obama-opponents\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-doj-irs-and-fbi-plan-to-seek-criminal-charges-of-obama-opponents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"9\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">IRS scandal<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0among them. In 2014, a Judicial Watch <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/jw-guide-to-congressional-investigations\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/jw-guide-to-congressional-investigations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"10\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">investigation<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0revealed that top IRS officials had been in communication with Jack Smith\u2019s then-Public Integrity Section about a plan to launch criminal investigations into conservative tax-exempt groups. Read more <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"11\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">here<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">In January 2024, Judicial Watch filed <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"12\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\"> against Fulton County, Georgia, for records regarding the hiring of Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor by District Attorney Fani Willis. Wade was hired to pursue unprecedented criminal investigations and prosecutions against former President Trump and others over the 2020 election disputes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">In October 2023, Judicial Watch <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-fulton-co-complaint-03110\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-fulton-co-complaint-03110\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"13\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">sued<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0the DOJ for\u00a0<a name=\"x_x_x_OLE_LINK1\" data-ogsc=\"\"><\/a>records and communications between the Office of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney\u2019s office regarding requests\/receipt of federal funding\/assistance in the investigation of former President Trump and his 18 codefendants in the\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-trump-georgia-indictment-text-document-pdf-copy-charges\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-trump-georgia-indictment-text-document-pdf-copy-charges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"14\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Fulton County indictment<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0of August 14, 2023. To date, the DOJ is refusing to confirm or deny the existence of records, claiming that to do so would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Judicial Watch\u2019s litigation challenging this is continuing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">Through the New York Freedom of Information Law, in July 2023, Judicial Watch received the <\/span><span lang=\"EN\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/bragg-paid-to-shut-down-house-judiciary-oversight-into-indictment-of-trump\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/bragg-paid-to-shut-down-house-judiciary-oversight-into-indictment-of-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"15\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span data-ogsc=\"blue\" data-ogsb=\"white\">engagement letter<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN\" data-ogsc=\"black\" data-ogsb=\"white\">\u00a0showing New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg paid $900 per hour for partners and $500 per hour for associates to the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm for the purpose of suing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in an effort to shut down the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s oversight investigation into Bragg\u2019s unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump.<\/span><span lang=\"EN\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"><span lang=\"EN\">###<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Willis\u2019 \u2018Open Records Department\u2019 Cites Exemptions to Hide Records (Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that District Attorney Fani Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to a Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking records of communications Willis had with Special Counsel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34895],"tags":[44027,42204,43954],"class_list":["post-148266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-44027","tag-january-6","tag-fani-willis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch: Fani Willis Hides Records of Communications with January 6 Committee, Denies Existence of Any Jack Smith Records - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that District Attorney Fani Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to a Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking records of communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judicial Watch: Fani Willis Hides Records of Communications with January 6 Committee, Denies Existence of Any Jack Smith Records - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that District Attorney Fani Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to a Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking records of communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. The Willis office did release one, already public, letter to January 6 Committee Chairman Benny Thompson. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T14:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T15:43:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Judicial_TemporaryPR_Template-12.10.24-FaniWillis_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch: Fani Willis Hides Records of Communications with January 6 Committee, Denies Existence of Any Jack Smith Records - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-hides-records-jan-6\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Judicial_TemporaryPR_Template-12.10.24-FaniWillis_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-10T14:37:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-10T15:43:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that District Attorney Fani Willis refused to release any non-public documents in response to a court order finding her in default for failing to respond to a Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking records of communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. 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Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. 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Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. 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Late yesterday evening, Willis\u2019 Open Records Department denied any records about Jack Smith existed and cited a series of legal exemptions to justify the withholding of communications with January 6 Committee. 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The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Biden arguably overstepped his constitutional authority on Sunday by issuing an unusual blanket pardon for Hunter Biden for any and all offenses (known and unknown) for a ten-year time period (up until this week!).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Joe Biden did not pardon himself, he can and should face a serious criminal investigation for his family corruption ring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will Attorney General Garland resign in protest and outrage now that Joe Biden has stated Garland\u2019s prosecution of Hunter Biden was corrupt and selective? Are Biden’s criticisms of the Justice Department\u2019s employees as corrupt and \u201cdangerous\u201d or is that only true when Republicans, Trump, and conservatives criticize the Justice Department?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime, we have already expanded our Biden family corruption investigations to include this latest pardon scandal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have multiple federal lawsuits focused on Biden family corruption:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In June 2024, we received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/infamous-hunter-laptop-letter\/\">records<\/a> from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) showing Mike Morell, former acting CIA director under President Obama, requesting CIA permission to publish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-cia-hunter-biden-laptop-letter-records-01844-pgs-2-3\/\">a letter<\/a> by former intelligence community leaders stating that they believed the laptop emails exposing Hunter Biden\u2019s connections to Ukraine were Russian disinformation. Morrell\u2019s request for prepublication review was approved in just six hours by the CIA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May 2023, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/biden-family-business-records\/\">lawsuit<\/a> against the National Archives for Biden family records and communications regarding travel and finance transactions, as well as communications between the Bidens and several known business associates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On October 14, 2022, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/hunter-biden-investigation\/\">sued<\/a> the Justice Department for all records in the possession of FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten regarding an August 6, 2020, briefing provided to members of the U.S. Senate. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) raised concerns that the briefing was intended to undermine the senators\u2019 investigation of Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In December 2020, State Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/burisma-impeachment-yovanovitch\/\">records<\/a> obtained through a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit showed that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie \u201cMasha\u201d Yovanovitch had specifically warned in 2017 about corruption allegations against Burisma Holdings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2020, we forced the release of State Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/dem-lobbying-firm-ukraine\/\">records<\/a> that included a briefing checklist of a February 22, 2019, meeting in Kyiv between then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Sally Painter, co-founder and chief operating officer of Blue Star Strategies, a Democratic lobbying firm which was hired by Burisma Holdings to combat corruption allegations. At the time of the meeting, Hunter Biden was serving on the board of directors for Burisma Holdings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the record, one can expect more corruption to emerge from the Biden crime family. And one can expect Judicial Watch to be there to pursue the truth.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc2\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>JUDICIAL WATCH VICTORY: Court Finds Fani Willis in Default, Orders Her to Produce Records <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lawfare against Donald Trump has not only been corrupt but also sloppy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Superior Court in Fulton County entered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-judgment-002805\/\">an order<\/a> granting a motion for default judgment against District Attorney Fani Willis in our lawsuit for communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. In doing so, the court grants our request for attorneys\u2019 fees and orders Willis to search for and provide releasable records to us within five business days.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We filed our March 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\">lawsuit<\/a> in the Superior Court of Fulton County, GA, after Willis and the county denied having any records responsive to an August 2023 Georgia Open Records Act (ORA) request for communications with the Special Counsel\u2019s office and\/or the January 6 Committee (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-jack-smith-complaint-002805\/\"><em>Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al.<\/em><\/a> (No. 24-CV-002805)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\">lawsuit<\/a> we stated that Willis\u2019 \u201crepresentation about not having records responsive to the request is likely false.\u201d We referred to a December 5, 2023, <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3IqKOro\">letter<\/a> from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to Willis that cites a December 2021 letter from Willis to then-House January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In that letter Willis requested assistance from the committee and offered to travel to DC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May 2024, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/willis-fails-to-answer-lawsuit\/\">asked<\/a> the court to declare a default judgment, noting that Willis was served with the lawsuit in March 2024 and had \u201cnot filed an answer,\u201d which \u201cwas due 30 days after service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recently issued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-willis-default-judgment-002805\/\">default judgment<\/a> states: \u201cThe Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024.\u201d Further, Willis \u201cnever moved to open default on any basis (not even during the period when she could have opened default as a matter of right), she never paid costs, and she never offered up a meritorious defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Plaintiff is thus entitled to judgment by default as if every item and paragraph of the complaint were supported by proper and sufficient evidence. O.C.G.A. \u00a7 9-11-55(a). Here, this means Plaintiff has established that Defendant violated the ORA by failing to either turn over responsive records or else notify Plaintiff of her decision to withhold some or all such records.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">In its complaint, Plaintiff sought the following relief:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">1) a declaration that Defendant has violated the ORA;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">2) an order for Defendant to search for all records responsive to Plaintiff\u2019s request without further delay;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">3) an injunction ordering Defendant to cease withholding non-exempt public records responsive to the request;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">4) an award of attorney\u2019s fees and costs pursuant to O.C.G.A. \u00a7 50-18-73(b);<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">5) a writ of mandamus, ordering Defendant to provide the requested records; and<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">6) any other relief the Court deems proper.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">By finding Defendant in default, the Court has in effect declared that she has violated the ORA. The Court also hereby ORDERS Defendant to conduct a diligent search of her records for responsive materials within five business days of the entry of this Order. Within that same five day period, Defendant is ORDERED to provide Plaintiff with copies of all responsive records that are not legally exempted or excepted from disclosure. If Defendant is required or decides to withhold all or part of a requested record, she should follow the procedures set forth in the ORA (<em>see <\/em>O.C.G.A. \u00a7 50-18-71(d)). If the records are stored electronically, they may be produced electronically in a commonly used format such as PDF. The Court expects that such production will include the correspondence identified by Plaintiff in its complaint. If it does not, Defendant is further ORDERED to provide an explanation why such correspondence does not exist in Defendant\u2019s records (or why it is being withheld). Beyond that, no other relief, injunctive or otherwise, is necessary at this time (to include striking Defendant\u2019s answer, which is of no effect based on the Court\u2019s finding of default).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court set a hearing on our attorneys\u2019 fees for December 20.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fani Willis is something else. We\u2019ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience a government official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit. We look forward to getting any documents from the Fani Willis operation about collusion with the Biden administration and Nancy Pelosi\u2019s Congress on her unprecedented and compromised \u201cget-Trump\u201d prosecution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have several Freedom of Information Act lawsuits related to the prosecutorial abuse targeting Trump:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/names-of-top-staff-anti-trump\/\">asked<\/a> a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Before his appointment to investigate and prosecute Trump, Smith was at the center of several controversial issues, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-doj-irs-and-fbi-plan-to-seek-criminal-charges-of-obama-opponents\/\">IRS scandal<\/a> among them. In 2014, a Judicial Watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/jw-guide-to-congressional-investigations\/\">investigation<\/a> revealed that top IRS officials had been in communication with Jack Smith\u2019s then-Public Integrity Section about a plan to launch criminal investigations into conservative tax-exempt groups. Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted\/\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January 2024, we filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis\/\">lawsuit<\/a> against Fulton County, Georgia, for records regarding the hiring of Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor by District Attorney Fani Willis. Wade was hired to pursue unprecedented criminal investigations and prosecutions against former President Trump and others over the 2020 election disputes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2023, we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-fulton-co-complaint-03110\/\">sued<\/a> the DOJ for records and communications between the Office of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney\u2019s office regarding requests\/receipt of federal funding\/assistance in the investigation of former President Trump and his 18 co defendants in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-trump-georgia-indictment-text-document-pdf-copy-charges\/\">Fulton County indictment<\/a> of August 14, 2023. To date, the DOJ is refusing to confirm or deny the existence of records, claiming that to do so would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Judicial Watch\u2019s litigation challenging this is continuing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the New York Freedom of Information Law, in July 2023,we received the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/bragg-paid-to-shut-down-house-judiciary-oversight-into-indictment-of-trump\/\">engagement letter<\/a> showing New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg paid $900 per hour for partners and $500 per hour for associates to the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm for the purpose of suing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in an effort to shut down the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s oversight investigation into Bragg\u2019s unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be sure to check back next week to find out what, if any, documents Fani Willis finally does turn over to Judicial Watch!<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Judicial Watch Sues Justice about Milley\/Garland Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In what looks like military coup-like behavior, it seems that Joe Biden\u2019s Joint Chiefs Chairman was busy colluding with other administration apparatchiks, specifically Merrick Garland, against Donald Trump and countless other Americans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-milley-complaint-03380\/\">lawsuit<\/a> against the U.S. Department of Justice for details of a reported meeting between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark A. Milley in which they discussed President Trump and during which Milley pressured Garland to target American \u201cfar right\u201d militia movements (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-milley-complaint-03380\/\"><em>Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice<\/em><\/a> (No. 1:24-cv-03380)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We sued after the Justice Department failed to respond to an October 15, 2024, FOIA request for:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Records and communications including emails, email chains, email attachments, text message meeting minutes, outlook calendars, voice recordings, video recordings, correspondence, statements, letters, memoranda, letters, reports, briefings, cables, presentations, notes, or other form of record, regarding a meeting between Merrick Garland, Attorney General, DOJ, and General Mark Alexander Milley, former, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concerning:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 80px;\">(1) President or former President Donald J. Trump<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 80px;\">(2) Domestic Violent Extremism<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 80px;\">(3) Far-right Militia Movements.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The request asks that records be provided for the period from January 7, 2021, to October 15, 2024.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/War\/Bob-Woodward\/9781668052273\">book<\/a>, journalist Bob Woodward wrote that in early 2021 Garland and Milley met for lunch at the Department of Justice. They discussed then-former President Donald J. Trump, and Chairman Milley pressed the attorney general to investigate domestic threats and \u201cfar-right militia groups.\u201d Woodward described the meeting as \u201chighly unusual, if not unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Milley and Garland\u2019s reported meeting about targeting President Trump and other American citizens further demonstrates the Biden administration was and is at odds with the foundational principles of our constitutional republic. And that the Justice Department would flout FOIA law to hide the details of this conspiracy meeting speaks volumes about its contempt for the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"anc4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>$67.5 Billion Saved after Federal Agencies are Directed to Improve Efficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) lieutenants can\u2019t come soon enough, as our <em>Corruption Chronicles<\/em> blog <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/govt-saves-67-5-billion\/\">points out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Demonstrating the need for President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s new <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113472884874740859\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, the investigative arm of Congress had to direct some government agencies to \u201cimprove the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs\u201d in order to save a colossal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-25-900570.pdf\">$67.5 billion<\/a> in fiscal year 2024, which ended in September. Otherwise, American taxpayers would be forced to pick up the tab for yet more government waste, which is rampant and has long persisted under both Democratic and Republican administrations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">To save the tens of billions, seemingly a drop in the bucket considering the government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, the few federal agencies involved had to receive instructions from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The nonpartisan and independent Congressional watchdog examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides lawmakers with objective and fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently. Here are some examples that led to the latest savings. The GAO directed Medicaid to better align states\u2019 estimates for demonstrations with recent costs, saving $13.4 billion. The Department of Energy (DOE) halted construction on a facility that is no longer necessary for treating nuclear and hazardous waste, saving $6 billion. The Department of Defense (DOD) was instructed to identify improper payments, errors, and fraud, resulting in $4.8 billion in savings. The Small Business Administration (SBA) was forced to crack down on the rampant fraud of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that doled out monstrous sums of money to small businesses recovering from the pandemic, resulting in the decline of $2.1 billion in ineligible or fraudulent applicants.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">The list of examples continues and can be viewed in detail in the GAO\u2019s lengthy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-25-900570.pdf\">report<\/a>, which was recently released to the public and covers the agency\u2019s overall performance and accountability for 2024. The watchdog estimates that the questionable programs it is currently targeting will save American taxpayers at least $50 billion in fiscal year 2025. The GAO has cracked down on tens of thousands of reckless government programs since 2002, saving approximately $1.45 trillion. However, many federal agencies have blown off thousands of recommendations that could result in $106 billion to $208 billion in financial benefits, according to GAO estimates. The congressional watchdog implies that it more than earns its keep with a budget that is a lot smaller\u2014$811.9 million in fiscal year 2024\u2014than the money it saves taxpayers by promoting better management throughout government, which should occur without the GAO\u2019s mandates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Careless spending has long been an issue for government agencies, which are typically bloated and mismanaged, and the problem has worsened significantly under the Biden administration illustrating a need for the Department of Government Efficiency. The office will be headed by billionaire Elon Musk, the head of electric car company Tesla, rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X and Vivek Ramaswamy, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and Yale Law School graduate. Besides cutting wasteful spending the new department will be tasked with dismantling government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, and restructuring federal agencies. It will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, according to Musk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 40px;\">Judicial Watch has for decades exposed enormous amounts of government waste and this year alone has reported on well <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/need-for-dept-of-govt-efficiency\/\">over a billion dollars in reckless spending<\/a>, just a snippet of a widespread issue. That does not include mandatory spending such as Social Security, Medicare or military and homeland security, areas that are also plagued by waste. There is a category listed as \u201cother\u201d in which the government doled out an astonishing $238 billion in fiscal year 2024 and some of the allocations are downright outrageous. Examples range from $15 million to fight climate change in an Islamic nation that hates America and serves as a recruiting ground for terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to half a billion dollars to build electric vehicle charges in mostly underserved communities to $2 million to combat corruption in Mexican sports betting.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until next week,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of Corruption JUDICIAL WATCH VICTORY: Court Finds Fani Willis in Default, Orders Her to Produce Records Judicial Watch Sues Justice about Milley\/Garland Meeting $67.5 Billion Saved after Federal Agencies are Directed to Improve Efficiency PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of Corruption Joe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34896],"tags":[29188,40791,43954],"class_list":["post-148240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tom-fittons-weekly-update","tag-merrick-garland","tag-joe-biden","tag-fani-willis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JudicialWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tatiana Venn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\"},\"description\":\"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627,\"caption\":\"WU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Judicial Watch\",\"description\":\"Because no one is above the law!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4\",\"name\":\"Tatiana Venn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tatiana Venn\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch","description":"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch","og_description":"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. 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Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/","og_site_name":"Judicial Watch","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JudicialWatch","article_published_time":"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tatiana Venn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_site":"@JudicialWatch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tatiana Venn","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/","name":"Judicial Watch Victory Versus Fani Willis - Judicial Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-07T00:42:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4"},"description":"PARDON SCANDAL: The Biden Family\u2019s Arc of CorruptionJoe Biden\u2019s execrable pardon of Hunter perfectly fits the Biden family\u2019s arc of corruption. The pardon seems to be all about protecting Joe Biden and helping ensure his son will be less likely to testify against him. Indeed, Joe Biden\u2019s pardon statement is full of false allegations about how Hunter\u2019s prosecution (hamstrung by his very own Justice Department) was selective and corrupt. The only \u201cselective prosecution\u201d involved here is the decision not to select Joe Biden for prosecution.The Biden gang tried to rig the prosecution of Hunter. It failed largely because of honest IRS whistleblowers and one tough judge. Joe Biden has broken his \u201cpromise\u201d and pardoned Hunter for his role in the treasonous Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships involved in the tax case.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/judicial-watch-victory-vs-fani-wllis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/JW_2024_WeeklyUpdate_12.06.24_1200x627_v1.jpg","width":1200,"height":627,"caption":"WU"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/","name":"Judicial Watch","description":"Because no one is above the law!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75f3f6100dd3360769f466aa00fc56e4","name":"Tatiana Venn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae00035d84ff27b4b1beb7f0b74ee15f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tatiana Venn"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7682"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":148234,"date":"2024-12-06T10:44:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/?p=148234"},"modified":"2024-12-06T11:54:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T16:54:42","slug":"climate-resilience-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/climate-resilience-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Commits \u201cInitial Investment\u201d of $6.6 Mil to Launch Central American Climate Resilience Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden administration is dedicating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaid.gov\/news-information\/press-releases\/dec-03-2024-usaid-and-nasa-launch-servir-central-america-hub\">$6.6 million<\/a> to launch a Central American hub of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program that reportedly strengthens climate resilience, food and water security, carbon management, and air quality in developing nations. The initiative is called <a href=\"https:\/\/servirglobal.net\/\">SERVIR<\/a>, a name derived from the Spanish word that means to serve, and it claims to provide innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges through the integration of earth observations and state of the art technologies funded by American taxpayers. With hubs in Asia, Africa and Latin America SERVIR monitors agriculture practices in Bangladesh, evaluates biodiversity in Cambodia, documents deforestation in the Amazon forest and manages groundwater analysis in Niger.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative uses satellite data and geospatial technologies to fulfill its mission, which is implemented by a global network of applied research organizations across its regional hubs. The centers collaborate with communities to develop \u201clocally led solutions to the unique challenges faced in each region.\u201d For instance, in Peru illegal mining causes deforestation and creates water and soil pollution that harms ecosystems, so SERVIR uses data and satellite imagery to generate alerts about where mining is occurring, and local authorities use the information to address the problem. In Senegal earth observation data is used to guide herders and their cattle to water during the dry season. In Bangladesh and Nepal, a special weather toolkit provides more reliable forecasts of severe weather that help save lives and reduce economic losses. In Colombia satellite data aids in the management of coastal mangrove forests and identifies deforestation and illegal mining.<\/p>\n<p>The new, multi-million-dollar Central American hub will facilitate decision-making that strengthens the resilience of more than 40 million people in one of the world\u2019s most climate-vulnerable regions, according to the government\u2019s recently issued <a href=\"https:\/\/servirglobal.net\/where-we-work\/central-america\">announcement<\/a>. The center will address \u201ccritical regional challenges\u201d that include food security, carbon management, weather and climate resilience, water security and gender equality and social inclusion, which the government describes as \u201cpromoting a culture of inclusive science that benefits society as a whole.\u201d Additionally, the Central American SERVIR aims to promote opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among groups with limited access to the sophisticated, U.S.-funded tools not typically available in poor nations.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the issues that the new center is supposed to address overlap with those funded under Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s ill-fated initiative to curb illegal immigration from Central America. Officially known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2024\/03\/25\/fact-sheet-update-on-the-u-s-strategy-for-addressing-the-root-causes-of-migration-in-central-america-3\/\">Root Causes Strategy<\/a>, the Biden administration has dedicated an astounding $4 billion to create jobs, support education, enhance food security and improve life in the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The idea, according to the Biden administration, is that the financial assistance will have far-reaching impacts that will improve life enough to deter citizens in the impoverished countries from leaving their homes. But as the cash flowed south, illegal immigration skyrocketed under Biden, shattering annual, quarterly, and monthly records that were once unimaginable. The vice president\u2019s Central American experiment has most definitely failed to deter migrants from the three countries receiving the extra U.S. humanitarian aid, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/newsroom\/stats\/nationwide-encounters\">CBP figures <\/a>show.<\/p>\n<p>It will be difficult to measure the success of the new Central American SERVIR hub, especially since the Biden administration has revealed that the recent allocation to get it started is an \u201cinitial investment,\u201d indicating that the project requires a lot more American taxpayer money. Perhaps it will get on the radar of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s new <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113472884874740859\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> before Uncle Sam writes another big check.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden administration is dedicating $6.6 million to launch a Central American hub of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program that reportedly strengthens climate resilience, food and water security, carbon management, and air quality in developing nations. The initiative is called SERVIR, a name derived from the Spanish word that means to serve, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":148239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34892],"tags":[875,44425],"class_list":["post-148234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corruption-chronicles","tag-nasa","tag-central-american-hub"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>U.S. Commits \u201cInitial Investment\u201d of $6.6 Mil to Launch Central American Climate Resilience Hub - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Biden administration is dedicating $6.6 million to launch a Central American hub of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program that reportedly strengthens climate resilience, food and water security, carbon management, and air quality in developing nations. 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With hubs in Asia, Africa and Latin America SERVIR monitors agriculture practices in Bangladesh, evaluates biodiversity in Cambodia, documents deforestation in the Amazon forest and manages groundwater analysis in Niger.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/climate-resilience-hub\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U.S. Commits \u201cInitial Investment\u201d of $6.6 Mil to Launch Central American Climate Resilience Hub - Judicial Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Biden administration is dedicating $6.6 million to launch a Central American hub of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program that reportedly strengthens climate resilience, food and water security, carbon management, and air quality in developing nations. 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Milley in which they discussed President Trump and during which General Milley pressured Garland to target American \u201cfar right\u201d militia movements (<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-milley-complaint-03380\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/documents\/jw-v-doj-milley-complaint-03380\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-ogsc=\"\"><i data-ogsc=\"\">Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice<\/i><\/a><\/span> <span data-ogsc=\"black\">(<\/span><span lang=\"IT\" data-ogsc=\"black\">No. 1:24-cv-03380)).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Judicial Watch sued after the Justice Department failed to respond to an October 15, 2024, FOIA request for:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Records and communications including emails, email chains, email attachments, text message meeting minutes, outlook calendars, voice recordings, video recordings, correspondence, statements, letters, memoranda, letters, reports, briefings, cables, presentations, notes, or other form of record, regarding a meeting between Merrick Garland, Attorney General, DOJ, and General Mark Alexander Milley, former, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concerning:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">(1) President or former President Donald J. Trump<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">(2) Domestic Violent Extremism<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">(3) Far-right Militia Movements.<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">The request asked that records be provided for the period \u201cfrom January 7, 2021, to present.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">In his recent <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"><a title=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/War\/Bob-Woodward\/9781668052273\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/War\/Bob-Woodward\/9781668052273\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\" data-ogsc=\"\"><span lang=\"NL\" data-ogsc=\"blue\">book<\/span><\/a><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">,<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\"> journalist Bob Woodward wrote that in early 2021 Garland and Milley met for lunch at the Department of Justice. They discussed then-former President Donald J. Trump, and Chairman Milley pressed the attorney general to investigate domestic threats and \u201cfar-right militia groups.\u201d Woodward described the meeting as \u201chighly unusual, if not unprecedented.\u201d<\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">\u201cGeneral Milley and Garland\u2019s reported meeting about targeting President Trump and other American citizens further demonstrates the Biden administration was and is at odds with the foundational principles of our constitutional republic,\u201d Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. \u201cAnd that the Justice Department would flout FOIA law to hide the details of this conspiracy meeting speaks volumes about its contempt for the rule of law.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"><span data-ogsc=\"black\">###<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for details of a reported meeting between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark A. Milley in which they discussed President Trump and during which General Milley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":148232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34895],"tags":[28552,29188,44423,44424],"class_list":["post-148230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-trump","tag-merrick-garland","tag-44423","tag-general-mark-milley"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Judicial Watch Sues Justice Dept. for Details of Meeting Between Milley and Garland about President Trump - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Washington, DC) \u2013 Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for details of a reported meeting between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark A. 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As a result, the anti-Trump prosecutor is ordered to produce potential documentation of communications <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\"><u data-ogsc=\"\"><a id=\"OWAdb583dda-feb4-8b33-f3c1-34262cfb67ac\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/miacathell\/2024\/01\/25\/fani-willis-hearing-jan-25-preview-n2634127\" href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/miacathell\/2024\/01\/25\/fani-willis-hearing-jan-25-preview-n2634127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"4\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\">Willis may have had with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office and the U.S. House select January 6 committee<\/a><\/u><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">In March, Judicial Watch <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\"><u data-ogsc=\"\"><a id=\"OWA825edbf4-da78-a19a-1e3c-3687ec72a9d3\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-communications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"5\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\">launched<\/a><\/u><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">\u00a0a lawsuit after Willis denied possessing any records responsive to an August 2023 public records request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">The organization, which investigates government misconduct, suggested in the <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\"><u data-ogsc=\"\"><a id=\"OWAf23d570e-3edf-b69e-8c5c-6e03b231036f\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/JW-v-Willis-Jack-Smith-complaint-02805.pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/JW-v-Willis-Jack-Smith-complaint-02805.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"6\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\">civil action complaint<\/a><\/u><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">\u00a0that Willis likely lied about the purported lack of responsive records on hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">As proof, Judicial Watch referenced <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\"><u data-ogsc=\"\"><a id=\"OWAd7fd0a4f-3d84-aab6-0013-dcdeb88b3323\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/2023-12-05-jdj-to-willis-re-jan-6-select-committee-docs.pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/2023-12-05-jdj-to-willis-re-jan-6-select-committee-docs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"7\" data-ogsc=\"rgb(70, 120, 134)\">a December 2021 letter<\/a><\/u><\/span><span data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">\u00a0Willis wrote to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), then chairman of the congressional January 6 committee. In the letter, Willis officially requested the committee’s help with her Trump investigation and offered to trek to Capitol Hill to convene at the committee’s convenience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/miacathell\/2024\/12\/04\/judicial-watch-fani-willis-records-n2648569\">here<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Townhall: A Fulton County court has found Democrat DA Fani Willis in default for failing to comply with court deadlines in an open records lawsuit brought by government watchdog Judicial Watch. As a result, the anti-Trump prosecutor is ordered to produce potential documentation of communications Willis may have had with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7682,"featured_media":99425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34893],"tags":[43954],"class_list":["post-148220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","tag-fani-willis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fani Willis in Legal Trouble Again - Judicial Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In March, Judicial Watch launched\u00a0a lawsuit after Willis denied possessing any records responsive to an August 2023 public records request.\u00a0The organization, which investigates government misconduct, suggested in the civil action complaint\u00a0that Willis likely lied about the purported lack of responsive records on hand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/fani-willis-in-legal-trouble-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fani Willis in Legal Trouble Again - 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