Author: Judge John Wilson (ret.)

On October 13, 2021, Pro-Life activist Mark Houck was outside the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center abortion clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, praying with his 12 year old son (Houck and his wife have 7 children).  An unidentified man approached the clinic in his capacity as a “volunteer escort” for several women heading into the clinic.  According to Houck’s wife, “on multiple occasions that  ‘pro-abortion protester’ would say ‘crude … inappropriate and disgusting things” to their 12-year-old son, such as ‘your dad’s a fag’ and other vulgar slurs.”  On this particular day, “the man ‘kind of came into [the son’s] personal space,’ Mrs. Houck said. ‘Mark shoved him away from his child, and the guy fell back… He didn’t have any injuries or anything.” 

The unidentified man tried to have Houck prosecuted by the Philadelphia DA’s office, and also brought a civil suit in Pennsylvania, but both matters were dismissed.  That should have been the end of this minor matter – but it’s not.

In September of 2022, almost one year later, the Houck family “woke up…to a team of FBI agents raiding (their) home in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania…25-30 FBI agents entered their home around 7 a.m.  ‘The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” (Mrs) Houck told Life Site News about her husband’s arrest, which she and her children witnessed…'(t)hey had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,’ (Mrs) Houck told the pro-life news outlet.”

Mark Houck was arrested, and taken to federal court, where he was already under indictment for the violation of 18 USC Sec. 248 – the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.   Also known as the FACE Act, this statute provides for criminal penalties including up to one year in prison for a first offense, if that person “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services.” 

Passed into law in 1994, “in response to an increase in violence toward providers and patients of reproductive health services,” according to the Justice Department, “Courts have held that the Act’s protections extend not only to physicians but also to clerical workers and escorts at reproductive health facilities.”

Perhaps the Justice Department is within its rights to prosecute Mark Houck, even after local authorities declined to prosecute this matter, and a civil lawsuit was dismissed.  But his arrest raises a serious question; Isn’t it heavy handed of the Federal government to send 20-30 FBI agents to arrest a man who committed, at best, a misdemeanor assault, particularly when there is a view of the evidence that Houck was acting in defense of his child?

Further, is it any coincidence that the arrest and prosecution of Houck occurred shortly after the US Supreme Court handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which held that “(t)he Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe (v. Wade) and (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA v.) Casey arrogated that authority. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”  

One hint regarding the true motive behind the ham-fisted arrest and prosecution of Mark Houck can be found in the statement made by Attorney General Merrick Garland after the Dobbs decision was made public. “The Supreme Court has eliminated an established right that has been an essential component of women’s liberty for half a century – a right that has safeguarded women’s ability to participate fully and equally in society…(t)he Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Court’s decision.  This decision deals a devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States…(a)dvocates with different views on this issue have the right to, and will, voice their opinions. Peacefully expressing a view is protected by the First Amendment. But we must be clear that violence and threats of violence are not. The Justice Department will not tolerate such acts…(t)he Justice Department will work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom. Under the (FACE) Act, the Department will continue to protect healthcare providers and individuals seeking reproductive health services in states where those services remain legal. This law prohibits anyone from obstructing access to reproductive health services through violence, threats of violence, or property damage.”  

Judge Wilson’s (ret.) article concludes tomorrow

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was once one of America’s most respected institutions.  However, the increased politicalization of federal agencies in general and the FBI in particular to favor powerful Democrats and oppose Republicans has heavily eroded that trust.

An Inspector General report issued in 2019 outlined instances of shocking bias within the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, a reflection of the overall bias of the Department of Justice. As is now well known, false charges against the Trump campaign and Administration were encouraged, aided and abetted.  At the same time, offenses committed by Hillary Clinton, and related process offenses such as her destruction of evidence went unprosecuted.

This isn’t about whether one likes or dislikes Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.  It is about the inappropriate use of federal power for partisan political purposes.

It is also about censorship.  It is now established that the FBI used its power and influence to censor at least one story that had the impact of altering the outcome of the 2020 presidential campaign, namely, the Hunter Biden Laptop issue.

Writing for Imprimis , Joseph diGenova notes that “FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, Strzok’s paramour and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, FBI General Counsel James Baker, and DOJ senior official Bruce Ohr—perhaps among others—compromised federal law enforcement to such an extent that the American public is losing trust. A recent CBS News poll finds 48 percent of Americans believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia collusion probe is “politically motivated,” a stunning conclusion. And 63 percent of polled voters in a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll believe that the FBI withheld vital information from Congress about the Clinton and Russia collusion investigations.

Attempts to address the FBI’s rather overt political bias in favor of powerful Democrats have not been successful.

A scathing report by the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee reveals that “The Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the stewardship of Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, is broken. The problem lies not with the majority of front-line agents who serve our country, but with the FBI’s politicized bureaucracy. The problem lies, for example, with the FBI hierarchy that spied on President Trump’s campaign and ridiculed conservative Americans. The problem lies with FBI bureaucrats who altered and mischaracterized evidence to federal courts, circumvented safeguards, and exploited weaknesses in policies governing investigations and informants to target politically disfavored subjects and to protect favored ones. The problem lies with the FBI structure that centralizes high-profile cases in D.C., in the hands of politicized actors with politicized incentives. Quite simply, the problem—the rot within the FBI—festers in and proceeds from Washington.”

Whistleblowers have described the FBI’s Washington hierarchy as “rotted at its core,” maintaining a “systemic culture of unaccountability,” and full of “rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse.” Whistleblowers describe how the FBI has abused its law-enforcement authorities for political purposes, and how actions by FBI leadership show a political bias against conservatives.

The abuses weren’t confined to the 2016 or 2020 presidential campaigns. Testimony has been presented that the  FBI is artificially inflating statistics about domestic violent extremism in the nation. Whistleblowers have described how FBI leadership is pressuring line agents to reclassify cases as domestic violent extremism even if the matter does not meet the criteria. They also explained how the FBI is misrepresenting the scale of domestic violent extremism nationwide by categorizing January 6th-related investigations as organic cases stemming from local field offices, instead of all related to one single incident. In both ways, the FBI is fueling the Biden Administration’s narrative that domestic violent extremism is the biggest threat to our nation.

One of the most disturbing revelations is that the FBI is abusing its counterterrorism authorities to investigate parents who spoke at school board meetings. Whistleblowers disclosed how, shortly after the National School Boards Association urged President Biden to use the Patriot Act against American parents, the FBI Counterterrorism Division set up a special “threat tag” to track school board-related cases. Whistleblowers provided evidence of how the FBI opened investigations into one mom for allegedly telling a local school board “we are coming for you” and a dad simply because he “rails against the government” and “has a lot of guns.”

The abuse of law enforcement for partisan political purposes is the most dangerous threat to freedom imaginable.  Tough reforms must be quickly enacted.

Illustration: Pixabay

Two nations, each seen as significant disturbers of international peace, are increasingly cooperating in dangerous ventures.

On November 9, Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev met with Iran’s leadership.  According to a Voice Of America analysis, Raisi and Patrushev discussed various issues of Russian-Iranian cooperation in the field of security, as well as a number of international problems.

The Iran International Newsroom reports that “Russia has built Iran’s sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr and has a contract to expand the plant with the addition of two new reactors at a cost of $10 billion.” Earlier this year, according to the Washington Free Beacon, Russia’s top state-controlled energy company was set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted.  Russian and Iranian documents translated for the Washington Free Beacon show that Rosatom, Russia’s leading energy company, has a $10 billion contract with Iran’s atomic energy organization to expand Tehran’s Bushehr nuclear plant. Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so that Russia can make good on this contract.

A Wall Street Journal analysis reports that “Iran and Russia are forging tighter ties than ever…There are significant economic ramifications of the Iranian-Russian semi-alliance. In July, Iran became the world’s largest buyer of Russian wheat. This month, Russia launched an Iranian satellite into space in a rare success for Tehran’s space program. And last week, Iran’s military hosted joint drone exercises with Russian forces…”

The Defense Department could not confirm news reports that Russia has asked Iran for ballistic missiles and other capabilities. However, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder did confirm that Iran has provided hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia. And Russian forces have used them to attack Ukraine. “Iran has provided Russia with UAVs, which we anticipate they’ll likely seek more of those,” the general said. “We do have concerns that Russia may also seek to acquire additional advanced munition capabilities from Iran — for example, surface-to-surface missiles — to use in Ukraine. If we see Russia employing such capabilities on the battlefield, we’ll certainly do what we can to illuminate that.” 

This “continued collusion” between Russia and Iran is disturbing, officials have stressed.

The International Research Institute finds that “Since the start of the war in Ukraine, relations between Russia and Iran have flourished. Having been hit by a new raft of tough Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow set about looking for alternative partners among other traditionally anti-Western countries—including to bypass trade restrictions—and Iran looks set to be one of the most promising. The aspect of their relationship that has attracted the most attention recently is Russia’s use of Iranian drones to terrorize Ukrainian cities. … This is far from the extent of their joint projects…”

Asia Times warns that Iran is preparing to transfer short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against targets in Ukraine, allegedly as part of a shipment of 1,000 additional weapons of unspecified type. Iran has allegedly already transferred a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia. Many of these drones have been used in Ukraine, although the Islamic Republic has denied involvement.

Russia’s predecessor state, the U.S.S.R, was quick to recognize the Islamic takeover of Iran in the 1970’s, as Tehran changed from a U.S. ally into an enemy.  Moscow continues to see leverage Tehran’s hatred of America.

It is startling to realize that news coverage of the major issues of the past several decades has been largely incorrect.  

The erroneous analyses cover topics that run the gamut from crime to international affairs. They are not fringe mistakes. They are, indeed, broad misstatements, in which ideology supplants factual research and honest evaluation. By warping public opinion away from facts and towards falsehoods, they have altered election results and produced defective policies.

One of the major stories had its roots in the 1960’s cliché’s, “Give peace a chance.” Starting in the 1990’s and dominating the Obama Administration, the U.S. military was dramatically reduced in size, even as Russia built the planet’s best nuclear arsenal and the Chinese increased its spending on arms at a pace faster than the Soviet Union or the USA during the height of the Cold War. American weakness produced nothing but a more dangerous planet.

As Autumn moves towards Winter, much of Europe faces the terrifying prospect of a massive shortage of energy. Residents will face the prospect of freezing within their homes, and having their electricity cut off for several hours each day.  In the United States, the globe’s most powerful economy has been hobbled by massive inflation, due to a jihad against fossil fuels. The problems on both sides of the Atlantic are the direct result of a belief widely propagated in the majority of media sources that “green” or “alternative” energy sources could replace fossil fuels.  That’s not even remotely accurate. Only 20% of global energy needs can be met in this manner. Worldwide suffering will accelerate to extraordinary levels unless this absurd concept is corrected.

The underlying motivation for the assault on energy comes from yet another flawed concept. In the latter half of the 20^th Century, the press highlighted the intensely advocated concept of “global cooling.” That didn’t turn out to be accurate, and the media, with equal unfunded confidence, tuned to “global warming.”  One of the bedrock foundations of that theory came from research from the University of East Anglia, which, as it turned out, was fraudulent. The media falsely claimed that “all scientists” agreed with global warming ideology, wholly ignoring contrary voices. Even worse, scientists who accurately pointed out that the Earth was warmer in past epochs, including, for example, the 11^th Century and the era of the Caesars, were labelled as “climate deniers.” 

Some organizations over the past several decades began pushing a theory that sharply reducing incarceration rates was an experiment worth trying.  The idea caught on with much of the press, which gave it a vote of confidence and a lot of air time.  It was eventually combined with the radical concept of defunding the police.  The results have been disastrous. American cities have descended into nightmarish realms of violent crime. Despite that, many press outlets have portrayed those exposing this defective concept as somehow being racist, underlying their own racist views that minorities are uncaring about their community safety.

Certainly, the most divisive media campaign, at least in the United States, was the false claim of “Russian collusion” levied against Donald Trump. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) stated that he had clear evidence that this occurred. House speaker Nancy Pelosi made it her major priority. The media made it their headline story for years. The whole story has been conclusively, beyond the shadow of a doubt,  proven to be utterly false. So far, many of the press outlets that headlined the story have failed to admit their error. There have been no major media calls to prosecute  Schiff for his fraud, which tore the nation apart for years.

Hope for democracy blooming in Nicaragua this fall have disappeared in totality as the Sandinista National Liberation Front  (SNLF) completed its political domination of Nicaragua. The SNLF now controls 100% of the country’s 153 municipalities after Sunday’s vote. Critics called the unfair elections a “farce” and “final blow” to any possibility of the country emerging from a totalitarian dictatorship to a representative democracy in the foreseeable future. Election officials say the corrupt municipal elections consolidated Daniel Ortega’s position after an election season void of rallies or demonstrations. The single party regime is a Sandinista-led alliance of eight parties, along with religious and indigenous movements, that encompass the ruling party group labeled “United Nicaragua Triumphs.” 

Nicaraguans voted on November 6 in municipal elections after a campaign void of rallies or demonstrations and where opposition and citizen rights are, at best, diminished. The elections are part of an ongoing consolidation of power in the totalitarian regime of Daniel Ortega. Prior to the election Ortega’s party controlled 141 of the 153 municipalities. Ortega previously outlawed opposition parties prior to the vote and jailed dozens of opposition figures, according to a report released this week by the Robert Lansing Institute. One person imprisoned among the clergy by Ortega is an outspoken Roman Catholic bishop. Two years ago, Mgr. Carlos Aviles, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Managua told the media that the Sandinista government views the Catholic Church as an enemy. He stated the Church “tells the truth” and the people can expect the government’s continued anger, repression, attacks on the clergy and places of worship, and constant surveillance from police outside the parishes. No one in Nicaraguan society is left untouched by the violence and chaos in the state. 

“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed concern that ‘the minimum conditions necessary’ to hold free and fair elections do not exist in Nicaragua. It called on the government to reestablish democratic guarantees and stop the repression,” according to the Institute report. The Ortega government closed down almost 2,000 nongovernmental groups and over 50 media outlets that were among the few remaining dissident voices left in the country. In addition, over 100 civil society organizations were also closed to ensure the one-party takeover. The Lansing Institute identifies the dictatorship as closer in structure to that found in China and Cuba than to a far leftist government.

Although Ortega began the takeover of municipalities in 2018, he has a long history of insurrection in Nicaragua dating back to the 1980’s. Four years ago, massive street protests broke out across the country. Since that time more than 200,000 Nicaraguans have fled the Central American state, with most crossing over the southern border into Costa Rica. With public support lagging, Ortega expanded his power and harsh rule to avoid business leaders from allying to oppose him. In 2020, a CIS-Gallup poll concluded that 70% of the population opposed the Ortega regime, with more than half saying Ortega was doing a “poor” job. Since Ortega’s fourth consecutive and uncontested presidential election win last year, he has cracked down harder on opposition voices. In July, police ousted five opposition mayors who belonged to a party disbanded by electoral authorities and replaced them with allies. The culmination of the process this week has an aim of “imposing a dynastic dictatorship with absolute power, where ungovernability, political polarization and anarchy predominate, because the population no longer trusts the security forces, and there’s no more balance of powers,” notes the report. 

Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia praised the election outcome, while President Biden labeled it a “pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic.” Although promising to help the poor and create a fair system, Nicaragua remains the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. Ortega appointed his wife to a vice president position and other family members to top leadership posts. The lack of a free and independent judicial system ensures that Ortega’s dictatorship will continue as opposition figures are muzzled, thrown in jail, or disappear.  

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.

Illustration: Pixabay

Is an isolated communist giant in Asia more dangerous than one interconnected to the global economy? After the recent Xi-Biden meeting, it is a question economic and military analysts are considering this week in Washington. Since China’s opening to the West, it has engaged in predatory practices that are causing the Biden Administration to consider discussing the suspension of normal trade relations. 

This action was reinforced Tuesday when the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission published its annual report to Congress. If its 39 recommendations are adopted by a Republican-led House, it may represent a new era in post-normalization politics that resets the US-China relationship to pre-2000 arrangements. In that year Congress approved China for permanent membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the false assumption that acting “friendly” and relieving the country of high tariffs would “assure responsible state behavior.” 

This week’s Commission report recommendations include expanding the Trump era 25% tariff rate on a range of products. In a Foreign Policy interview with Jack Detsch this week, former Trump State Department official and current chair of the Commission Alex Wong, says that “This is to empower the administration and to empower Congress with the leverage to rebalance the trade relationship that may have gotten out of whack or that is not serving US interests.” He argues that the goal is to impact China. Employing national security rules, the Biden Administration can revoke China most-favored-nation status as it did to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. 

China has failed over the last two decades to abide by its 2000 WTO pledge to enact industrial subsidies and end its stealing of intellectual property. Beijing, under Xi Jinping reversed course and enacted protectionist policies that harm US businesses. The Biden Administration’s  US Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, is due to complete a four-year review of Chinese imports sometime next year. A Congressional decision to repeal China’s preferential status due to its predatory practices should speed President Biden’s slow pace on the issue. Detsch says that “even if the Biden administration and Congress do not decide to implement the report’s 39 wide-ranging recommendations that cover everything from the creation of a White House office to hardening U.S. supply chains to the feasibility of an energy blockade of China, the report adds to Washington’s adoption of more hawkish stances on China on both sides of the political aisle.”

The Commission has taken an increasingly tougher stance on Beijing’s trade practices. Since MFN was enacted, China has bolstered its trade deficit with the US by systematically undervaluing its currency and engaging in unfair trade practices. “If we go back to the 1999 vote, that was essentially an informed wager on the part of the United States that granting this status would make our trade relationship flourish but also lead to general betterment of our relationship with China, bring China into the international system, and create greater stability,” Wong said.

Under Xi, the Chinese strategy is to move further away from any economic dependency linked to the United States. China’s policy of forced self-sufficiency, especially in high technology-based, critical industries, will enable the country to continue on its aggressive path toward reshaping the international rules-based order from the perspective of a Chinese worldview. “The Biden administration has sought to starve Russia of computer chips in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and recent US legislation has threatened China’s high-tech sector, such as the CHIPS Act, which seeks to bring semiconductor production back to the United States,” according to Detsch. This year’s Commission report also adds the recommendation that Congress create a permanent US Government committee to examine sanctions or other possible economic measures to respond to Chinese military action over Taiwan. During the October National People’s Congress, Xi reaffirmed his commitment to take back Taiwan. The standoff between the US and China is likely to continue and may further heat up in the coming year should China see real action by the US Congress, despite the Administration’s lagging posture on US-China trade. Perhaps, it is time to leave the Chinese chips where they lay and stand up for free trade in an international, rules-based system based on a Western order?

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.