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Secret Service slammed for failing to prevent assassination attempt against Trump

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BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

From LifeSiteNews

By Matt Lamb

“I don’t like making any assumptions, but it does look like some mistakes were made, that this was preventable”

Secret Service is blaming local law enforcement for not securing the rooftop where a 20-year-old tried to assassinate  former President Donald Trump over the weekend.

But local law enforcement, and several experts who spoke to NBC News, said all responsibility for protecting the president ultimately lies with the Secret Service.

The agency is under widespread criticism for allowing a shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, to have clear access to President Trump during his rally on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Crooks hit Trump’s right ear, but the president is reportedly in good condition.

It has been reported that Crooks was at one point a registered Republican but that he also made a $15 donation to Progressive Turnout Project, a left-wing Democratic Party-linked activist group, in 2021.

The rooftop “was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News,” the outlet reported last night.

“The Secret Service had designated that rooftop as being under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, a common practice in securing outdoor rallies,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, according to NBC News’ paraphrase.

The outlet reported:

The Secret Service worked with local law enforcement to maintain event security, including sniper teams poised on rooftops to identify and eliminate threats, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. But no officers were posted on the building used by the would-be assassin, outside the event’s security perimeter but only about 148 yards from the stage — within range of a semiautomatic rifle like the one the gunman was carrying.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger disagreed with the Secret Service’s assertion. “They had meetings in the week prior. The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what,” he said, referring to the county’s law enforcement and its cooperation with the federal agency. “In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were No. 1.”
“Just because it is outside of the perimeter, it doesn’t take it out of play for a vulnerability, and you’ve got to mitigate it in some fashion,” a former Secret Service agent told NBC News, agreeing with the county’s assessment. “My question is: How did he get onto that roof undetected,” another former Secret Service agent told NBC News.

“I don’t like making any assumptions, but it does look like some mistakes were made, that this was preventable,” Anthony Cangelosi told NBC News.

Radio host and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino also criticized his former employer.

“Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle should’ve already resigned,” Bongino wrote on X. “Inexcusable that this incompetent mess of a Director is still holding on, while protectees are in danger.”

Local law enforcement reportedly confronted the shooter on the roof but did not stop him after he pointed his gun at them. “A local law enforcement officer climbed to the roof and found Crooks, who pointed the rifle at the officer,” PBS reported. “The officer then retreated down the ladder, and the gunman quickly fired toward Trump, the officials said. That’s when U.S. Secret Service gunmen shot him, the officials said.”

The local sheriff’s office said the officer had to retreat because he could not grab his gun.

“Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Slupe said the officer was gripping the edge of the roof after climbing up using a ladder, and could not reach his gun when Crooks aimed at him,” The Telegraph reported. “He lets go because he doesn’t want to get killed,” Slupe said.

Officials identified Corey Comperatore as a fatal victim of the shooting. The firefighter died shielding his family from the gunfire.

Two other victims are in “stable condition,” the Pennsylvania State Police announced on Sunday.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said that the Department of Homeland of Security will conduct a review of the assassination attempt and added that DHS is “engaged” with Trump and his campaign.

The FBI said it is investigating the attack as “domestic terrorism.”

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Georgia county admits illegally certifying 315k ballots in 2020 presidential election

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From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

Approximately 150 ‘tabulator tapes’ tracking the votes of more than 300,000 early voters were not signed.

Fulton County, Georgia, has admitted to including 315,000 early votes in the disputed 2020 presidential election despite the fact that they were not properly certified according to state law.

State law demands that voting “tabulator tapes” that publish the recorded results of polling stations must be verified and signed by poll workers, but approximately 150 tapes tracking the votes of more than 300,000 early voters were not signed.

In a hearing before the State Election Board (SEB), an attorney for Fulton County said the county does “not dispute that the tapes were not signed.”

“It was a violation of the rule,” she said. “They shouldn’t have done it.”

“At best, this is sloppy and lazy. At worst, it could be egregious,” fired back Georgia SEB Member Janelle King. “It could have affected an election.”

The December 9 hearing was the result of election integrity activist David Cross, who filed a challenge with the board in 2022, alleging that Fulton County’s handling of early voting violated the state’s election rules.

“These are not clerical errors. They are catastrophic breaks in chain of custody and certification,” Cross said during the hearing.

“Because no tape was ever legally certified, Fulton County had no lawful authority to certify its advanced voting results to the secretary of state. Yet it did,” said Cross. “And Secretary [Brad] Raffensperger accepted and folded those uncertified numbers into Georgia’s official total without questioning them.”

“This is not partisan. This is statutory. This is the law. When the law demands three signatures on tabulator tapes and the county fails to follow the rules, those 315,000 votes are, by definition, uncertified,” said Cross.

“Georgia has the most secure elections in the country and all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots. A clerical error at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes,” averred Raffensberger.

Meanwhile, Republicans took issue with Raffensperger’s denial of the seriousness of Fulton County’s procedural lapse.

Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones ridiculed Raffensberger’s post.

“If only Georgia had an official responsible for preventing clerical errors that undermine election integrity,” said Jones, a candidate for Georgia governor.

“Is there anyone in Georgia who has that job, Brad?” asked Jones, his opponent in the state’s gubernatorial race.

“We just started peeling the layers back on this onion and it already stinks,” said U.S. House Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10). “Years later, when the truth finally comes out, Trump was right.”

“President Trump is owed a massive apology,” asserted Collins. “Turns out over 300,000 early votes in the 2020 election were illegally certified but still included in the final results.”

Collins said he is “tired of empty words from weak leaders. The people of Georgia demand action.”

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden narrowly beat out incumbent President Donald Trump by less than 12,000 votes in the Peach Tree State.

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Federal funds FROZEN after massive fraud uncovered: Trump cuts off Minnesota child care money

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MXM logo MxM News

The Trump administration has cut off all federal child care payments to Minnesota, ordering a sweeping audit of the state’s day care system as investigators dig into what officials describe as one of the largest fraud schemes ever tied to social service programs.

“We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,” Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill wrote Tuesday afternoon, saying the move comes after mounting evidence that taxpayer dollars were being siphoned to sham or non-operational day care centers. The freeze follows a viral investigative video that put a national spotlight on facilities across Minneapolis that were receiving large sums of public money despite appearing closed or barely functioning.

According to Alex Adams, assistant secretary at HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, Minnesota has already received roughly $185 million in federal child care funding this year alone. Those funds, the administration says, will remain locked down until the state can demonstrate that payments are being used lawfully. “Funds will be released only when states prove they are being spent legitimately,” Adams said.

O’Neill accused Minnesota officials of allowing abuse to fester for years, alleging the state has “funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade.” To halt further losses, HHS outlined a series of immediate enforcement steps. Going forward, states seeking reimbursement through the Administration for Children and Families will be required to provide receipts or photographic proof documenting how funds are spent.

The department has also formally demanded that Gov. Tim Walz order a “comprehensive audit” of the day care centers flagged by investigators. O’Neill said the review must include attendance records, licensing documents, complaints, investigative files, and inspection reports. He pointed directly to a video published Friday by YouTuber Nick Shirley, who visited multiple Minneapolis-area centers listed as receiving millions in public funds but found locations that appeared closed or inactive.

In addition, HHS has launched a dedicated fraud hotline and email address at childcare.gov to encourage tips from parents, providers, and the public. “We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” O’Neill said, urging anyone with information to come forward.

Federal prosecutors say the scope of the alleged abuse is staggering. Authorities have already confirmed at least $1 billion in fraud tied to Minnesota child care programs, with 92 people charged so far. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has warned the total could ultimately reach as high as $9 billion as investigators continue combing through records.

The funding freeze marks one of the most aggressive crackdowns yet by the Trump administration on state-run social programs accused of lax oversight, sending a clear message that federal dollars will not flow until Minnesota can account for where the money went — and who was cashing in.

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