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‘Pedophile protector!’ Ex-cop gets in Dan Bongino’s face over Epstein probe failures
Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was confronted in public Saturday over his handling of the criminal probe into Jeffrey Epstein and potential co-conspirators, with one heckler issuing Bongino an especially brutal nickname, as seen in a clip of the confrontation that went viral on Sunday.
Details of the event Bongino was confronted are sparse, though the conservative news website The Gateway Pundit reported Sunday that it took place Saturday evening. Far-right lawyer and Army veteran Ivan Raiklin also confirmed details of the incident after refuting claims that he had been the one to confront the former FBI deputy director. Bongino has also shared at least 10 posts on social media Sunday morning mocking the group that apparently confronted him.
In the video, an unidentified individual recording the encounter approached Bongino and immediately began insulting the ex-FBI official.
“You’re a pedophile protector!” the individual can be heard shouting. “A pedophile protector, pedophile protector!”
A visibly angry Bongino fired back and could be heard shouting “go volunteer to do something!"
“I was a cop for nine years, you’re a pedophile protector, f-----!” the individual said, using a homophobic slur. “You’re a pedophile protector, f--- you, dude, f--- you!”
Raiklin was initially attributed as having been the one to confront Bongino by several prominent X users, an attribution he refuted several times.
“I wasn't the one who said that nor caused the scene,” Raiklin wrote in a social media post Sunday. “It was some former cop.”
Another clip of the encounter filmed from a different angle – shared by the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers – shows Bongino lashing out at the group, shouting “you didn’t do s—!”
Bongino has faced MAGA outrage in the wake of his resignation from the FBI over his agency’s handling of its probe into Epstein and potential co-conspirators. Despite having hyped up theories around Epstein prior to his role at the agency, he later signed off on a memo that concluded Epstein had died by suicide and that no evidence existed to prosecute potential co-conspirators of Epstein.Tom Homan scrambles to explain ICE airport duties after Trump puts him under the gun
Donald Trump’s impulsive weekend decision to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the nation’s airports to do the jobs of TSA agents not being paid by the administration, put his border czar on the spot on CNN.
Early Sunday morning, the frustrated president said ICE would pulled from their jobs grabbing immigrants off the street to help out at airports plagued by TSA sick-outs and that Homan would be responsible for getting it done.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tom Homan, who inherited former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s duties after she was fired, was pressed by host Dana Bash over training for agents who have no airport security experience .
According to Homan, it is a “work in progress” and details are still be worked out before the Monday deadline.
“Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?” the CNN host asked.
“Ice agents receive high-level training,” Homan insisted. “And, you know, ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already. They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling reports. But, you know, there's, I mean, there's a lot TSA agents covering exits, you know, people that enter through the exits. You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit that makes people don't go through those exits entering the airport, through the exits. That stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to, to reduce those lines. “
“I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that,” he admitted.
After the Trump official elaborated, “So hopefully we'll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we're working on it. And when we deploy tomorrow, we'll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” the skeptical CNN host asked, “With respect, if you're doing this in 24 hours, how well thought out could it possibly be?”
“Again, ICE has been at airports across the country for a long time. It's just expanding those things,” Homan pushed back. “Look, it does it –– how much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit, to make sure no one comes through that exit? And we're talking about security options. And these officers are well-trained in security and they're well-trained in identification. And we're going to do what we can to help TSA move those people through the line.”
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Trump team said to be ‘less than thrilled’ after key pick underperforms in interviews
A well-connected Florida journalist rolled his eyes at a recent report that suggested Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) would not last long as Donald Trump's secretary of state, but he did single out one nominee who might not even get confirmed.
Axios reporter Marc Caputo appeared Wednesday morning on CNN, where he discussed a Politico report that quoted foreign policy experts predicting that Rubio would be undercut by MAGA loyalists as the nation's top diplomat.
"My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head," Caputo said. "I can't say how much B.S. that is. Remember, Donald Trump chose Marco Rubio to be secretary of state. He knows who Rubio is and what Rubio believes, and the differences between these two guys on foreign policy is very, very thin. When Marco Rubio was a United States senator and Donald Trump was president, the first time as Trump 45, Rubio was essentially the de facto secretary of state for the western hemisphere. He was a constant Trump adviser. Trump bounced ideas off of him, took his advice, listened to him. In fact, as I've reported previously, at one point Trump was musing and was being urged to invade or have a military action in Venezuela. Who talked him out of it? Marco Rubio did. So whoever this ambassador is, I'm not sure if they're named, they don't know what they're talking about."
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
Rubio is not expected to face much opposition from the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee where he previously sat, and Trump's controversial defense nominee Pete Hegseth also appears poised to make it past the Senate Armed Services Committee, but Caputo said the president-elect's inner circle is concerned about one of his picks.
"In Trumpworld, when you ask them, how confident are you about something on a scale of one to 100 percent, they're always going to say 110 percent," Caputo said. "Now, that said, they will acknowledge that of all of the nominees, the one who is encountering and could encounter the most turbulence is [intelligence director nominee] Tulsi Gabbard. She has, in some of these meetings with Republican senators, according to both Punchbowl News and the Wall Street Journal, struggled at times to answer questions about her views on surveillance. She doesn't seem or didn't seem in some of these meetings to be as well prepared for the job of national director of intelligence. Now some Republicans have since come out and said, 'Okay, she's answering our questions, we're more than happy.'"
"In the end, though, the Republican Senate, the Republicans who control the Senate understand that Donald Trump is a Republican and most of them believe, if not all of them believe, that he should get his picks," Caputo added. "The one exception to that was Matt Gaetz. They bounced Matt Gaetz, and in Donald Trump's view, if you got rid of my Matt Gaetz pick, you need to pick everybody else, though, as you said, one of the issues seems to be that there is reporting that it is Republicans who have been less than thrilled with their interactions with Tulsi Gabbard."
Watch below or click the link here.
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Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi refuses to say under oath that Trump lost in 2020
Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi declined to admit that President-elect Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
At her Wednesday confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Bondi if she was prepared to state that Trump had lost the 2020 election. But she refused to do so.
"Are you prepared to say today under oath without reservation that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?" Durbin wondered.
"Ranking Member Durbin, President Biden is the President of the United States," Bondi replied. "He was duly sworn in, and he is the President of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power."
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
"Do I agree with what happened?" she continued. "And I saw so much — you know, not no one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country."
"I think that question deserved a yes or no, and I think the length of your answer is an indication that you weren't prepared to answer yes," Durbin remarked.
Bondi also said she would consider recommending pardons for Jan. 6 rioters.
Nebraska follows Texas in raising flags to full staff for Trump inauguration
Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) ordered flags at the Nebraska Capitol to be flown at full staff on Inauguration Day even though they were supposed to be at half staff until the end of January due to the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
Pillen issued the order after a complaint from President-elect Donald Trump.
"The official installation of a President is a historic day in the calendar of our nation and should be recognized as such," Pillen said in a statement. "Having the flag at full staff symbolizes the respect to that office and our nation's newly elected leader."
"Flags will fly at full staff from sunrise until sunset on Inauguration Day," the statement added. "The following morning, flags will return to half-staff, resuming the honor to former President Jimmy Carter. Flags are to remain at half-staff in remembrance of the former president through Jan. 28."
In a Truth Social post on Jan. 3, Trump complained about U.S. flags flying at half staff for his swearing-in.
"Nobody wants to see this," Trump wrote. "The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my inauguration."
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
Pillen became the second Republican governor to lift flags to full staff on Inauguration Day. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) of Texas issued a similar order.
"While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America," Abbott said.
‘Loyalty to a tyrant’: Liz Cheney issues Senate warning over Jan. 6 report
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), whom Donald Trump has threatened to jail over her role in the Jan. 6 investigation into his alleged election subversion, touted the release of the J6 report and questioned whether Republicans would give their "loyalty to a tyrant" by blindly supporting the president-elect.
The DOJ released special counsel Jack Smith's report shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, after Trump fought tooth-and-nail to prevent it from going public.
In the report, Smith concluded that "If Donald Trump hadn’t won the presidential election in November, the Justice Department would have had ample evidence to convict him at trial of trying to obstruct the 2020 election results," according to The Washington Post.
Cheney posted on social media Tuesday morning, "The Special Counsel’s 1/6 Report, made public last night, confirms the unavoidable facts of 1/6 yet again. DOJ’s exhaustive and independent investigation reached the same essential conclusions as the Select Committee. All this DOJ evidence must be preserved."
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
Cheney then questioned Republicans as they hold confirmation hearings on Trump's most controversial nominees, including Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.
"But most important now, as the Senate considers confirming Trump’s Justice Department nominees: if those nominees cooperated with Trump’s deceit to overturn the 2020 election, they cannot now be entrusted with the responsibility to preserve the rule of law and protect our Republic," Cheney wrote. "As our framers knew, our institutions only hold when those in office are not compromised by personal loyalty to a tyrant. So this question is now paramount for Republicans: Will you faithfully perform the duties the framers assigned to you and do what the Constitution requires? Or do you lack the courage?"
According to a CNN analyst, the J6 report cited "many instances" where "Trump knew the election was not stolen in 2020, that there was not widespread fraud that could have delivered him a victory, and that he continued to lie to his supporters."
Trump responded on social media to the report's release, writing, "Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss,' Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another 'Report' based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were," Trump posted shortly after the report's release.
Cheney, a Republican, was the chairwoman of the J6 Select Committee investigating Trump's alleged involvement in election subversion, which led to his second impeachment. Trump was ultimately acquitted by Senate Republicans.
Pete Hegseth gripes that he’s victim of ‘smear campaign’ from ‘liberal media’
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth slammed the "liberal media" during his confirmation hearing Tuesday, blaming it for a "coordinated smear campaign" against him.
"What became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us that was clear from moment one," Hegseth said.
He continued, "What we knew is that it wasn't about me. Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time, and he endured it in incredibly strong ways. So we, in some ways, knew it was coming.
"We didn't understand the depth of the dishonesty that would come with it."
Hegseth has been the focus of several reports involving allegations of sexual abuse, alcohol use, and financial mismanagement.
"So, from story after story in the media, left wing media, we saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on second- or third-hand accounts," he continued.
"And time and time again, stories would come out and people would reach out to me and say, 'You know, I've spoken to this reporter about who you really are, and I was willing to go on the record, but they didn't print my quote.'
" ... Instead, a small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear campaign, an agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today sadly doesn't care about the truth."
‘You are a misogynist!’ Pete Hegseth immediately hit with protests at confirmation
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, was immediately hit with protests as he gave his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing.
The protests came moments after Hegseth began speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
"All glory belongs to our lord and Savior Jesus Christ," the nominee remarked. "May his will be done."
Seconds later, a bearded man shouted at Hegseth.
"You are a misogynist!" the protester shouted before accusing Hegseth of being a "Christian Zionist."
The man was quickly escorted from the room.
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
"I want to thank the authorities for their swift reaction to that outburst and state that similar interruptions will be treated in like manner," Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said.
Within moments, another protest broke out and was shut down, before a third was physically carried out.
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‘Pedophile protector!’ Ex-cop gets in Dan Bongino’s face over Epstein probe failures
Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was confronted in public Saturday over his handling of the criminal probe into Jeffrey Epstein and potential co-conspirators, with one heckler issuing Bongino an especially brutal nickname, as seen in a clip of the confrontation that went viral on Sunday.
Details of the event Bongino was confronted are sparse, though the conservative news website The Gateway Pundit reported Sunday that it took place Saturday evening. Far-right lawyer and Army veteran Ivan Raiklin also confirmed details of the incident after refuting claims that he had been the one to confront the former FBI deputy director. Bongino has also shared at least 10 posts on social media Sunday morning mocking the group that apparently confronted him.
In the video, an unidentified individual recording the encounter approached Bongino and immediately began insulting the ex-FBI official.
“You’re a pedophile protector!” the individual can be heard shouting. “A pedophile protector, pedophile protector!”
A visibly angry Bongino fired back and could be heard shouting “go volunteer to do something!"
“I was a cop for nine years, you’re a pedophile protector, f-----!” the individual said, using a homophobic slur. “You’re a pedophile protector, f--- you, dude, f--- you!”
Raiklin was initially attributed as having been the one to confront Bongino by several prominent X users, an attribution he refuted several times.
“I wasn't the one who said that nor caused the scene,” Raiklin wrote in a social media post Sunday. “It was some former cop.”
Another clip of the encounter filmed from a different angle – shared by the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers – shows Bongino lashing out at the group, shouting “you didn’t do s—!”
Bongino has faced MAGA outrage in the wake of his resignation from the FBI over his agency’s handling of its probe into Epstein and potential co-conspirators. Despite having hyped up theories around Epstein prior to his role at the agency, he later signed off on a memo that concluded Epstein had died by suicide and that no evidence existed to prosecute potential co-conspirators of Epstein.Tom Homan scrambles to explain ICE airport duties after Trump puts him under the gun
Donald Trump’s impulsive weekend decision to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the nation’s airports to do the jobs of TSA agents not being paid by the administration, put his border czar on the spot on CNN.
Early Sunday morning, the frustrated president said ICE would pulled from their jobs grabbing immigrants off the street to help out at airports plagued by TSA sick-outs and that Homan would be responsible for getting it done.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tom Homan, who inherited former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s duties after she was fired, was pressed by host Dana Bash over training for agents who have no airport security experience .
According to Homan, it is a “work in progress” and details are still be worked out before the Monday deadline.
“Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?” the CNN host asked.
“Ice agents receive high-level training,” Homan insisted. “And, you know, ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already. They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling reports. But, you know, there's, I mean, there's a lot TSA agents covering exits, you know, people that enter through the exits. You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit that makes people don't go through those exits entering the airport, through the exits. That stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to, to reduce those lines. “
“I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that,” he admitted.
After the Trump official elaborated, “So hopefully we'll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we're working on it. And when we deploy tomorrow, we'll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” the skeptical CNN host asked, “With respect, if you're doing this in 24 hours, how well thought out could it possibly be?”
“Again, ICE has been at airports across the country for a long time. It's just expanding those things,” Homan pushed back. “Look, it does it –– how much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit, to make sure no one comes through that exit? And we're talking about security options. And these officers are well-trained in security and they're well-trained in identification. And we're going to do what we can to help TSA move those people through the line.”
- YouTube youtu.be
