News of the World

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Search Warrant Affidavit for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Home Released

The document that convinced a judge to approve a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida was made public on Aug. 26 in a heavily redacted form.

Government officials filed a copy of the search warrant affidavit, authored by an FBI agent, on orders from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
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Though Reinhart ordered the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to release a copy of the affidavit, he agreed with every single redaction proposed by the government.

In the copy released on Friday, an FBI agent whose name was withheld said the government’s investigation was triggered by a referral from the National Archives and Records Administration, which has said it identified classified records in the tranche of boxes transferred to it from Mar-a-Lago in January.

After the referral, and after the Biden administration decided to reject Trump’s privilege claims, agents reviewed the boxes from May 16 to May 18, according to the affidavit. They identified documents with classified markings in 14 of the 15 boxes, totaling 184 documents.

Some of the documents “appear to contain National Defense Information,” the agent said.

Authorities sought the warrant because they believe Trump violated several laws, including one governing the possession and transmittal of national defense information.

Trump has said he declassified many materials, including those at Mar-a-Lago. Portions of the affidavit addressed that matter, but they were redacted.
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Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the affidavit “exposes how there was significant evidence of President Trump’s cooperation, a major legal dispute about the legal status of the records believed to be in Trump’s possession, and that the FBI abusively raided his home anyway.”

‘Someone Wanted to Get Me Killed’: Rep. Greene Responds to Being ‘Swatted’ 2 Nights in a Row

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was sound asleep in her Floyd County home when the doorbell and knocks on her front door woke her up. There were flashlights and people outside her bedroom window.
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At her front porch were five police officers with their guns ready. They told the confused congresswoman that they were responding to a report of a fatal shooting at her house—a man shot five times in a bathtub, with a woman and children still in the residence—indicating violence could escalate.

“I think you got swatted,” the police told Greene after they realized what was happening. Swatting, the act of using prank calls to send tactical police to the victim’s home, is a federal crime and has previously led to serious consequences.

“So what that is is someone wanted to get me killed,” Greene said on “Capitol Report,” a program on The Epoch Times’ sister outlet NTD. “They wanted to send the police to my house, into a situation where they thought there was murder happening, in hopes the police would kill me or someone else in my home.”

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Aug. 24, would mark the first of two successive swatting attempts in 26 hours targeting Greene over her stance on transgender issues.
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Greene a week earlier had proposed a legislation called the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would make it a class C felony for anyone to knowingly perform medical treatment on a minor meant to alter their biological sex. The penalty under her bill is 10 to 25 years in prison with a maximum fine of $250,000.

US Suspends 26 Chinese Flights in Retaliation for CCP COVID Policy

The decision will affect flights to China from Los Angeles and New York City by Chinese carriers Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the move late on Aug. 25 and cited China’s recent cancellation of 26 flights by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines as the reason for the move.

The CCP revised its policies for flights entering China on Aug. 7. Under the new rules, if 4 percent or more of the passengers of a flight to China test positive for COVID-19, the flight must be suspended. If 8 percent or more test positive, then Chinese authorities suspend two flights.

USDOT told Reuters that the United States repeatedly raised objections with the CCP and said the rules place “undue culpability on carriers” since travelers can test negative before boarding their flight only to later test positive upon arrival in China.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Reuters the USDOT retaliation was “extremely irresponsible.” He added that China’s COVID-19 measures were fair and transparent.