Republican Speaker Mike Johnson slammed President Joe Biden for his decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, after announcing numerous times that he would not do so, with Johnson characterizing the decision as an “abuse” of the justice system.

John Bolton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, has called on the Senate to reject Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel for FBI Director, likening Patel to a former Soviet secret police head.

With the silent approval Amsterdam’s far-left mayor, Femke Halsema, a dangerous alliance of Muslim terrorists and far-left extremists turned the city’s streets into a hunting ground for Jews, where they had the freedom to “unleash violence and brutally beat up Jews without any consequences.” RAIR Foundation An Albanian-Dutch Muslim man in a viral TikTok video […]

“Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe,” Olaf Scholz told Ukraine’s President Zelensky. However, he did not give Volodymyr Zelensky what he wanted. The soon-to-be-gone German chancellor, who arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning after a nine-hour journey by special train, announced further arms deliveries worth €650 million ($684 million) by the […] The post Scholz in Kiev Without NATO Membership & Taurus Missiles appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

California kicked off its new legislative term in a special session on Monday focused on making plans to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom convened the special session and wants the state legislature to approve a $25 million legal defense fund for the state’s justice department. The goal of the fund would be to “Trump-proof” the state against legal challenges from the Trump administration. “The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle. California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive,” Newsom said in a statement last month announcing the special session. Several of the policies that California Democrats want “Trump-proofed” include rules that block local and state authorities from working with federal immigration enforcement, as well as rules on California’s strict standards for vehicle emissions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE California’s Democrats have banded together to promote resisting Trump. Sen. Alex Padilla appeared on CBS News on Sunday to tout Newsom’s approach to immigration. Padilla said that California would spend taxpayer funds providing legal services for illegal immigrants. “If it’s legal assistance, legal advice, legal support, that’s just the California way. We embrace our diversity. Our diversity is what has made our communities thrive and our economy thrive. And so we will assist families against the threats of the Trump administration,” Padilla said. Padilla suggested that the state would fight any attempt to deport illegal aliens who were not considered to be “violent criminals.” “If we wanted to sort of cut to the chase, you know, we’re hearing a lot of bombast from Trump and his allies about the biggest deportation operation in our country’s history, on the one hand, versus a – maybe a focus on violent criminals on the other,” he said. “Nobody – nobody disagrees with a focus on violent criminals.” Trump tore into Newsom last month after the governor began to call for passing new laws aimed at thwarting Trump’s agenda and tying up federal action in court. The president-elect said in a post on Truth Social that Newsom and other California Democrats are driving residents out of the state through “INSANE POLICY DECISIONS.” “Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California. For the first time ever, more people are leaving than are coming in,” Trump said in the post. “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”

Plans for battery factories in Indiana will be one step closer to reality thanks to a nearly $7 billion loan announced by the Biden administration on Monday. The $6.85 billion loan will go to StarPlus, a joint venture between the U.S. auto manufacturer Stellantis and South Korean company Samsung SDI, The New York Times reported. President Joe Biden, who will leave office in less than two months, has given multiple loans to car manufacturers for electric vehicle battery plants, seeking to further his climate agenda. The Biden administration’s announcement comes after Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares suddenly resigned on Sunday, citing “different views” between him and the board of directors. The company has underperformed financial expectations this year, and its sales have struggled, according to CNBC. The Biden administration also announced last week that it is lending EV manufacturer Rivian $6 billion for a factory in Georgia. Rivian, which began producing EVs in the fall of 2021, has struggled to make money. The EV company was worth $150 billion three years ago but is now worth around $10 billion, The New York Post reported. The StarPlus battery plants in Indiana will produce batteries for 670,000 vehicles per year and employ around 3,000 people, according to the Department of Energy. Stellantis owns major American car brands Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram. It also owns Fiat and Peugeot. The factories “will greatly expand E.V. battery manufacturing capacity in North America and reduce America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China,” the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office said in a statement, according to the Times. Since taking office, Biden has pushed to ensure that half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 are electric, offering Americans tax credits to purchase EVs. With President-elect Donald Trump taking over on January 20, 2025, however, those tax credits and EV incentives could be thrown out as Trump has signaled his opposition to them. Tesla CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk said earlier this year that he also supports getting rid of the EV tax credit, saying, “Taking[ing] away the subsidies … will only help Tesla.” The loan agreements between the federal government and Rivian and StarPlus are expected to be finalized before Trump takes office, and the contracts will be binding. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Despite the Biden administration’s push for more EV sales, vehicle demand remains low. A report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. published earlier this year found that 46% of Americans who bought an EV regret switching from a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle. The Biden administration has loaned $34 billion to car companies such as Stellantis, Rivian, and Ford to produce low-emission or zero-emission vehicles.

President-elect Donald Trump issued a fiery statement on Monday afternoon, calling on Hamas to release the hostages the terrorist group has been holding for more than a year or face serious consequences. Trump posted the statement on Truth Social after the Israel Defense Forces said that American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra — who for months was thought to be alive in Hamas captivity — was killed on October 7, 2023, and his body has been held by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The president-elect said that it’s time for more action to bring home the hostages. “Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!” he wrote. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” Neutra was an Israeli tank platoon commander in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday that Israel would “act resolutely and tirelessly until we return all of our hostages.” Around 50 hostages, including six Americans, are still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, along with 50 dead hostages, The Jerusalem Post reported. In its October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel, Hamas killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 others. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Trump and his transition team have taken credit for the ceasefire brokered between Israel and Hezbollah. Trump’s national security adviser pick Mike Waltz said last week, “Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.” Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to push for an end to the war in the Middle East, saying it’s time to “get back to peace and stop killing people.” Trump was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term and brokered the Abraham Accords, bilateral agreements signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain.

An old video of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) talking about the need for Congress to have transparency when it came to presidential pardons went viral on social media after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter from federal crimes on Sunday. Years ago, when there was speculation that then-President Donald Trump might pardon attorney Michael Cohen and others mired in the Russia investigation, Schiff unveiled a bill called the “Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act” that sought to “prevent this President or any other from abusing the pardon power for their own personal benefit or to obstruct justice.” The bill would “require that if the President pardons someone in connection with an investigation in which the President or one of his family members is a target, subject, or witness, the evidence against recipient of the pardon would be provided by the Department of Justice to Congress,” according to a press release. Schiff and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced versions of the bill in their respective chambers, but the legislation has never made it out of Congress. In an April 2018 clip he shared to Twitter (now X), Schiff discussed his legislation with now-former CNN anchor Don Lemon and made the case for how Congress should be able to “find out whether the president is using this power to shield himself from liability.” If the President issues a pardon in a case in which he or his family are implicated, the American people need to know whether it is part of an attempt to obstruct justice. This bill would make that possible and serve as a powerful deterrent. pic.twitter.com/kvIeORqvC3 — Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) April 19, 2018 Schiff added in the post: “If the President issues a pardon in a case in which he or his family are implicated, the American people need to know whether it is part of an attempt to obstruct justice. This bill would make that possible and serve as a powerful deterrent.” Years later, people began to share the post and video after Biden announced on Sunday that he signed off on an extensive pardon covering any crimes that Hunter “has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE While the pardon immediately nixed the First Son’s gun and tax crimes, it also covered a lengthy time span, including the period when Hunter had foreign business affairs in the works — dealings that later became part of the corruption-focused impeachment inquiry against President Biden and could be the subject of future investigations during the incoming second Trump administration. Schiff, who won a U.S. Senate seat in the 2024 election, got an earful from some of his GOP colleagues who will control both chambers of Congress in the next term. “This aged like milk,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). “(D)ouble standards.” quipped Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). “Given Joe Biden’s unprecedented pardon of his son Hunter, granting blanket immunity… do you still believe this [Schiff]?” asked Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), adding, “Or is it rules for thee but not for me?”

More than 1,000 illegal migrants in New York City are likely gang members who are free to roam the streets, new federal data shows. A total of 1,053 migrants in the Big Apple are “suspected or known gang members,” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data obtained by the New York Post. The city is still groaning under an influx of more than 223,000 illegal migrants over than past two years. An eye-popping 759,218 people who crossed the border illegally were living in the city as of November 17, according to federal authorities. Of those migrants, 58,626 have been convicted of crimes or had criminal charges pending, ICE data shows. Members of the brutal Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua try to recruit migrant children in city-run shelters, the NYPD believes. “We have 39 members of TDA that have been identified and we have an additional four members that have been identified of a subgroup called Little Devils of 42nd Street. Those are much younger kids,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. Migrants have also made headlines for attacking police officers. Earlier this month, two migrants, one with a loaded AR-15, scuffled with police and were arrested. One was released without bail, and the other was sent to Rikers Island on a $25,000 bond, which he posted. In February, another migrant gave the middle finger to cameras when he was released after allegedly beating NYPD officers with a mob in Times Square. New York City has scrambled to house and feed the hundreds of thousands of new migrants, opening hundreds of emergency shelters. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has been clear that the crisis is an unsustainable emergency. “This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams said last year. “We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month. … Every community in this city is going to be impacted.” Adams threatened to dramatically slash the city’s budget, freezing police hiring, cutting school funding, and closing libraries on Sundays, but many of those cuts were reversed as the city received more state funding and started forcing migrants out of free housing after a certain period. The city has already spent about $5 billion on the migrant crisis and is projected to spend up to $12 billion through September of next year. Across the country, there are now nearly 7.8 million illegal migrants, federal data shows. Of those, a total of 662,586, just around 8.6% have been convicted of crimes or have charges pending, according to ICE data through July 21. President-elect Donald Trump’s appointed “border czar” Tom Homan claimed the number is much higher — he said there are “over 1.5 million convicted criminal aliens in this country with orders for removal who we’ll be looking for.” The second Trump administration has plans for a massive deportation operation to remove criminal illegal migrants.

U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) announced that a staffer for Democrat Rep. Joe Morelle (NY) was arrested on Monday for bringing ammunition into the Cannon House Office Building. USCP announced the arrest of 38-year-old Michael Hopkins, who serves as the communications director for Morelle, on charges of unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine. “At approximately 8:45 a.m., a House staffer entered the Cannon House Office Building and put his bag through screening,” USCP said in a statement. USCP officers noticed on the x-ray screen that there appeared to be ammunition in his bag. “After a hand search of the bag, officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition,” the statement said. “The staffer told the officers that he forgot the ammunition was in the bag.” NEW details on the arrest of a staffer for Rep. Joe Morelle: Michael Hopkins, Morelle’s comms director, was arrested after Capitol Police found ammunition in his bag when going through the metal detectors, USCP spox says. He faces charges for unlawful possession of ammunition. pic.twitter.com/f0QAvIX8ck — Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) December 2, 2024 Morelle’s office said in a statement that they were notified by USCP about the incident. “We are currently gathering more information regarding the circumstances of the arrest,” Morelle’s office said. “Our office is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation. As Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, Congressman Morelle is devoted to ensuring a safe and secure workplace for all.” In 2021, a staffer pled not guilty after being arrested for allegedly bringing a loaded handgun into the Longworth U.S. House Office Building. “The United States Capitol Police (USCP) said Friday it took more time than initially believed to track down and arrest a staffer suspected of bringing a handgun into the Longworth House Office Building,” according to Axios. USCP took approximately four minutes to lockdown the building and an additional eight minutes to locate the staffer after he had already passed through the metal detectors with the handgun.