Author: adler

A source from ICE informed Fox News Digital that the suspect in a mass shooting, who is now on the loose in Texas, had been deported five times. The man is accused of murdering five neighbors, reportedly in an execution-style attack on Friday night after they complained about him using a gun on his property.
The 38-year-old Mexican national Francisco Oropesa is wanted for the quintuple homicide in Cleveland, Texas, a suburb of Houston, according to the FBI, which said that officials had “no leads” in their hunt for him.

Here are the newest images of Francisco Oropesa and a prominent tattoo on his left forearm.
Going forward, the subject’s last name will be spelled “Oropesa” to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems. This remains a fluid investigation. #ClevelandTXShooting pic.twitter.com/ZWUu0FqoMF
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) April 30, 2023

RELATED: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Begs Texas Governor Abbott to Stop Sending Illegal Aliens to Her Sanctuary City
Reward Offered
Now offering a combined $80,000 reward for information leading to his capture is the Texas governor’s office, state agencies, and the FBI.
According to FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge James Smith, “We do not know where he is, which is why we’ve come up with this reward.” Smith also said that he is certain that Oropesa has contacted people since being on the run, but they need to know who.
Another ICE source told Fox News Digital that Oropesa had previously entered the nation illegally “multiple” times after his deportations and was doing so at the time of the incident. The source also said that ICE last came into contact with Oropesa in 2016.
On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Chuck Todd mentioned that there was a question about Oropesa having a “consulate card, meaning he was here legally, but perhaps he had overstayed?” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas replied to Todd that he wouldn’t “comment” on Oropesa’s immigration status.
“I won’t comment on it because it is an active case,” Mayorkas retorted.
A big tattoo of a lady wearing a headdress was seen on one of Oropesa’s arms in one of the fresh four photographs of his face that the FBI published.

Authorities are now offering an $80,000 reward for any information leading to the capture of Francisco Oropesa. He’s accused of killing five neighbors, including an eight-year-old boy, after a noise complaint in rural Texas. @MattRiversABC has more. https://t.co/B3FAFSEdNy pic.twitter.com/rvnqsJBQ2a
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) April 30, 2023

RELATED: Biden to Expand Entry Into U.S. Ahead of Title 42 Ending
Latest Updates from Law Enforcement
Greg Capers, sheriff of San Jacinto County, stated on Saturday night that “he could be anywhere now” and that the size of the investigation’s perimeter had increased from 5 to 20 square miles, depending on whether or not the highline wire had been crossed.
In addition to clothes and an abandoned mobile phone, tracking canines from the Texas Department of Correction “picked up a scent and then… lost that scent in the water,” the sheriff said.
Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 9, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, have been named as the victims.
They were getting ready to contact the police when they asked Oropesa to stop firing his AR-15 in his yard since it was late and their 1-month-old baby couldn’t sleep, according to Wilson Garcia, who lost his wife and son in the shooting.
But before they could react, Oropesa broke inside their house and began firing.  Garcia said, “I never thought he would shoot,” adding that Oropesa had previously attempted to shoot him but missed. Then, searching for people, he went from room to room.
In an apparent effort to protect the children from the gunfire, two women were also discovered sleeping on top of the three survivors.
Reprinted with permission. View this story and more on WayneDupree.com.
The post Texas Manhunt Still Underway for Illegal Alien Suspect in Shooting That Killed 5, Including 9-Year-Old appeared first on The Political Insider.

By Dr. Derek Ellerman
Let’s get something out of the way here: this new perpetual slogan from Democrats about everything being an “attack on democracy” is balderdash.
When you hear that phrase, all you’re hearing is someone who is upset that their side didn’t win on this or that issue.
And of course, it’s almost universally a projection – the old “Accusation in a Mirror” trick.
The latest case in point comes from former Senator Al Franken. Just the mere fact that Al Franken was an actual, twice-elected member of the Senate of the United States of America tells you how insane this country has become.
At any rate, Franken was rolled out to join in on the Democrats’ newest attack on democracy: delegitimizing the Supreme Court.

Why aren’t all Democratic Senators and Biden pressuring Feinstein to resign? They sure ganged up on Al Franken.
— drlearnalot, RL voodoo doll (@DrLearnALot) April 27, 2023

RELATED: Biden to ‘Lean Into’ Abortion Big Time in 2024 Race
Franken Attacks Democracy
In a very dangerous attack on our democracy, Franken sat down with the Washington Post’s Dan Balz to help erode the legitimacy of our institutions.
First, he attacked the Court for “gerrymandering.” It’s a common, if ineffective line of attack trotted out by the Democrats every few years – but only to attack red states.
You’ll never hear, for example, Al Franken talk about Chicago’s Congressional Districts.
But the real attacks came later:
“The Supreme Court, to me is illegitimate the way they didn’t take up [Merrick] Garland and on saying, ‘It’s an election year,’ and then they of course put in [Amy] Coney Barrett like eight days before the election. Then of course Dobbs and abortion, you know… but it’s more than that.”
Let’s take each in turn:
As for Garland, his behavior since becoming the Attorney General proves he shouldn’t have ever been within a country mile of a courtroom, let alone judge’s robes.
That’s besides the point though; there is no constitutional requirement that the Senate act as a rubber stamp for the Executive Branch’s judicial nominees.
In fact, it’s the literal opposite. The President is not a King. Congress is an equal branch of government, as is the judiciary. It’s Congress’ prerogative to approve, deny, or ignore nominees entirely. Period.
As for the Dobbs decision that overturned the incorrect Roe decision, what is there to say?
The Roe decision was utterly preposterous on every level, and was overturned by the Court. Isn’t that their job? Don’t Democrats (and Republicans) insist that the Court’s job includes judicial review – something that doesn’t appear in the Constitution?
It’s not the job of the Court to invent new rights out of whole cloth. Dobbs was the correct decision, one that would vastly increase the Court’s legitimacy in a serious country that actually cared about the law.
Put it this way. Even former Tea Party congressman-turned-fanatic Never Trumper and Republican-hater Joe Walsh couldn’t stomach Franken’s Putin-like assault on our democracy:

You’re free to say what u want, but to call the SCOTUS “illegitimate” is dangerous. Say the Court is partisan, ideological, say their rulings are wrong. But to call the Court “illegitimate” is no different than calling election results you don’t like “illegitimate.” @alfranken. https://t.co/n1MijzXqSf
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 1, 2023

RELATED: GOP Donors, Including Thomas Pafferty, Reportedly Abandon DeSantis for Being Too Pro-Life
Franken Blames Roberts
The hell of it is, even when Democrats are right, they’re wrong.
Franken takes left-wing, Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts to task and lays the blame at his feet.
Which is where any questions about legitimacy should land – but of course, for the exact opposite reasons Franken would no doubt give, given enough time:
“I think the Chief Justice is actually much more culpable for this division than people think,” Franken said before breaking down some of Justice Roberts previous votes. “I think Roberts is much more the villain in this than people give him credit for. So that’s just my opinion.”
Yeah, let’s look at some of those votes, shall we?
Roberts has sided with the liberals in opposition to the Constitution many times since becoming Chief Justice.
Just a few:

Obamacare. Who could forget?
Blocking Trump’s effort to get the citizenship question on the census
Mail-in voting
Letting ‘Dreamers’ stay in the country

Run a quick Google search of “John Roberts sides with liberals” and you will find many more.
The truth is, aside from Dobbs, most people probably couldn’t name a single time that the Court actually upheld the Constitution or sided with the right on any issue. Maybe Heller?
Franken’s complaint, despite all the rhetoric he uses to dress it up, is merely that the Supreme Court ruled against his wishes one time in his lifetime.
And that, my friends, is what they mean by “democracy.” Their way, or no way.
You don’t have to believe me. Here he was less than two weeks ago praising the Court because it went his way:

Gotta hand it to Thomas & Alito. SCOTUS justices much better qualified to judge the safety & efficacy of a drug on the market for over 20 yrs than the arrogant scientists in the FDA. https://t.co/CpCAqowJ3z
— Al Franken (@alfranken) April 21, 2023

Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”

The post Al Franken Crawls Out of His Hole to Attack Democracy, Calling Supreme Court ‘Illegitimate’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

By William Haupt III (The Center Square)
“The poor of the world cannot be made rich by the redistribution of wealth.” – P. J. O’Rourke
The mortgage interest deduction is one of the oldest and largest tax expenditures in the federal government. It is the largest federal subsidy for owner-occupied housing. Homeowners are also able to deduct residential property taxes and exclusion of tax on the first $250,000 ($500,000 for joint returns) of capital gains on housing.
That is why politicians sink money into housing markets when the economy is struggling. And that is also why every American has a desire to buy a home.
RELATED: Biden Sending Another $1 Billion of Your Money to Other Countries – This Time to Fight Climate Change
After his victory in the 1984 presidential election, President Ronald Reagan made simplification of the tax code his goal during his second term. Working with Democrat House Speaker Tip O’Neill, Reagan was able to sell his proposal to the Democratic Congress, which didn’t want such a radical reworking of the federal tax code. Reagan’s objective was to simplify the tax code, which would remove six million lower-income middle class Americans from the federal tax base completely.
The act lowered federal income tax rates, and reduced the top tax rate from 50% to 28%. The act expanded the earned income credit, the standard deduction, and the personal exemption. The tax act eliminated a number of write-offs but lowered tax rates with a higher personal exemption. It eliminated most consumer interest write offs but it retained the home mortgage interest deduction.
Although people whimpered and moaned about losing their credit card interest and car loan write-offs, Reagan leveled the playing field for those who take the short form just as Donald Trump did with his tax cuts. With over half of the people taking the short form, they benefited most.
“I am the only president who ever raised his own tax rate so other people could pay less.” – Donald Trump
For years, politicians from both parties, for the most part, respected homeowners and their ability to write off mortgage interest. Some even went too far such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Carter claimed “homeownership was an American right not a privilege earned though hard work.” While Bill Clinton helped create a chaotic mess of creative financing that collapsed the industry in 2007.
RELATED: AOC, Democrats Reintroduce ‘Green New Deal’
During the darkest days of the Great Recession, the Fed went overboard with quantitative easing, and lowered the prime rate to “zero” to pump up the housing market. Fed Chair Janet Yellen floated Obama’s recovery with zero interest rates for eight years. Since the Fed was giving money away, home sales and prices took off like a cat running form a rocking chair.
“We invested a huge sum of money into housing to help end the recession and it didn’t cost Americans a dime.” – Barack Obama
The Fed did not start raising interest rates until Donald Trump took office. Before the pandemic, his economy was booming. Black and Hispanic employment was the highest in history and the rate of unemployment was the lowest in decades. Even though the Fed started raising the prime interest rate, home sales and prices continued to soar. This lasted until the pandemic shut the nation down.
Since Biden took office, he has been spending money like a Vegas high roller. But the difference between the “high roller” and Biden is, when the gambler runs out of money he knows it is time to quit gambling. On the other hand, Joe Biden has an endless bankroll; the Fed and the taxpayers. Besides record high inflation and energy prices, he has increased entitlement spending by 41%. According to recent figures from the CBO, Biden has added nearly $10 trillion in new debt to our nation’s deficit. Jason Smith, head of the House Budget Committee, says, “Washington Democrats have embarked on a massive, reckless spending spree that has driven consumer prices up 13.7% since Joe Biden took office and is leading Americans into an economic recession. After 19 months of this Administration, it’s clear that President Biden is all talk and no action on deficit reduction.”
Although liberal media has downplayed Biden’s spending, with the Fed cutting the money supply, Biden is looking under every rock for spare change to keep spending. Biden gave the IRS the OK to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to squeeze every extra dime he can out of the American taxpayer.
“Too many fat cats have not been paying their fair share of taxes for too long a time.” – Joe Biden
Biden has just revealed a scheme to help finance his spending and redistribute the wealth and misery for American taxpayers. For the first time in the history of this nation, Biden plans to make home buyers with high credit scores and those buying better homes pay a penalty for having good credit and too much money. He wants to redistribute their wealth so he can make them miserable.
RELATED: Outrage Continues Over Biden Rule to Charge Higher Fees to Home Buyers With Better Credit
NewsNation reported Biden’s spread the wealth rule goes into effect on May 1, 2023, at the start of the spring buying season. Buyers with a credit score of 680 or higher will pay $40 a month more for a $400,000 loan than people with worse scores. This group will also see a huge spike in the cost of mortgages. The biggest increase will be for those who put down 15% to 20% when they buy a home.
According to HUD, the higher fees imposed on borrowers with high credit scores is the best way to subsidize those with low credit scores. Their goal is to increase homeownership across the country with these penalties. But the Federal Housing Authority, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, fears this scheme will backfire and repeat what happened in 2007, and make matters worse.
“Why mess with something that works and screw it up? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” – Bert Lance
A loan officer at Bay Equity Home Loans in San Francisco said, “The changes do not make sense. Penalizing borrowers with larger down payments and credit scores will not go over well. It will over-complicate things for consumers during a process that is already overwhelming with the amount of paperwork, jargon, etc. Confusing the borrower is not a good idea no matter what you are selling.”
Former Obama housing consultant David Stevens said, “I am all for the first-time buyer having a chance to get into the market. But it’s clear these decisions aren’t being made by folks that do not understand the mortgage process. This confusing approach won’t work! Additionally it came at the worse time for an industry whose buyers are struggling with record high inflation and regulation!”
James Madison told us, “The government is not a charity.” Biden’s scheme is déjà vu of Carter and Clinton that blew up the housing market in 2007. Soon, banks will be forced by government quotas to make risky, creative loans to get more identity groups into homes at the expense of taxpayers. Democrats never learned that loaning money to those who can’t pay it back is a recipe for failure.
RELATED: The Economy Should Be an Albatross Around Biden’s Neck – But Will It Be?
This is just another liberal scheme to redistribute wealth; nothing more. Like last time the housing market blew up the economy, liberal media blamed the evil banks who were forced to loan money to people who could not pay it back. Will they blame Joe Biden for it this time? Don’t count on it.
“Reaching into one’s own pockets to help a fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. But reaching into someone else’s pocket is despicable and worthy of condemnation.” – Walter Williams
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
The post Biden Finds a New Way to Redistribute Wealth… and Misery appeared first on The Political Insider.

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of State announced unprecedented policies to expand entry to the United States while also claiming the border is closed ahead of the public health authority Title 42 ending on May 11.
The new policies, they said, will “further reduce unlawful migration across the Western Hemisphere, significantly expand lawful pathways for protection, and facilitate the safe, orderly, and humane processing of migrants.”
RELATED: Nearly 270,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways at Southern Border in March
The Title 42 public health order is set to expire 11:59 PM EST on May 11. Implemented under former President Donald Trump, Title 42 allowed border agents to immediately expel foreign nationals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lifting the order “does not mean the border is open,” the statement says.
When Title 42 is lifted, it claims federal agents “will return to using Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully.”
The announcement claims Title 8 authority violations “carry steep consequences for unlawful entry, including at least a five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecution for repeated attempts to enter unlawfully,” even though over a million people with deportation orders haven’t been deported because of new policies instituted by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
While the statement claims “the border is not open,” the new policies are being implemented in coordination with the governments of Mexico, Canada, Spain, Colombia and Guatemala to expand entry to the United States “through a combination of expanded lawful pathways.”
RELATED: HHS Whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas Testifies, Warns U.S. is ‘Middleman’ in Human Trafficking Operation
One “legal pathway” includes expanding access to the CBPOne App. Foreign nationals from Central and Northern Mexico can schedule an appointment using the app to present themselves at a port of entry to be processed by Border Patrol with the expectation of being released into the U.S. “CBPOne will make additional appointments available, and the use of this tool will enable safe, orderly, and humane processing,” according to the policy.
Another includes a new family reunification parole process for citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia to enter the U.S, as well as for Cubans and Haitians. “Vetted individuals with already approved family-based petitions” will be released into the U.S. through this new system, which may conflict with an order given by a federal judge in Florida, who ruled against Mayorkas’ parole policy.
Another includes doubling the number of refugees allowed entry into the U.S. from the western hemisphere – “welcoming thousands of additional refugees per month” – through processing efficiencies and increasing resources and staffing to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The U.S. will continue to accept up to 30,000 individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, or 120,000 total, through its expanded parole policy.
To facilitate “access to lawful pathways” to foreign nationals to enter the U.S. bypassing immigration laws established by Congress, the federal government is opening regional processing centers for the first time in U.S. history outside of the United States.
RELATED: Where Did All the Biden Illegal Immigrants Go? Sanctuary Cities Like New York Are Only Part of the Answer
The first processing centers will be opened in Colombia and Guatemala. Citizens of these countries can make an appointment on their phone to meet with an immigration specialist to help them be processed before they ever arrive to the U.S.
DHS is also dedicating $15 million to its Case Management Pilot Program to provide voluntary case management and other services to noncitizens to increase compliance with court dates and accelerate processing times to help them stay in the U.S.
The agencies also announced they were implementing enforcement measures, but since DHS has repeatedly been sued over the past three years for failing to enforce existing federal law, critics question the credibility of the claim.
Critics also argue the agencies are likely to be sued because the policies appear to directly conflict with laws established by Congress.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
The post Biden to Expand Entry Into U.S. Ahead of Title 42 Ending appeared first on The Political Insider.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott ‘beseeching’ him to stop sending illegal immigrants to Chicago.
The letter comes as Abbott is prepared to send even more to the Windy City on Monday.
It’s part of the border state governor’s attempts to raise awareness of the border crisis while calling out so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ that have suggested they would welcome the illegal immigrants with open arms.
Lightfoot referred to Abbott’s actions as “inhumane and dangerous” while suggesting Chicago is a welcoming city with her main point of contention being the lack of coordination from Texas officials.
Because Texas gets the courtesy of coordination as illegal aliens rush the border under the Biden administration?
Lightfoot maintains that Chicago has had to care for roughly 8,000 illegal aliens since Texas started busing them to blue cities but has “no more shelters, spaces, or resources” to manage another group.

Today, @chicagosmayor sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott urging his administration to stop the inhumane and dangerous action of bussing migrants to Chicago.
We are aware that Texas is planning to resume bussing individuals and families to cities including Chicago. pic.twitter.com/jvBYygcH9A
— Ryan Johnson (@Ryan_Johnson) April 30, 2023

RELATED: Texas Now Sending Illegal Immigrants to Chicago, Abbott Taunts Lightfoot About Them Being Welcomed In Sanctuary City
Lori Lightfoot Begs Greg Abbott to Stop Sending Illegal Aliens
As per usual with Democrats, Lightfoot is directing her anger at the wrong individual. If she really cared about the well-being of illegal immigrants and the people in her city, she’d have sent a letter to President Biden requesting he do something about the influx at the border.
Instead, she hilariously begs Abbott to stop asking her city to shoulder a small fraction of the problem. And she falsely accuses Abbott of creating the humanitarian crisis that in reality was created by Biden.
“I know by your actions that you either do not see or do not care about the trauma these migrants have already faced and continue to suffer under the humanitarian crisis you have created,” Lightfoot wrote.
“But I beseech you anyway: treat these individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve. To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanely bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice.”
On that, we can agree. Helping anybody go to a garbage city with a skyrocketing murder rate run by liberals does seem rather cruel. The illegal aliens might be better off back in their home country.

Democrats voted for the open border & mass migration. I thought y’all were tolerant of migrants. Ironic how now you all are showing your true colors.
— Juan Mendoza Díaz (@JuanMoreNews) May 1, 2023

RELATED: Woman Attacked in Chicago by Mob of Teens Speaks Out
Lightfoot: We’ll Always Accept Illegal Immigrants  – Until We Actually Have To
It’s impossible to overstate just how much of a hypocrite Lori Lightfoot is when it comes to illegal immigrants in her city. She has consistently bragged about Chicago’s ‘sanctuary city’ status.
“We are a city that is a sanctuary city. We have immigrants from all over the world who call Chicago their home,” she has previously said.
“They’ll continue to do that, and we’re going to continue to make sure that this is truly a welcoming community for those immigrants and we want them to come to the city of Chicago.”
About a year later Lightfoot contended: “We will never, ever, ever, retreat from the fact that we are a welcoming sanctuary city, and we stand with our immigrant and refugee communities.”

Lightfoot: Feds have previously told Chicago to abandon its Sanctuary City status to get funds for fighting crime. “We will never, ever, ever retreat from the fact that we are a welcoming sanctuary city and we stand with our immigrant and refugee communities. That is who we …
— Kelly Bauer (@BauerJournalism) July 22, 2020

Never, ever, ever came and went awfully fast.
Abbott, as reported by The Political Insider, began bussing illegal immigrants to Chicago in September of last year and challenged Lightfoot to walk the walk.
“To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location,” Abbott said in a statement.
“Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.”

Dozens of migrants arrived in Chicago overnight after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added Chicago to his list of “sanctuary city” bus drop-off locations. @nicksmithnews is at the drop-off spot, and says officials are preparing for more busloads to arrive.
MORE: https://t.co/LxzslNflev pic.twitter.com/v9Cim76d7I
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) September 1, 2022

As with many Democrat politicians, they can talk a good game to get the votes, but they can’t deliver when it’s actually necessary.
Lightfoot recently became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose re-election. She leaves the office in two weeks.

Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”

The post Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Begs Texas Governor Abbott to Stop Sending Illegal Aliens to Her Sanctuary City appeared first on The Political Insider.

Contrary to what the poets may paint about the world, love does not make this blue orb called Earth go ’round. Instead, money is the fuel that powers our monstrous machine, and where that money comes from matters little to those who wish to carve out their piece of the pie.
One of the most prominent players in this game was the mighty and influential Jeffrey Epstein. While some mysteries surrounding this profoundly sinister man may never be solved, we have some new information that shines a light on how accepting those in power are of convicted child sexual predators.
Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, we now have some insight into the daily meetings between Epstein and the big names of politics, finance, and other industries of importance. So let’s look at who found time to pencil the most controversial and mysterious man of sexual depravity into their calendars.

Why did the head of the CIA meet with Epstein AFTER he was a convicted sex offender?
You know why.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 1, 2023

Mentorship Meetings?
Epstein’s calendar was quite illuminating, even with its inherent limitations. For example, the calendar didn’t show if meetings did happen or if they had been canceled, and the entries were vague on purpose.
However, what we do know is that some liberal bigwigs certainly enjoyed the audience of Epstein regularly enough to raise eyebrows. For example, take the current Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director, William Burns.
President Joe Biden nominated William Burns for his current position as head spook of the nation, but before then, he had met with Epstein multiple times in Washington D.C and at Epstein’s home in Manhattan, New York. At the time, Mr. Burns was the deputy secretary of state but was allegedly looking for tips on transitioning out of the government sector.
RELATED: Will We Ever Know Who Was On the Epstein Client List?
Who better to ask than one of the country’s most connected and wealthy men?
When questioned about his relationship with Epstein, CIA spokeswoman Tammy Thorp said:
“The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector.”
It’s hard to believe that Mr. Burns, a highly connected man already, knew nothing about the famous pedophile, given his widely covered conviction of a child sex crime in 2008, well before his scheduled meetings. So either Mr. Burns was woefully uninformed or is lying – either option is pretty terrible.

Biden’s CIA chief met with Epstein after sex crime convictions, private calendar reveals.
Not 1. Not 2. But 3 times.
Nothing to see here.https://t.co/0WaQyPwqdK
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 30, 2023

How Embarrassing
In addition to Mr. Burns, Epstein frequently met with Obama administration lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler. After meeting with Epstein up to a dozen times, Ms. Ruemmler landed a big-time job with Goldman Sachs – I think it’s fair to assume her buddy Epstein probably had a hand in that employment.
Fascinatingly, Ms. Ruemmler didn’t just have scheduled meetings with Epstein; he had planned for her to travel to Paris with him in 2015 and to his famous private Caribbean island in 2017. While it appears she never made those trips, if I were Ms. Ruemmler, I’d be mortified to have that information come out.
In a tasty bit of irony, Ms. Ruemmler is Goldman Sachs’s reputational risk committee co-chair. So what does this committee do?
RELATED: Bill Clinton Confronted by Reporter About His Relationship to Jeffrey Epstein
It’s in charge of ensuring decisions related to employees of Goldman Sachs and their clients won’t damage the bank’s image. But I suppose Ms. Ruemmler’s prior relationship with a convicted sex offender isn’t going to affect Goldman Sachs’s image; once you reach a certain level of power, you’re basically Teflon. 
So what excuses did people give for meeting with a man who had been convicted of procuring a child for prostitution? I mean, the guy was rich; what else do you need?

With the news today that Jeffrey Epstein met with Joe Biden’s current CIA Chief, William Burns, after his child sex crime convictions, it’s important to also remember that when Epstein was serving his first jail sentence, which started in 2006, he sent his bodyguard to CIA… pic.twitter.com/sLZevDkOZ0
— LIZ CROKIN (@LizCrokin) April 30, 2023

Explaining It Away
Many of those on the calendar told the Wall Street Journal that they visited Epstein because he was rich and had connections. So much for principles.
If someone has enough money and an extensive enough Rolodex, the elites of this country are more than happy to sell their souls to the devil. Others claimed that Epstein had served his time and been rehabilitated for his evil ways. 
Because child sex offenders and predators are well known for their ability to turn a new page.
Another calendar entry, for the famous left-wing political activist Noam Chomsky, was excused away with the following:
“What was known about Jeffrey Epstein was that he had been convicted of a crime and had served his sentence. According to U.S. laws and norms, that yields a clean slate.”
RELATED: Judge Who Signed Mar-A-Lago Warrant Defended Jeffrey Epstein Employees, Donated To Obama
The crime Mr. Chomsky alludes to is the accusation Epstein faced in 2006 and was later convicted of sexually abusing girls as young as 14 in Florida. So it’s not as if Epstein was convicted of petty theft or a financial crime wrongly viewed as victimless.
However, Mr. Chomsky is correct; if you are powerful enough in this country, you get a clean slate no matter your crime. On the flip side, if you don’t fit into the political class that wields the most influence according to U.S. norms you are guilty even when there is no proof.

In case you haven’t figured it out, Epstein was a CIA asset. The rest of the story is rather pedestrian but crucial to understanding the last 3 years if not the last 10. or more. pic.twitter.com/aId1viDVXG
— Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) April 30, 2023

The Epstein Curse
Epstein’s influence is more comprehensive than perhaps anyone else in this country, even after his alleged suicide. I’d argue that you could probably do a similar game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon but call it Three Degrees of Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein rubbed elbows with all sorts of bigwigs from Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, and of course, the master of sleaze himself – Bill Clinton. Epstein clocked in a total of 17 visits to the White House between 1993 and 1995.
Recently top Clinton adviser Mark Middleton was found dead, hanging from a tree with an electrical cord tied around his throat. Bizarrely though, a shotgun was found 30 feet away from the swinging Middleton. 
{“ajaxEndpoint”:”https://thepoliticalinsider.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=totalpoll”,”behaviours”:{“ajax”:true,”scrollUp”:false,”async”:true},”effects”:{“transition”:”fade”,”duration”:”500″},”i18n”:{“Previous”:”Previous”,”Next”:”Next”,”of”:”of”,”Something went wrong! Please try again.”:”Something went wrong! Please try again.”}}

POLL: Do you believe Epstein was an intelligence agent?

Yes

No

Unsure

Email By voting, you agree to receive email communication from The Political Insider. Click HERE for more information.

ResultsVote

Could it be that Mr. Middleton’s death had something to do with the fact that he had signed Epstein into the White House three times during the Clinton administration? If I were Mr. Burns or Ms. Ruemmler, I’d avoid any overhead structures that can withstand their weight. 
Will the curse of Epstein strike again now that his calendar is out? We shall have to see. 
One thing is clear, we may never know who participated in Epstein’s illegal activity, but we do know that the well-to-do of this nation are willing to meet with anyone – provided they can personally benefit from it. 

The central question remains:
Was Jeffrey Epstein a *construct* of the intelligence community, who as state sponsored predator cannot be investigated by news media cooperating with government for “reasons of national security.”
That should sound crazier than it does today: pic.twitter.com/A52RZSeTu9
— Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) April 30, 2023

Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”

The post Jeffrey Epstein’s Calendar Shows Overall Acceptance of Debauchery By the Elite appeared first on The Political Insider.