In a brilliant evaluation of her congressional voting record, while weathering the storm of the national resistance narrative, Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (VA-10) said, “I am my own woman and I fight for the priorities of my district.”
Northern Shenandoah Valley Concerned About Being Left Out Of I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan
Given the entire length of I-81 in Virginia (325 miles) and the approximate amount of accidents on it every year (2,000), there are around six accidents per mile every year on the interstate. In Frederick County, there are 50 percent more accidents per mile per year, with more than nine accidents.
More Suspicious Packages Found Addressed To Government And Elected Officials
Following Wednesday morning’s multiple incidents of “potential explosive devices” found at the residences of former President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, and at the headquarters of CNN at the Time Warner Center in downtown Manhattan, more devices and suspicious packages have been found addressed to current and former government officials and elected leaders.
Additional packages have been found addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). Authorities are also investigating a suspicious package addressed to ex-CIA chief John Brennan, NBC reports. The package is said to appear similar to the one which forced an evacuation of the Time Warner Center.
The device at the Time Warner Center was found in the building’s mail room and was addressed to “John Brennan c/o CNN,” however, Brennan does not work at CNN, and is a contributor at MSNBC.
The return address on the packages containing explosive devices was listed as Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-23), who was also the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. The suspicious package sent to the congresswoman’s Florida office was intended for Holder, but had the wrong address, thus was sent to her office, law enforcement officials said. They added that it was the same return address for the packages sent to both Obama and Clinton.
Earlier this week, a package sent to billionaire and Democratic mega-donor George Soros also had the return address of Wasserman-Schultz, but the package was believed to have been hand delivered and placed in his mailbox. NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the device appeared to be a “live explosive,” which resembled a pipe bomb. As well, there was an envelope with white powder in the original packaging, which is currently being tested for its contents.
The San Diego office of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) was also evacuated this morning after at least five “suspicious packages” were found near the building, but they were not addressed to the senator or her office, CNN reports.
Democrats Working Towards ‘Internet Bill Of Rights’ If They Win Back House
Democrats say self-regulation hasn’t worked for the social media and technology companies that dot Silicon Valley. As left-leaning lawmakers eye a 10-point plan to regulate online activity, the fact that there is no competition within the industry is being overlooked.
Interstate 81 Through Staunton May Get $900 Million In Roadway Improvements
Over 72 proposed projects throughout the 325-mile I-81 Virginia corridor include widening the interstate to three lanes, shoulder widening, extending acceleration and deceleration lanes at various locations, among other improvements that could be funded through tolls, increases in retail sales and use taxes, or regional gas taxes.
VP Mike Pence To Headline Event With Scott Taylor After Former VP Joe Biden Stumps For Elaine Luria
During his trip to Virginia, Vice President Mike Pence raised the national stakes with a message based on personal experience. “I was in Congress the last time Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House,” he said, “and you never want that to happen again.”
Virginia’s Wallops Island Welcomes Additional Spacecraft Launch Pad
Virginia’s capture of Rocket Lab’s expansion into the U.S. is a victorious moment for the Commonwealth’s growing aerospace industry, which will undoubtedly increase the state’s overall economic competitiveness.
As Migrant Caravan Moves Closer To U.S., Trump Blasts Situation As An ‘Assault On Our Country’
As the migrant caravan continues towards the U.S., questions have been raised about who exactly is funding the 4,000-strong endeavor. After all, food, water, gas for vehicles, and other necessities is expensive for those who claim they are fleeing Central and South America’s woeful economic conditions.
Left Wing Operative That Harassed Barbara Comstock Staffers Arrested After Physically Assaulting Female GOP Campaign Manager In Nevada
A left wing political operative arrested in July for harassing Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (VA-10) and her staffers was taken into custody this week in Nevada for assaulting the female campaign manager of a GOP candidate. Mike Stark, a staffer for the progressive super PAC American Bridge, has a long list of run-ins with Republicans and a record of being physically aggressive with women.
During the Fourth of July parades in Northern Virginia, Stark appeared with members of Democratic challenger Jennifer Wexton’s campaign team and volunteers which targeted the staff of Comstock. He was allegedly sent by Democratic strategist Paul Begala, according to some inside sources.
In an email from the Comstock campaign, a spokesperson said that Stark’s “behavior that day and others frightened volunteers and bystanders alike.” Furthermore, they said he is “in your face, uncivil,” and “the resistance left pays him and encourages him.”
The latest incident of violence involved Kristin Davidson, campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt at an event in Las Vegas. Davidson told police that Stark grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, leaving her visibly bruising.
Stark reportedly barged into a room where Laxalt, Nevada’s attorney general, was meeting with Davidson and two other staffers, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
After he cornered her in the room, Davidson said in a statement to police, “I could not move.”
“Stark grabbed my right arm, twisted it behind my back, squeezed it very hard, and every time I tried to pull away he pulled me closer and gripped my arm tighter,” she said.
“You can make this stop, Adam,” Stark yelled at the attorney general.
“I kept screaming help me, stop hurting me, you are hurting me,” Davidson recalled. “I was terrified and at that point saw multiple colleagues try to pull him off me but Stark held tighter,” she added.
Las Vegas City Marshals intervened in the situation, relieving Davidson of Stark’s threatening grasp, taking him to the Las Vegas City jail. American Bridge has yet to comment on the most recent arrest involving their staffer.
Laxalt campaign spokesman Parker Briden told reporters after the incident, “Assaulting the female campaign manager of an opposing campaign is disgusting and it has no place in our system. This mob behavior from the left is out of control.”
Violence on part of Democrats has escalated throughout the country, with another situation this week that left two Minnesota Republican candidates reeling from politically-motivated verbal and physical assaults on the campaign trail less than three weeks away from Election Day.
In a report from The Daily Caller, Republican State Representative Sarah Anderson was threatened while door knocking in her district by a man who was following her and tearing up campaign signs. The man, describing himself as a “anarchist,” charged at Anderson yelling “go kill yourself.”
Secondly, Shane Mekeland, a GOP candidate running for an open seat in the state legislature says that he was physically assaulted during a recent campaign event. He has stated that he was “sucker-punched” and received a concussion from a suspect that has yet to be detained.
Treasury Department Official Arrested After Leaking Russia Investigation Documents To BuzzFeed
A U.S. Treasury Department official has been arrested and charged with providing an unidentified reporter from Buzzfeed with sensitive financial reports. The information reportedly related to suspicious banking transactions of several former associates of President Donald Trump relating to the investigation into election meddling from Russia by White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
On Wednesday, Natalie Edwards, a senior adviser in the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), was taken into custody by law enforcement officers in Alexandria, Virginia. She was charged with “unauthorized disclosure of suspicious activity reports” and “conspiracy,” both of which carry a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
According to Yahoo News, as far back as October 2017, Edwards disclosed suspicious activity reports connected to former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates, accused Russian agent Maria Butina, the Russian embassy, and a unit of Prevezon Holdings Ltd., a corporation owned by Russian businessman Denis Katsyv.
- Manafort was convicted in August on five counts of tax fraud, one of the four original counts of failing to disclose his foreign bank accounts, two counts of bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and witness tampering. In conjunction, he also has agreed to comply with the Russia investigation.
- Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI, striking a deal to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation, along with testifying against his former boss, Manafort.
- Butina is currently in jail awaiting trial after being charged with conspiracy and acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government – namely the Russia.
Justice Department prosecutors said Edwards saved the confidential financial reports on a flash drive and sent them to the BuzzFeed reporter using an encrypted messaging application. When Edwards was arrested, she was said to have been in possession of another flash drive and a cell phone containing communications with the aforementioned reporter.
BuzzFeed reported on financial transactions of a Russian billionaire that helped arrange the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. In the article, reporters Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold cited Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed against Rob Goldstone, an associate of the Agalarovs, the Russian family who sought the meeting by contacting the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr. After Goldstone was identified one year later as the “middleman” for the meeting, his financial institutions flagged payments that he received from the Agalarovs, thus creating the SARs within the Treasury Department.
Furthermore, the media outlet also reported on FinCEN documents related to Peter Smith, a former Republican political operative who searched for Hillary Clinton’s deleted State Department emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. Smith died last year in a Rochester, Minnesota, hotel room from “asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in confined space with helium,” according to Business Insider. Despite first being ruled a suicide by police, it has since become part of Mueller’s investigation, indicating that the circumstances of his death are consistent with Kremlin-backed political assassinations.
When questioned by investigators on Wednesday, Edwards “confessed that she had provided SARs to ‘Reporter-1’ via an encrypted application, though falsely denied knowing that ‘Reporter-1’ intended to or did publish that information through” a media organization.
The most recent BuzzFeed article relating to the story appeared on Monday and centered on a loan made by TD Bank to Prevezon – which Katsyv owns – which one of the transactions that was flagged in relation to Goldstone. The report cited records uncovered by FinCEN in connection with investigations by Congress and White House Counsel Mueller, leading to the uncovering of Edwards as the leak.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that Edwards “betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information.”
In a report from The Daily Caller, Goldstone called the leaks “outrageous.”
“I was someone whose personal and private regular banking details were leaked to BuzzFeed, in order to create a salacious story,” also exclaiming that the media outlet showed a “complete disregard for the privacy laws in making personal transaction details public.”
BuzzFeed has yet to comment on the situation.