Friday, January 1, 2021

Senate Report: Obama Treasury Department Approved Request To Pay Group That Funded Terrorist Activities By Hank Berrien • Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com •

Senate Report: Obama Treasury Department Approved Request To Pay Group That Funded Terrorist Activities

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Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com

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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media at his year end press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House December 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. Later today President Obama will travel to San Bernardino, California, to meet with families of the 14 victims of the recent mass shooting, before heading to Hawaii for Christmas vacation and return on January 3, 2016. — Mark Wilson/Getty Images

A report released by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reveals that an office within the Obama Administration’s Treasury Department called the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted a non-profit group’s request for a license to pay an organization sanctioned for funding terrorist activities.

Grassley’s staff had investigated World Vision, a non-profit humanitarian organization, and its relationship with the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), which had been sanctioned by the United States since 2004 for its funding of terrorist activities, including those of Osama bin Laden.

Grassley stated, “World Vision works to help people in need across the world, and that work is admirable. Though it may not have known that ISRA was on the sanctions list or that it was listed because of its affiliation with terrorism, it should have. Ignorance can’t suffice as an excuse. World Vision’s changes in vetting practices are a good first step, and I look forward to its continued progress.”

Grassley’s website noted, “World Vision only discovered the sanctions issue when another non-profit aid group declined to work with them after doing their own due diligence and finding the affiliation between World Vision and the sanctioned ISRA.”

The report stated:

In a press release, World Vision claimed they were not aware of ISRA’s status before partnering with them and appeared to shift the blame for this incident to the United States government. World Vision articulated two main reasons why they believe the federal government bears responsibility in this incident. First, they claim that on two separate occasions, two different government agencies were notified that World Vision was working with ISRA and neither agency raised any concerns. Second, World Vision argues that the online search tool provided by the Treasury department made it difficult to ascertain whether or not ISRA was a sanctioned entity. …
The United States government placed sanctions on ISRA in 2004 after they had funneled approximately $5 million to Maktab Al-Khidamat, the predecessor to Al- Qaeda controlled by Osama Bin Laden. ISRA’s leadership also engaged in discussions to help relocate Bin Laden to secure safe harbor for him.In the mid-2000’s, ISRA was responsible for moving funds to support a Palestinian terrorist. According to Treasury, when raising funds ISRA was known to display two “collection boxes marked ‘Allah’ and ‘Israel,’ signaling the funds would be directed towards attacks against Israelis.” …
In late September 2014, World Vision’s legal department was notified of ISRA’s potential status as a sanctioned entity. World Vision immediately ceased all payments to ISRA and began investigating whether ISRA was indeed a sanctioned entity. On November 19, 2014, World Vision sent a letter to OFAC requesting clarification of ISRA’s status. The letter also included a request for a temporary license to complete the existing contract with ISRA, despite their status, in the event that ISRA was indeed a sanctioned entity.
According to World Vision, OFAC took longer than expected to respond. During this time, World Vision’s field office in Sudan reported that ISRA and the Sudanese government were applying intense pressure on it to pay money owed for services performed. On January 20, 2015, two months after World Vision submitted its request for clarification to OFAC, World Vision General Counsel sent an email to OFAC informing them of World Vision’s intent to resume its work with ISRA in a week’s time unless it received a response from OFAC confirming ISRA’s sanctioned status.
On January 23, 2015, Treasury responded to World Vision’s November inquiry and informed it that ISRA is indeed a sanctioned entity. Furthermore, in the same letter OFAC denied World Vision’s request for a license to transact with ISRA, stating that authorizing further activities would be “inconsistent with OFAC policy.” On February 19, 2015, World Vision again requested a license to transact with ISRA in order to pay them $125,000 for services rendered. In its request, World Vision stressed that it could face severe legal consequences and even expulsion from Sudan if it did not pay ISRA the monies owed. On May 4, 2015, the Obama Administration’s State Department recommended OFAC grant World Vision’s request for a license to pay ISRA $125,000 in monies owed. The following day, OFAC granted World Vision a specific license to pay ISRA $125,000 only for services rendered.

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Fauci Predicts New, More Contagious COVID-19 Strain Will Spread Across U.S. "Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of the way these viruses spread." By Joseph Curl • Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com •

Fauci Predicts New, More Contagious COVID-19 Strain Will Spread Across U.S.

"Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of the way these viruses spread."

By Joseph Curl

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Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com

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Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the White House on March 24, 2020, in Washington, DC. — MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday predicted that a new, more contagious COVID-19 strain that first appeared in the U.K. will spread across the U.S., but he added that “it does not appear to be more virulent.”

“We predicted it would be, when you have so much of it in the U.K., which then spread to other countries in Europe and Canada, it was inevitable that it would be here,” Fauci said on NBC News’ “Today.” “You’ll be hearing reports from other states and more cases in the state that is already reported. Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of the way these viruses spread.”

The first case of the strain found in the U.S. was detected on Tuesday in a Colorado resident who had not traveled abroad. “Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK,” Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote on Twitter. “The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely.”

On Wednesday, the first case of a more contagious strain of COVID-19 has been found in California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “Just an hour or so ago we were informed that this new variant, this new strain that we have identified obviously from the U.K. and some other parts of the globe, identified in Colorado yesterday has been identified here in the state of California, in southern California,” Newsom said.

Fauci said Thursday that the virus is indeed more contagious. “Our British colleagues have shown, clearly, that it is much more efficient in spreading from person to person,” Fauci said, adding that “the good news is that it does not appear to be more virulent, namely, making people more sick and leading to more death.”

Fauci, an immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who served on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, also said the new strain “does not seem to evade the protection that’s afforded by vaccines that are currently being used.”

Dr. Nelson Michael, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at the institute, told CNN this week that there is no indication that the inoculations will be ineffective. “It stands to reason that this mutation isn’t a threat, but you never know. We still have to be diligent and continue to look,” Michael told the network on Sunday.

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research last week began studying the genetic sequences of the new strain, which was posted online by British researchers. The “analysis will allow us to gauge how much concern we should have. Other teams around the world are doing this analysis, too,” Michael told CNN.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who serves as the World Health Organization’s lead on COVID-19, said Sunday that the new strain is crossing borders. “We understand that this variant has been identified also in Denmark, in the Netherlands, and there was one case in Australia and it didn’t spread further there,” Van Kerkhove told the BBC on Sunday.

Fauci warned that Americans need to keep making efforts to stem the spread. “The fact that you have a virus that spreads more efficiently is something that’s important and needs to be taken seriously,” he said. “This just underscores the need to continue to put our foot to the floor and the pedal, about making sure we do the public health measures that we talk about all the time. The wearing of masks, the physical distancing, the avoiding crowds in congregant settings,” Fauci said.

‘Illegal And Selfish Gatherings’: New Mexico Fines Two Churches $10K Each For Christmas Eve Services [Update] By Jon Brown • Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com •

‘Illegal And Selfish Gatherings’: New Mexico Fines Two Churches $10K Each For Christmas Eve Services [Update]

By Jon Brown

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Dec 31, 2020 DailyWire.com

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Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico, listens during an interview at her office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. Lujan Grisham is balancing her concern over the catastrophic effects of climate change with the state's extraordinary dependence on oil and gas. Photographer: Steven St John/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Steven St John/Bloomberg via Getty Images

After publication of its initial report, NBC News revised their article to attribute the “illegal and selfish” quote to the governor’s director of communications, rather than the governor herself, as originally reported. This article and its title have been updated to reflect that revision.

Two New Mexico megachurches are facing $10,000 in fines for having held large, unmasked Christmas Eve services in violation of the state’s COVID-19 lockdown orders, prompting Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office to imply that their pastors are “pro-virus.”

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Legacy Church and Calvary Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, posted video and photos on social media of their services that went viral, according to local ABC affiliate KOAT. The images depicted hundreds of congregants gathered, mostly without masks.

Grisham instituted restrictions on Dec. 15 that limit church gatherings in “red counties” to 25% capacity and require masks.

The state’s Public Health Department responded by levying a $10,000 fine against both churches — $5,000 for violating the capacity limit and $5,000 for violating the mask mandate. The churches are permitted to request a hearing to contest the fines.

Grisham’s communications director, Tripp Stelnicki, strongly condemned both the churches and their pastors, telling NBC News, “In violating both the state public health order and common sense, these two churches and their leaders endangered the lives, livelihoods and health of not only their parishioners but their entire communities — and, given how quickly this virus can spread, potentially our state as a whole.”

“We all wish this pandemic were over, but it’s not, and no pro-virus pastor may deem it so. So many New Mexicans have sacrificed — and lost — so much in this pandemic,” Grisham’s communications director continued. “These illegal and selfish gatherings will directly contribute to more suffering and illness in our state. These church leaders should reflect on the danger they’ve unleashed in their communities.”

New Mexico has confirmed 141,186 COVID-19 cases and 2,436 fatalities, according to state data.

Legacy Church, whose lawsuit against the state was dismissed in July, said in a statement to KOAT, “We have taken the pandemic seriously from the start, and have prudent measures in place. But when governments exceed their constitutional authority and contradict what we are called on by God to do, we answer first to His authority.”

Legacy, who are calling their services “peaceful protests,” also said:

It’s tragic that what we do for thousands of shut-ins, those in despair, and kids who go without meals gets no state notice, but fixation on one service can net us large fines. The state should fold its losing hand against Churches as Colorado has, focus on the truly vulnerable, and recognize what the US Supreme Court has recently said about Churches because we must continue to do what we are called to.

In a statement to city station KOB 4, Calvary Church said:

Calvary Church experienced significant attendance at our in-person Christmas Eve services on one of the most celebrated and sacred days of our Christian faith. In response to this outpouring, Calvary Church chose not to break fellowship with any worshiper by requiring them to leave the gathering of their church family. Instead, we continued to urge and provide opportunity for our congregants to maintain safe social distance, wear face coverings, and properly sanitize. As for all our services, church seating was staggered in the main auditoriums with every other row cordoned off so people were kept from sitting directly behind or in front of anyone outside their immediate family. Moreover, to ensure safety and distancing, an outside screen was provided for people to be in the open air while enjoying the worship broadcast originating from the auditorium. Additional and separate large rooms were available for seating in order to maintain acceptable spacing. Church staff was diligent to monitor allowable percentages, while encouraging people to choose outside seating or seating in the overflow rooms. Church staff provided masks for those who did not have one. We observed the majority of those attending services wore a mask as they entered. If a person refused to wear a mask, we assumed they had a preexisting health condition or other restriction that prohibited them from doing so.
We acknowledge that some will disagree with our decisions, and we respect their freedom to believe differently. We do care about people’s physical health, and we take great precautions such as those mentioned above. At the same time, we believe that people can be responsible adults and make their own choices about their life and health and that of their families. The strong showing in attendance at Christmas Eve services indicates the deep conviction many people have that corporate worship is essential and that as long as health considerations are maintained, it is safe and necessary to worship their God. We believe our collective ability to maintain differences as fellow citizens regarding the questions raised are an essential part of our national heritage.”

The New Under Ground Church-THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD

Friday, January 1, 2021