Sunday, April 27, 2025
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Sunday, April 27, 2025

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DHS adds to team officials who called the Hunter Biden laptop story ‘Russian disinformation’

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The Department of Homeland Security has sparked controversy by adding to its Intelligence Board multiple members who signed on to the now-debunked 2020 letter saying the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”

Now, House Republicans want answers, saying the new additions bring into question the federal group’s credibility and impartiality.

“Your decision to appoint members to this group who have demonstrated political bias suggests misplaced priorities,” the letter said.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and August Pfluger, R-Texas, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, sent the letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the appointees.

The appointments in question include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan, and former Associate Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tashina Gauhar.

The letter points out they were among the intelligence officials that influenced the last presidential election when they “incorrectly implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s political influence peddling was the product of Russian disinformation.”

“That statement was used by various media organizations and social media businesses to downplay and censor the Post’s reporting before the 2020 presidential election,” the letter said.

These new members were added to DHS’ new Homeland Intelligence Experts Group, which is tasked with providing advice to DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

“Another member of this newly-created group, then-Associate Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tashina Gauhar, was extensively involved in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into baseless allegations that former President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia,” the letter said “These are just a few notable examples of concerning actions by some of the members appointed to the group that call into question the group’s neutrality.”

The controversy comes as the border remains in crisis with millions of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. in recent years. As The Center Square reported, in the Texas town of Eagle Pass, Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. declared a state of emergency this week as thousands of migrants have poured into his town.

So far, more than 50 counties in Texas alone have declared a state of emergency. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott officially has declared an invasion of his state citing the millions of migrants, a sentiment he reiterated earlier this week.

Other border states have had similar troubles, but it is not just an issue in border states.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has raised the alarm about his city’s difficulty in keeping up with the influx of migrants, one of several large metro areas north of the border feeling the impact of the increase in migrants.

The high number of migrants has become a political thorn in President Joe Biden’s side, and for now, it seems likely to remain into the next presidential election.

“Rather than focus on addressing the catastrophic border crisis or I&A’s shortcomings to live up to its original purpose to equip the Homeland Security Enterprise, especially, our State, Local, Tribal and Territorial law enforcement partners, with timely intelligence and information, these actions appear to politicize the Department’s homeland security mission,” the letter said.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Casey Harper
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Reposted with permission

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Trump Expands Gulf of America Oil & Natural Gas Production

Reversing Biden administration policies that halted offshore leasing, prompting lawsuits and restricting oil and natural gas development, the Trump administration is expanding offshore capabilities.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the administration’s first offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America, with the first proposed notice of sale slated for June.

“By continuing to expand offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, strengthens domestic industry and reinforces its role as an energy superpower,” the Interior Department says. “Opening the Outer Continental Shelf is central to this strategy as it unleashes domestic energy potential that had been blocked under the previous administration,” and is expected to generate tens of thousands of high-paying jobs throughout the industry.

The BOEM also released a new analysis stating that a significant increase of estimated oil and natural gas reserves exists in the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM’s updated assessment evaluated more than 140 oil and natural gas fields, identifying 18 new discoveries, and analyzed more than 37,000 reservoirs across 1,336 fields in the Gulf.

It says there’s an “additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.”

“This new data confirms what we’ve known all along – America is sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it,” Burgum said. “The Gulf of America is a powerhouse, and by streamlining permitting and expanding access, we’re not just powering our economy – we’re strengthening our national security and putting thousands of Americans back to work.”

The comprehensive review added 4.39 billion barrels of oil equivalent in original reserves, BOEM found. “After subtracting production of 3.09 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2020–2021, the net increase reflects continued opportunity and momentum in offshore development,” it says.

“The Gulf of America is delivering 14% of the nation’s oil,” BOEM Gulf of America Regional Director Dr. James Kendall said. “These updated estimates reaffirm the Gulf’s vital role in ensuring a reliable, affordable domestic energy supply.”

The BOEM oversees nearly 3.2 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, with roughly 160 million acres located in the Gulf.

“Energy dominance is a pillar of U.S. economic strength and global leadership,” the Interior Department argues. “By expanding offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, creates high-paying jobs, and reduces dependence on foreign adversaries. … Expanded leasing is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs across exploration, production, logistics and supply chains — revitalizing coastal economies and fueling American innovation.”

Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, also announced it is beginning production at Dover, a second subsea tieback connecting new wells to existing infrastructure of its Appomattox production hub in the Gulf of America. Dover’s estimated peak production is 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, it says.

Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the Gulf of America; Dover was discovered under the first Trump administration in 2018.

It’s located in Mississippi Canyon, roughly 170 miles offshore southeast of New Orleans.

Shell estimates that Dover will “contain 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources, adding stable, secure energy resources.”

Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities have generated billions of dollars in revenue from lease sales, rental fees and royalties to the federal government and states, helping to fund infrastructure, education and public services and wildlife conservation. They also help strengthen U.S. energy independence, national security and global stability, by reducing reliance on foreign producers, the Trump administration argues.

Offshore production in the Gulf of America accounts for the third greatest volume in the country, of nearly 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, according to Energy Information Agency data from January. The greatest volume is produced in the Permian Basin in west Texas, which leads the U.S. in oil and natural gas production, The Center Square reported.

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