Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy, 11/17, GMTA Edition

[SVPete]

The Dam Breaks on Thomas Crooks Social Media

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/11/17/the-dam-breaks-on-thomas-crooks-social-media-n3808973

It's no surprise that Crooks was a disturbed young man, because assassins are almost always, by definition, disturbed. Sane people don't go on suicide missions to kill political candidates. Still, it's essential to understand how someone like Crooks becomes radicalized, especially in a case of such high profile, where the public has a strong and legitimate desire to know the facts.

The FBI has been remarkably close-mouthed about Crooks. What little they did say suggested he was a radical right-winger who hated Jews and immigrants, suggesting that he was very right-wing.

WE were also led to believe that he was not very active on social media. In fact, he had a not-insubstantial social media presence for much of his life, only dropping off the radar late in his short life. And that profile tells us a lot about Crooks, including that he started as a rabid supporter of Trump, and later soured on him late in his first term, eventually calling for terrorist attacks.
...

Thanks to an enterprising source who uncovered Crooks’ hidden digital footprint, we can see that (Wray's deputy) Abbate misled Congress by omission, because he left out an entire section of Crooks’ online interactions from January to August 2020 when he did an ideological backflip and went from rabidly pro-Trump to rabidly anti-Trump and then went dark, never seeming to post again.

Among the 17 accounts uncovered by our source were ones on YouTube, Snapchat, Venmo, Zelle, GroupMe, Discord, Google Play, Quizlet, Chess.com and Quora.

The online interactions from when Crooks was ages 15 to 17 give us a better understanding of his evolution into an assassin, and invite more questions about what — or who — reversed his ideology.

“The danger Crooks posed was visible for years in public online spaces,” says the source. “His radicalization, violent rhetoric and obsession with political violence were all documented under his real name. The threat wasn’t hidden.”

This suggests two scenarios, IMO:

* Did the FBI that some believe hides shooters' online activity to obscure the shooters' ideas fail or choose not to hide Crook's?

* Was the investigation of the assassination attempt by LIEden's FBI so sloppy, cursory, and incurious that the FBI did not find all this?

[SVPete]

The Media Panics After Trump Calls for the Release of Epstein Files

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/11/17/the-media-panics-after-trump-calls-for-release-of-epstein-files-n4946083

"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Now the liberal media is struggling to come to grips with this development, as this completely blows up the narrative they’ve been pushing. On CNN Monday morning, John Berman pushed the narrative that Trump’s actions signal a waning influence over the GOP.


Republican strategist Melik Abdul didn’t buy that argument one bit.

"I think what the frustration that Donald Trump and many people — even like me — who have been critical of Donald Trump at times — we realize that this is an effort — this whole Epstein effort is an effort to really prosecute Donald Trump in the court of public opinion," Abdul stated bluntly.

He continued dismantling the narrative by pointing out an inconvenient truth that CNN clearly didn't want to hear: "There is not a single shred of evidence that links Donald Trump to a single crime. Not a victim, not a court case links Donald Trump to a crime. ...
...
Christine Quinn, president and CEO of WIN and former New York City Council speaker, attempted to deflect. "This isn't about Donald Trump. We don't know what's in those files. He's created the belief that there is something about him in there because he won't release them," she insisted before trying to pivot.

Former Err America, former Current TV, current GoogTuber ProgMouth Chunk Yoghurt has started the likely Dem-Prog excuse, that the Rs have "scrubbed" the Epstein files ... hoping people will forget that Dems controlled the files for years and probably have multiple back-up copies.

[SVPete]

ICE Shooting Claim Debunked After Illegal Alien Tries to Hide in Hospital Ceiling

https://thepopulisttimes.com/ice-shooting-claim-debunked-after-illegal-alien-tries-to-hide-in-hospital-ceiling/

The Trump administration has expanded its immigration enforcement efforts to Charlotte, North Carolina, with the launch of Operation Charlotte’s Web on Saturday.

Federal officials said the operation is focused on arresting criminal illegal aliens living in the city.
...
The Department of Homeland Security said state and local officials failed to cooperate with federal requests to detain individuals flagged for immigration violations.

DHS said that 1,400 detainer requests were not honored, resulting in offenders being released back into the community.
...
Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said that more than 80 individuals were arrested on the first day of the operation.

He noted that the majority of those taken into custody had “significant criminal and immigration history.”
...
Bovino also posted several examples of recent arrests in Charlotte on X.

“Let’s paint this picture for you. An illegal alien from Mexico gets deported 4 times, strolls back to Charlotte, then racks up a hit & run AND a DUI/DWI?” he wrote.

[SVPete]

Fail: Illegal Alien That Indicted Judge Allegedly Tried to Help Evade ICE Has Been Sent Packing

https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/11/16/was-it-worth-it-illegal-alien-whom-an-indicted-judge-allegedly-tried-to-help-evade-ice-has-been-deported-n2196246

Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 31-year-old Mexican national with a history of violent criminal charges, has been deported from the United States despite Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helping him exit her courtroom through a side door in April.

Dugan is accused of trying to help Flores-Ruiz, who, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, has a rap sheet including “strangulation and suffocation, battery and domestic abuse," evade ICE agents.

She has since been indicted on charges of obstructing a proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent their arrest. Dugan was also temporarily suspended by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

With any "luck", this will be a twofer - the illegal deported and Dugan's career self-destructed.

[SVPete]

Jan. 6 panel cost twice previous estimates, hiring TV producers to dramatize attack

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/jan-6-panel-cost-twice-previous-estimates-hiring-tv-producers-dramatize

The U.S. House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol cost almost twice as much as previously reported, including spending taxpayer funds for TV news producers and documentary filmmakers to create videos dramatizing its case against President Donald Trump, an investigation by The Center Square found.

The Washington Post reported that the panel had a projected budget of $9.3 million in September 2022. According to a review of U.S. House disbursements, the select committee spent $17.4 million. ...

My emphasis. Pelosiroo's shamvestigation was a 21st Century Show Trial.