On Sunday, The Gateway Pundit reported that former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino was named FBI Deputy Director.

Bongino, 50, served as a Secret Service agent from 1999-2011.

Although Democrats felt no need to push back on questionable Biden nominations like failed Mayor Pete as Secretary of Transportation and non-binary pup handler and luggage thief Department of Energy employee Sam Brinton, a CNN panel attempted to denigrate Bongino’s extensive and impressive background.

Panelist Scott Jennings fired back against the baseless smears with the facts about Bongino’s impressive resume.

Scott Jennings: If I may address one issue. You just denigrated Dan Bongino’s law enforcement credentials. He was a cop and Secret Service agent. You denigrated his academic credentials. He has a Master’s degree.

Tara Setmayer: Just because he was a police officer doesn’t make him qualified to run a 38,000-person, $11 billion budget agency….just like Pete Hegseth…..

(Crosstalk)

Scott Jennings: He enjoys the confidence and pleasure of the president, and I’m sorry you are not over the outcome of the election.

(Crosstalk)

Tara Setmayer: I’ll never be over it. This is dismantling our democracy in front of our eyes, and you guys are OK with it.

Joe Borelli: You had a city that was smaller than the amount of people that live on this block and he was the Secretary of  Transportation. You had the guy that was stealing luggage…I mean I think anyone that is defending, at any point, the Biden administration….

(Crosstalk)

Abby Philip: Scott, let me just ask you…does Dan Bongino have the qualifications to be the second person in charge of the FBI?

Scott Jennings: Yes! He has law enforcement, he has academic – and again, let me just stress this, I’ve mentioned this before…they serve as the pleasure of the president. That’s the policitical appointment.

Abby Philip: I know that’s the answer to every question – is that Donald Trump wants it so it’s good…

Scott Jennings: For political appointments? Yes.

Watch:

Video via @devorydarkins:

Interesting moment of election denialism on @cnn tonight. “I’ll never be over it, Scott.” https://t.co/xEkj5EjjzE

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) February 25, 2025

President Trump announced Bongino’s new role on Truth Social sharing, “Great news for American law-enforcement and Justice! Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our country has just been named the next deputy Director of the FBI, by the man who will be the best Director ever, Kash Patel.”

“He was a member of the New York police department and a highly respected Special Agent With the United States Secret Service and is now one of the most successful podcasters in the country, something he is willing and prepared to give up to serve.”

Bongino, in an emotional reaction to the appointment, held back tears as he shared, “President Trump, AG Bondi, and FBI Director Patel offered this role. I’m going to accept the role proudly. I love you guys.”

The post CNN Panel Tries to Smear Dan Bongino, Scott Jennings Fires Back (Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Allegations that Trump is a Russian asset are preposterous, especially given his strong anti-Russia stance during his first presidency.

Rather than accusing him of being pro-Russia, critics should listen carefully to what he is actually saying: he wants the Ukraine war to end, with people stopping the killing, and for the U.S. to stop financing it.

He has even offered Ukraine a peace deal that includes minerals for defense and guarantees Ukraine’s security without requiring the country to join NATO, which would address Putin’s primary concern regarding Ukraine.

During his first term, President Donald Trump adopted several policies that were tough on Russia, despite his more conciliatory rhetoric towards President Vladimir Putin.

Between 2017 and 2019, the Trump administration took 52 actions, including sanctions, military assistance, and diplomatic measures, all targeting Russia’s malign activities.

These actions were primarily a response to Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, its involvement in Ukraine, and its use of chemical weapons in the UK.

In 2018, for instance, the administration-imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities tied to election interference, cyberattacks, and the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.

Additionally, the U.S. expelled Russian diplomats and imposed export restrictions following Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Military measures were also a key part of the strategy. The U.S. provided Ukraine with defensive weapons to counter Russian-backed separatists and sanctioned Russia’s military and intelligence sectors.

In response to the Skripal poisoning, the administration imposed further sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.

It also approved lethal weapons sales to Ukraine, reaffirmed the U.S. rejection of Crimea’s annexation, and bolstered Ukraine’s naval capabilities.

Beyond these actions, the Trump administration took additional steps to limit Russia’s influence, such as banning the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers due to its ties to Russian intelligence.

It also released the “Russian Oligarch List” and continued imposing sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), targeting Russian elites and companies involved in illicit activities.

Despite Trump’s amicable interactions with Putin, these policies demonstrate a firm stance against Russian aggression and interference in international affairs.

The 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) mandated sanctions on Russian individuals, companies, and officials involved in these activities.

Despite some delays in enforcement, sanctions were ultimately imposed, with the Trump administration gradually adding more names to the list. These measures targeted Russian oligarchs and government officials connected to Putin’s inner circle.

In 2018, following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, the Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed Russia’s consulate in Seattle as part of a coordinated international response.

The U.S. also imposed sanctions on Russian energy companies, including those involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which was seen as a major effort by Russia to bypass Ukraine and extend its influence in Europe.

Sanctions were also levied against Rosneft Trading, a subsidiary of the Russian oil giant, for its dealings with Venezuelan oil.

Alongside these sanctions, military actions were also taken.

The Trump administration authorized the sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, marking a significant departure from previous U.S. policy under the Obama administration.

This move was seen as a direct challenge to Russian influence in Ukraine and aimed to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses against Russian-backed separatists.

The Trump administration took several steps to deter Russian interference in future U.S. elections.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) worked to bolster U.S. election infrastructure defenses against cyberattacks, particularly from Russian actors.

This included attributing several major cyberattacks to Russian state-backed hackers, such as the SolarWinds hack in 2020.

In addition, Trump approved the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops to Eastern European NATO allies, including Poland and the Baltic states, as part of NATO’s broader deterrence strategy against Russian aggression.

Following the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, the U.S. joined the UK and other allies in expelling over 150 Russian diplomats in a coordinated diplomatic protest.

The administration also indicted several Russian individuals for cyberattacks and election interference, including members of Russia’s GRU (military intelligence) and the Internet Research Agency.

The Department of Justice and FBI pursued aggressive investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, culminating in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which resulted in multiple indictments of Russian individuals and entities.

Despite Trump’s often criticized diplomacy toward Putin, these actions reflect a series of policies that were, in practice, hostile toward Russia—especially in terms of economic sanctions, military support for Ukraine, and efforts to curb Russian activities both in the U.S. and internationally.

The post Far From a Kremlin Stooge, Trump’s Real Record on Russia appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Guest post by David Sumrall at StopHate.com

On January 26, 2025, one week after J6er Matthew Huttle received a full Presidential pardon, he was shot and killed by a Jasper County sheriff deputy in his home state of Indiana.  Huttle was released from the D.C. Gulag in July of 2024 after serving a six-month prison sentence. When Matt was released from the Gulag, he visited the “Eagles Nest,” and “Mama” Micki Witthoeft, the mother of slain J6er Ashli Babbitt who was shot and killed by police on January 6, before he returned back home to Indiana.  Matt was a carpenter who had worked on numerous construction projects, his current job was at Bridge Petroleum, and he was doing really well.  Fellow J6er Dan Leyden and Matt were cell mates in prison and became close friends.  Matt’s father, Don Huttle was glad to see the two had become friends as Dan was a good role model and friend to him.  Matt was in turn helping Dan get a job after he was released with a full Presidential pardon.

If now 42 year old Matt had a distrust of law enforcement prior to his incarceration for J6, in spite of or perhaps because of his own father, Don Huttle, being retired law enforcement, he most certainly did after his release from the Gulag.  Imagine the torture of being in the locked-up, put in solitary confinement, enduring anguish we never know, for a misdemeanor that happened because every J6er was intentionally set up as entrapment.  Couple that with Indiana saying they would throw him in jail for 30 years on a felony driving without a license.While relocating to another state other than Indiana would have been safer for him, considering earlier legal troubles and a revoked license in the state, Matt chose to stay in Indiana to be close to his family.  According to those who knew Matt, he vowed he would kill himself before ever again being forced back into prison.

The morning of his death, Matt had driven to visit his mother’s grave, who passed in April of 2023, and then over to his father’s house for a visit only to find his dad was asleep, so Matt left.  He was driving down the less traveled roads, going over the speed limit a little when he saw the squad car lights behind him, and he pulled over.

From what we have gathered, Matt immediately told the officer that he was a J6er who had recently been pardoned by President Trump and that his license was bad. We believe the deputy then called for a tow truck and asked Matthew to step out of his vehicle to be arrested. At first, state police had said there was a struggle or altercation, and this is where the story gets conflicted, and the bigger problem arises in consideration of the number of shots fired – 5 shots, and also the location of where the bullets landed, in Matt’s back.

David Sumrall spoke with Matt’s father, Don, a retired police officer himself, to gather more facts about the autopsy results:
5 shots total:

• 1 shot to the back through the heart rupturing his aorta
• 1 shot to the back of his neck which went into his brain
• 1 shot to the back of his left shoulder
• 1 shot to the left thumb which in other cases have proved to be a defensive wound
• 1 shot fired from the sheriff’s gun missed Matt

We don’t know if there was a domestic terror alert for Matthew as a J6er.

When he was shot, somehow Matt was on his knees on the seat of the car. Matt died right there across the center console.

A 9mm pistol was found in the passenger floor board on a yellow bag, butt up.  No other information on the gun is currently available.

Toxicology report says no alcohol or drugs in Matt’s system, only caffeine and nicotine.

We do not believe the gun is visible in the body cam video. We believe Matthew could have been trying to commit suicide.

Could the cop see the gun?
Was it a suicide attempt?
Was Matt reaching for a gun?
Had Matt jumped back in the vehicle?
Why wasn’t less-than-lethal force used? What was the reasoning behind not using a taser?

At no time did Matt threaten the officer’s life, only his own. Now sadly, the sheriff deputy who shot Matthew has a wife and three kids. Nobody wins – PTSD Part of the bigger conversation we need to have about weaponized justice, and fix these problems for everyone.

Indiana State Police plan to release redacted versions of both the officer’s body cam and dash cam on the 26th of February 2025 (tomorrow).

According to sources, the police told the family’s attorney that they would have to get a court order to get the official police report.

The Huttle family lawyer will be meeting with the state police to view the unredacted version of the police body cam and the dash cam to try to determine whether or not the shooting of Matthew Huttle was justified.

Here is Matthew’s father’s quote: “You don’t kill a man who is threatening to kill himself.  These guys are trained these days to make a legal decision, not a moral decision.  The wrong decision will haunt you.
-Don Huttle

Don Huttle is a reasonable man.  He wants what any parent would want and need – answers and closure. And like every other J6er… Justice.

David Sumrall StopHate.com

Previously…

Exclusive: Indiana Police Refuse FOIA Request for Video Evidence in Shooting of January 6th Patriot by Sheriff’s Deputy

The post UPDATE: J6er Matthew Huttle Was Shot Dead by Police Following His Release – Now His Autopsy Raises More Questions than It Answers appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

During the era of tyrannical enforcement of the COVID-19 shot mandate by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a few hundred medical exemptions were processed, but strangely, nearly 2,000 religious exemptions were not.

Sonny Fleeman, a combat veteran and federal whistleblower, once considered his role at the Department of Veterans Affairs to be “a sacred extension of his service” that helped secure benefits for fellow veterans.

But after discovering that he and other employees were targeted for their faith-based rights, the claims rater is now beginning to question his calling.

Armed with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) data reviewed by The Gateway Pundit and shared publicly (i.e. request 23-02813-F, 23-03774, and 23-03950-F), Fleeman revealed that “during the COVID-19 shot mandate, the VA processed medical exemptions while stalling religious ones.”

According to him, “this tactic was orchestrated by VA leadership and the Office of General Counsel (OGC) to sidestep Title VII and coerce compliance.”

“I’m fighting an agency that’s betraying the freedoms I defended,” Fleeman told The Gateway Pundit.

His own religious exemption request became a year-long ordeal, met with silence, forcing him to file a medical accommodation request just to have his religious exemption request processed.

“I knew it wasn’t right, so I fought it from day one,” he admitted. “It took a whistleblower complaint to the chief of reasonable accommodations, who battled OGC to prove me right.”

The personal toll was “searing,” Fleeman expressed. “Not knowing if my exemption would be granted left me uneasy but watching my leadership knowingly do wrong because it came from above—that moral injury cut deeper than anything.” He witnessed “managers betraying principles in real time, refusing to resist unjust orders.”

Multiple FOIA requests uncovered “a broader betrayal,” Fleeman discovered. He explained that “data shows the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) processed zero of 1,983 religious exemption requests while approving 206 of 845 medical ones.”

He pointed out, “the VA set a hard deadline of November 22, 2021, for employees to get vaccinated under Executive Order 14043, yet not one of the 1,983 religious exemption requests got a look before that clock ran out.”

Meanwhile, he said, “they zipped through 153 medical exemptions in the same stretch, proving they could move fast when it suited them.”

“Thousands were forced to pick between their beliefs and their jobs,” Fleeman offered. “This deliberate disparity violates Title VII’s protections against religious discrimination, making it not just unfair but illegal.”

Yet, nearly four years on, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has faced no formal accountability—no legal judgments, congressional reprimands, or policy reforms—leaving this apparent violation of religious liberty unaddressed and its victims without redress.

“The FOIA data I retrieved proves that discrimination is occurring beyond any doubt, as it clearly shows that while medical exemptions were processed, religious exemptions were not,” he noted. “How deep does this go? The FOIA data screams for accountability.”

“I fought for this country,” Fleeman shared. “Now I’m fighting for our rights. They can’t keep dodging this,” he laments, hoping his efforts will compel Congress to investigate this matter and more.

Fleeman emphasized that the views expressed herein are solely his own and do not reflect the official policies, positions, or endorsements of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. government, or any organization with which he has been affiliated, past or present.

His statements are based on personal experience and FOIA-acquired evidence, intended to inform and advocate for accountability, not to represent any institutional stance.

The post Veterans Affairs Whistleblower Exposes Religious Persecution: FOIA Data Unveils a Calculated Assault on Faith-Based Rights appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

It increasingly appears that MSNBC is in hot water with their progressive audience.

The former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is the latest to weigh in on the network’s decision to fire fellow wacko Joy Reid as executives to stymie their cratering viewership.

Also axed by the network were Alex Wagner, who also qualifies as a “woman of color” because her mother is Burmese and lawyer Katie Phang, who is an Asian American.

Meanwhile, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki will see her show bumped up and her role expanded within the network.

“It is such a confused, brutal, racist purge at MSNBC it’s like they’re being run by Elon Musk,” Olbermann wrote on the X platform.

It is such a confused, brutal, racist purge at MSNBC it’s like they’re being run by Elon Musk

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2025

Olbermann is far from the only leftist raging over the firings.

Rachel Maddow, who is widely considered the network’s star anchor, launched in a tirade against her bosses live on air for axing two “non-white” hosts.

“In all of the jobs I have had in all of the years I have been alive there is no colleague for whom I have had more affection and more respect than Joy Reid,” Maddow said on Monday’s show.

“I love everything about her,” she continued. “I have so much more to learn from her I do not want to lose her as a colleague here at MSNBC and personally I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door.”

”It is not my call and I understand that, but that’s what I think.”

WHOA! Rachel Maddow Goes on Unhinged Rant, Attacks Her Own Network, Suggests MSNBC is Racist for Ousting Two ‘Non-White’ Hosts After Joy Reid’s Show Canceled (VIDEO)

Reid, meanwhile, issued a teary response to her firing in which she defended her work and insisted she brought “value” to the network’s coverage.

“My show had value…And that,” Reid said before starting to cry. “I’m sorry… What I was doing had value.”

Joy Reid breaks down in tears as she laments the cancellation of her MSNBC show.

“My show had value,” she insists. “I'm just proud of my show.” pic.twitter.com/gjJ9YUCTuU

— Ben Kew (@ben_kew) February 24, 2025

The post Ex-MSNBC Host Keith Olbermann Accuses Network of ‘Racist Purge’ After Firing Joy Reid appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.