US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro, in a rare move, convened a special grand jury to investigate big cases, according to The Washington Post.

A special grand jury can issue a report even if prosecutors don’t bring charges.

The special grand jury will be overseen by Steven Vanderveldon, the same prosecutor who investigated former Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The purpose of the special grand jury is still unclear.

Exclusive: The Justice Department has convened a special grand jury in D.C., a rare legal body that officials say could pave the way for federal prosecutors in the nation’s capital to investigate some of its biggest and most controversial cases. https://t.co/s3qzIvdQBs

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 12, 2026

The decision to convene a special grand jury comes after President Trump and Jeanine Pirro clashed over the US Attorney’s move to drop the Lincoln Reflecting Pool criminal cases.

President Trump last Friday afternoon called on US Attorney Jeanine Pirro to ‘revisit’ the Reflecting Pool vandalism case after she asked a judge to dismiss the charges against former Olympian David Hearn.

The Justice Department on Friday dismissed the Lincoln Reflecting Pool vandalism case against David Hearn.

David Hearn, the former Olympian who was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for destruction of property for vandalizing the Lincoln Reflecting Pool in June, was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges last month.

Hearn is a three-time Olympic canoeist.

Hearn was charged with felony destruction of government property. He was facing 10 years in prison.

Pirro dropped the case and said the damage to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool was the result of “flawed installation by the contractor.”

Earlier this month, President Trump blasted Pirro for dropping the vandalism cases and said she “choked.”

“Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after and went after her department,” Trump said. “And I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”

Later that day, Pirro was spotted walking into the West Wing with a box of evidence.

The post In Extremely Rare Move, Pirro Convenes Special Grand Jury After Clash with Trump Over Reflecting Pool Case appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

China is Trying to Stop from Cracking Open

Gordon Chang shares:

China is not rising. It’s not even stable. It’s in distress. The CCP is trying to keep the country from cracking open.

He bases his comment on this commentary:

They are not buying cars, they are not buying watches, they are not buying USDA prime beef.

I don’t know who is in the ear of @POTUS on China…- but it’s spent and can’t come through..
– No idea where @RushDoshi @jonczin & @CFR_org are coming up with their “rising China premise”

China is not rising. It’s not even stable. It’s in distress. The CCP is trying to keep the country from cracking open. https://t.co/Mt07ugkvWC

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) August 12, 2026

This is consistent with our post five days ago when we started with what Gordon Chang said –

China is broke. China’s rulers are desperate. Bad things are going to happen in that country.

If anyone would know, Gordan Chang would know.

This is the report Gordan is referring to –

Beijing is launching a wave of aggressive revenue-raising measures to fill its empty state coffers. Instead of addressing structural economic flaws, the regime’s solution is a ruthless tax dragnet targeting wealth everywhere it can find it.

On top of auditing ultra-rich offshore trusts, Chinese mainland authorities have now begun enforcing a 20% personal income tax on Hong Kong insurance policies—triggering immediate panics and sharp sell-offs across Asian financial markets.

Domestically, desperate local bureaus in cities like Shenzhen are using big-data tracking to force citizens to repay COVID-era unemployment benefits and pandemic allowances, while hitting businesses with corporate back-taxes dating back decades.

From raiding private insurance policies to squeezing ordinary workers, Beijing is treating private assets as its own open piggy bank.

When an authoritarian state squeezes both global investors and its own struggling populace just to stay solvent, economic stability becomes purely an illusion.

China is broke. China’s rulers are desperate. Bad things are going to happen in that country. https://t.co/cybri0KzZr

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) August 6, 2026

We reported earlier that China’s economy was cracking.

China’s economy was praised as the model for the Western world. Then, a few years back, it began to turn sour.  President Trump’s first administration did a number on China, which is why they wanted him gone.  This alone may be why China was involved in the COVID outbreak in 2019-20 (as reported in the book, The Steal – Volume I: Setting the Stage).

In 2023, the world began to see China’s economy falter.  We reported on a piece at the Business Insider.

It’s been clear for years that the Chinese real-estate market has been in trouble. China has a population of 1.4 billion, but it has built housing for a population of 3 billion, according to expert estimates. Many of the mega-developments became empty monuments to Beijing’s insatiable desire for growth. In Shenyang, farmers have taken over a development of empty mansions for cattle grazing.

At that time, real estate giant Evergrand began reporting problems, and it finally dissolved a few years ago.

China’s Evergrande Files for Bankruptcy – World Economy in Dangerous Shape

Now the value of real estate in China is collapsing to its lowest prices in at least the last 20 years.

BREAKING : China

Chinese Real Estate Market has fallen to its lowest prices in AT LEAST the last 20 years pic.twitter.com/Kiqt6EHfKg

— Barchart (@Barchart) August 3, 2026

In response, the government instituted a law saying that it will not allow some people to leave the country, maybe.

China Just Made “Maybe” a Crime. Now Everyone Is a Flight Risk.

Beijing has quietly redrawn the line between citizen and suspect, and it did it with a single word.

Under China’s new Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration, effective September 15 but already being trialed at some ports, one term appears again and again: “may.” Not “did.” Not “will.” May. If an official decides you “may endanger national security, interests, industrial security, or technical security,” you can be barred from leaving the country. Nowhere does the text define what “may endanger” actually means.

That vagueness is the point. The power to stop you at the border has been pushed all the way down the chain, provincial governments, the Commerce Ministry, even county-level offices can now decide who flies and who stays. As geopolitics scholar Chen Wen-chia puts it: you’re no longer flagged for what you did, but for what someone imagines you might do.

This is the machinery of a paranoid state, jumping at its own shadow. China has flipped its legal logic from punishing crimes after the fact to preventing exit before anything happens. State firms are reportedly already tightening travel approvals for staff. Those labeled a “threat” abroad can be blocked from leaving for six months to three years after they return.

Why now? Because the regime is scared. With the economy sagging and public anger simmering, Beijing fears its own people voting with their feet, and fears even more what they say when they come back. Engineers in semiconductors, AI, and finance should read the fine print: you may be next on the watchlist.

The message to 1.4 billion people is chillingly simple: the door is closing, and no one will tell you why. (Aric’s note: Regarding China’s current population, some analyses and experts believe it is far smaller than the official figures claim, though the actual data remains unclear.)

If you’re planning to leave China, understand the rules before they understand you.

ACI — Aric Chen | Insights

Editor’s note: The video is a related news segment from the World News I anchor.

China Just Made “Maybe” a Crime. Now Everyone Is a Flight Risk.

Beijing has quietly redrawn the line between citizen and suspect, and it did it with a single word.

Under China’s new Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration, effective September 15 but already being… https://t.co/xCODW58oxB pic.twitter.com/CjzHUwT6mj

— Aric Chen (@aricchen) August 4, 2026

Now China is going after people’s and insurance companies’ money.

The post More Evidence China Is Trying to Stop from Cracking Open appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to equip its officers with specialized gloves capable of delivering an electric shock to help subdue violent or resisting suspects.

According to a Department of Homeland Security notice reported by the Associated Press, ICE plans to spend up to $20 million purchasing thousands of the devices for deployment early next year.

Known as the G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter) the technology is manufactured by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies and has already been used by some police departments and correctional facilities.

The equipment functions as an ordinary pair of patrol gloves until an officer activates its electrical capability.

Confirmed: @ICEgov officers could soon be equipped with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks to gain compliance from combative individuals.

The @AP is reporting that a DHS notice published yesterday lays out how ICE plans to spend up to $20 MILLION to purchase thousands…

— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) August 11, 2026

The glove must make direct contact with a person’s skin to deliver a brief but painful electrical stimulus designed to gain compliance.

John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, compared the sensation to a bee sting.

“It’s immediate and sharp, and it will distract you,” Peters told the AP.

“If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool.”

The technology could prove particularly useful for ICE agents dealing with suspects who violently resist arrest, refuse to leave vehicles or homes, or become combative during transportation and detention.

“For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage.”

Unlike weapons that incapacitate suspects from a distance, the gloves require officers to already be in physical contact with the individual.

The technology therefore would allow agents to quickly bring a physical struggle under control without resorting to more serious levels of force.

The manufacturer says the gloves should not be used as punishment or against someone merely displaying “verbal defiance or belligerence.”

Officers must also complete a training course before using the device and undergo recertification every two years.

The equipment has previously been used to subdue violent suspects refusing to enter police vehicles as well as inmates who were harming themselves or threatening officers.

Peters said the gloves are unlikely to cause injuries, while stressing the importance of appropriate training and departmental policies governing their use.

The planned purchase comes as ICE officers continue carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda across the country.

The post ICE to Equip Agents With Electric-Shock Gloves to Safely Subdue Violent Suspects appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Who are these drones spying for, in the end?

The Royal Navy is fighting a war with Britain, to have resources to modernize and expand the much-diminished forced, said to be the smallest-ever.

But even when modernization efforts do come, they are not without issues, as we’ve learned this week.

It’s been widely reported that the Royal Navy spy drones used by Britain’s elite special forces had cameras suspected to be secretly sending sent data to China, The Telegraph can reveal.

The UK Ministry of Defence has launched an emergency security response after discovering that Chinese-made cameras on the Royal Navy’s K3 Scout drones were secretly transmitting data to an IP address in China.

The 27-foot, £12 million uncrewed vessels are used by Royal… pic.twitter.com/7hclAG1o6e

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 10, 2026

The Telegraph reported:

“The cameras on the K3 Scout surveillance drones had components made in China which were transmitting information to a device in the country.

The Royal Marines have been using the £12m fleet since March and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was forced to remove all internet connectivity from the cameras after discovering the breach.

The revelation raises fears that Beijing has been attempting to spy on Britain’s military after years of security warnings about the threat from the country.”

— Chinese-made components in cameras aboard Royal Navy K3 Scout surveillance drones were found transmitting data to an IP address in China, The Telegraph reports.

The £12 million drone fleet, used by the Royal Marines since March, was sending “heartbeat communications”… pic.twitter.com/TcJNA0UU5F

— Military Summary (@MilitarySummary) August 10, 2026

British defense contractor, Kraken Technology Group, sourced the cameras from a ‘third party’ who had ‘given assurances’ about their security.

“An investigation into the drones revealed that the cameras were transmitting ‘heartbeat communications’ – data to confirm they were online and functioning normally – to an IP address in China. The MoD insisted that there was no evidence that any sensitive data or systems had been sent abroad.”

However, it didn’t take long for the British military authorities to deny any of this is taking place.

BBC reported:

“The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said there is no evidence to suggest a systems or data breach after the Royal Navy’s new sea drones were found to include a Chinese-made component.

‘A thorough investigation found no evidence of MoD data or systems being accessed, compromised or transmitted externally’, an MoD spokesperson said.

Our assurance and testing processes are designed to identify and address potential vulnerabilities early, and we continue to undertake routine security activity across our systems and equipment’, the MoD added.”

Read more:

DISCOUNT DEFENSE: British Royal Navy To Scrap New Destroyers for ‘Smaller, Cheaper Warships’

The post British Royal Navy’s Spy Drones Have Cameras Suspected of Sending Back Data to China appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Just days after taking office, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella and his foreign minister announced two major diplomatic decisions: Colombia recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and became the second country in the world, after the United States, to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The moves represent a dramatic break with former President Gustavo Petro’s foreign policy, which strengthened ties with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and adopted a sharply critical position toward Israel.

But Colombia is not simply breaking with Petro. A bigger question is emerging:

Is Colombia pursuing an independent foreign policy—or moving increasingly into the geopolitical orbit of President Donald Trump and his key allies?

Petro broke diplomatic relations with Israel in May 2024 and established a Colombian embassy in Ramallah. De la Espriella, by contrast, promised to restore Colombia’s historic alliance with Israel.

Now Bogotá has gone considerably further.

On August 10, the Colombian government announced its recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, arguing that the territory is strategically important to Israel’s defense and regional security.

Israel welcomed the decision. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly thanked Colombia, while Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the recognition “historic.”

The Golan Heights: A Major International Dispute

The Golan Heights is not an ordinary territorial dispute.

Israel captured the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and extended Israeli law and administration there in 1981. The U.N. Security Council subsequently adopted Resolution 497, declaring Israel’s decision to impose its laws and administration on the territory legally invalid under international law.

For decades, that remained the dominant international position.

Then came Donald Trump.

In 2019, during his first presidency, Trump formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The United States stood virtually alone in doing so.

Now Colombia has joined Washington.

Supporters argue that Israel needs defensible borders and that the Golan provides a critical strategic position against threats from Syria and other regional actors.

Critics argue that Colombia is legitimizing a territorial change resulting from war that much of the international community continues to regard as an occupation.

Western Sahara: Another Major Shift

Colombia has also recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, abandoning its previous recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The territory’s final status remains disputed. Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, while the Polisario Front claims independence.

The United Nations has classified Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory since 1963. In 1975, the International Court of Justice concluded that the evidence presented to it did not establish territorial sovereignty between Morocco and Western Sahara that would override the principle of self-determination.

Morocco, however, has gained increasing international support for its autonomy proposal.

Trump also recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2020.

A Stronger U.S.-Colombia Alliance Makes Strategic Sense

There is a strong case for Colombia strengthening its relationship with the United States.

Washington is Colombia’s most important partner in areas including security, counter-narcotics, intelligence, trade and military cooperation.

Israel also offers significant expertise in intelligence, defense technology, border security and counterterrorism—areas of obvious importance to a country confronting drug trafficking, armed groups and organized crime.

From a conservative perspective, deeper cooperation with both countries can be justified on clear national-security and economic grounds.

But there is an important distinction between being an ally and being a follower.

An ally can say “yes” to Washington when interests align—and “no” when they do not.

That is the question now facing Bogotá.

In two of the world’s most controversial territorial disputes, Colombia has adopted positions closely aligned with those previously championed by the Trump administration.

That raises for many a legitimate question:

How much of Colombia’s new foreign policy is being driven by Colombia’s own national interests—and how much by Washington’s geopolitical priorities?

Colombia and Israel

Supporters of De la Espriella argue that Petro went too far in confronting Israel and that Colombia sacrificed valuable strategic opportunities.

They point to Israel’s expertise in intelligence, security and defense as a potential benefit to Colombia.

That argument deserves serious consideration.

But critics warn that if foreign policy becomes a binary choice—with Israel and Washington or against them—Colombia risks abandoning an independent diplomacy in favor of bloc politics.

Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has already drawn strong regional opposition. Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar have condemned Bogotá’s decision.

The move could carry a diplomatic cost.

Colombia maintains important relationships with Arab countries and has traditionally sought to preserve flexibility in its foreign policy.

If Bogotá begins to be seen as one of Washington and Israel’s most reliable allies, it could lose some of its room for maneuver in the Middle East.

That matters for a country also seeking investment, trade and greater international influence.

Colombia First

Colombia’s closer relationship with Washington and Jerusalem does not necessarily mean Colombia is surrendering its sovereignty. Strong alliances can advance a country’s national interests.

But sovereignty also means having the freedom to disagree with your allies.

If Petro’s mistake was allowing ideology to dominate Colombian foreign policy, De la Espriella should avoid making the opposite mistake: allowing the priorities of Trump, Israel or Morocco to define Colombia’s foreign policy.

De la Espriella came to power promising “Colombia First.”

Now comes the real test: Will Colombia put its own national interests first—even when they differ from those of its closest allies?

The post Colombia First? Bogotá’s New Foreign Policy Brings Country Closer to Trump and Israel appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Fox News correspondent and America Reports co-anchor John Roberts has publicly acknowledged that he developed pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around the heart, after his third COVID-19 shot, and that the condition worsened after he took a fourth dose.

The startling disclosure appeared in a newly circulated video clip, with Roberts recounting the sequence in his own words.

After years of mandates, booster campaigns and lectures from Washington’s so-called experts, another prominent media figure is now publicly describing a serious medical condition that arose following vaccination.

And the history here is impossible to ignore.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported in October 2021 that Roberts deleted a post questioning the long-term effectiveness of COVID vaccines following Colin Powell’s breakthrough infection and death.

After receiving immediate backlash, Roberts defended the vaccines and declared: “I plan to get a booster as soon as possible.”

Now Roberts says pericarditis developed after his third shot and worsened after the fourth.

“I remember when I got the boosters, I developed pericarditis, and then that went away. Then, when I had the second booster, it came roaring back again. So, you know, the body reacts differently to these things depending on who you are,” Roberts said.

WATCH:

The admission, circulating widely from on-air comments and related discussion, lands years after federal officials and corporate media spent 2021–2022 aggressively pushing mRNA boosters while downplaying or delaying clear warnings about myocarditis and pericarditis risks.

Roberts, who has previously disclosed heart issues including a pacemaker implanted in early 2022 and later treatment for atrial fibrillation that he linked in part to “that whole COVID thing,” described the inflammation appearing after the third shot and intensifying following the fourth. He has taken four doses total.

The post Fox News’ John Roberts Admits He Developed Pericarditis After His Third COVID Shot — and It Got Worse After the Fourth appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.