As many people know, actor Alec Baldwin may be criminally charged for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchin and the injury to director Joel Souza. The deadly incident occurred on the movie set for the production of Rust, when he handled a movie prop gun which was loaded and which somehow fired, killing Ms, Hutchin and wounding Mr. Souza. It was a needless and tragic death!
We mention that because on September 23 of this year, two dozen or so heavily armed FBI agents surrounded the rural home of Mark Houck, a pro-life author and a sidewalk counselor, who often prays the rosary and counsels' women outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia.
According to Mr. Houck’s wife, at 7:00 AM, “a FBI SWAT team of about 25 came to my house with about 15 vehicles and started pounding on our door… “They said they were going to break in if he didn’t open it. And then they had about five guns pointed at my husband, myself, and basically at my (seven young) kids,”
The FBI arrested Mark, using a warrant which claimed he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act by attacking a Planned Parenthood escort outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic nearly one year ago. In his defense, Mr. Houck asserts he was merely defending his 12-year-old son who was being aggressively harassed by the escort. He says that the man fell when he pushed him away from his son, and the man was not really hurt.
Back then, both the city police and the district attorney investigated and declined to file charges against Mr.Houck. In addition, although the escort filed a private criminal complaint in Philadelphia municipal court, the case was dismissed in July when the man repeatedly didn’t show up in court. Evidently, it was not that big of a deal for him to bother appearing. However, Mr. Houck later received a “target letter” from the US Attorney’s Office informing him that he was the focus of a federal criminal probe for the same incident. Through his attorney, Houck tried to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office to discuss the case but never received a response. That is – until the FBI raid!
Ask yourself, was this heavily armed FBI raid really necessary? We agree with Mr. Houck’s attorney: “This was reckless and outrageous. It put the Houck family in unnecessary danger. We’ve offered to bring him in. Didn’t get a response. Even if you’re going to arrest a regular person, you just send a couple of agents, they knock on the door, not dragging the head of the family out, violating the sanctity of the home, pointing guns at them. This was outrageous and uncalled for.”
Yes, the danger posed to Mr. Houck’s young family was indeed very serious. Just ask the families of Ms. Hutchin or any average Joe in poor inner-city neighborhoods, and they will tell you that fatal accidents do happen when everyday citizens are confronted by a large police presence. No shooting occurred in this case, but if convicted Mr. Houck could face up to 11 years in prison and a fine of up to $350,000.
However, we think there is a bigger danger here in the form of an aggressive and politicized FBI. We do note that this particular FBI raid occurred in the same time frame in which President Biden has been railing against MAGA Republicans and the “threat to our democracy.” In contrast to the very aggressive tactics the FBI used against a pro-life activist, there has been no rhetorical attacks or indeed any FBI arrests in connection with the dozens of incidents of vandalism against pro-life pregnancy centers across the country.
If the FBI raid was just a one-off occurrence, we could more easily dismiss the incident. However, there does appear to be a pattern. We note that:
In April 2021, a dozen armed FBI agents broke down the door of Paul and Marilyn Hueper, an Alaska couple, as they slept in their beds, and accosted them with guns drawn, demanding that they turn over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop. The couple was handcuffed and interrogated for the better part of three hours before being released, in what ultimately turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Mr. Hueper said he repeatedly asked to see a search warrant but was denied until two and a half hours had gone by. During that time, he was separated from his wife. In addition, the Huepers claim they were never read their Miranda rights. Paul said the agents ransacked the house and left a hole in their door. Finally, the agents the agents left after three hours without offering an apology. They also took Marilyn’s phones and laptop.
Then there is the case of Lisa Gallagher. In September 2022, a New Jersey woman, who had voiced her support for former President Trump on Facebook, was awakened by three armed FBI agents who claimed to have an anonymous tip that connected her to the January 6 riot, “I was terrified, crying, my knees shaking, she said. “I knew I had done nothing wrong.” Although the agents left when she proved she was not involved by showing them her phone and calendar, this FBI raid should disturb liberals and conservatives alike. Think of it – all that it took to get an armed visit from the FBI was an anonymous tip!
Then there’s the raid in April 2021 of the apartment of former New York mayor and personal lawyer to the President, Rudy Giuliani. It was raided by federal agents at 6:00 AM and multiple electronic devices were seized. At the time, Mr. Giuliani had been under investigation by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office in relation to his overseas business dealings in the country of Ukraine. According to Mr. Giuliani’s attorney, the search warrant describes the investigation as a probe into a possible violation of foreign lobbying rules. Of course, for such a high-profile case, there has to be some precedent. Remember when the FBI raided the office of Hunter Biden for possible overseas lobbying regulations? Oh wait. That never happened. What a surprise!
Now consider the case of Peter Navarro. He was the counselor of former President Trump, who negotiated the improved trade deal with China. In June 2022, he was arrested by five armed FBI as he was about to board his airplane at the airport. They put him in leg irons and placed him in solitary confinement for almost 3 hours.
Why the need for force? According to Mr. Navarro, “two days before they grabbed me at that airport, I called the FBI agent Walter… the arresting agent and said, Hey, Walter, whatever you need, whatever you need, I'm happy to cooperate. I had an inkling they might be doing something. And I said, Hey, Walter, whatever you need, right? And two times before that… I willingly and peacefully accepted subpoenas by email, first from the coronavirus subcommittee and then from the select committee. So, I had a pattern of peaceful cooperation in receiving subpoenas.”
What’s the crime? A federal grand jury indicted former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the House January 6 Committees investigation. Well, that sounds serious -- or maybe not. US District Court Judge Amit Mehta, an appointee of former Present Barack Obama, said “It is curious…at a minimum why the government treated Mr. Navarro’s arrest in the way it did. It is a federal crime, but it is not a violent crime.”
We note that the Department of Justice has also indicted former Trump Presidential advisor Stephen Bannon for Contempt of Congress.
Given the obvious political undertones of a Democratic Administration charging federal crimes against important political persons of the opposite political party, you would think there has got to be some precedent for that. And of course, there is. The attorney General for former President Obama, Eric Holder, was charged with contempt of Congress. What happened? Oh wait. Nothing! Different strokes for different political folks!”
In sum, we believe the FBI is heavy-handed, politicized and yes, corrupt. Stay tuned for more.
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