American Pastor BEATEN In Iranian Prison
American pastor Saeed Abedini was beaten in his Iranian prison the day after his wife testified before Congress trying to secure his release.
Abedini was assaulted Wednesday June 3 by a fellow inmate at Iran’s Rajai Shahr prison, where he is serving an eight-year sentence for preaching to Iranian Christians, which the Iranian government claims undermined that country’s national security. Abedini has been in captivity since 2012.
Abedini suffered two black eyes among other injuries, according to his American legal representative, the American Center for Law and Justice. Abedini’s reading table was also destroyed by fellow prisoners.
Abedini was beaten in his prison near the northern Iranian city of Karaj just one day after his wife Nagmeh Abedini testified before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she appealed for help on behalf of her two children with the incarcerated Christian pastor.
“It is heartbreaking to me and my family that Saeed was again beaten in prison,” Nagmeh said in a statement provided to ACLJ after the hearing, when she heard the news of the beating. “Saeed’s life is continuously threatened not only because he is an American, but also because he is a convert from Islam to Christianity. It’s time to get Saeed home before it is too late.”
President Obama asked Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to release Abedini, but has been unable to bring the pastor home.
Boehner Defends Secrecy Of Trade Talks
Boehner Defends Secrecy Of Trade Talks
WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that members of Congress do not want to reveal their positions are on the current negotiations to give President Obama broader authority on trade agreements.
Boehner said this in response to The Daily Caller’s question about the secrecy surrounding the development of so-called “trade promotion authority,” or TPA, which would allow the president to reach a trade deal with a foreign nation that would only require an up-or-down vote from Congress. Congress would not be allowed to filibuster the agreement.
“There’s a trade negotiation going on, and like any negotiation that goes on, you don’t want to air out what everyone’s positions are,” Boehner told reporters. “That’s not what we’re voting on. By passing trade promotion authority, it will actually give Congress more openness — more involvement in what the trade agreement may look like if we ever get one, and goal posts along the way.”
“So if, in fact, there’s going to be a trade agreement with the Asians or trade agreement with the Europeans, trade promotion authority allows us here in the Congress to outline what those goal posts should be — what the objectives should be — and gives us a part in helping advise the administration in the development of our position and in those discussions,” Boehner added. “Without trade promotion authority, we’re never going to know what’s there.”
Some rank-and-file members of Congress have complained about the lack of transparency in putting together the TPA legislation.
One such complaint came Wednesday night during a Rules Committee hearing on TPA.
“I appreciate all of that but again, you read through this language down in the secret room, and I welcome the day when people can read it,” committee member and Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess told Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
“By the way, TPA — it’s declassified and made public once it’s agreed to,” Ryan responded.
If TPA is passed, the president will be able to propose a final trade deal, like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, to Congress.
Those not supporting TPA say that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would affect 40 percent of the U.S. economy, say Congress would be helpless to change the final agreement, and would have to accept or reject it in its complete form.
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DHS Agent Says She Was Stripped Of Gun, Nearly Lost Daughter After Blowing Whistle On Immigration Visa Program [VIDEO]
A Department of Homeland Security agent testified Thursday that she nearly lost custody of her 1-year-old adopted daughter and was told that she could not own a personal firearm after she voiced concerns about a little known federal program that grants green cards to foreign investors.
Taylor Johnson, a senior special agent with a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), testified at a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing alongside several other whistleblowers who claim they’ve faced retaliation for reporting wrongdoing in their agencies.
Johnson, an 11-year veteran of ICE, said she began investigating a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) program called EB-5. The program grants green cards to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. companies.
Johnson testified that during her investigation she uncovered and disclosed gross mismanagement and public corruption that posed “national security risks” and threatened public safety.
“Some of the violations investigated surrounding the project included bank and wire fraud, and I discovered ties to organized crime and high-ranking politicians and they received promotions that appeared to facilitate the program,” Johnson testified.
She said that during her investigation she “discovered that EB-5 applicants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Malaysia had been approved in as little as 16 days” and that case files “lacked the basic and necessary law enforcement queries.”
“I found over 800 operational EB-5 regional centers throughout the U.S.,” Johnson said, stating that she found this “disturbing” given that the U.S. allows only 10,000 EB-5 applications per year.
“I could not identify how USCIS was holding each regional center accountable or how they were tracked once they were inside the U.S.,” she added.
Johnson’s testimony comes as the EB-5 program is under intense scrutiny from a damning report released in March by DHS’ inspector general, John Roth. Roth’s report concluded that former USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas, now the second-in-command at DHS, intervened in an “unprecedented” manner to help expedite EB-5 applications.
Some of those who Mayorkas was in contact with include Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and current Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Mayorkas met with Reid to discuss an EB-5 application for the Sands Casino, a Las Vegas casino which employed Reid’s son’s law firm.
Mayorkas was in routine contact with McAuliffe who aggressively pushed for EB-5 approval for his company, GreenTech Automotive. Hillary Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, was also involved in that deal.
It is unclear if Johnson investigated Mayorkas or any applications involving Reid or McAuliffe.
After receiving complaints from “high-ranking officials” at outside agencies, Johnson’s managers shut down her investigation, she testified. From there, she says she was “subjected to a significant amount of harassment and retaliation.”
Blowback started when she was escorted from her work desk and prohibited from accessing her case files or other personal records.
She also said that her service firearm and credentials were confiscated. But the gun grab went further.
“I was told I couldn’t even carry or own a personal weapon which is a constitutional rights violation,” Johnson said.
Johnson grew emotional during one part of her testimony when she discussed how the retaliation she faced hit home, literally.
“When an adoption social worker tried to contact and verify employment, she was told that I had been terminated for a criminal offense,” Johnson said, her voice shaky.
“I almost lost my 1-year-old child.”
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