Nation

Sen. Rand Paul grills FBI Director Wray over botched Russia investigation

Published

4 months ago

September 21, 2021

Jenny Goldsberry

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After reports that Hilary Clinton’s former lawyer Michael Sussman was indicted for fabricating a national security threat, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) looked for someone to blame. In a hearing Tuesday, Paul blamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray for using unconstitutional methods in the Durham probe. The Kentucky Senator aimed all his questions during the Senate Homeland Security Committee to Director Wray.

“When we investigate a presidential campaign,” Paul began, “I think it’s important that we realize the potential for bias that exists in the people bringing an investigation forward.”

As a result of the Durham report being brought to the FISA courts, the investigation was able to bypass constitutional procedure. The U.S. Foreign Surveillance Court does not require the Constitution’s fourth amendment application. In other words, the court does not demand for any probable cause of a crime.

“And I think that’s what happened during the investigation that turned out to be untrue of the Russian collusion,” Paul said. “So we had a massive investigation of a presidential campaign. I don’t think enough of us have stepped back to say ‘my goodness should we be using FISA warrants? Should we be using that type of warrant on an American?'” After all, Americans are entitled to their fourth amendment rights.

“What that inspector general report describes by certain FBI personnel I consider to be unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI that I see every day,” Wray said. While he worked for the bureau for four years after Sept. 11, he took a break to work in the private sector. then, he joined the bureau again in 2017. Wray went on to say that he believes another botched investigation “could never happen again.” However, he put in over 40 corrective measures to ensure that it won’t.

Yet Paul pushed back, saying the FISA court functions on a “much lower standard, much more open to abuse.” In addition, the court isn’t a public court or judges to protect defendants. His solution is to reserve the court for foreigners as he claims it was meant to be. Otherwise, he predicted any U.S. president could be next.

You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.

Related Topics:Christopher Wray durham Rand Paul

Nation

Health Industry Distributors’ Association: Supply Chain Delays ‘A Healthcare Issue’

Published

3 weeks ago

December 27, 2021

Staff Writer

The Health Industry Distributors’ Association (HIDA) released harrowing data stating “Transportation Delays Are A Healthcare Issue.” HIDA’s December release states, “research estimates that approximately 8,000-12,000 containers of critical medical supplies are delayed an average of up to 37 days throughout the transportation system.”

The statement continues, “The West Coast port with the greatest number of delayed medical containers are the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The most congested East Coast port is the Port of Savannah.”

An infographic is accompanied with the statement which breaks down the crisis further. 17 is the average number of days the shipments are delayed at the Port. There’s an 11 day average delay by rail, and a 9 day average delay by truck.

In those shipping containers, the infographic states 187,000 gowns, 360,000 syringes and 3.5 million surgical gloves are held. The ports with the most medical delayed supplies are Los Angeles/Long Beach, Savannah, New York/New Jersey, Charleston, Seattle, Oakland, Boston, Baltimore and Houston.

Axios reports under a “Why it matters” headline, that “Per their projections, medical supplies arriving at a U.S. port on Christmas Day won’t be delivered to hospitals and other care settings until February 2022.”

As a result, “that could delay critical supplies at a time when health care is already expected to most need them due to surges from Delta and Omicron.”

Additionally, “The supply chain problems can compound, starting with medical supplies languishing in U.S. ports for an average of 17 days, officials said.”