Photo via FBI

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI foiled an alleged plot to detonate a bomb in a shopping mall in South Florida, arresting the suspect behind the planned attack.

The arrest of Miami resident Vicente Solano, an alleged ISIS sympathizer, came during an FBI sting operation, CBS News reports. 

The FBI, acting on a tip by a confidential informant, said the suspect was acting alone and was planning a large-scale attack on Dolphin Mall in Doral, near the Miami International Airport.

Solano planned to detonate what turned out to be a hoax bomb from undercover FBI agents.

Solano is expected to appear in Miami federal court today.

John F. Kennedy

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

More than 3,000 documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy are expected to be released by the federal government Thursday.

President Trump said he doesn’t plan to prevent the release of the documents, which include repots from the CIA and FBI.

“Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened,” Trump tweeted Saturday.

The disclosure is long overdue, said Boston University professor and presidential historian Tom Whalen.

“It might cause some embarrassments to the intelligence agencies because J. Edgar Hoover, who ran the FBI, in previously released documents basically admitted the FBI screwed up on November 22. Lee Harvey Oswald shouldn’t have been a country mile of the presidential motorcade. They should have detained him but the intelligence agencies were not communicating to one another,” he told CBS.http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/10/22/jfk-documents-release-fbi-cia/

A 1992 law, known as the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, called for the release on the 25th anniversary of the law.

John Podesta

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election now includes the Democratic-leaning Podesta Group.

The group is led by Tony Podesta, the brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta.

Mueller is looking at the group’s dealings with a Ukrainian-linked firm, NBC reports. 

The focus on the Podesta Group stems from Mueller’s investigation of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman.

NBC wrote:

Manafort had organized a public relations campaign for a non-profit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). Podesta’s company was one of many firms that worked on the campaign, which promoted Ukraine’s image in the West.

The sources said the investigation into Podesta and his company began as more of a fact-finding mission about the ECMU and Manafort’s role in the campaign, but has now morphed into a criminal inquiry into whether the firm violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA.

Under FARA, people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments, leaders or political parties must file detailed disclosures about their spending and activities with the Justice Department. Willful failure to file the forms is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison, though such prosecutions are rare.

The Podesta Group filed a FARA registration for its work with ECMU only after the payments were reported by the media. Manafort’s firm also filed a FARA registration after media reports in June disclosed its work in Ukraine from 2012 through 2014.

President Trump

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump said he has not been asked to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is investigating alleged Russian interference during the presidential election.

“I don’t know. Nobody’s asked me to do that,” he told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on Friday. “There has — there is no collusion I can tell you that. Everybody’s seen that. You know, you have Senate meetings, you have Senate hearings and nobody has asked us to do interviews anywhere. They have found no collusion.”

Mueller’s team has interviewed former White House press secretary Sean Spicer and former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Mueller has reportedly expressed interest in interviewing a number of former and current White House staffers.

Guns seized by the TSA.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The TSA is on pace to seize a record-high number of firearms this year, saying the increase is due to an increase in air travelers.

“While it’s impossible to ascertain an exact, scientific reason for the increase, there does seem to be a correlation between the increase in the number of firearms caught and the increase in passenger volume,” TSA spokesman Mike England told the Washington Examiner. “2016 was a record year for passenger volume and the industry is on pace to break that record in 2017. The same can be said for TSA firearm catches.” 

Over the past decade, the seizure of loaded and unloaded guns has increased every year. In 2007, 803 guns were seized at airport checkpoints. That number increased to 2,212 in 2014, 2,653 in 2015 and 3,391 in 2016.

With nearly three months left in the year, the TSA has documented the confiscation of 3,053 firearms. 

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