[Breitbart] The Chinese Communist Party issued a communiqué on Thursday that announced even more high-ranking military officers and members of the defense industry are under investigation for corruption. Deep State blames Hegseth!
Several top generals have been purged over the past few months, including Gen. Zhang Youxia, whose rank was second only to that of dictator Xi Jinping. The last round of purges left the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Chinese Communist Party with five of its seven seats empty.
The Party held the fifth plenum of its 20th Party Congress this week, meaning the fifth time party leadership has assembled since the last major Party Congress was held in 2022.
The Chinese Communist Party holds a congress every five years to reshuffle its leadership. The next Congress will be held in the fall of 2027, at which time Xi is expected to extend his open-ended leadership for another five years.
The fifth plenum featured a bumper crop of empty seats, as the Party expelled a record number of its senior officials. In fact, the meeting this week had the highest absence rate since the days of Party founder Mao Zedong, who was notorious for his constant sackings of perceived rivals. Mao was also the only leader of Communist China to hold power for more than four terms, a threshold Xi will cross at the next Party Congress.
The 20th Congress in 2022 named 376 top leaders – but only 279 of them were in attendance when the plenum began on Sunday. More than a quarter of the leaders from 2022 were gone, many of them due to corruption investigations.
The communiqué issued on Thursday announced 33 more full and alternate members of the Central Committee were expelled, 16 of them senior generals in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Two of those generals were the last two directors of the CMC General Office, Lt. Gen. Zhong Shaojun and Lt. Gen. Fang Yongxiang. Both generals were decorated veterans who fought in China’s war against Vietnam in the late 1970s.
Zhong had been a close political ally of Xi for the past 25 years, and was his top lieutenant in the PLA for much of that time. He rose to General Office director in 2017 – and then fell from grace in 2024, losing his director’s perch to Fang, who suddenly vanished in turn during the fourth plenum last October. Both Zhong and Fang were accused of “disciplinary violations” and formally drummed out of the Chinese Communist Party this week.
Several of the other generals purged this week were theater commanders with direct supervision of China’s military operations. Most of them either skipped the fourth plenum or dropped out of the public eye over the past year.
Also purged were several key officials in China’s military-industrial complex, including four heads of important state-owned aerospace and shipbuilding corporations.
One official who had a good time at the fifth plenum was Zhang Shengmin, the only remaining member of the CMC besides Xi. Zhang was promoted to the Politburo, the 21-member executive committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He is currently the only serving member of the PLA to sit on the Politburo.
The communiqué from the plenum strove to present the remarkable number of purges as a sign of strength, rather than weakness, crediting Xi and other Party leaders with “enormous political courage and a strong sense of responsibility” as they resolutely eliminated “serious hidden dangers” in China’s military hierarchy.
Rather than focusing on the startling number of its high officials who have been accused of corruption, the communiqué said the “achievements” of the current Congress would be “recorded forever in the history books of building Marxist political parties.”
The Party even hinted that more seats could be emptied, as it fought a relentless battle against corruption and tackled other “major challenges.”
The BBC quoted China’s top anti-corruption agency stating that 680,000 Party officials at all levels have been “disciplined” so far this year.
Analysts told the BBC that Xi is probably cleaning house before the next Party Congress, to ensure that no threat to his personal power remains before he claims a fourth term, and because he wants younger, more “technocratic” leaders to guide the modernization of the PLA.
“Xi’s focus is further consolidating power around himself,” said Chong Ja Ian of Carnegie China. “The readout from the plenum suggests he intends to be at the center of China and the Communist Party for the foreseeable future.”
“However, further down the road, such concentration of power may pave the way for a more serious power vacuum when Xi ages and slows down,” Chong added. Xi is currently 73 years old, which means he would be 79 when his prospective fourth term concludes.
[BB] Video of early voting in Lewiston, Maine, seems to shows Somali “translators” repeatedly breaking state election laws by coaching “newcomer” voters and filling out their ballots for them.
Security camera footage shows a shocking number of voters dressed in traditional Muslim garb employing the assistance of aides to vote in Lewiston, a Maine city that has been flooded with Somali migrants since 2002.
The footage of the early voting surveillance cameras was obtained through the state’s Freedom of Access Act and shows the operatives of a left-wing non-government organization which purports to provide Somali “translators” to help voters read ballots and cast their votes. These irregularities were first reported early this week. But since then, the evidence has mounted.
One video appears to show a woman in traditional Somali garb having a friendly conversation with a poll worker in English, but then needing a “translator” to help her vote. The video also shows the “translator” handing the woman’s ballot, which is illegal under Maine’s election laws.
Likewise, another video featuring a compilation of encounters between voters and “translators,” allegedly to show the aides filling out ballots and handling them.
U.S. Attorney for Maine Andrew Benson told Maine Wire reporter Steve Robinson that, “We review all evidence concerning complaints of voter intimidation and election interference, including the video from Lewiston’s early voting at City Hall.”
“We will not tolerate threats to the integrity of our elections, and we look forward to working with the Attorney General’s Office and the Secretary of State’s office to defend our democracy,” Benson added.
Many of the videos seem to show “translators” breaking the law.
“Under Maine law, voters may request a translator, but there are strict rules as to what aides can and cannot do when it comes to assisting voters. Translators are not allowed to offer assistance but must wait until assistance is requested, and they are not allowed to influence voters’ choices. The translators are not allowed to mark up a ballot, and they cannot approach or interrupt a voter who is already in the booth,” Maine Wire reported.
In other Maine polling place news, Maine Wire also caught Democrat State Rep. Scott Harriman holding a political demonstration inside an early voting place, which is also a violation of state election laws.
The demonstration was reportedly organized by the extremist, left-wing Soros-funded Maine People’s Alliance and was held just outside the room where voters were filling out their ballots.
Maine’s election law bans any electioneering from being conducted within 250 feet from a polling place. Yet the Democrat state rep. was holding his rally right outside the door of the voting chamber, only feet away from voting machines and right where voters were entering and exiting the polling place.
Watch the Mexicans ... with a ballot in Spanish
"Many of the videos seem to show “translators” breaking the law."
[M1] ¿Qué hago ahora? ["what do I do now?"]
[M2] haga clic aquí [pointing, "click here"]
[M1] ¿Qué es un clic? ["what is a click?"]
[FoxNews] Del Tom Garrett demands an independent audit of Abigail Spanberger's restoration process before Election Day ballot measure
A Southside Virginia lawmaker is demanding an investigation after a constituent received an official rights-restoration certificate for his dog, Biscuit, a beagle-hound mix from Goochland County that died about five years ago.
The discovery follows the "Betty No Last Name" controversy in Chesapeake — where a purported convict lacking a surname had "her" rights restored — and raises fresh questions about the governor's vetting process just days before voters decide whether to make felons' voting-rights restoration automatic via an Election Day ballot measure supported by Richmond Democrats.
Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham — who received the letter from the constituent who owned the pet — is now calling for an investigation into how Gov. Abigail Spanberger could have restored voting and jury-service rights to a deceased animal.
"This is not a question of whether people who have served their sentences deserve a second chance. This is a question of whether the Commonwealth is exercising one of the Governor’s constitutional powers with even the most basic level of review," Garrett said.
"Biscuit was a dog. Biscuit has been dead for five years. Yet an official document bearing the governor’s signature says the executive reviewed the particulars of Biscuit’s criminal case and determined her rights should be restored. Virginians deserve an explanation for how that is possible."
Biscuit’s owner, who declined to be identified to avoid political backlash, confirmed the letter's authenticity to Fox News Digital and told Garrett in a statement that the pup was a "good dog and is greatly missed."
"To my knowledge, she was never convicted of a felony, nor did she ever show any interest in voting," the owner said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.
A spokesperson for Spanberger replied, "Of course we did not restore the rights of a dog. We cannot disclose this individual's information, but we can tell you that it is associated with a person with a date of birth and Social Security number."
Fox News Digital followed up to seek clarification on what error may have occurred but did not receive a response.
The owner told Fox News Digital that Biscuit was never sent to the pound or had any other contact with Richmond that could have resulted in her being placed on the voting rolls. The owner said a sibling is currently incarcerated but added that the connection is moot because Spanberger’s stated effort only involves released former convicts.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[BB] Video of early voting in Lewiston, Maine, seems to shows Somali “translators” repeatedly breaking state election laws by coaching “newcomer” voters and filling out their ballots for them.
[FoxNews] Del Tom Garrett demands an independent audit of Abigail Spanberger's restoration process before Election Day ballot measure
