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BREAKING UPDATE: The Pentagon has just confirmed that there have been at least 140 US Service members wounded.

Is the Pentagon Hiding the True Cost of the War With Iran?

A troubling new report suggests the American public may not be getting the full picture of what is happening in the war with Iran.

According to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, as many as 150 U.S. troops may have been wounded so far in the conflict. The number is far higher than previously disclosed publicly by the Pentagon.

If accurate, this would represent a dramatic shift in what Americans understand about the human cost of the war.

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Until now, the public narrative has focused largely on fatalities and a small number of “seriously wounded” service members. Just days ago, U.S. Central Command had publicly acknowledged seven U.S. troops killed and eight seriously wounded, though officials also admitted that those numbers did not include troops suffering less severe injuries such as concussions or shrapnel wounds.

Now we are hearing that the real number of wounded could be nearly twenty times higher.

And the Pentagon isn’t commenting.

A War Escalating Quickly

The war with Iran has escalated rapidly over the past several days. U.S. and Israeli forces have carried out thousands of strikes on Iranian military targets, while Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks against U.S. facilities and allies across the region.

At least 8 American service members have already been killed in the fighting, including troops killed in a drone strike on a U.S. facility in Kuwait earlier in the conflict.

Meanwhile, global oil markets, shipping lanes, and regional stability have all been shaken as the war expands.

But while the strategic and geopolitical consequences dominate headlines, the human cost to American troops may be significantly higher than the public has been led to believe.

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Why the Wounded Number Matters

War casualties are typically reported in several categories:

• Killed in action

• Seriously wounded

• Other wounded or injured

Often the last category, concussions, blast injuries, burns, or shrapnel wounds—receives less attention, even though it can involve large numbers of troops and long-term health consequences.

We saw this phenomenon before.

In 2020, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at the Al Asad airbase in Iraq following the U.S. strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the initial reports suggested minimal injuries. Weeks later, it became clear that over 100 U.S. troops had suffered traumatic brain injuries from the blast waves.

The lesson was simple: the first casualty reports are often incomplete.

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In the first major Cabinet shakeup of Donald Trump’s second presidency, Kristi Noem has been removed as Secretary of Homeland Security.

The move marks the first high-profile personnel change in Trump’s administration since he returned to the White House earlier this year. Noem, who previously served as governor of South Dakota, had been leading the Department of Homeland Security since January 2025.

According to multiple reports, the decision comes after mounting criticism of Noem’s leadership at DHS. Lawmakers from both parties had begun questioning a number of agency decisions and spending choices, including a controversial $220 million advertising campaign aimed at encouraging migrants already in the United States to voluntarily self-deport. The campaign drew sharp backlash in Congress and added to growing scrutiny over the department’s priorities.

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Trump has announced that Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma will be his choice to replace Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, pending Senate confirmation.

Mullin is one of the more unconventional picks to run a federal department. Before entering politics, he built a reputation as a businessman and even competed as a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. In Washington, he’s become known for his aggressive political style—at one point even nearly getting into a physical confrontation during a Senate committee hearing in 2023.

If confirmed, Mullin would take over one of the most politically charged roles in the federal government, overseeing immigration enforcement, border security, disaster response, and domestic counterterrorism.

For Trump, the move appears aimed at resetting the narrative around DHS at a time when immigration and border policy remain central to his administration’s agenda. Whether Mullin’s combative background translates into effective leadership of the sprawling department remains to be seen.

But one thing is clear: the first Cabinet shakeup of Trump’s second term signals that the administration is willing to make high-level changes quickly as political pressures mount.

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In the last 12 hours, the Middle East has moved dangerously closer to a broader regional war.

Four American service members are now dead. Major oil and gas infrastructure has been struck. Fighter jets have been shot down. Commercial shipping in one of the world’s most critical waterways has come under attack.

This is no longer theoretical escalation.

Here are the 6 developments, and what we know so far.

1) Four U.S. Service Members Confirmed Dead

U.S. Central Command confirmed that a fourth American service member has died following Iranian-linked attacks in the region.

According to reporting from CBS News and other outlets, the fourth fatality came after a service member who was critically wounded in earlier strikes succumbed to injuries.

Why this matters:

• Once U.S. troop deaths mount, domestic political pressure intensifies
• Calls for retaliation increase rapidly
• Diplomatic space narrows

History shows that American casualties change the political calculus quickly

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2) Saudi Arabia’s Largest Oil Refinery Shut Down After Strike

Reuters reports that Saudi Aramco shut down the Ras Tanura refinery and export terminal following a strike and heightened threat conditions.

Ras Tanura processes roughly 550,000 barrels per day and is a major crude export node.

This is not just a refinery, it is a global supply artery.

When infrastructure of this scale pauses:

• Oil futures spike
• Traders price in prolonged disruption
• U.S. gasoline prices can rise within days

Energy markets respond instantly to instability in Saudi capacity.

3) Qatar Halts LNG Production After Facility Hit

Reuters and regional outlets report that Qatar halted liquefied natural gas production following strikes impacting its energy infrastructure, including areas near Ras Laffan.

Qatar is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters.

After Europe pivoted away from Russian gas, Qatar became a critical supplier.

If LNG exports pause:

• European and Asian energy markets tighten
• Electricity generation costs rise
• Industrial supply chains feel secondary shocks

This is not just a regional story. It’s a global energy story.

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4) Three U.S. Fighter Jets Shot Down in Friendly-Fire Incident

Reuters and AP report that three U.S. F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses amid Iranian drone and missile activity.

All six crew members ejected and survived.

This incident underscores how chaotic and high-pressure the regional air-defense environment has become.

When airspace becomes saturated with drones and interceptors:

• Mistakes increase
• Tensions spike
• Escalation risks multiply

Even accidental incidents can carry strategic consequences.

5) Multiple Tankers Damaged Near Gulf Shipping Lanes

Reuters reports that multiple oil tankers were damaged as the conflict spilled into commercial shipping lanes near the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

At least one seafarer has been reported killed in a drone-boat attack in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20% of the world’s petroleum supply.

If commercial shipping becomes unsafe:

• Insurance premiums surge
• Tanker traffic slows or reroutes
• Oil prices spike sharply

Targeting shipping transforms a regional conflict into an economic shockwave.

6) Saudi Frustration With U.S. Priorities Emerging

Reports circulating online attribute comments to a Saudi official suggesting the U.S. shifted air defense priorities toward Israel during the attacks.

While the exact quote remains unconfirmed in major wire reporting, what is clear is this:

Several Gulf states that were not directly initiating conflict have still been struck.

Alliance tensions rise quickly when infrastructure burns.

Saudi-U.S. cooperation is foundational to energy stability and regional balance. If trust erodes, geopolitical alignment shifts.

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A Dangerous New Phase With Massive Oil Market Implications

In a major and deeply concerning escalation, an oil tanker, the Skylight, was reportedly struck just five nautical miles north of Khasab Port in Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz. Four sailors were injured. The attack allegedly came after the vessel ignored warnings not to enter the Strait.

This marks a shift from military targets to commercial energy infrastructure, and that changes everything.

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The Strait of Hormuz is not just another shipping lane. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through this narrow chokepoint. If commercial vessels are now being targeted, or even credibly threatened, the oil market will not wait for confirmation. It will react instantly.

Even the perception that shipping through Hormuz is unsafe can:

• Send oil futures sharply higher

• Trigger panic buying and stockpiling

• Spike war-risk insurance premiums for tankers

• Disrupt LNG shipments to Europe and Asia

• Increase transportation and fuel costs globally

This is a textbook supply-shock scenario.

If insurers refuse to cover ships or major carriers reroute vessels, global supply tightens overnight. Oil doesn’t need to be physically removed from the market for prices to surge, the threat alone can push crude toward triple digits.

The broader danger?

Inflation.

Energy prices ripple through everything: food, shipping, manufacturing, airfare, trucking. If this escalates further and Hormuz becomes effectively restricted, we could see renewed global inflation pressures at a time when central banks are already on edge.

This is why attacks on commercial shipping are so dangerous. They expand conflict from battlefield strategy to global economic warfare.

The oil market is now watching one thing: whether this was an isolated incident, or the beginning of a broader campaign targeting energy flows.

If it’s the latter, the economic consequences could move faster than the military ones.

And markets will open Monday ready to react.

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What happened

• In the early hours of Feb. 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran, marking the start of what U.S. officials are calling a sustained offensive against the Iranian regime’s military capabilities and nuclear program. The U.S. has named the operation “Operation Epic Fury.”

• The strikes reportedly hit multiple targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities as well as Iranian defense and missile infrastructure. Both Tehran’s air defenses and communications systems were disrupted by the attacks.

🎯 Goals stated by U.S. and Israel

• President Donald Trump said the aim was to eliminate what the U.S. views as an imminent threat from Iran’s missiles and nuclear ambitions and to create conditions for a political change in Iran.

• Israeli leaders described their part of the offensive as targeting what they call an existential threat from the Iranian regime and said strikes would continue “as long as needed.”

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🇮🇷 Iran’s response

• Iran immediately retaliated, launching missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases across the region.

• Gulf Arab states including the UAE and Qatar closed their airspace and reported intercepting Iranian missiles. One person was reported killed in Abu Dhabi from missile debris.

Missile attack on U.S. military base in Bahrain

• Iran launched a large barrage of missiles across the Gulf in retaliation for a major U.S.-Israel military strike on Iranian territory earlier today.

• Bahrain confirmed that at least one Iranian missile hit part of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet facilities in Manama, the host nation for U.S. Central Command operations in the region. Videos show explosions and smoke near U.S. bases.

• Gulf neighbors, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, reported intercepting missiles or sounding alerts as sirens and defense operations were activated.

• British authorities warned their nationals in Bahrain and other Gulf states to shelter indoors amid the attacks.

• Reports indicate at least one civilian death in Abu Dhabi from falling shrapnel from Iranian missiles.

In context: these strikes are part of an escalating broader conflict after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian sites earlier today, described by U.S. officials as an effort to curb Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities.

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Lyrics:
You have the right to remain silent
or not…

God above a mother's love
A guiding hand to pick you up
To crush her like a coffee cup
Why?
Crossing guard or yellow bus
Our children teach us who to trust
The worst can’t kill what’s best in us
But they can try
America will rise
Against the people of the lie

I love you more
Than hate loves war
I love you more
Than hate loves war
(War, war)

We love you more than hate loves war

Renee Good born to die free
American mother of three
Seventh day January
A bullet for each child, you see
The color of her eye
930 Minneapolis
To desecrate domestic bliss
Three bullets blast, three babies kissed
Renee the domestic terrorist???
What you can’t kill can't die
America will rise
Against the people of the lie
I love you more
Than hate loves war
I love you more
Than hate loves war
(War, war)

We love you more than hate loves war

I am not mad at you, Lord
You’re the reason I was there
Could you stop a heart from breaking
By having it not care?
Could you stop a bullet in midair?

She says…
The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power
The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power
The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power

In the streets with children playing
In the churches where they’re praying
School teachers are explaining
America, America
The power of the people!

We love you more (we say, we say) than hate loves war
I love you more (I say, I say) than hate loves war

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Prince Andrew Arrested Amid New Scrutiny Over Epstein Allegations

The long shadow of Jeffrey Epstein continues to stretch across some of the most powerful institutions in the world.

Now, it appears to have reached back into the British royal family once again.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, more widely known as Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. At the same time, a U.K. police force confirmed it is “assessing” reports that Andrew may have sent trade-related reports or confidential material to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

If true, this would represent a significant escalation beyond the allegations that have surrounded Andrew for years.

But before jumping to conclusions, let’s break down what we know, and what we don’t.

What Is Being Investigated?

Authorities have stated that they are assessing reports suggesting Andrew may have shared trade-related information with Epstein during the period of their association.

The key phrase here is “assessing reports.”

That does not mean charges have been filed. It does not mean wrongdoing has been proven. It means law enforcement is reviewing the available evidence to determine whether further action is warranted.

Still, the fact that such an assessment is underway is significant given Andrew’s already controversial ties to Epstein.

The Epstein Relationship

Prince Andrew has long acknowledged his association with Jeffrey Epstein but has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

His 2019 BBC interview, intended to clear his name, instead deepened public skepticism. The interview led to significant backlash and ultimately to Andrew stepping back from public royal duties.

He later reached a civil settlement in a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual abuse. Andrew denied the allegations and did not admit liability as part of that settlement.

Since then, he has remained largely removed from public-facing royal responsibilities.

@krassensteinPrince Andrew Arrested after this Email was released! #princeandrew #epstein #epsteinfiles #england #women

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Why “Misconduct in Public Office” Matters

In the United Kingdom, misconduct in public office is a serious criminal offense. It typically applies when:

• A public official willfully neglects their duties or abuses their position.

• The misconduct is serious enough to warrant criminal punishment.

• There is evidence of intentional wrongdoing.

If the allegation involves sharing sensitive trade information, the legal and national security implications could be substantial.

But again, an arrest or assessment is not a conviction. Investigations often conclude without charges.

The Royal Family’s Ongoing Vulnerability

The British monarchy has spent years attempting to stabilize its public image.

King Charles III has worked to modernize and streamline the institution. But Andrew’s association with Epstein has repeatedly reopened wounds, especially as more Epstein-related documents and disclosures emerge globally.

If these new allegations gain traction, they could reignite debates about transparency, accountability, and whether royal privilege has shielded powerful individuals from deeper scrutiny.

The Bigger Picture

The Epstein saga continues to reveal something deeply unsettling:

Power protects power, until it doesn’t.

Whether in politics, finance, media, or monarchy, the Epstein network has forced uncomfortable questions about who knew what, and when.

Prince Andrew has consistently denied any criminal conduct.

The U.K. police are assessing reports.

The public deserves clarity.

But clarity requires patience, evidence, and due process — not assumptions.

Final Thought

If the investigation moves forward, it will test not just Prince Andrew, but the British system itself.

Is the law applied equally to royalty and commoners alike?

Or does influence still carry weight behind closed doors?

As always, the facts will matter more than the headlines.

And we’ll be watching closely.

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According to this lawmaker, there were approximately 1.5 million redactions involving variations of Donald Trump’s name, including “Donald Trump,” “Trump,” “Don Trump,” “Donald,” and “Don.”

Now, to be clear: references to “Donald” or “Don” could include other individuals with those names. Those terms alone do not automatically mean Donald Trump. But the committee member’s claim is that the redactions overwhelmingly involved variations connected to Trump.

@krassensteinEXCLUSIVE: 1.5 million redactions related to Trump, Donald, Don, and Donald Trump in the Epstein files. #epstein #epsteinfiles #jeffreyepstein #trump #donaldtrump

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I have not independently verified the number. This is what was relayed to me by a sitting member who reviewed the materials directly.

Still, if that estimate is even close to accurate, it raises major transparency questions.

Redactions are common in federal document releases. Victims are protected. Personal information is removed. Ongoing investigations are shielded.

But redacting references tied to a sitting president at this scale would not be routine, and definitely seems to be in violation of the Epstein transparency act.

Americans were promised transparency regarding the Epstein files.

If a lawmaker’s estimate is correct, what we got instead was an extraordinary amount of concealment.

And the American people deserve a clear explanation as to why.

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If you thought today’s congressional hearing with Attorney General Pam Bondi was about transparency and accountability, think again.

What unfolded was not testimony. It was deflection, hostility, and political theater at the expense of Epstein’s victims and the American people.

Let’s break down what actually happened.

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Jasmine Crockett Says What Others Won’t

Rep. Jasmine Crockett looked Bondi directly in the eye and said:

“I’m not saying the president is a pedophile, but there is a lot of evidence in these files that suggest that he is very close friends with a lot of men who are pedophiles.”

Bondi’s response?

Just silence.

From Epstein to… Border Patrol?

When Rep. Becca Balint pressed Bondi, instead of answering, Bondi attacked her for representing a “tiny state.”

Then, in the middle of questions about the Epstein files, Bondi pivoted to talking about Border Patrol agent Chris Maland, who was tragically killed a year ago during a traffic stop.

As Democrats asked about victims and accountability, Bondi started talking about the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

You read that correctly.

The Dow.

Jared Moskowitz Brings the Receipts

Then came Rep. Jared Moskowitz.

And it was brutal.

He said:

“Trump’s name appears more times in the Epstein Files than God’s name appears in the book about God. Trump’s name also appears more times in the Epstein Files than Harry Potter’s name appears in the 7 books about Harry Potter.”

It was biting, but the underlying point was serious: Donald Trump’s documented proximity to Jeffrey Epstein is not a conspiracy theory. It’s in the files.

Moskowitz then laid out connections between Howard Lutnick and Epstein, pressing Bondi for answers.

Bondi had none.

Deborah Ross Raises Ghislaine Maxwell

Rep. Deborah Ross asked about Ghislaine Maxwell being transferred to what critics have called the “country club of prisons” by the Bureau of Prisons, which operates under Bondi’s Department of Justice.

Instead of answering, Bondi tried to pivot to an unrelated line of questioning.

Again: deflection.

Jayapal Asks the Question That Matters

Rep. Pramila Jayapal cut to the heart of it:

“Will you turn to the survivors now and apologize for what your DOJ has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein Files and their private information?”

Bondi’s response?

She refused to apologize.
She attacked Merrick Garland.
Then said:

“I’m not going to get in the gutter.”

Here’s the reality:

Asking for accountability for victims of sex trafficking is not “the gutter.”

Refusing to answer legitimate oversight questions is.

This Was an Embarrassment

If you watched this hearing and felt satisfied.

Her job is not to spar with lawmakers.
It’s not to pivot to stock market numbers.
It’s not to relitigate partisan grievances.

Her job is to answer.

Today, she didn’t.

And the American people deserve better.

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Congressman Ro Khanna just read aloud the names of six powerful men that had previously been redacted from the Epstein Files, names the public was never supposed to hear.

These weren’t random redactions. These weren’t minor clerical omissions. These were deliberate, intentional black bars placed over identities that someone, somewhere, decided Americans did not deserve to see.

Here are the names that were read into the Congressional Record, please share everywhere:

• Salvatore Nuara

• Zurab Mikeladze

• Leonic Leonov

• Nicola Caputo

• Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem

• Leslie Wexner

The obvious question is also the most important one:

Why were these men protected?

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For years, Donald Trump has insisted that he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein, claiming he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago long before Epstein’s crimes became public in 2009. The implication has always been clear: whatever Epstein became, Trump wanted no part of it.

But newly surfaced material from the Epstein files complicates that narrative in a way that’s hard to ignore.

A Documented Claim, Not a Rumor

In Epstein File EFTA02666126 (seen above), Epstein told the executor of his estate, Boris Nikolic, that he planned to spend time with “all the Trump boys” for “fun” in Palm Beach on January 4, 2017.

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This wasn’t a casual comment to a journalist or a boast to an acquaintance. It was a private communication to the man Epstein trusted with his estate. That distinction matters.

The Timing Is the Problem

A photograph (seen above as well) places Trump at Mar-a-Lago on January 1, 2017, just days before Epstein referenced the planned meetup. Trump would be sworn in as President of the United States only 16 days later, on January 20.

So if Trump had truly severed ties with Epstein years earlier, why was Epstein describing social plans involving Trump, his family and/or inner circle during that exact window?

That’s not all Though!

In 2016 it appears as though Jeffrey Epstein and Deepak Chopra were going to dinner with Donald Trump, just 2 months before the 2016 election, but something came up that led to it being cancelled. (See email below).

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Why This Matters

If Trump’s version were airtight, Epstein would have had every reason to know he was unwelcome, especially that close to an inauguration. Instead, Epstein spoke as if access to Trump’s orbit was still very much alive.

That doesn’t automatically mean Trump himself met with Epstein. But it directly undermines the long-standing claim that Epstein was fully and permanently cut off from Trump’s world.

The dates align.
The location aligns.
And the statement comes from Epstein to his own executor, not from speculation or hearsay.

For a story that was supposedly settled years ago, the timeline is starting to look very unsettled.

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In the latest tranche of Epstein-related material, a newly surfaced video has sparked serious questions, not because of what’s been said about it, but because of what appears to be visible.

The footage shows a man who was not redacted, traveling aboard what appears to be Jeffrey Epstein’s private aircraft, in the company of several young women. Well, we have been able to identify the man as Nathi Mthethwa, who served as South Africa’s Ambassador to France in 2024-2025, shortly before his death.

That’s where the story takes a darker turn.

In September 2025, Mthethwa died in Paris after falling from a 22nd-floor window. Authorities ruled the death a suicide.

But that conclusion has never fully put the questions to rest.

According to people familiar with the aftermath, members of his own family have privately expressed doubts about whether he took his own life. Those doubts are sure to only intensified in light of newly uncovered Epstein-related material in which Mthethwa appears unredacted.

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For the second time in just three days, the U.S. Department of Justice has removed major Jeffrey Epstein-related files from its own website.

The files weren’t minor. And they weren’t obscure.

They were explosive, with claims that Trump measured the tighness of little girls’ private parts. We saved it all before they were deleted. See yellow except below.

Both documents contained graphic allegations involving Donald Trump, tied to so-called “Calendar Girls” parties at Mar-a-Lago, events that were not invented out of thin air, but partially corroborated years ago by a 2016 New York Times investigation.

Now, those files are gone.

What Was Deleted

The two missing DOJ-hosted files are:

• https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01660679.pdf

• https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01660651.pdf

Both links now return missing-file errors, despite having been publicly accessible.

These documents included first-person allegations describing abuse involving underage girls, with Trump named directly in connection to Epstein-organized events.

The highlighted passages, now deleted, referenced “Calendar Girls” parties at Mar-a-Lago, alleging that young girls were brought in by Epstein and that Trump played a role in what occurred there.

Why the “Calendar Girls” Detail Matters

Here’s the part that makes the deletions impossible to brush off.

In 2016, The New York Times published a report detailing how Donald Trump hosted a “calendar girl” competition at Mar-a-Lago in 1992, organized by George Houraney at Trump’s request.

According to the Times, Houraney recalled that when the contestants arrived, the only guests present were Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

That detail matters because the deleted DOJ files independently referenced “Calendar Girls” parties at Mar-a-Lago, creating a troubling overlap between documented historical reporting and allegations later preserved in federal records.

The DOJ didn’t just delete anonymous claims. It deleted material that intersected with previously reported facts.

Deletion Is Not Transparency

To be clear, the allegations in these files have not been adjudicated in court. But that’s precisely why their removal is so alarming.

Deleting records is not the same as disproving them.

When the government quietly removes files that name a former and possibly future president, especially files tied to one of the most notorious sex-trafficking cases in modern history, it raises a simple question:

What exactly is being protected here?

The DOJ has offered no public explanation for why these files were removed, why it happened twice in three days, or whether they will be restored.

Until then, the silence speaks loudly.

And once again, the Epstein case leaves us with fewer answers, and fewer records, than we had before.

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In one of the most controversial episodes of federal law-enforcement action in recent memory, two federal immigration agents have now been publicly identified as the officers who fatally shot Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti.

Government records show the agents were part of Operation Metro Surge — a federal immigration enforcement initiative deployed in Minneapolis, when the deadly encounter unfolded.

• Jesus Ochoa, a 43-year-old agent with the U.S. Border Patrol.

• Raymundo Gutierrez, a 35-year-old officer with Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

According to published reports, Ochoa is accused of shooting Pretti in the back, while Gutierrez fired multiple shots during the encounter.

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What Happened

The killing of Pretti, an ICU nurse who had been taking part in or observing protests, has ignited widespread demonstrations and national scrutiny.

Public outrage has been fueled not only by video of the incident and protests in Minneapolis and other cities, but by comparisons to another recent fatal shooting in the city of Renée Good, also killed by federal forces only days before.

Federal officials initially declined to release the agents’ names or many details, but investigative reporting and public records have since put their identities into the spotlight.

Calls for Transparency

Lawmakers from both major parties are calling for a transparent, independent investigation into Pretti’s death, including a review of federal use of force, body-camera footage, and enforcement practices in Minneapolis.

The case continues to develop as protests escalate and legal, civic, and political pressure mounts on federal authorities.

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This is where things get really interesting though. Three brothers, Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander (two of which are twins) are literally on trial right now in Florida for sex trafficking, and one of the key witnesses in their case was 16 at the time she was allegedly sexually assaulted by them.

What's even more interesting, is that there is literally a photo of Oren Alexander in the Epstein files, standing with two women whose faces have been redacted.

So why would this victim tell such an elaborate story that now, years later seems true (given the trial) but make up the fact that Clinton and Trump were involved?

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The Trump DOJ just released the Don Lemon Indictment from under Seal. This sounds like a bunch of Horse shit to me.

(Update: 3 PM ET - The DOJ has just put these files back after outcry online. You guys helped make a difference)

Today, additional records connected to Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available.

People began pointing to a trove of allegations against Donald Trump. Those documents are now gone.

Visitors attempting to access them are met with a blunt message “Page not found.”

And the common thread tying the missing records together is simple. They referenced Donald Trump.

The documents in question were not court rulings or findings of guilt. They were law enforcement intake records and tip summaries. Logs of allegations reported to authorities. The kind of records that exist to preserve information.

They contained disturbing claims related to Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. They also contained multiple allegations naming Trump, sometimes directly, sometimes as a participant at events, sometimes as a figure present in environments described by complainants.

They reported on allegations that Trump forced a 14-year-old girl to give him oral sex, as well as allegations that he partook in disturbing sex orgies. Below you can see some of the documents that are no longer active on the DOJ’s website.

And that is precisely why their disappearance matters.

Among the allegations described in the removed documents were claims that Trump attended gatherings where young women were trafficked, that he was present at events connected to Epstein, and that complainants believed he participated in or witnessed criminal conduct. Some entries referenced Mar a Lago. Others referenced Epstein properties. Several described Trump being named alongside Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in accounts provided by callers to federal tip lines.

The Department of Justice is not supposed to disappear records because they are politically inconvenient. Tip logs are not endorsements. Allegations are not verdicts. Transparency demands that uncomfortable information remain accessible, especially when it involves powerful people.

The timing is what raises alarms.

New Epstein related material becomes public. Public scrutiny spikes. Journalists and researchers begin cross referencing older DOJ records. Suddenly, documents that mention Trump vanish from the site entirely.

Not redacted. Not annotated. Not archived with explanation.

Gone.

The DOJ message suggests files were moved due to administrative changes between presidencies. But these records were accessible until now. And their removal coincides exactly with renewed public focus on Epstein and renewed scrutiny of Trump’s past associations.

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he has nothing to hide. If that is true, then why should the public be shielded from seeing allegations that were reported and logged years ago?

Transparency is not optional. It is foundational.

When official records quietly vanish, trust evaporates. When those records involve one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in the country, the silence becomes deafening.

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Trump’s DOJ just arrested Don Lemon.

There are moments when the threat to our democracy does not arrive with tanks or sweeping decrees, but quietly, through a pair of handcuffs and a blurred excuse. That moment is NOW!

How You Can Support Don Lemon Right Now

One of the most direct ways to push back against intimidation of the press is to support independent journalism financially.

Don Lemon now publishes his reporting and commentary on Substack, where creators are not dependent on corporate gatekeepers or political pressure.

Subscribing does three important things at once.

First, it ensures he can continue reporting without fear of being silenced by advertisers or networks.

Second, it sends a signal that attempts to punish journalists only increase public support for them.

Third, it strengthens an independent media ecosystem that cannot be easily bullied by those in power.

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This Is a Line We Cannot Let Them Cross

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What we uncovered was extraordinary.

At the time, we collected extensive material—including phone records, text messages, and related data—but chose not to publish due to credible threats and safety concerns.

Given current events involving Rep. Omar, we believe it is now in the national interest to make this material public. The data below reflects what we gathered in 2018 and sheds light on a coordinated effort that warrants public scrutiny.

The “Attack Ilhan Omar” Plot Commences

Note on sourcing:
[For every claim we make below, we provide hyperlinks to the underlying evidence that supports it. We strongly encourage readers to click through those links. Because this material was originally compiled in 2018, some links may no longer be active.]

Starting in late 2018 we became acquainted with a man named Alan Bender of Toronto, Canada after an anonymous source told us to contact him regarding a story related to the Middle East. Please note that this is the same Alan Bender whose testimony in the Rebecca Castaneda-led lawsuit in Florida involving plaintiff Matthew Pittard and defendant Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani (The Emir of Qatar’s Brother), has alleged that Ilhan Omar is a Qatari asset. We pursued Bender’s story along with another journalist who now works for CNN, and eventually published a story for HillReporter late last year. Bender’s information was found to be accurate at times and not-so-accurate at other times, but it was clear that he had a favoritism towards Qatar, and against Donald Trump at the time. It was also very clear that he had strong connections to various middle eastern royal families. We had numerous phone calls, and hundreds of texts with Bender over WhatsApp and Signal, with some of the material he provided being off-the-record. We transcribed all of our phone calls with him, and have recordings of some of them. Basically we used Mr. Bender in order to track down other worthwhile sources for stories.

Around July 18, 2019 Mr. Bender began to contact us once again, directing our attention to a man named Imam Mohammad Tawhidi (Also referred to as the ‘Imam of Peace’). Bender’s messages clearly indicated that he wanted us to investigate Tawhidi. Bender claimed that Tawhidi was involved with a group of individuals within the GOP as well as foreign nations, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia, to smear Ilhan Omar and Linda Sarsour. Names mentioned in connection to Tawhidi included MBZ, Donald Trump Jr., Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, and Adelle Nazarian (See this text too), as well as other GOP donors/activists and two GOP members of Congress (Lee Zeldin and Steve Drakowski). (Note that these are Alan Bender’s claims, not our own, and we are not vouching for him or his claims in any way). The material Bender fed us was in the form of both recordings of Tawhidi that Bender claimed were left on his voicemail and dozens of text messages that Bender claimed were from Tawhidi. (We have been made aware that another prominent journalist has had a similar experience to ours, but has chosen to not come forward publicly at this time).

Bender continued to push his narrative, oftentimes backing it up with alleged text messages and apparent recordings from Mohammad Tawhidi (It is important to note that it is possible, although probably unlikely that Bender manipulated the texts). Bender’s narrative alleged that there was a large group working together to attack Ilhan Omar and Linda Sarsour. The group was, according to Bender, trying to help Trump in 2020 as well as Saudi Arabia and the UAE by means of smearing Omar/Sarsour, who often spoke out against the human rights violations of these nations.

Over the course of a week or so (Between July 18 until July 30, 2019) Bender forwarded us a total of 11 recordings which he said were from Tawhidi (as you can hear in the “evidence” section below, they sound exactly like Tawhidi), and countless texts he claimed were between himself and Tawhidi. When we asked Bender why Tawhidi was spilling his guts to him, revealing such sensitive and incriminating information, Bender claimed that he had information on Tawhidi which would send him to prison, if that information was released. His exact words were “He tells me everything and I save his ass from jail. That’s the deal.“ When we pushed for further details on this, Bender told us on the phone that he cannot elaborate but the information, if released, would ensure that Tawhidi would be “sharing a jail cell with Epstein and George Nader.” Some of the names that Bender, and his texts, which were allegedly from Tawhidi, claimed were involved in this plot and working with Tawhidi were: Donald Trump Jr, Rep. Lee Zeldin, Rep. Steve Drakowski, Adelle Nazarian (See this text too), Adam Milstein, Robert Shillman, Nina Rosenwald, Benjamin Weingarten, Ellie B. Brown, Asra Nomani, Mohammad Fahmy and others. One of the screenshots of Tawhidi’s texts that Bender provided us suggested that the “team” met in Encino (Los Angeles) on Ventura Blvd. Bender encouraged us, at the time, to contact Omar’s office as well as Linda Sarsour to warn them of the plot.

Below are some of the more serious claims Bender made to us over the course of a few weeks from July until August. (Note once again that these are claims made by Alan Bender, most of which have not been verified, and very possibly could be false. The main point of posting these claims, especially regarding Tawhidi, is that Alan Bender is the same man that Tawhidi has been praising and using as the ‘honest’ Canadian businessman who has revealed Omar’s alleged ties to Qatar.)

Alan Bender’s Claims, in his own words, In July/August of 2019:

- Tawhidi, who “works with Kushner and MBZ, flew to Toronto to meet with me for over 5 hours to convince me to join them” (Bender sent us a photo of him and Tawhidi shaking hands in May) (Link to Text Message)

- “Tawhidi and Kushner communicate and coordinate secretly via WhatsApp and direct msgs via fake names on Twitter’s secure accounts... And he also coordinates with MBZ in Abu Dhabi via the same account.” (Link to Bender’s screenshot of the Twitter account (@SecureAcc) supposedly used in communication between Kushner and Tawhidi. This Twitter account has since been suspended.)

- “So now Ilhan Omar is exposing all that [Saudi and UAE human rights violations] and they think because she’s exposing it, then she’s favoring Qatar. So they think, in their opinion, that if they hit Omar, they hit Qatar. Trump will love them for it because his guys are part of the team and they are telling him, ‘get her out of the Congress’.” (From Phone call with us on July 24 - see complete transcript in transcripts section below)

- He (Tawhidi) said that he will do whatever it takes to kick her [Omar] out of Congress to make Trump happy.” (Link to Text Message)

- “He (Tawhidi) says he will meet secretly with Don [Trump] Jr. in September to coordinate.” (Link to Text Message) Note: Although we are unaware of any meeting between Don. Jr. and Tawhidi in September, Tawhidi did travel from Australia to Miami in October to speak at AMPfest at Trump Doral. Don Jr. was also a scheduled speaker there. On November 11th Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a claim by Tawhidi related to Qatar paying off US journalists.

- Saudi Arabia “wanted me to accept $20 million to turn against Qatar and be with them and just help them with all the secrets that I know to accomplish their mission. It’s all documented.” (From Phone call with us on July 24 - see complete transcript in transcripts section below)

- Bender sent us a text on July 20th from Tawhidi which states: “When Ilhan goes for BDS, the Israelli embassy will step in. This has happened before. I know the top guy” (Link to Text Message) (Note that on Aug 15th Israel steps in and blocks Omar from entry.)

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- “[Saudi Arabia] paid Tawhidi cash, money. Um, even his assets in Australia got better and bigger. He has now assets in London. They made arrangements for him to receive it there. He met with Princess Reema -- The Saudi Ambassador -- the new one. She’s Prince Bandar’s daughter. So she learned from her father how to manipulate the political system in America.” (From Phone call with us on July 24 - see complete transcript in transcripts section below)

- “The Businessman is Robert Shillman. The other funders [of the Omar/Sarsour attacks] are Nina Rosenwald and Adam Milstein. Robert [Shillman] is acting on behalf of the Israeli Embassy. This is their current agenda: 1. Make Ilhan the face of the democratic party and the most popular democrat. 2. Trump is now attacking Ilhan. This will continue til the next election. 3. They will tarnish the image of the democrats by destroying Omar.” (Link to Text Messages here and here) Note that the list of the 3 steps were in one of the alleged texts from Tawhidi to Bender, which Bender repeated to us later on July 19/20th. What is extremely interesting here is Trump’s behavior in regards to this allegation made by Bender via Tawhidi. It seems to have been a perfect prediction of Trump’s future actions. Bender claimed on July 20, 2019 that Tawhidi said the goal of this group was to “make Ilhan the face of the Democratic party.” Up until July 3, 2019, Trump had been referring to Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters as “The Face of the Democratic Party,” as seen here, here and here. Intriguingly though, less than a month after Bender claimed that the goal was to “make Ilhan the face of the Democratic Party,” Trump began making tweets doing exactly this, here, here, here and here, actually referring to Ilham Omar specifically as “The Face of the Democratic Party.” Bender also sent us a text he said was from Tawhidi, which claimed that Shillman funded Omar’s opponent, Danielle Stella).

- “Tawhidi told me ‘Our strategy will reveal itself as we get closer to reelecting Trump’... And he (Tawhidi) always uses the word ‘re-electing’ Trump as if it’s a done deal. He says that his boss MBZ, and Putin, with the help of their friends in D.C. decide who becomes president in 2020.” (Link to Text Message)

- “Tawhidi is a part of a secret team that stretches from the royal office of Abu Dhabi to the House of Robert Shillman and stopping on the way at Kushner and VP Pence.” (Link to Text Message)

- “Tawhidi and his team have big government names involved with them, and the team intends to link Qatar to Ilhan soon. That means the big names are in on hitting Qatar” (Link to Text Message)

- “He [Tawhidi] said that he works with Kushner and Adelle Nazarian at the behest of MBZ. He Also admitted to me that MBZ’s team stole the iPhone belonging to activist Linda Sarsour and that they hacked into its data and ushered it with MBZ’s ‘allies’ in Washington” (Link to Text Message). (Note that we reached out to Linda Sarsour, who said that her phone was lost a while back, but she doesn’t believe it was stolen. Sarsour also said that she was scared of Tawhidi and didn’t want to speak to Bender at the time.)

- “The campaign against her (Ilhan Omar) will get bigger and bigger like he (Tawhidi) said. He also promised that Ilhan [Omar] and Linda [Sarsour] will be defeated before Christmas” (Link to Text Message)

- “In three days, because after that the campaign is going to be worse than a tsunami and I don’t think it’ll have a vehicle to fight or not. She won’t be able.” (From Phone call with us on July 24)

- “He (Tawhidi) admitted to me that the original application form will be manipulated to discredit Ilhan”. (Link to Text Message). (Note that we believe that the form Bender refers to is that of Ilhan Omar’s marriage license)

- “I got him (Tawhidi) by the balls and I keep squeezing him for more info” (Link to Text Message)

- “He (Tawhidi) provided me with screenshots of several text msgs between him and Adelle [Nazarian]. They are catastrophic. They talk about cash price for doctoring up information about Ilhan Omar.” (Link to Text Message). (Note that we contacted Adelle Nazarian in July to ask her if she was working with forged documents related to Omar. She didn’t respond, but within a few days Tawhidi knew that we had contacted her (Link to Text Message). This means that our simple question to Nazarian, which did not mention Tawhidi at all, made her run to Tawhidi and tell him that we were inquiring about forged documents. We called and spoke to Nazarianon November 22 and she denied ever getting paid by Tawhidi, claiming that she was “just friends” with him. I asked her if she knew about the Pittard case and she said that she did not. This contradicts the fact that she posted about the case on August 30th, and seemed to have inside information about it.)

If the recordings and texts that Bender provided to us are in fact accurate, it would seemingly appear to show that Tawhidi was involved in a clear plot to attack and harm Omar politically.

On July 25th we spoke to another individual who we used to source information from in the past, Dr. Abdullah Al-Saleh. We reached out to Al-Saleh because we knew that he had ties to Qatar, as well as other Middle Eastern nations. We asked him if he had any information on a campaign to connect Ilhan Omar to Qatar. He immediately replied that “this is the dirty work of MBZ (The leader of the UAE).” In the course of our discussions with Al-Saleh, he too claimed that he had been gathering information on Tawhidi and that Tawhidi is an “MBZ man in the West” and that Tawhidi is “well funded” by MBZ and works with the GOP as well as AIPAC. He then clearly stated that Tawhidi is an MBZ “agent”. Even though this was now a second person to make such claims regarding Tawhidi, we had absolutely no evidence that these claims were true and continued to doubt them, as Tawhidi’s past views didn’t exactly jibe with such an allegation.

On August 6th Bender called us, this time agitated, asking why we spoke to Al-Saleh about what we knew. He then warned us that Al-Saleh will almost certainly share our messages with Tawhidi, and Tawhidi will use those messages to make himself look like the victim in all of this.

Like clockwork, on August 7th, a Twitter account, @credibleleaks (pay attention because this Twitter account is brought into the mix again, and again later in this article), made a tweet which stated that “Rep. Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) is working with Brian Krassenstein behind the scenes to frame GOP Donors, Trump supporters, Ilhan’s loud critics, Tawhidi, Conservative media as paid agents working for MBZ (@MohamedBinZayed) and the UAE. He wants to ‘Expose’ based on ‘likely’ events.” This tweet also had an out-of-context snippet from our conversation with Al-Saleh. Soon after this tweet was made, Tawhidi retweeted it.

On August 8th, an Article was published on Tawhidi’s website, claiming that we are agents of Qatar, working with Ilhan Omar and Linda Sarsour to frame “GOP Donors, Trump supporters, Ilhan’s loud critics (Mainly Imam Tawhidi), and Conservative media — as paid agents working for MBZ (Mohammad Bin Zayed), Leader of The UAE.” The article takes a text message we made to Al-Saleh out of context to make it appear that we were plotting to frame Tawhidi. If you view the entire string of unedited texts (Here, Here, Here and Here) you will see that it was Al-Saleh, not us who said that Tawhidi was working for the UAE and MBZ. Tawhidi also made several tweets in the days and weeks to follow which continued to push such a false narrative about us. To us, it was clear that Tawhidi knew we were looking into him and had thus wanted to get ahead of any damaging material which he thought could emerge. To him, the easiest way to discredit the material would be to discredit us. He would do this by simply claiming that we were also working for a foreign government, Qatar.

On August 9th we sent an informal Cease and Desist to Tawhidi, via his website. A person calling themselves “Leni R, Assistant to the Imam” responded the next day claiming that they have a recording of us basically admitting that we work for Qatar, before calling us ‘Qatari scum,’ and asking us to never contact them again (note: we obviously never admitted such). On this same day Ed’s wife, Whitney, received two life-threatening text messages mentioning both MBZ and Saudi Arabia. (Texts are seen here and here - Note that the numbers are spoofed and are not the actual numbers which sent the texts).

As Tawhidi now turned his attention towards attacking us as agents of Qatar, behind the scenes things appeared to be changing. Not only did it appear that Al-Saleh was working in unison with Tawhidi, but during the first half of August Alan Bender’s narrative that he had been pushing suddenly began to shift. Bender began implying that Tawhidi’s information was actually all accurate and that he had suddenly realized this. The problem with this claim, however, is the fact that Bender’s alleged meeting with officials in Doha, where they allegedly provided him with all the damaging claims related Ilhan Omar and US journalists being paid off by Qatar, took place way back in June. The vast bulk of the material Tawhidi has used to help push the narrative that Omar is an agent of Qatar, has been Bender’s own deposition about this June meeting. If Bender really believed, since June, that Omar was an agent of Qatar and that US journalists were being paid off by Qatar, then why did he spend weeks trying to get US journalists like ourselves to discredit those attacking Omar as such, and why would he be telling us that Tawhidi was working with others to “[doctor] up information about Ilhan Omar?” Also why would he be communicating with us at all, especially considering the fact that later he would claim that Qatar also told him that we were paid agents?

Backtracking two weeks, on July 22 Matthew Pittard, with his attorney Rebecca Castaneda, filed a lawsuit in Florida against the Emir of Qatar’s brother, Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani. The suit alleged that Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani had asked Mr. Pittard to murder two Americans, and then threatened Pittard when he refused. There were also other allegations, which are not important at this time. This is the case that Bender becomes the star witness of, and where he is deposed, offering up the damaging claims regarding Ilhan Omar and others.

Tawhidi would later claim that when he found out about the Pittard case, he used it in order to work with Castenda to have her ask Bender key questions related to Ilhan Omar. He claimed that he needed a “legal coating” for Bender’s claims, in order to give them more backing. “We made sure that when the ambassador and his associates were questioned, questions about Omar were also asked,” Tawhidi said in a live video with Jack Posobiec. Tawhidi also tweeted a thread explaining how he targeted this case to reveal Qatar’s ties to Omar.

In the first half of August, Tawhidi, Adelle Nazarian and others began to bring attention to this court case. As they did, it became apparent to us that the case would be used as a vehicle to bring forth damaging allegations against Ilhan Omar, Linda Sarsour and Qatar. While we knew the case against the Emir’s brother would be used to attack Omar, we did not know and still do not know if Matthew Pittard, or his attorney knew what they were getting themselves into. We contacted the plaintiff’s attorney, Rebecca Castaneda several times to warn her, telling her that we had information related to a witness in the case, as well as a few questions. Castaneda refused to respond to any of our requests for a call back. It is also very important to note that Castaneda appears to also be the attorney representing Tawhidi. (This is a legal threat Tawhidi allegedly sent to another journalist who wrote a negative story on him. It mentions that Castaneda is his attorney.) Additionally, Tawhidi posted this letter that Castaneda wrote for him regarding an attempt to have him banned from Twitter. Furthermore, several of the letters that Tawhidi sent to our attorney’s were also copied to Rebecca Castaneda, even though she does not practice law in Australia (the venue where we are suing him).

According to a Facebook post made by Tawhidi on Aug 23rd, Castaneda sent a letter on August 19th to the Qatari Ambassador asking them to provide details about the trip that Alan Bender took to Doha on June 17, 2019. This officially marked the beginning of Bender’s involvement in the case.

While this was all happening, Bender continued to try and push Tawhidi’s claims while also finding out that we were in the process of suing Tawhidi in Australia for defamation related to his claims that we were Qatari agents working with Ilhan Omar. Bender seemed spooked, trying to talk us out of suing Tawhidi, claiming that we have no case, and that suing Tawhidi will open up a can of worms regarding Qatar.

Then on August 28th, after several tries over text message to unsuccessfully disquade us from suing Tawhidi, Bender calls us, and says that if we sue Tawhidi, Tawhidi will expose everything and link everyone to everything, including us. On this same day, hours after Bender’s call The aforementioned @credibleleaks Twitter account makes a tweet which has since been deleted after we reported it to Twitter. The tweet read: “The ocean you’re swimming in is [sensitive numbers related to our personal banking accounts] KM deep. The drive will require 625073814 days to complete. It depends if you go down the Intracoastal or the Anchorage. Either way, the Spouse, Edward, should wear a seat belt. And refrain from the past marijuana business, it’s not good.😘” (tweet archived here) (Note: Intracoastal and Anchorage are the streets we live on. The message is a threat directed at Ed’s wife. The number 625073814 is Ed’s wife’s phone number scrambled. This appeared at the time to be a threat against us not to sue Tawhidi.)

This was around the time we first contacted the FBI with what we knew and understood at the time. Over the next several weeks Tawhidi made additional defamatory tweets about us both (see here and here), saying that we work with “Qatari Terrorism-supporters despite them believing that [we] are ‘Jewish Pigs’” and claiming that we are also working with Omar and Sarsour.

Then on September 17th Alan Bender sent us copies of the subpoenas which were sent to him asking him to testify in the Castaneda-led case, as well as subpoenas sent to Qatari officials. When we asked if some Qatari officials are ok with the fact that this case is happening, he said “Yes, and the power struggle is going to bring down the temple on their heads.” See texts here and here. Tawhidi also tweeted about the issuance of subpoenas against Bender, Mohamad Masned and Meshal al-Thani.

On September 17th our attorneys, practicing out of Australia, sent an official cease and desist order to Mohammad Tawhidi, asking for the complete removal and retraction of numerous tweets as well as a Facebook post and an article.

A week after sending Tawhidi the Cease and Desist, he finally replies, oddly copying Alan Bender in on this response to us. In the email he denies owning the website ImamTawhidi.com or being part of his own Foundation after January of 2019, although after January he publicly claimed on numerous occasions that it is in fact his website. Additionally he has Tweeted essentially the same defamatory comments that the article on his website alleged. Two days later the @credibleleaks account makes a string of tweets, which we take as an effort to once again intimidate us into not filing the suit. The tweets show that they know our wives’ maiden/middle names, our previous vehicles which we owned, our real estate attorney and our places of residence (Tweets seen here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

Over the next three weeks Tawhidi continues to attack us both, making a couple different tweets (here and here) about us being linked to Qatar, and even going as far as sending an email on October 10 to many prominent journalists as well as worldwide embassies, namely Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This email was also copied to Rebecca Castenda. The email points to an article and attacks Hugh Miles and Vicky Ward. He signs the letter “Brian Krassenstein, Senior Shoe Polisher for Tamim Bin Hamad”. A second similar letter was sent on October 18th as well.

Alan Bender Begins Threatening Us

Up until this point, Bender had always been cordial, and even when we could sense agitation coming from him, he was always polite and respectful. Starting near the end of October, Bender began to threaten us, not physically but from a legal and intimidation standpoint. Instead of simply discouraging us from suing Tawhidi, Bender began to start claiming that he would testify under oath, if he has to, that he was told during his meeting in Doha with Qatari officials that we were paid agents of Qatar. Bender also claimed that there were documents proving such (More texts from Bender here and also here, here, and here) and that he saw a ledger with journalists’ names on it. Many of Bender’s past claims were “off the record,” which we honored 100%, up until the point where he began to threaten and intimidate us, as well as testify under oath to what appeared to be contradictory information to a U.S. court via a sworn deposition.

Near the end of our communication with Bender, he began to try another means of intimidation, bringing up our past legal mess, and claiming that we don’t want to have all of that in the media again. The problem with this tactic is that neither of us have ever been charged with a crime, and the legal issues he brought up were civil claims and not criminal, stemming from actions that we are not at all embarrassed to talk about, nor should we be. His intimidation attempts can be seen here, here, here and here.

The Pittard Case Moves Forward as Does our Pending Case against Tawhidi

Finally, on or around October 23rd, Bender provides his deposition to attorney Rebecca Castaneda. Castaneda tweets (now deleted - see archived tweet, here and here) that she just finished her deposition with Alan Bender in Toronto. (The deposition was originally scheduled for Oct 2nd). Tawhidi also tweets about the deposition and Pittard responds (now deleted - see archived tweet) to his tweet. Throughout the runup to the public release of Bender’s deposition Pittard retweeted several tweets (now deleted) from Tawhidi, attacking Omar and promoting the case. Also, in Mid November, Pittard, who only followed 171 people on Twitter at the time, followed four new accounts, all Saudi Arabian, including: Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, The KSA Minister of Foreign affairs, The Saudi Embassy and the Vice Minister of Defence, Khalid bin Salman. Note that Bender told us that Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud was involved in arranging payments for Tawhidi, per our July 24th phone call ( see complete transcript in transcripts section below).

Then on November 12th we reached out to Pittard via text message. We told him that one of the witnesses who provided a deposition and is from Canada has provided us with contradictory information related to Qatar in the past. We urged him to at least have his attorney look further into it. He replied that they already did and that they are good. We then asked if he knows Mohammad Tawhidi. He responded that he doesn’t know him but that he follows Tawhidi on Twitter. We asked if Tawhidi has had any involvement in his case, and he says “none to my knowledge”. Pittard appears to at least know that Tawhidi has good knowledge of his case, because he replied to an Oct 23rd tweet by Tawhidi where Tawhidi promised that the case will expose Omar (now deleted). Pittard also liked a reply and another reply and another reply and another reply on Nov 18 to Tawhidi, where Tawhidi is teasing that he knows inside information about Pittard’s case. (Note that between Nov 25 and Nov 30 both Castaneda and Pittard deactivate their Twitter accounts.)

On November 4th a final letter from our attorneys is sent to Tawhidi. Three days later Tawhidi travels to Toronto (Bender’s home town). A couple days after this, on November 11, Donald Trump Jr. helps spread Tawhidi’s “Qatar” claims, by retweeting them (archived) on his own Twitter account.. Whether he was doing so in a planned collaboration with Tawhidi, or merely just coincidentally, we do not know.

On November 13th Tawhidi finally issues a response to our attorney, claiming that he will report our attorneys to the Australian authorities for taking money from clients who funneled it from Qatar (us). He then asks our attorneys a series of questions about us and then threatens to publish an article on November 19th about us both. This letter was also sent to both Bender and Castaneda, and he claimed that he would also be sending it to his “contacts within the Australian Federal Police and State Intelligence,” as well as “Stephen Johnson from the Daily Mail.” He also sent another letter to Alan Bender, who he copied us, our attorneys and Castaneda in on. This letter asked Bender to provide a sworn testimony that we are paid by Qatar, among other things.

On this same day, the first news regarding Bender’s deposition leaks via an article by Oren Litwin of the Dailywire. Dinesh D’Souza made the following tweet to the article, where Bender claims that Dana Shell Smith is paid by Qatar. In the tweet, D’Souza tagged both Tawhidi and Bender. Tawhidi retweeted it. Tawhidi tweeted it again with commentary hours later. Note that Brian Krassenstein called Dana Shell Smith -- former US Ambassador to Qatar -- 3 days earlier to get her take on the situation involving Tawhidi and Bender. Dana Shell Smith will be able to verify that we talked to her about the plot taking shape prior to any of it going public. A few days later Dinesh D’Souza retweeted a long thread by Tawhidi and claimed that he saw some of the evidence against Omar (if it’s Bender’s deposition, then how? Did Castaneda leak it? Was D’Souza part of the plot) and that it was just the tip of the iceberg, and would all be exposed. Tawhidi retweeted this tweet shortly thereafter. Ed Krassenstein questioned D’Souza about his tweet, and he claimed that he didn’t know Bender and really wasn’t following the case all that well.

On November 21 Tawhidi sent yet another letter to ourselves, our lawyers, Alan Bender and Rebecca Castaneda. In the letter he claims that he will also have Abdullah Al-Saleh testify to corroborate Bender’s claims about us being paid by Qatar. In the letter he refers to Bender’s deposition in the Pittard case, and points to the exact pages of his deposition which mentions him. Keep in mind that this was before the deposition was released or reported on. How had he already seen the deposition? In the email he also claims that Bender’s deposition shows that Qatar has hired journalists to sue Tawhidi. This letter prompted us to contact the FBI for the second time.

The Attack Takes Place

On November 25th, the attack on Ilhan Omar, which had seemingly been planned for months officially began, but literally hours prior to the first article being published on Al Arabiya, Alan Bender contacts us threatening to sue us over sharing his ID with an individual who was familiar with his work. He also attacked us for “using our wife’s Twitter account,” to ‘lie’ about him. Bender then blocked us on Signal.

The first article to appear was on Saudi state-run media outlet Al Arabiya. This spawned articles on several right wing blogs and news sites, including the GatewayPundit as well as multiple Israeli newspapers and blogs. Shortly after this, both Castaneda and Matthew Pittard deactivate their Twitter accounts, leaving no history of what they were liking, commenting on and retweeting in the days and weeks prior to the attack (We have archived it all, however). They both were clearly anti-Ilhan Omar.

On November 26th, the day after the first articles were released, Bender’s deposition was also released/leaked. Also Abdullah Al-Saleh came forward as the second witness and ‘verified’ Bender’s claims. (Note: My wife predicted this via a tweet, hours before it happened).

The Fall Out

Immediately before and shortly after the campaign against Omar started via multiple articles, it appeared to flop. While we began to release material to the media after they began covering it (oddly the Daily Caller), my wife also posted snippets of texts from Bender and Al-Saleh showing some of what we had. This entire document was not immediately shared because we had to compile it in an easily digestible format as well as speak to our attorneys regarding some of the content.

On November 30, Tawhidi makes an odd Tweet, which we assume is in an effort to get ahead of what material he assumes we have on him. In the Tweet, he once again says that we are working with Qatar, and then uploads an audio recording of him apparently talking to someone, bragging about how he fooled everyone into believing that he is an agent of the UAE. He makes two subsequent tweets (here and here) with two more audio recordings of him talking about spreading false information as well.

Even as we make the final preparations to release this information publicly, the intimidation tactics continue. A couple days later, on December 2, a woman named ‘Mechelle Larkinson’ (no public footprint of her online whatsoever) emails us and copies in numerous journalists, as well as world embassies. The email claims that a lawsuit will be filed against us in New York for defamation against Adelle Nazarian and Mohammad Tawhidi. It also includes a fake text message from us, which appears to be me trying to convince someone to make it appear that Tawhidi is an agent of the UAE (even though days prior he bragged about allegedly trying to trick the media into believing that he was an agent of the UAE).

The Evidence:

• All Texts on Whatsapp and Signal From Bender to the Krassensteins, in order by date.

• Additional texts from Signal (not ordered by date) including texts Bender claims are from Tawhidi (Note that there are some repeats in here from the link above.

• All Texts from Abdullah Al-Saleh to the Krassensteins

Tawhidi Recordings allegedly sent to Bender (IMPORTANT: Read the “Context from Bender” text messages under each):

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LccWv8VusR_Jx8Aaf0nDVGi40j9tgmG7 - Talking about trying to attack Sarsour and Omar (according to Bender), although he doesn’t mention them by name. He’s talking about Zuhdi Jasser at the end, and how they will use him to possibly expose them in Congress (Context image from Bender)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QxGHEIp7aUV3mRAgtQ2nf61qH8OVnBka - Apparently explaining documents he has on Omar. (Context)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RkToOxmUxezEDLR_D8yxnV6WAD7My0Ef - Apparently talking about the men and businessman he works with and how they run multiple Twitter accounts.

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jp-2_ZVGTPER1cmqwfsSuZASVLbJOS1c - Apparently talking about Courtney Love and Linda Sarsour. A Bit odd. (Context from Bender)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QD0KnfavYWGPvkFR8tr8UgCXvgMsvKcF - Allegedly talking about paying Ellie B Brown to do “online work”. (Context from Bender)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YFuJDomcLKj54kXAj_irtfWgZxbzGAY0

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AlqQ1s80FnGYseLd0yd6EKPvM6gfLRV- - Talks about BDS. Basically telling Bender the plan and that they got Trump to tweet about Omar marrying her brother and want to get him to tweet about Omar being tied to terrorists. (Bender Context Here and Here)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EyZZO8mXqg3myYGyuNxFNopQL62djXIf - Allegedly talking about working with Tom Fitton at Judicial watch. (Context by Bender)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zIclYfB1PY3ZGUL8svY9y9c-Pwv5JxjI - Bender claims to have asked Tawhidi for more information in regards to what Kushner and MBZ are up to. This recording was sent to me on Jul 22, the same day that the Pittard case was filed. (Context from Bender)

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1whjUF3X6Tdu-l6rEZzb6_2Jx9l3IcWAu - Mentions the Daily Wire and the Daily Caller. July 23rd.

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TKrcFEbefUpNw1gvYKyndAyEr4bxSbJO - Allegedly talking about giving Adelle Nazarian orders to write article. (Context from Bender)

Bender Phone Call Transcripts:

(Phone call from July 24, 2019 between Brian Krassenstein and Alan Bender, transcribed to the best of our ability. Note that we do have other phone calls, but will keep the transcripts private for now.)

Alan Bender - Hello. Hi Brian how are you.

B. Krassenstein - Good. How are you?

Alan Bender - Are you, you’re talking about him admitting it?

B. Krassenstein - Yeah, if there was any way...

Alan Bender - I already have that. I have that and I have his text messages between him and Princess Reema, the new Saudi ambassador in Washington. He met with her. They made arrangements or um, cause apparently, he used to also, uh, criticize MBS or she was authorized to discuss with him canceling that exchange for, uh, an arrangement, and Tawhidi sent me copies of those text messages, but why would you need that?

B. Krassenstein - Uh, I think that if I had information linking it to a foreign government, I think that it would kind of help me get through to the people I would need to.

Alan Bender - Uh, no, no, I don’t think I want to…

B. Krassenstein - It’s completely up to you. I just think that that they’re going to be more prone to listen to me if I can link it to a foreign government, which would make this illegal rather than something that’s just being done by American citizens who are out to get her, if you know what I’m saying.

Alan Bender - Yeah, I understand your point. But I also have to wait because there are people in Qatar who are not uh, um, encouraged to expose all this at this moment. I already discussed with them what I have. They saw it and they’d have their own reasons to not share it with the American media or anybody who might expose it. The, I don’t know why but that’s the message I was [inaudible] even though they know that this could actually, at least give Ilhan Omar some uh, ability to defend herself but

B. Krassenstein - Right. Yeah. Like, like that’s my biggest, my biggest drive here is to provide information as directly to Omar as I can. Uh, right now my intention isn’t to do a story because like, like you said, I don’t really have anything that I can share that I would feel comfortable sharing based on what you told me I can share.

Alan Bender - Yeah. Not yet because I thought they, they are waiting for the big guy in Qatar to get back to Doha, which is going to be in the next four days, they said. Apparently the entire government, like their heads are still on vacations as they left Washington. They are scattered in London, Switzerland, Germany and it’s why the prime minister of South Korea arrived in Qatar a couple of days ago, three days ago I believe. There was no government minister to meet him or meet him at the airport and also the prime minister of Pakistan on his way to meet with Trump a few day ago -- he landed in Doha -- there wasn’t any government minister to greet him. They sent the head of Qatar airways to meet them at the airport, which is shocking. So all the heads are not in Qatar as we speak, but I’m communicating with them and so far they don’t want this to go the next level. They know about all this, they know that it is genuine and they check all their sources, but I don’t know, for some reason they don’t want this to go to the next level even though it’s in their best interest and also in Ilhan Omar’s best interest.

B. Krassenstein - What, what the, you said that they’re going to try linking Omar to, uh, to Qatar financially. Is that, uh, is that going to be legitimate or is that going to be kinda trumped up?

Alan Bender - They’re going to doctor up. They have a team of very powerful people. They’re rich people, very enthusiastic people and they’re gonna make it look legit. Like they say, American public is only interested in headlines. They won’t read details so they’re not going to look too much into it. They’re just going to see documents with stamps and um, transactions to so and so who delivered it to, uh, Ilhan and it’s doctored up.

B. Krassenstein - Right. And in two hours it would be all over social media and half the country would believe it.

Alan Bender - Oh yeah, yeah. He already explained it in his voice messages and this is how they play it. They send it out to mr so-and-so, mr so and so. Then Fox News will adopt that from that. And then the daily... I don’t know, the Daily Caller or something like that. He gave us all the details.

B. Krassenstein - Yeah. Daily Caller or Daily Mail. That... Gateway Pundit.

Alan Bender - Yeah they said every right-wing media outlet and then celebrities are going to start talking about, he said, even Britney Spears is gonna [laughter] talk about it. So it’s a very well put together team that they have, uh, billionaire backing, [inaudible], uh, wealth backing them up so they’re gonna do a good job in their opinion and destroying her credibility. And like they said, by the time she’s out, who cares if they find out a year from now that it was not true? She’s out. What’s she gonna do.

B. Krassenstein - What is, uh, the UAE and MBZ? What’s their, uh, why are they doing this? Like what, what’s behind it?

Alan Bender - Oh, they think, Ilhan Omar has an assignment of exposing MBS and MBZ of human rights violations. So they don’t like that. They did it with us here in Qatar. [inaudible] MBS violated women’s rights and he threw them in jail. Our foreign minister made a tweet to MBS, tried to bribe them. He offered our government $10 billion if they take down that tweet and just look the other way. They said no. Um, he pulled out the Saudi ambassador, took out thousands of Saudi students. And cut off all ties.

B. Krassenstein - And you’re talking Canada, right?

Alan Bender - In Canada. Yeah. So now Ilhan Omar is exposing all that and they think because she’s exposing it, then she’s favoring Qatar. So they think, in their opinion, that if they hit Omar, they hit Qatar. Trump will love them for it because his guys are part of the team and they are telling him, ‘get her out of the Congress’. Um, and uh, so that became their mission. This is not, uh, very strange because I was approached by Prince [inaudible] . MBS [voice skips, missing a word] sent me messages and called me. We spoke for a long time. He wanted me to accept $20 million to turn against Qatar and be with them and just help them with all the secrets that I know to accomplish their mission. It’s all documented.

B. Krassenstein - Yeah. No, I totally understand where you’re coming from and Qatar’s standpoint. It’s just, it would help things along, if you did have anything that you could share, but I understand where you’re coming from. Maybe, maybe…

Alan Bender - Law school men think twice before saying anything. [inaudible] check your evidence before you present it as evidence. I triple checked, everything is legit. I have copies of his text messages. I mean, the guy shared with me his text messages with Adelle Nazarian and they are like putting strategies together. I only shared with you one of them.

B. Krassenstein - Even if you can provide something with his name sliced off of it or something like that, just like I know the format, just, just if you know what I mean.

Alan Bender - The guy [inaudible] who met with Ilhan.

B. Krassenstein - right.

Alan Bender - [inaudible] asking that.

B. Krassenstein - I’m sorry, what was that? You broke up,

Alan Bender - says the person who was going to connect with Ilhan about this.

B. Krassenstein - They haven’t asked me that, but I can, I can envision what they’re gonna, what they’re going to probably ask for. They’re gonna, they’re gonna say, well, there’s nothing illegal going on there.

Alan Bender - I don’t think so honestly, like, I think the information you have so far [inaudible] text messages and all that should be sufficient enough for you to make the conclusion that there is a big conspiracy taking place, huh?

B. Krassenstein - Yeah. No, no, I...

Alan Bender - Even share them with them.

B. Krassenstein - I agree that they will likely take this information. I just think that if they see that, like in its current state, there isn’t something, there is nothing illegal taking place unless you believe that he’s gonna, he’s gonna forge documents or whatnot. But if there’s a foreign government involved, especially financially, then that could make things, make things more serious on their part. That’s all.

Alan Bender - Two foreign governments, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Two are involved.

B. Krassenstein - Right.

Alan Bender - I don’t know, I’ll wait for the Qataris. If they say it’s okay with them, then I will share them with you -- a problem that we know in three days, because after that the campaign is going to be worse than a tsunami and I don’t think it’ll have a vehicle to fight or not. She won’t be able.

B. Krassenstein - Right. Well, what’s the Saudi involvement?

Alan Bender - Uh money. Money. They paid Tawhidi cash, money. Um, even his assets in Australia got better and bigger. He has now assets in London. They made arrangements for him to receive it there. He met with Princess Reema. The Saudi Ambassador, the new one. She’s Prince Bandar’s daughter. So she learned from her father how to manipulate the political system in America.

B. Krassenstein - What is the, what is the information you have on Tawhidi that’s making him cooperate? Is there anything you can share or is that off the record.

Alan Bender - Off the record and I can’t share that, but I can tell you this. What I have, um, can guarantee that Tawhidi will share the same jail cell with George Nader and Epstein.

B. Krassenstein - Makes sense. All right, well I appreciate it and just stay in touch.

Alan Bender - Yeah.See what the guy or the person [inaudible] with Ilhan has to say. If you show them the information that you have based on your credibility. That you don’t need to even show them what I forwarded to you, you can just, tell them ‘this what you have’.

B. Krassenstein - Yeah, that’s, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to not share as much.

Alan Bender - Well, they should trust your judgment than if they know a man of credibility. If you didn’t see [inaudible] he wouldn’t say [inaudible].

B. Krassenstein - Right.

Alan Bender - And then we will see. We’ll take it from there.

B. Krassenstein - Alright. Yup, sounds good.

Alan Bender - Yeah. Sounds good. All right.

Complete Timeline of Events, Including Actions by Bender, Tawhidi and Others Potentially or Allegedly Involved.

(Note that much of this information is already explained in the article above, but this goes into more detail, includes more dates, and shows further evidence of actions)

On May 27th - Alan Bender (Al Bandar) allegedly meets with Tawhidi (at least if you believe the image he sent us in mid July)

On June 14th, Bender gets ticket to Qatar. Email of the ticket purchase sent to Bender from the Editor and Chief of AlArab, Abdullah al-Athbah (

https://twitter.com/KSA24/status/1156986391865303040

)

On June 18-21 Bender allegedly meets with Al-Masnad, the Intel head or “Spy-Chief” of Qatar. Here Al-Masnad allegedly confirms Pittards claims about the Emir’s brother, and also divulges information about Ilhan Omar, Linda Sarsour and the Krassensteins (according to Bender).

On July 18th Alan Bender began messaging us in regards to a man named Mohamad Tawhidi @Imamofpeace. He claimed that Tawhidi flew to his hometown of Toronto and met with him to try and convince him to start working with “Kushner and MBZ” in order to take down Ilhan Omar and “help Trump win”.. The goal was to push Omar as the “face of the Democratic party” before bringing her down with forged documents and conspiracy theories, thus bringing down the Democratic party just in time for November of 2020. Bender began sending us multiple text messages which appeared to be between himself and Tawhidi, as well as recordings of Tawhidi He said that Kushner and Nazarian worked with Tawhidi at the behest of MBZ, and that Linda Sarsour’s phone was hacked by them.

On July 19th - Bender Claims: “He(Tawhidi) also told me that he works with Don. Jr.”

On July 19th - We emailed Linda Sarsour and then called her. We discussed her phone getting stolen, which she said she lost but doesn’t think it was stolen. She told me that she was scared for her family and of Tawhidi. We provided her with Bender’s phone number since Bender appeared at that time to be trying to help her. She didn’t want to call him. Over the course of the next several months we stayed in contact with Sarsour as Tawhidi continued his attacks on her.

On July 19th - 21st - We contact Adelle Nazarian on Facebook on July 19, asking if she’s working with forged documents related to Ilhan Omar. We also ask about her ties to Kushner and MBZ. We never mentioned Tawhidi at all. She doesn’t respond. On July 21, however, Bender sends us a text from Tawhidi saying “Brian K has messaged Adelle (Nazarian), asking why she’s working with falsified docs against Ilhan. He’s not wise because now they can use it against him. The docs are not false.” This makes it apparent that Nazarian is potentially coordinating with Tawhidi and our message spooked her. (Note that also on July 21 Bender told us that Tawhidi paid Adelle to forge documents about Omar)

On July 20th - Bender sends us a text message from Tawhidi claiming that when Ilhan Omar tries to go to Israel “for BDS” the Israelli embassy would step in. He then claims that he “knows the top guy”. 25 Days later it is revealed that Israel did just that, blocked Omar from entry.

On July 21st - Bender Claims: “He (Tawhidi) says he will meet secretly with Don Junior in September to coordinate” He also claims that Tawhidi and Kushner communicate via WhatsApp and DMs under fake accounts on Twitter. Bender also says Tawhidi communicates on multiple fake Twitter accounts with MBZ. He mention the Twitter account @SecureAcc, which has since been suspended by Twitter.

On July 22 Bender provided more info, claiming that Tawhidi keeps referring to their strategy as an attempt to “re-elect Trump”

On July 22, Matthew Pittard and Rebecca Castaneda file suit agains the Emir of Qatar’s brother.

On July 23 - TheBaghdadPost.com reports on the Castaneda case, filed the day before, and claims that the court document of the case was “leaked by Imam Tawhidi in retaliation to Qatari media targeting him.”

On July 23rd - Bender provides additional texts allegedly from Tawhidi, where Tawhidi explains some of his plan and how he is attacking Ilhan Omar. Tawhidi warns Qatar that this is only the beginning of their plan. Bender claims that Tawhidi is telling him all this because Bender will keep quiet and save his ass from jail. Later in a phone conversation Bender likens Tawhidi’s issues to that of Epstein and George Nader. Bender also claims that Tawhidi and “big government names” that he’s linked to will soon link Qatar to Omar. Bender claims that Tawhidi is a part of a secret team that stretches from UAE to Robert Shillman, to Kushner and VP Pence, and that he “knows for a fact that MBZ pays him very well”. Bender also says that Tawhidi said that Omar and Sarsour would be defeated by Christmas.

On July 24th We have a phone call with Bender. Bender pushes us to try and get the information to Omar’s people, so they are aware of Tawhidi’s “conspiracy taking place.” Bender says that “they are going to doctor up” documents to make it look like Omar is paid by Qatar and then the right-wing media will cover it. He says that Trump’s guys are part of the team to bring down Omar and that they believe if they hit Ilhan Omar, they hit Qatar. Bender also claims that he was offered $20M by the Saudi’s to tell them Qatar’s secrets and join their mission, and that Tawhidi is paid by the Saudis. He claims Tawhidi met with the Saudi Princess Reema, who is also the Ambassador to the US in London, and was paid there.

On July 24th - Tawhidi notifies Bender that OmarTruth.com has now launched. It was reportedly a project by Reps Lee Zeldin and Drazkowski. Tawhidi sends Bender an email he got telling him that Zeldin and Drazkowshi were starting a “movement in the House” related to Omar we assumed.

On July 25th after getting word that we had information supposedly linking him to the UAE, Adelle Nazarian and others, Tawhidi posted this incredibly important thread:

https://twitter.com/Imamofpeace/status/1154426961646649345

. This post here claims that “they” are trying to separate himself and Nazarian and Don Jr. and the UAE. Note that this was 4 days after he found out that we texted Nazarian.

On July 25th - A text message from Al-Saleh says that he expects “them” to link Omar’s family to terrorists. By ‘them’ he means MBZ. Al-Saleh says that he’s been gathering information on Tawhidi and that he is an “MBZ man in the West” and that Tawhidi is “well funded” by MBZ and works with the GOP as well as AIPAC. He then states that Tawhidi is an MBZ “agent”.

On July 31st, the @CredibleLeaks account tweeted, “Qatar Intelligence are trying to overthrow the Qatari Foreign Minister.” This also seems to be nearly to the date that Bender began to shift his rhetoric. He started telling us that anything we said must not ever be shared with anyone. His view towards the information that Tawhidi has changes drastically. He is now worried about the information being legit. Around this same time Al-Saleh begins telling a similar story of the Spy chief seeking to overthrow the foreign minister. The @CredibleLeaks twitter account appears to be run by or directed by, or working with Tawhidi.

On Aug 6th - Bender calls, a bit agitated after seeing that we spoke to Al-Saleh. Bender warns us that Al-Saleh will likely share our texts with Tawhidi and Tawhidi will tweet them and make himself look like the victim. Apparently Al-Saleh told Bender and Tawhidi about our conversation.

On Aug 7th - The @CredibleLeaks Twitter account makes a tweet which includes a link to a tweet made by Tawhidi. CredibleLeaks states: “Rep. Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) is working with Brian Krassenstein behind the scenes to frame GOP Donors, Trump supporters, Ilhan’s loud critics, Tawhidi, Conservative media as paid agents working for MBZ (@MohamedBinZayed) and the UAE. He wants to ‘Expose’ based on ‘likely’ events.”

On Aug 8th - Tawhidi makes a tweet to Omar saying that Kushner will “corner Qatar” and “make a deal with them.” Says Ilhan will be that deal: “If Trump wins 2020 and Kushner corners Qatar again, they will make a deal with him. You will be that deal. Qatar will sell you out just to satisfy Kushner. This clown: @A_AlAthbah, will be the first to leak evidence to K.A (WaPo and NYT). You’re a liability to them now. Gd luck”

On Aug 8th - Tawhidi publishes a defamatory article about us on his website imamtawhidi.com. In the article he uses an edited image of one of the texts we had with Al-Saleh, just like Bender predicted.

On Aug 8th-9th - We send an informal cease and desist to office@Tawhidi.com. “Leni R, Assistant to the Imam” responds the next day claiming that they have a recording of us admitting that we work for Qatar (obviously a lie), before calling us ‘Qatari scum,’ and asking us to never contact them again. We followed up again on the 9th and 15th.

On Aug 9th - Ed’s wife, Whitney receives two threatening texts mentioning both MBZ and Saudi Arabia. Texts are seen here and here.

On Aug 15th - We tell Bender that we have decided to sue Tawhidi for defamation. Bender immediately tries to talk us out of it, claiming that we don’t have a case. Bender’s attitude towards Tawhidi appears to suddenly change around this time as well. He now claims that Tawhidi’s information is accurate which contradicted everything he said in the past.

On Aug 19th - According to a Facebook post made by Tawhidi on Aug 23rd, Castaneda sent a letter to the Qatari Ambassador on the 19th asking them to provide details about the trip that Alan Bender took to Doha on June 17, 2019.

On Aug 28 - Bender calls us, upset. Bender says, regarding us suing Tawhidi, “that’s my legal and personal advice,” meaning he gave us legal advice, telling us not to pursue a lawsuit against Tawhidi and that we don’t have a case against Tawhidi. He claimed that our lawyers will just take our money and said if we do move forward Tawhidi will expose everything and link everyone to everything including us.

On Aug 28 - The @CredibleLeaks twitter account makes a tweet which has since been deleted after we reported it to Twitter. The tweet read: “The ocean you’re swimming in is 15274 KM deep. The drive will require 625073814 days to complete. It depends if you go down the Intracoastal or the Anchorage. Either way, the Spouse, Edward, should wear a seat belt. And refrain from the past marijuana business, it’s not good.😘” (tweet archived here) Note: 15274 is a number related to both Ed and Brian’s personal banking accounts. Intracoastal and Anchorage are the streets we live on. The message is a threat directed at Ed’s wife. The number 625073814 is Ed’s wife’s phone number scrambled. This appears to be a threat against us not to sue Tawhidi.

On Aug 29 - According to a tweet made by Tawhidi, including a screenshot of an apparent letter, Attorney Rebecca Castaneda sent a formal request to the Qatari Embassy, to ask them to confirm a trip by Bender to Doha on June 17, 2019. This was apparently a followup to another letter sent by Castaneda on August 19.

On Aug 30 - Adelle Nazarian tweets about the Pittard case.

On Aug 30 - We sent our first letter to the FBI describing Bender’s claims about Tawhidi as well as threats we got after notifying Tawhidi of his lawsuit.

On Sept 2nd - Tawhidi Tweets that Omar, Sarsour and the Krassensteins are working for the Emir of Qatar.

On Sept 5 - Tawhidi tweets claims that Rebecca Castaneda is being ambushed by Mohammad al Masnand’s mafia. Castaneda also tweets(archived) about this.

On Sept 11th Tawhidi begins tagging @alanbender1965 in dozens of posts which attack Omar and Qatar.

On Sept 14th - Tawhidi tweets that we work with Qatari terrorism-supporters who believe we are “Jewish pigs”.

On Sept 17th - Bender sends us copies of the subpoenas which were sent to him asking him to testify in the Castaneda-led case, as well as subpoenas sent to Qatari officials. When we ask if some Qatari officials are ok with the fact that this case is happening, he said “Yes, and the power struggle is going to bring down the temple on their heads.” Tawhidi also tweets about the issuance of subpoenas against Bender, Mohamad Masned and Meshal al-Thani.

On Sept 17th - Our attorneys send official Cease and Desist to Tawhidi.

On Sept 17th Tawhidi tweets a thread explaining how he targeted the Castaneda-led case to reveal Qatar’s ties to Omar. He claims that he saw the case and then saw that Bender was a witness, so provided questions to Castaneda to ask Bender about Omar, Sarsour and Qatar.

On Sept 17 Tawhidi makes a tweet to Omar referring to Bender. We asked Bender about this and here and here were his responses. He talks about power struggle and how he can’t answer until Qatar does. He and suggests that some within Qatar want the Pittard case against the Emir’s brother to move forward.

On Sept 20th Matthew Pittard’s attorney, Rebecca Castaneda, teases Vicky Ward with a Twitter reply, suggesting that her ties to money will reveal who Ward is. Tawhidi also has consistently attacked Vicky Ward as an agent of Qatar.

On Sept 23rd - Tawhidi replies to our official Cease and Desist order, from the email Tawhididirect@protonmail.com. The email is addressed to us, our attorneys and Alan Bender, and he claims that he no longer runs the Tawhidi Foundation (or its website) and that they are the ones responsible for the defaming content against us, not himself. He claims he stepped down from the foundation on January 1 of 2019, although since January he has publicly claimed that the website is “my (hids) website.” He then threatens to report our attorneys for harassment.

On Sept 25 - The @CredibleLeaks twitter account makes veiled threats to us and our families, targeting our wives, and showing that they have personal details on us and our families in a series of tweets. The tweets show that they know our wives’ maiden/middle names, our previous vehicles which we owned, our real estate attorney and our places of residence (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

On Sept 26 - Tawhidi publishes a letter that was sent to Rebecca Castaneda which he claims was also CC’ed to himself. The letter asks Castaneda to direct certain questions to the witnesses in her case, including to Alan Bender, essentially as a way to get the witnesses to link Ilhan Omar to Qatar, and accuse Qatar of using and paying the US media to smear opponents of Omar and “bury incriminating news reports against Qatar and Ilhan Omar,” as well as link Linda Sarsour to Ilhan Omar and the Qatari government.

On Oct 6th - Tawhidi makes a tweet suggesting that we are tied to Qatar.

On Oct 8th - Tawhidi makes a tweet, calling us “Qatari mafia”

On Oct 10th - Tawhidi’s office sends an email to many prominent journalists as well as worldwide embassies, namely Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This email was also copied to Rebecca Castenda. The email points to an article and attacks Hugh Miles and Vicky Ward. He signs the letter “Brian Krassenstein, Senior Shoe Polisher for Tamim Bin Hamad”.

On Oct 10th-13th - Tawhidi is at Trump Doral Miami for AmpFest (Don Jr. was also scheduled to be there)

On Oct 14th - Tawhidi travels to L.A. This is where Adelle Nazarian as well as Adam Milstein live. In July Tawhidi told Bender that the team meets on Ventura blvd in Encino (L.A.), and that the next meeting would be in September. Here is his direct quote from the text Bender forwarded to us allegedly from Tawhidi in July: “The businessmen all meet with activists on many issues including BDS and Omar and Linda Sarsour, to plan further steps and assess how things are going. Ventura Blvd, Encino. That’s where they meet.” Did the meeting take place a couple weeks late? Perhaps.

On Oct 16th Bender’s claims don’t seem to add up. Everything appears to go back to Bender’s conversation with Qatari leaders in Doha in the middle of June, but when we ask Bender on October 16th what changed since July when he told us that it’s in Omar’s best interest that Tawhidi is exposed, Bender claimed that since then he has seen Tawhidi’s evidence and it’s “powerful”. But Tawhidi’s evidence appears to be mainly Bender’s own claims and deposition. If Bender spoke to leaders in June then why is he finally only believing Tawhidi in October? Texts here

On Oct 18th We tried to reach out to Castaneda via WhatsApp. No response. Over the course of a couple months we have tried to contact her in several ways, including calling her office several times and leaving voicemails. She would never respond. We even claimed to have information about the case, which we clearly did.

On Oct 18th - Tawhidi claims to have met with a US politician at a Shisha Lounge, while in New York

On Oct 18th - Tawhidi’s office emailed several prominent journalists, as well as embassies of Qatar and KSA with edited images of myself, Ilhan Omar, and the Emir of Qatar. He signs it, “Brian Krassenstein, Senior Ass-Licker of the Naked Tamim Bin Rotten Banana”.

On Oct 23rd - Rebeca Castaneda tweets that she just finished her deposition with Alan Bender in Toronto. (The deposition was originally scheduled for Oct 2nd). Tawhidi also tweets about the deposition and Pittard responds to his tweet.

On Oct 25th - Tawhidi posts a tweet which claims that the Qataris call me (Brian Krassenstein) “loyal donkey” and then calls me a fraudster.

On Oct 28th Pittard’s attorney, Castaneda replies to a Tawhidi tweet, which claimed that a report was coming which shows that Omar is an agent of Qatar in Congress. Castaneda’s reply is “I’m excited too”.

On Oct 28th Tawhidi admits on Jack Posobiec’s live stream broadcast that he needed a “legal coating” so “we made sure that when the ambassador and his associates were questioned, questions about Omar were also asked”.

On Oct 29th Al-Saleh tweeted for the first time about the Pittard case, tagging Rebecca Castaneda in the tweet. He tweeted again later in the day, also tagging Castaneda.

On Oct 29th Bender stopped all communication with us after we questioned his ties to Tawhidi and brought up the fact that he had a sudden shift from claiming that Tawhidi was an agent of the UAE/MBZ, trying to frame Omar with false information, to now claiming that Tawhidi’s information is legit and that he even has evidence that we are Qatari agents. He would later start talking to us again on Signal.

On Oct 31st - We emailed Aryeh Kaplan, the defence attorney for Al-Thani (the defendant in the Castaneda / Pittard case), telling him we had information. No response. We also followed up with two phone calls shortly after this (exact dates of the phone calls are unknown).

On Nov 2-5th - I contacted Adam Milstein on FB on Nov. 2, asking him what his connection was to the Pittard case. I did this after realizing that he was one of only around 19 people to follow Matthew Pittard at the time on Twitter, and he was also mentioned by Bender as being part of Tawhidi’s “team”. He read the message on Nov 4, but didn’t reply. By Nov 9th (probably closer to the 5th) Milstein was no longer following Pittard. Milstein lives in Encino, the section of LA that Tawhidi claimed (according to Bender) that the ‘team’ all meets up at.

On Nov 4th - Final letter from our attorneys is sent to Tawhidi.

On Nov 7th - Tawhidi travels to Toronto, Bender’s hometown. He is believed to have stayed in Toronto for 3 days, until the 10th, when he left for Europe.

On Nov 11th - Donald Trump Jr. retweeted Tawhidi. The tweet was attacking CNN’s Vicky Ward for being paid off by Qatar. The original tweet by Tawhidi CC’ed Don Jr.

On Nov 13th - Tawhidi responds to a final letter from our attorney, threatening to report our attorneys to the Australian authorities for taking money from a client who funneled it from Qatar. He then asks our attorneys a series of questions about us and then threatens to publish an article on November 19th about us. This letter was sent to both Bender and Castaneda. He also sent another letter to Bender, who he copied us, our attorneys and Castaneda in on. This letter asked Bender to provide a sworn testimony that we are paid by Qatar, among other things.

On Nov 13th the Bender deposition leaks begin with an article by Oren Litwin of the Dailywire.

On Nov 14th - Dinesh D’Souza made the following tweet to this article, where Bender claims that Dana Shell Smith is paid by Qatar. In the tweet D’Souza tagged both Tawhidi and Bender. Tawhidi retweeted it. At this point, Dinesh D’Souza is followed by both Bender and Pittard, who each followed only around 100 people at the time.

On Nov 17 Tawhidi tweets that there have been “serious developments” related to him exposing Ilhan Omar. This was 3-4 days after he replied to our attorneys letter which notified him of our pending court case moving forward. Dinesh D’Souza retweeted the long thread by Tawhidi and claimed that he saw some of the evidence against Omar (if it’s Bender’s yet-to-be-released deposition, then how?) and that it was just the tip of the iceberg, and would all be exposed. Tawhidi retweeted this tweet shortly later. We questioned D’Souza about his tweet, and he claimed that he didn’t know Bender and really wasn’t following the case all that well.

On Nov 18 Matthew Pittard retweets several of Tawhidi’s posts which tease upcoming news about Omar.

On Nov 18-20 Matthew Pittard follows several new accounts. At this point he follows 171 people. The four accounts are all Saudi Arabian, and includes: Reema Bandar Al-Saud, The KSA Minister of Foreign affairs, The Saudi Embassy and the Vice Minister of Defence, Khalid bin Salman. Perhaps coincidentally Bender told us in July that Reema Bandar Al-Saud is involved in arranging payments to Tawhidi. Pittard told me, however, that he was simply following leaders and entities in the Middle East in order to see chatter about his case.

On Nov 21 Tawhidi emails myself, our lawyers, Alan Bender and Rebecca Castaneda. In the letter he claims that he will also have Abdullah Al-Saleh testify to corroborate Bender’s claims about us being paid by Qatar. In the letter he refers to Bender’s deposition in the Pittard case, and points to the exact pages of his deposition which mentions him. (Why has he seen this deposition which has yet to be made public?) He also claims that Bender’s deposition shows that Qatar has hired journalists to sue Tawhidi (apparently trying to create a defense for why we are suing him for defamation, once again blaming Qatar for our actions).

On Nov 21 We contacted the FBI for the second time, providing them details of the linkage between Tawhidi/Bender and the Pittard case. We used the online form via the FBI.gov website but also emailed it to an agent we know at the bureau.

On Nov 21 - Matthew Pittard replies to a Tawhidi retweet of D’Souza, claiming he is well aware of the depths of Omar’s corruption.

On Nov 22 We called Adelle Nazarian (transcription of call exists) and asked if she works with Tawhidi or was ever paid for work by him. She claimed that she is just friends with him and never worked for him. I asked if she was familiar with the Matthew Pittard case. She said she was not. (Note that nearly 3 months prior, on August 30 she tweeted about this very case.)

On Nov 22 We text Matthew Pittard. We told him that one of the witnesses who provided a deposition and is from Canada has provided us with contradictory information related to Qatar in the past. We urged him to at least have his attorney look further into it. He replied that they already did and that they are good. We then asked if he knows Mohammad Tawhidi. He responded that he doesn’t know him but that he follows Tawhidi on Twitter. We asked if Tawhidi has had any involvement in his case, and he says “none to my knowledge”. The full texts between myself and Pittard going back to Nov 12 can be seen here, here, here and here. Pittard appears to at least know that Tawhidi has good knowledge of his case, because he replied to an Oct 23rd tweet by Tawhidi where Tawhidi promised that the case will expose Omar (now deleted). Pittard also liked a reply and another reply and another reply and another reply on Nov 18 to Tawhidi, where Tawhidi is teasing that he knows inside information about Pittard’s case.

On Nov 25 Alan Bender contacts us threatening to sue us over sharing his ID with someone who was familiar with his work. He also attacked us for “using our wife’s Twitter account,” to lie about him. This was right before the attack on Omar launched. Bender then blocks us on Signal.

On Nov 25 Pittard’s attorney Rebecca Castaneda deleted all of her liked posts on Twitter.

On Nov 25 - THE ATTACK BEGINS - First Al Arabiya published the story with details of Bender’s deposition. Next The Gateway Pundit, Jerusalem Post and others began covering the story. Tawhidi claims that a lot more info will come from the deposition, and attacks journalists who are discrediting the report. He also says that journalists will be exposed next. Tawhidi also appears to take responsibility (and here) for this information coming about. He claims that Ilhan Omar told “qatari media” to attack him. Interestingly enough Adam Milstein was one of the first people to tweet about this.

On Nov 26 Bender’s full deposition is released

On Nov 26 Al-Saleh comes forward and confirms that what Bender said in his deposition regarding Omar is true.

On Nov 26 Castaneda suddenly stops following Tawhidi, Omar and Sarsour on Twitter, almost as if she is trying to disassociate herself with them all. This came on the same day that we, with the help of my wife, began revealing that Tawhidi and Bender were possibly working together to frame Omar. We also contacted Pittard once more to bring his attention to Tawhidi’s connections with the witnesses.

On Nov 27 We have an “off the record” conversation with Matthew Pittard, lasting approximately 12 minutes.

On Nov 28 (approximately) Both Castaneda and Pittard deactivate their Twitter accounts.

On Nov 30 Tawhidi makes an odd Tweet, which we assume is in an effort to get ahead of what material he assumes we have on him. In the Tweet he once again says we are working with Qatar, and then uploads an audio recording of him apparently talking to someone, bragging about how he fooled everyone into believing that he is an agent of the UAE. He makes two subsequent tweets (here and here) with two more audio recordings of him appearing to talk to others about spreading false information as well.

On Dec 1 After reading Donna Rachel Edmunds’ story about Bender’s claims in the JPost, as well as her Tweet attacking the DailyCaller for calling the account into question, we contacted Edmunds saying that we are more than willing to provide our side of the story. In the following 2 days we provided her with a few texts between Tawhidi and Bender ad well as emails and other information.

On Dec 2nd A ‘Mechelle Larkinson’ emails us and copies in numerous other journalists, as well as foreign embassies. The email claims that a lawsuit will be filed against us in New York for defamation against Adelle Nazarian and Mohammad Tawhidi. It also includes a fake text message from ourselves, which impersonates us trying to convince someone that Tawhidi is an agent of the UAE.

On Dec. 4th JPost journalist and former Breitbart journalist Donna Rachel Edmunds called after we provided her with some of the texts between Tawhidi and Bender. (She is the journalist who wrote one of the first stories regarding Bender’s deposition about Omar). She said that she wanted to act as an intermediary between us and Tawhidi and that Tawhidi says that he was fooled by Bender. Her theory is that Bender played us both and that Bender convinced Tawhidi that we were Qatari agents and then tried to convince us that Tawhidi was a UAE agent, plotting with Tawhidi to try and convince us as such. She claims that Tawhidi knows that we are not Qatari agents now and he feels bad about it and wants to figure out how to make it better. Tawhidi wanted an assurance that none of the texts with Bender, that we obtained, would be released publicly. She also claimed that Tawhidi would be fronting a lawsuit on behalf of Bender in New York to sue us (for what? We don’t know). I (Brian) told her to tell him to contact our attorney who has already begun legal proceedings against him. She said that he doesn’t want to deal with lawyers and she suggested that we and Tawhidi set up fake Protonmail accounts to communicate with each other. We refused to agree to anything. Tawhidi briefly removed the defamatory article about us from his website (the website he previously claimed no longer to be affiliated with), with Edmunds claiming that it was in “good faith”, but after telling Edmunds to request that he speak to our attorneys before we agree to anything, he placed the article back up. Edmunds also claimed that Tawhidi is scared of Bender, but also said that he wanted to work with us to expose Bender. If Tawhidi really believes that Bender “fooled” both him and us, and just wants to figure out how to make things better with us, then why would he be willing to front a case for Bender against us in New York? Much of the things Edmunds claimed Tawhidi claimed did not add up in our heads.

Dec 4th - We called Dinesh D’Souza again to ask if he was working on a documentary about the Alan Bender deposition, like Edmunds claimed. He got really confrontational and would not provide a comment one way or another. He claimed that he “knows our agenda.”.

On Dec 5th We get an anonymous email, echoing what Donna Rachel Edmunds told us Tawhidi wanted. The email once again brings Dinesh D’Souza into the picture and appears to threaten us with further slander at the hands of D’Souza if we don’t decide to team up with Tawhidi and out Alan Bender has having fooled both Tawhidi and us.

On Dec 5th After reaching out to many of the individuals mentioned by Bender and Tawhidi, we received a denial from Ellie B Brown that she was paid by Tawhidi, and Asra Nomani provided us with the following statement: “I’m an independent journalist and don’t receive payments from Imam Tawhidi. He once gave me a donation of $500 to support Muslim reform work. I have since returned the $500 to Imam Tawhidi. “

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