A vicious little attempt to steal a New Yorker’s property has city officials’ fingerprints all over it

A man’s home is supposed to be his castle. But this is no longer the case in New York City, according to a Brooklyn man who says that Big Apple officials are aiding and abetting a next-door neighbor’s attempt to steal his property.

It has been a long ordeal for John Hockenjos, 62, and his wife Irina, one whose twists and turns include a false arrest by the NYPD. The problems started in 2009, they say, when the couple Argo and Elen Paumere “purchased the home next to them with plans for an ambitious overhaul. According to the Hockenjoses, red flags flew fast when they were approached to sign documents turning over a two-foot easement to their new neighbor,” as Bklyner reported in 2013.

I spoke to the Hockenjos recently on the phone, and Irina told me their suspicions were borne out. After refusing to sign the documents, the Hockenjoses say that Argo Paumere “went and created a fraudulent land survey that marked a chunk of the driveway as theirs,” as Bklyner put it. The kicker?

The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) approved it, the Hockenjoses report — and they’ve been battling the Paumeres and city hall ever since.

It’s a battle that has cost the Hockenjoses their jobs, their health and more than $150,000 in legal fees, they say. But the real shock came in February 2012 when John, a former Metropolitan Transit Authority engineer, was falsely arrested by 61st Precinct police.

That dark day was Feb. 5 of that year. The police arrived at the Hockenjoses’ property, in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay section, after being called by Paumere, according to NY’s Daily News. The incident culminated in John’s arrest and felony charges being brought after he was accused of driving at a “high rate of speed, causing an officer “to jump out of the way,” the News reports. But the police had a problem.

No such thing ever happened.

John had video surveillance footage to prove it, too, which showed “the Brooklyn man slowly pulling into his driveway and the cop not even flinching,” to quote the News again. 

In fact, so egregious was the police frame-up that Officer Diego Palacios, who was involved in the arrest, resigned from the NYPD and was indicted by a grand jury “on five kinds of illegal lying, one of them a felony,” reported The New York Times in 2012.

Palacios pled guilty in exchange for a sentence of just four days in prison — just one day longer than John spent in jail after his arrest — but ended up serving only one night. Call it Kim Foxx justice.

Oh, had Palacios’ frame-up been successful, John would have faced seven years behind bars.

As for the land dispute, the Hockenjoses told me they know of other NYC residents in their shoes, people who face what’s essentially the theft of their property due to DOB corruption or incompetence. If this sounds fanciful, consider the comments of former Queens-based state senator Tony Avella, who was a staunch critic of the DOB. 

“It’s something that’s a bottom line issue with the DOB where an applicant just presents an application and they never really check it to see if the size of the property is correct, or whether they own the property or not,” he told Sheepshead Bites (now part of Bklyner) in 2013.”

“The builder says they own part of the property that’s actually the neighbor’s, and the DOB approves it,” he continued. “It’s a very serious issue. Anyone can submit a false application, fraudulent documents and fraudulent land surveys, and no one checks it.”

And once this happens…well, go fight city hall. As Bklyner also tells us, “According to both Avella and the Hockenjoses, the DOB’s modus operandi when they receive complaints about fraudulent documents is to wash its hands of the problem and declare it a property dispute to be handled in civil court.”

“That comes with its own set of problems,” Bklyner further informs. “The Hockenjoses have gone through lawyer after lawyer, some of which [sic] they say took their money and never did any work. Others have refused to take the case because it appears to exist in a sort of legal no-man’s-land.”

“‘They’re saying I’m not going to take this case because it’s not a real estate case, it’s not a property dispute case, it’s a criminal case,’” Irina told Bklyner (this echoes what she related to me). “‘And we go to criminal attorneys and they tell us we need to go to prosecutors. And the prosecutors say it’s a civil case.’”

The bottom line is that the Hockenjoses have spent a good part of the last decade in court, all due, they say, to a neighbor who’s quite a malevolent character. In fact, Irina told me that shortly after the Paumeres moved in, Argo Paumere said bluntly, “I’m going to take your property from you.” After being informed that it wasn’t for sale, he made known that this didn’t matter, Irina states.

And aside from the false arrest, the Hockenjoses say that the Paumeres have continually made false charges against them, resulting in actions by city inspectors that the couple has had to fight. The stress has been overwhelming, they state.

The Hockenjoses also believe that more than just garden-variety bureaucratic incompetence is at work: They suspect that Argo Paumere has connections with city officials. The false arrest certainly lends this theory credence, of course. Whatever the case, it’s a very strange story — and one many Americans wouldn’t expect to hear in these United States.

It’s a continuing story, too, as the Hockenjoses fight on. Hopefully, they’ll get the help they deserve, somewhere, and justice will finally be done.

 

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Gab (preferably) or Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com

Image credit: Harald Groven, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byrakrati.png

 

A man’s home is supposed to be his castle. But this is no longer the case in New York City, according to a Brooklyn man who says that Big Apple officials are aiding and abetting a next-door neighbor’s attempt to steal his property.

It has been a long ordeal for John Hockenjos, 62, and his wife Irina, one whose twists and turns include a false arrest by the NYPD. The problems started in 2009, they say, when the couple Argo and Elen Paumere “purchased the home next to them with plans for an ambitious overhaul. According to the Hockenjoses, red flags flew fast when they were approached to sign documents turning over a two-foot easement to their new neighbor,” as Bklyner reported in 2013.

I spoke to the Hockenjos recently on the phone, and Irina told me their suspicions were borne out. After refusing to sign the documents, the Hockenjoses say that Argo Paumere “went and created a fraudulent land survey that marked a chunk of the driveway as theirs,” as Bklyner put it. The kicker?

The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) approved it, the Hockenjoses report — and they’ve been battling the Paumeres and city hall ever since.

It’s a battle that has cost the Hockenjoses their jobs, their health and more than $150,000 in legal fees, they say. But the real shock came in February 2012 when John, a former Metropolitan Transit Authority engineer, was falsely arrested by 61st Precinct police.

That dark day was Feb. 5 of that year. The police arrived at the Hockenjoses’ property, in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay section, after being called by Paumere, according to NY’s Daily News. The incident culminated in John’s arrest and felony charges being brought after he was accused of driving at a “high rate of speed, causing an officer “to jump out of the way,” the News reports. But the police had a problem.

No such thing ever happened.

John had video surveillance footage to prove it, too, which showed “the Brooklyn man slowly pulling into his driveway and the cop not even flinching,” to quote the News again. 

In fact, so egregious was the police frame-up that Officer Diego Palacios, who was involved in the arrest, resigned from the NYPD and was indicted by a grand jury “on five kinds of illegal lying, one of them a felony,” reported The New York Times in 2012.

Palacios pled guilty in exchange for a sentence of just four days in prison — just one day longer than John spent in jail after his arrest — but ended up serving only one night. Call it Kim Foxx justice.

Oh, had Palacios’ frame-up been successful, John would have faced seven years behind bars.

As for the land dispute, the Hockenjoses told me they know of other NYC residents in their shoes, people who face what’s essentially the theft of their property due to DOB corruption or incompetence. If this sounds fanciful, consider the comments of former Queens-based state senator Tony Avella, who was a staunch critic of the DOB. 

“It’s something that’s a bottom line issue with the DOB where an applicant just presents an application and they never really check it to see if the size of the property is correct, or whether they own the property or not,” he told Sheepshead Bites (now part of Bklyner) in 2013.”

“The builder says they own part of the property that’s actually the neighbor’s, and the DOB approves it,” he continued. “It’s a very serious issue. Anyone can submit a false application, fraudulent documents and fraudulent land surveys, and no one checks it.”

And once this happens…well, go fight city hall. As Bklyner also tells us, “According to both Avella and the Hockenjoses, the DOB’s modus operandi when they receive complaints about fraudulent documents is to wash its hands of the problem and declare it a property dispute to be handled in civil court.”

“That comes with its own set of problems,” Bklyner further informs. “The Hockenjoses have gone through lawyer after lawyer, some of which [sic] they say took their money and never did any work. Others have refused to take the case because it appears to exist in a sort of legal no-man’s-land.”

“‘They’re saying I’m not going to take this case because it’s not a real estate case, it’s not a property dispute case, it’s a criminal case,’” Irina told Bklyner (this echoes what she related to me). “‘And we go to criminal attorneys and they tell us we need to go to prosecutors. And the prosecutors say it’s a civil case.’”

The bottom line is that the Hockenjoses have spent a good part of the last decade in court, all due, they say, to a neighbor who’s quite a malevolent character. In fact, Irina told me that shortly after the Paumeres moved in, Argo Paumere said bluntly, “I’m going to take your property from you.” After being informed that it wasn’t for sale, he made known that this didn’t matter, Irina states.

And aside from the false arrest, the Hockenjoses say that the Paumeres have continually made false charges against them, resulting in actions by city inspectors that the couple has had to fight. The stress has been overwhelming, they state.

The Hockenjoses also believe that more than just garden-variety bureaucratic incompetence is at work: They suspect that Argo Paumere has connections with city officials. The false arrest certainly lends this theory credence, of course. Whatever the case, it’s a very strange story — and one many Americans wouldn’t expect to hear in these United States.

It’s a continuing story, too, as the Hockenjoses fight on. Hopefully, they’ll get the help they deserve, somewhere, and justice will finally be done.

 

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Gab (preferably) or Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com

Image credit: Harald Groven, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byrakrati.png

 

via American Thinker Blog

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Virtue Signaling Razor Maker Promotes Grotesque Obesity With New Ad

Razor company Gillette alienated an untold number of customers with a controversial ad that condemned “toxic masculinity” earlier in the year in a bid to appeal to loopy millennials in a sad sign of the times.

The ad spot drew much criticism in that it reinforced the media portrayal of males as emasculated bumbling doofuses as the fanatical left looks to neuter males who they have already done a damned fine job of turning into effeminate sissies and the demonization is only going to increase with the election coming and the ghoulish specter of Hillary lurking in the shadows.

Now Gillette is rolling out a new ad campaign featuring a morbidly obese “plus-sized” model to promote the manufacturer’s Venus line of products that are marketed for women.

According to Gillette:

Venus is committed to representing beautiful women of all shapes, sizes, and skin types because ALL types of beautiful skin deserve to be shown. We love Anna because she lives out loud and loves her skin no matter how the “rules” say she should display it.

Anna O’Brien – who is featured in the ad – was previously in the news for an experiment that went awry last year when she posed in a bikini in Times Square expecting to be mocked for being grotesquely obese but instead, was shocked by how many fat fetishists wanted to immerse themselves inside of her bodily folds.

Via soft core porn women’s trash rag Cosmopolitan, “I Posed in a Bikini in Times Square. I Was Expecting Comments from Haters, But What I Actually Heard Was Way More Disheartening”:

  “Let’s do this,” I said out loud. My clothes dropped all the way to the ground, and the voices around me became clear.

“I want to suck on them tasty toes.”

“Hey baby, let me butter them biscuits for you.”

I looked up to see three men with camera phones filming me. Our eyes met, and one uttered, “Twerk for the camera baby, show them how that ass clap.”

Tears began to well up. I was prepared to be pointed at, shamed, and called fat. I didn’t expect to be fetishized.

My mind jolted back to my reality as a man reached forward to hand me his mixed CD. As I pushed it away, he tried to grab hold of my wrist to talk to me. I yanked my hand back. “Hard pass,” I screamed with the toughest face I could muster. “No thank you. Please leave me alone.”

He stepped back into the crowd that was slowly forming, and his friend then began to call out to me. “I’m just showing love for a BBW, baby. I want you to know that men want you. We love them big booty queens like you. Show off for your fans, baby.”

My tears turned to anger, and the words began to fly out of my mouth: “It doesn’t make it OK. You’re disgusting. Please stop. Please just stop…” The man justified his response by saying that plus women “don’t know they’re f*ckable.”

Some people will never be happy.

The company is also featuring a transgender in its latest campaign:

Aside from the morally bereft decision to glorify obesity at a time when diabetes is at record levels, Gillette’s questionable choice to promote a message that implies that men should saw their own balls off using thir own products may not be a windfall for shareholders in the long run.

via Downtrend.com

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Sanders calls for federal ban on right to work laws

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders addressed a powerful union in Las Vegas yesterday and announced his support for a federal ban on state right to work laws.

Because nothing says freedom quite like forcing people to join a union against their will.

The Hill:

Speaking to the International Association of Machinists at the union’s conference in Las Vegas, Sanders said as president he would push legislation in Congress to prohibit the laws. Right-to-work laws bar unionized workplaces from negotiating contracts under which all members who benefit from the contract must contribute dues. Twenty-six states currently have right-to-work laws on the books.

“We need elected officials and candidates at every level to get serious about speaking out for the trade union movement. This should not be an afterthought,” Sanders said. “If we’re talking about growing wages, providing health care to all people, having a progressive tax system, the trade union movement must be in the middle of all of those discussions.”

If workers want to unionize, more power to them. If they don’t, they shouldn’t be forced into it. Such a simple, elegant definition of freedom is lost on socialists like Sanders because a disturbing number of his proposals are coercive in nature.

You want health insurance? You will be forced into the Medicare program. Scared of climate change? You will be forced to severely alter your behavior. You have “too much money” (whatever the hell that means)? The government will forcefully lighten your purse.

Socialists don’t like freedom because they believe you’re too stupid to take care of yourself. That’s the bottom line when it comes to a Sanders candidacy and it’s why ultimately, he will lose.

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders addressed a powerful union in Las Vegas yesterday and announced his support for a federal ban on state right to work laws.

Because nothing says freedom quite like forcing people to join a union against their will.

The Hill:

Speaking to the International Association of Machinists at the union’s conference in Las Vegas, Sanders said as president he would push legislation in Congress to prohibit the laws. Right-to-work laws bar unionized workplaces from negotiating contracts under which all members who benefit from the contract must contribute dues. Twenty-six states currently have right-to-work laws on the books.

“We need elected officials and candidates at every level to get serious about speaking out for the trade union movement. This should not be an afterthought,” Sanders said. “If we’re talking about growing wages, providing health care to all people, having a progressive tax system, the trade union movement must be in the middle of all of those discussions.”

If workers want to unionize, more power to them. If they don’t, they shouldn’t be forced into it. Such a simple, elegant definition of freedom is lost on socialists like Sanders because a disturbing number of his proposals are coercive in nature.

You want health insurance? You will be forced into the Medicare program. Scared of climate change? You will be forced to severely alter your behavior. You have “too much money” (whatever the hell that means)? The government will forcefully lighten your purse.

Socialists don’t like freedom because they believe you’re too stupid to take care of yourself. That’s the bottom line when it comes to a Sanders candidacy and it’s why ultimately, he will lose.

via American Thinker Blog

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Purge: Nielsen isn’t the only one leaving DHS

The recent ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, followed quickly by the head of the Secret Service represented a major shakeup in the power structure and direction of the department. But this morning we’re learning that the personnel changes aren’t stopping there. More firings/resignations are in the offing and people who have worked at DHS – both past and present – are expressing concerns that this will generate massive disruption in the agency’s mission. (Government Executive)

President Trump on Monday executed a dramatic overhaul of leadership at the Homeland Security Department, adding several top officials and component chiefs to the list of top brass removed from their jobs in recent days.

The White House confirmed Randolph “Tex” Alles would step down as head of the Secret Service, just one day after Trump announced the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen…

“I don’t think anything is like what we’ve seen today under the current administration,” said Jay Ahern, whose more than three decades in federal service included CBP’s head of the Office of Field Operations during the George W. Bush administration and acting CBP commissioner during the Obama administration. “Wholesale change, that’s not necessarily a healthy thing.”

There are some other big names supposedly on the list of those who need to clean out their desks. While not officially confirmed yet, L. Francis Cissna, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is also on the way out. He will reportedly be joined by the DHS General Counsel, John Mitnick. We still don’t know who will be in charge of ICE, but it’s not going to be Ron Vitiello.

The nomination of CBP chief Kevin McAleenan to head DHS is leading to some further complications. First of all, it means that we now don’t have anyone at the top of Customs and Border Patrol, at least temporarily. In addition to that, the laws covering the creation of DHS have some “order of succession” rules built into them which aren’t applicable to the rest of the cabinet. Following those rules, the Undersecretary for Management (Claire Grady) would probably have had to replace Nielsen, so it looks like she’ll be departing also to clear the way for McAleenan.

I understand that the President is very frustrated with the lack of progress in addressing the situation on the southern border. It’s a mess, and he’s being fought tooth and nail every step of the way by Democrats in Congress and judges in multiple courts where his policies are being challenged. But this amount of change in executive positions taking place in such a short period of time is worrisome. If all of these groups are going to be going in a new, “tougher” direction, the workers responsible for all of these assignments are going to be left in some sort of limbo until new marching orders are received. And planning and rolling out these sorts of systemic changes takes time. I don’t know if the President thinks he’s executing a coup of the deep state here or what, but we need a functional DHS pretty much 24/7 and these moves could lead to stagnation in the short term.

The post Purge: Nielsen isn’t the only one leaving DHS appeared first on Hot Air.

via Hot Air

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US Secret Service director says he wasn’t fired

Don’t you just hate it when a liberal narrative falls apart? 

Well, not really. And in the case of Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, who was reportedly fired yesterday, the narrative has gone off the rails.

Conventional wisdom in the last 24 hours has Donald Trump engaged in a “purge” of Homeland Security. No so, says Alles, who stressed the “orderly transition” at DHS.

Reuters:

“No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing.’ I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security,” Alles said in a message to Secret Service agents.

“The president has directed an orderly transition in leadership for this agency and I intend to abide by that direction,” Alles said.

Sounds more like a reorganization than a “purge” to me. But then, “purge” is so much more dramatic, don’t you think?

The president doesn’t like the direction DHS is taking.

Neither Trump nor the White House has explained the overhaul of DHS, but the president’s anger over a recent surge in migrants from Central America has been well documented. The DHS oversees immigration and border security.

The Republican president made stopping illegal immigration a centerpiece in his run for office in 2016, promising to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico. Trump has said he will make border security a key part of his campaign for re-election in 2020.

Senior senators from both parties said they were concerned about a vacuum in leadership at the agency, which also oversees the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration, among other critical functions.

A bureaucracy like DHS pretty much runs itself, so a “vacuum in leadership” doesn’t exist. At least, it won’t exist for very long. Meanwhile, the paper keeps flowing, paychecks are paid, and those in temporary positions of leadership are still protecting the country.

I guess it just goes to show that the press can gin up hysteria and outrage over just about anything.

Don’t you just hate it when a liberal narrative falls apart? 

Well, not really. And in the case of Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, who was reportedly fired yesterday, the narrative has gone off the rails.

Conventional wisdom in the last 24 hours has Donald Trump engaged in a “purge” of Homeland Security. No so, says Alles, who stressed the “orderly transition” at DHS.

Reuters:

“No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing.’ I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security,” Alles said in a message to Secret Service agents.

“The president has directed an orderly transition in leadership for this agency and I intend to abide by that direction,” Alles said.

Sounds more like a reorganization than a “purge” to me. But then, “purge” is so much more dramatic, don’t you think?

The president doesn’t like the direction DHS is taking.

Neither Trump nor the White House has explained the overhaul of DHS, but the president’s anger over a recent surge in migrants from Central America has been well documented. The DHS oversees immigration and border security.

The Republican president made stopping illegal immigration a centerpiece in his run for office in 2016, promising to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico. Trump has said he will make border security a key part of his campaign for re-election in 2020.

Senior senators from both parties said they were concerned about a vacuum in leadership at the agency, which also oversees the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration, among other critical functions.

A bureaucracy like DHS pretty much runs itself, so a “vacuum in leadership” doesn’t exist. At least, it won’t exist for very long. Meanwhile, the paper keeps flowing, paychecks are paid, and those in temporary positions of leadership are still protecting the country.

I guess it just goes to show that the press can gin up hysteria and outrage over just about anything.

via American Thinker Blog

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Marxist plan for the USA: Turn America into another USSR

Marxist plan for the USA: Turn America into another USSRAmerica is being attacked from within by Marxists whose primary goal is to overthrow the government and replace it with an oppressive communist regime. To further that goal, the Marxist Obama administration planted communists throughout the government. All branches of government have been compromised by people who have no allegiance to the United States of America. They are not loyal to the United States or the American people. They are only loyal to their ideology, and their ideology is oppressive global Marxism.

via CanadaFreePress.Com

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Trump Succeeds in Labeling Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a Terror Group

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday succeeded in officially labeling Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), a move his administration has reportedly considered soon after taking office in 2017 as part of efforts to neutralize Tehran’s influence and constrain its aggression in the Middle East and beyond.

Since its inauguration in January 2017, the Trump administration has sought to impose “maximum pressure” on Iran’s murderous regime, enacting a record-setting wave of sanctions on Tehran last year after pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal that the new president denounced as ineffective in restraining the Shiite powerhouse.

Within weeks of taking office, reports surfaced that the Trump administration was weighing the FTO label for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Iran has repeatedly warned the Trump administration against outlawing the IRGC as a terrorist group, threatening reciprocal action of labeling parts of the American military as a terrorist group.

The U.S. designation, announced on Monday, came soon after the Pentagon revised the estimate on the number of U.S. military fatalities at the hands of proxies backed by the IRGC between 2003 and 2011 to 603, up from about 500.

Iran’s IRGC serves as Tehran’s elite military force that protects the regime from internal and external threats.

According to the U.S. military and other experts, Iranian proxies like the IRGC are active in Latin America where they carry out recruiting operations along with Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah.

The White House announced the foreign terrorist organization label for the IRGC in a statement issued Monday, noting:

This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft. The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.

This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as [an] FTO. It underscores the fact that Iran’s actions are fundamentally different from those of other governments. This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. It makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC. If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.

In February 2017, Reuters learned from American officials speaking on condition of anonymity that the Trump administration was considering designating the IRGC as an FTO.

Later that year, in October, the Trump administration authorized the U.S. Department of Treasury to sanction the “entire” IRGC as a terrorist organization “and to apply sanctions to its officials, agents, and affiliates.”

Trump denounced the IRGC as “the Iranian Supreme Leader’s corrupt personal terror force and militia.”

That same day — October 13 — the Trump administration unveiled its Iran strategy, which focused on “neutralizing” the IRGC.

President Trump pledged in the strategy:

We will work to deny the Iranian regime – and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people. … We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGC’s gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges. … We want to work with our partners to constrain this dangerous organization [IRGC], for the benefit of international peace and security, regional stability, and the Iranian people.

The IRGC’s designation as a foreign terrorist organization allows the American commander-in-chief to make good on his promise to combat the group.

“This action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences,” the White House said, referring to Monday’s FTO designation. “We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior.”

Weeks ahead of the White House’s announcement, the New York Times (NYT) reported that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and some White House officials were pushing for officially deeming the IRGC and Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq terrorist groups.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) is responsible for making the foreign terrorist organization designations.

“FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business,” DOS points out.

The Pentagon’s office of the inspector general has identified the Baghdad-sanctioned umbrella organization of mainly Iran-allied Shiite militias — the Popular Mobilizations Forces/Units (PMF/U) — as a threat to the United States.

Former President Barack Obama’s administration acknowledged that Iran uses the IRGC to cultivate and support terrorists. The U.S. military has long warned against Iranian activities, via its IRGC and Hezbollah proxies, in the United States’s backyard — Latin America.

via Breitbart News

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