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Abbey Gate Gold Star father blisters Biden after Afghan national allegedly ambushes 2 National Guardsmen in DC

Abbey Gate Gold Star father blisters Biden after Afghan national allegedly ambushes 2 National Guardsmen in DC

EXCLUSIVE — The father of Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover — one of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Abbey Gate bombing during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan — is blasting the former Biden administration after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guardsmen just blocks from the White House. Hoover gave Fox News Digital a new, forceful statement on Wednesday’s shooting, saying the incident was the direct result of the administration’s failed vetting of Afghan evacuees. “This is on the feckless Biden administration,” Hoover said of the shooting. “We had no idea who was getting into this country because the Biden administration, especially the State Department run by Antony Blinken, didn’t do the work that was needed to vet all these people. There were so many people put on the planes that got out initially, that we have no idea who they were.” He continued: “By doing this, all we got is men of fighting age that are most likely terrorists that are here in the homeland to do us all harm and take our beloved United States of America. Maybe if the Biden administration started the process earlier than the truncated timetable that they did, this could have all come out so much better, including all of our most precious men and women of our military coming home.” EX-FBI SPECIAL AGENT EXPLAINS AFGHAN VETTING FAILURES IN WAKE OF NATIONAL GUARD AMBUSH: ‘TICKING TIME BOMB’ The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, and multiple intelligence sources tell Fox News Digital the attack is being treated as a possible act of international terrorism. The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was taken into custody after allegedly ambushing the two West Virginia National Guardsmen near the White House. Fox News Digital previously reported that Lakanwal entered the United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, immediately following the fall of Kabul, and that he had worked with several U.S. government entities, including the CIA, as part of a partner force in Kandahar. “The individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” former CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” ALLEGED DC SHOOTER ENTERED US UNDER AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT PUSH MAYORKAS VOWED WOULD BE DONE ‘SWIFTLY AND SAFELY’ Hoover says the shooting confirms what he and other Gold Star parents feared when thousands of Afghans were evacuated during the final days of the withdrawal — that many individuals were allowed into the United States without adequate screening. “We had no idea who Biden put on those planes,” Hoover said. “None.” Wednesday’s comments come after years of public criticism from Hoover, who has been one of the most vocal parents demanding accountability for the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 American service members, including his son Taylor, an 11-year Marine veteran who was engaged to be married and on his third deployment to Afghanistan. ALLEGED NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTER WORKED WITH US GOVERNMENT ENTITIES IN AFGHANISTAN, INCLUDING CIA: RATCLIFFE Hoover’s earlier remarks made headlines in 2024, when he reacted to President Biden falsely claiming during a presidential debate that no U.S. service members had died under his watch. At the time, Hoover told Fox News Digital that he felt “rage” hearing Biden deny the deaths of the Abbey Gate 13. “The rage, the absolute disgust that I got from hearing him say that — I started yelling back at the TV,” he said in 2024. “He’s never acknowledged, not one time, any of our kids. He’s never said their names.” He also revealed then that the Biden administration sent the Abbey Gate families a batch of identical condolence letters a year after the attack. DETAILS EMERGE ON CIA UNIT ALLEGED NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTER SERVED WITH IN AFGHANISTAN “All 13 families got a canned letter,” he said in a 2024 Fox News Digital interview. “It looked like it was a photocopy. We’ve had absolutely nothing before, nothing since.” Hoover’s frustration at being unable to secure a meeting with Biden was also part of that earlier reporting. “[Biden] doesn’t want to deal with us,” Hoover said in 2024. “He knows that we’re in his face, but he doesn’t want to deal with us.” But Hoover told Fox News Digital this week that Wednesday’s shooting, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national allowed into the country during the withdrawal, is a devastating new chapter. To him, it demonstrates that the consequences of the troubled evacuation are still unfolding on American soil. Federal officials say the investigation into the shooting remains active. Hoover says he will continue speaking out until the families of the Abbey Gate fallen receive answers — and until the former administration takes responsibility for what he believes are ongoing failures. “This isn’t going away,” he said at the time. “We’re not going away.” Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack

State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack

The Department of State has paused all visas for individuals traveling on Afghan passports after an attack in Washington, D.C., Wednesday targeting National Guard members. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national, was charged with first-degree murder among other counts related to the ambush, which has since claimed the life of West Virginia National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Lakanwal was vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan and granted final asylum approval under President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year, multiple sources told Fox News Digital. “The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” the agency wrote in an announcement on social media. “The Department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.” LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONDING AFTER 2 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE Secretary of State Marco Rubio also took to X to share the news. “President Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” Rubio wrote in a post. “The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.” U.S.-based Afghanistan allies relocation and resettlement nonprofit AfghanEvac denounced Friday’s decision, calling the administration’s move a “violation of federal law.”  “It appears Secretary Rubio is attempting to shut down the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program in direct violation of federal law and standing court orders. He is seemingly acting at the direction of President Trump and Stephen Miller, and there is no doubt this is the outcome they have been driving toward for months,” AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver said in a statement.  “They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them.” VANCE’S PAST WARNINGS REIGNITE AFTER AFGHAN NATIONAL NAMED AS SUSPECT IN DC GUARD SHOOTING The new policy comes less than a day after the media questioned Trump about how the attack could have taken place after successful vetting. “I mean, he went nuts, and that happens. It happens too often with these people,” Trump told reporters from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “There was no vetting or anything. … We have a lot of others in this country, and we’re going to get them out, but they go cuckoo. Something happens to them.” Trump noted “when it comes to asylum, when they’re flown in, it’s very hard to get them out. No matter how you want to do it, it’s very hard to get them out. But we’re going to be getting them all out now.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph B. Edlow also announced Thursday that, at Trump’s direction, there would be a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination” of every green card issued to immigrants from “every country of concern.” The 19 countries deemed “high-risk” by the USCIS include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump plans ‘full and complete pardon’ for former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking

Trump plans ‘full and complete pardon’ for former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking

President Trump announced Friday he intends to issue a “full and complete pardon” to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, while simultaneously reaffirming his support for presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura just days before Hondurans head to the polls. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Hernández. who was sentenced in New York last year to 45 years in prison for conspiring with drug traffickers to move over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S., was “treated very harshly and unfairly.” “I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said. “This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success.” TRUMP REVEALS MADURO ‘WOULD LIKE TO TALK’ AS MILITARY OPTIONS REMAIN ON THE TABLE FOR VENEZUELA Hernández was convicted in March 2024 on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and two related weapons offenses after a two-week trial, according to The Associated Press. Trump also doubled down on his backing of Asfura, the National Party candidate and former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying the U.S. would be “very supportive” if he wins because Washington has “so much confidence in him, his policies and what he will do for the great people of Honduras.” COLOMBIA RECALLS US AMBASSADOR AFTER TRUMP CALLS ITS LEADER ‘ILLEGAL DRUG LEADER,’ THREATENS MILITARY ACTION  In a separate Truth Social post earlier Friday, Trump said he and Asfura “can work together to fight the narcocommunists and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras.” He also sharply criticized Asfura’s rivals, including ruling party candidate Rixi Moncada and TV host Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party. “His chief opponent is Rixi Moncada, who says Fidel Castro is her idol,” Trump said. “Normally, the smart people of Honduras, would reject her, and elect Tito Asfura, but the Communists are trying to trick the people by running a third Candidate, Salvador Nasralla. “Nasralla is no friend of Freedom. A borderline Communist, he helped Xiomara Castro by running as her Vice President. He won, and helped Castro win. Then he resigned, and is now pretending to be an anti-Communist only for the purposes of splitting Asfura’s vote. The people of Honduras must not be tricked again.” ICE DEPORTS MS-13 GANG LEADER WHO TRIED TO ‘GAME OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM’ UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, DHS SAYS Hondurans vote Sunday, and polls show Asfura virtually tied with Moncada and Nasralla, according to Reuters.  The winner will govern from 2026 to 2030. The Central American country has been led since 2022 by President Xiomara Castro, the country’s first female president.