A Homeland Security agent has been charged for allegedly selling illicit drugs taken from seized evidence. Nicholas Kindle, a special agent in Utah assigned to investigate illegal narcotics trafficking, is the second Homeland Security agent arrested for the alleged scheme. Kindle was arrested three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator, special agent David Cole. According to The Epoch Times, both men face “felony drug distribution conspiracy charges.” Kindle also faces a charge of “conspiracy to convert U.S. government property for profit.” Homeland Security Agents Charged With Selling Illegal Drugs Seized As Evidence https://t.co/MqOsfIXg1s — zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 4, 2025 Per The Epoch Times: Kindle was formally charged in an information document filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which does not require grand jury approval to initiate criminal proceedings. Court records indicate that he has not yet been assigned an attorney. A magistrate judge on Jan. 3 set Kindle’s initial court appearance for Jan. 21 in Salt Lake City. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Cole was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 18 and has pleaded not guilty to his drug distribution conspiracy charge. He is due to stand trial the week of Feb. 24 and faces a maximum of 20 years if convicted. “The FBI has arrested a SLC Homeland Security agent. David Cole is charged with dealing bath salts. There is another suspect in this case who is currently only being identified as PERSON A,” FOX 13 News Utah reporter Adam Herbets previously said. BREAKING – The FBI has arrested a SLC Homeland Security agent. David Cole is charged with dealing bath salts. There is another suspect in this case who is currently only being identified as PERSON A. pic.twitter.com/yFyxb6l9pc — Adam Herbets, FOX 13 (@AdamHerbets) December 10, 2024 Second Homeland Security agent charged with selling seized synthetic drugs https://t.co/SlGUNDq1i9 via @upi — Steven Ford (@smfordo) January 3, 2025 From the Associated Press: Federal prosecutors say Kindle and Cole abused their positions to acquire illegal drugs known as “bath salts” from Homeland Security evidence and from other law enforcement personnel, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, under the false pretense that they would use them for legitimate investigations. Prosecutors say Kindle and Cole began stealing drugs from evidence and lying to fellow agents about their purpose in 2021. They are also alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars in cash, a diamond ring and a Peruvian antiquity from evidence. From 2022 to 2024, the agents allegedly sold the drugs to a person identified in court documents only as a “source of information” for the department, prosecutors. They let that person resell the drugs and did not arrest the customers, according to charging documents. The FBI says the scheme brought in between $195,000 and $300,000. The agents later are said to have compelled a confidential informant recruited to conduct controlled buys from suspected dealers after his release from prison to become the new middleman. Kindle and Cole used an encrypted messaging app to give the informant meeting locations, which ranged from a Panera Bread restaurant to a Nike store, according to an FBI affidavit. The FBI began investigating in October 2024 after the informant’s lawyer contacted the U.S. Attorney in Utah to report that Kindle and Cole had required him to engage in potentially unlawful acts, according to the affidavit. Investigators began tracking them and recorded eight transactions in which drugs were illegally sold to the informant.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) released a letter from the man who blew himself up in a Tesla Cybertruck this week that they located on one of two cellphones they recovered from inside the vehicle. The letter was located on an app on the cellphone belonging to Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, the U.S. Army Green Beret who they identified as the person who shot himself inside the vehicle moments before the explosives he placed in it detonated. FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said that the incident was “a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.” In the letter, Livelsberger said that the U.S. was “the best country” to ever exist, but that in its current state, it was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.” He talked about the decline in traditional values in the letter and warned that political elites view the masses as “cattle.” He warned that most people had no purpose in life and were “just sitting around waiting to die.” “No sunlight, no steps, no fresh air, no hope,” he said. “Our children are addicted to screens by the age of two.” He said that Americans were “too fat to join the military yet we are facing a war with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran before 2030.” He called for focusing on increasing strength and winning in society and removing those from government who do not like those ideals; ending the war in Ukraine through a negotiated settlement as fast as possible; ending wealth inequality and improving conditions on America’s streets so there were not so many homeless people; and stop obsessing over diversity. “We are all diverse and DEI is a cancer,” he said. “Thankfully we rejected the DEI candidate and will have a real President instead of Weekend at Bernie’s.” He said that his decision to detonate the bomb he created was “not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call.” “Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence,” he said. “What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?” He said that he did it because he needed to “cleanse” his “mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.” He called on Americans to rally around some of the biggest figures in the Republican Party “and ride this wave to the highest hegemony for all Americans!” Livelsberger said that the U.S. was being led by “weak and feckless” leaders who only care about enriching themselves. He called for taking action against the individuals in the U.S. government whom he said were ruining the country, warning “they all must go and a hard reset must occur for our country to avoid collapse.”

'Case should have never been brought'

The recent nomination of Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense offers a transformational opportunity for the United States and the world. At a time when the global stage is fraught with unprecedented challenges, with wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza, mounting threats from Iran, and widespread geopolitical instability, America requires a leader with vision, patriotism, and adroitness, and with a heightened sense of duty to navigate these intricacies. Hegseth, a decorated soldier, combat veteran, advocate for conservative governance, and charismatic leader, epitomizes the multidimensional qualities necessary to spearhead a paradigm shift toward global peace and security. The reasons for confirming this nomination are compelling. As the quintessential warrior to lead the nation's military, with an outstanding service record and the ability to restore military strength, Pete will lead from the front the Trump administration policy “America First,” with a vision to end global conflicts and guide the military toward peace through strength and strategic excellence. Americans have made the call to appoint a leader to tackle the inevitable challenges that lie ahead, Today's global environment is one of asymmetry and uncertainty. Under the current leadership from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, personally handpicked by the Biden-Harris administration, the United States has spiraled downward to a nation that is no longer respected on the global stage nor capable of leading other countries to peace. The Afghanistan withdrawal became a confounding debacle, epitomizing the attenuation of continuing downward spirals in American strength and resolve. In the wake of this failure, other crises have spiraled farther out of control, including the unprovoked attack on Israel and devastation in Gaza, the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has left hundreds of thousands of casualities, and Iran’s heightened belligerence. The secretary of defense has a difficult task at hand to restore America's standing as a global leader. Lack of coherence and vision has marred the current Biden-Harris administration's approach. The Afghanistan withdrawal, which led to the deaths of thirteen American soldiers, exemplified the failure to prioritize mission objectives and safeguard American lives. Similarly, the administration's handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has exposed significant shortcomings in strategic planning and resource allocation, with hundreds of billions in American taxpayer dollars wasted. The Pentagon's strategic focus has been equivocal, undermining confidence at home and abroad. Yet in this nascent chapter of history, Hegseth's nomination offers a serendipitous opportunity for transformational impact. This appointment signals a chance to recalibrate America's global posture to keep the nation safe from current and potential enemies as the U.S. strengthens the resolve to lead the way to international peace and prosperity. The U.S. has 1.3 million active-duty soldiers and 800,000 reservists, and Hegseth will lead them. Major Hegseth's credentials corroborate his suitability for this monumental task. A Princeton-educated undergraduate with a master's in public policy from Harvard, he embodies the duality of intellectual rigor and battlefield experience. His military service spans deployments to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He has earned the coveted Combat Infantry Badge, two Bronze Stars, and two Army Commendation Medals for valor. Unlike those whose political and military careers remain confined to peacetime or desk jobs, Hegseth voluntarily faced the crucible of modern warfare twice, navigating its complexities with courage and precision. This voluminous experience equips him to address endogenous and exogenous threats confronting the United States. Beyond the battlefield, Pete has fought tirelessly in advocacy for those who serve. As the executive director of Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America, Hegseth has worked to improve transparency, increase output, and decrease wasteful bureaucratic investment within the VA system. These efforts underscore a commitment to the ethos of servant leadership, an indispensable trait for guiding America’s military toward a more parsimonious and effective model to decrease the massive waste of America’s taxpayer dollars in the name of inefficient bureaucracy. The "peace through strength" philosophy aligns military power with the inevitability of global stability. A call for stringent measures to bolster recruitment and retention addresses areas that need more attention under Biden-Harris' current policies. Military enlistment is down by 40%, a confounding metric from the current Biden-Harris administration exacerbated by misguided, unfair, illogical experimental programs and inadequate support structures for those who risk their lives and serve as patriots. The proposed approach to these challenges is triangulated: enhancing service members' quality of life through dismantling these losing experimental programs that decrease morale; streamlining operational strategies to increase resource use efficiency; and reinvigorating the spirit of patriotism that inspires young Americans to serve. Pete understands the geopolitical dimensions of modern warfare with principled stances against authoritarianism, learned both by being on the battlefield and in U.S. upper-echelon educational classrooms. Vladimir Putin has been unequivocally labeled a war criminal, and Iran has been described as an evil regime. There is an underlying call from Americans to bring peace to the global conflicts that destroy the lives of millions who suffer from botched U.S. foreign policy decisions, and America needs a warrior to answer that call. As Pete Hegseth enters the realm of fixing the disasters left behind by the current administration, he is showing a clear understanding of the duality of military preparedness and diplomatic endeavors. The vision includes a Pentagon that epitomizes America's role as a beacon of peace while retaining the stringent capabilities required to deter aggression, foster peace agreements, and increase our strength. The intricacy of the current geopolitical landscape must be examined to grasp the importance of this potential leadership. The Gaza-Israel conflict has left over 50,000 dead, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and 90% of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed. Meanwhile, the United States has funneled $183 billion in taxpayer dollars to Ukraine as it wages war against Russia, with hundreds of thousands left dead on the battlefield with no hope in sight for resolution, draining U.S. domestic resources and raising concerns about the long-term strategy of the Biden-Harris administration. Most would argue there is no strategy for success or plan for a win, but only a blundering back-and-forth that offers a slap in the face to the Americans who have funded these atrocities. Soon after the election, when Americans overwhelmingly picked Trump's policies over the losing propositions from the current administration, we saw another slap in the face to Americans, as swift funding and arms shipments from the Pentagon went in the direction of Ukraine. The Pentagon’s approval of an additional $1 billion aid package to Ukraine underscores the immediate urgency of re-evaluating failed foreign policy priorities, and action needs to be taken quickly to stop the senseless loss of life. Finally, Iran’s escalating threats to annihilate both the United States and Israel highlight the need for a secretary of defense capable of navigating asymmetrical threats with clarity and resolve. The duality of conflict and peace must be understood in order to advocate for the United States on the world stage with authenticity and conviction. Pete Hegseth is the warrior who will get this job done! His advocacy extends beyond the military sphere and leadership in three wartime theaters. Hegseth’s tenure as a Fox News host and New York Times best-selling author of six books demonstrates his ability to communicate complex ideas effectively and connect with diverse audiences. This charismatic presence has articulated new models and opportunities for military innovation as we aim to improve the lives of those currently serving in the military and veterans while emphasizing the importance of enhancing transparency and reducing waste. These attributes are indispensable for a secretary of defense. Hegseth’s leadership style emphasizes a parsimonious use of resources, a clear articulation of goals, and a commitment to preserving the lives and well-being of American service members. A vision for leading the Pentagon includes addressing the dearth of morale and retention within the military. Moving swiftly to remove experimental programs like DEI initiatives and critical race theory that have undermined unit cohesion and deterred potential recruits will have an immediate impact. Focusing on the core values of duty, honor, and country can restore the military's reputation as an institution of excellence and integrity. A pragmatic and inspirational approach with Pete’s leadership will ensure that the armed forces remain capable of meeting the demands of modern warfare as we increase our strength and aim to end multiple global conflicts. In conclusion, Pete Hegseth's nomination as secretary of defense represents a pivotal moment for the United States. Significant accomplishments in military service, advocacy for military members and veterans, and a well-thought-out leadership position make this leader the foremost candidate to guide the Pentagon through these tumultuous times. By embracing a triangulated approach to military strategy, diplomacy, and innovation, a paradigm shift can be spearheaded that prioritizes global peace and security. This appointment is not merely a choice but an imperative that ensures America remains a beacon of strength and stability in an increasingly volatile world. Strong support for this America First policy is critical. Americans have made the call to appoint a leader to tackle the inevitable challenges that lie ahead, and we demand a leader with the adroitness, vision, and resolve to navigate them. Pete Hegseth is that leader.

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