Biden: Candidates Might Need Secret Service After Rally Disruption

DOD Linguist Charged With Giving Highly Classified Intel to Foreigner With Alleged Ties to Hezbollah

A Department of Defense (DOD) contractor has been charged with passing highly classified information, including the names of human intelligence sources, to a foreign national with apparent ties to a foreign terrorist group. Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, who formerly resided in Rochester, Minnesota, was charged on Wednesday for transmitting highly sensitive classified national defense information to a foreign national with alleged connections to Hezbollah. The 61-year-old allegedly began accessing the classified information on or about Dec. 30, a day after U.S. airstrikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, investigators said in an affidavit (pdf). It was also the same day protesters stormed the U.S. embassy in Iraq. Thompson allegedly accessed approximately 57 files concerning human intelligence sources, including true names, personal identification data, background information, and photographs of the human assets, and operational cables detailing…

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Democratic presidential candidates might need the Secret Service, citing the protester who invaded the stage he and his wife were on earlier this week before being tackled by a campaign adviser.

“That’s something that has to be considered the more outrageous it becomes,” Biden, 77, said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday.

Biden said he was “worried about” his wife, Jill Biden, who grappled with the protester before campaign adviser Symone Sanders tackled the woman.

“She did the same thing at another event in New Hampshire when a guy I didn’t even see him coming behind me … and she runs up and grabs him,” Biden said, referring to his wife.

“She and my daughter have more courage than I think. Anyway that’s what I worry about, I worry about Jill,” he added.

Biden said it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the remaining candidates require protection by the Secret Service, a federal law enforcement agency that protects top officials in America.

People aren’t permitted to gain access to stages the candidates are on. The protester in Los Angeles held a sign reading “Let Dairy Die” before Jill Biden grabbed the woman and Sanders rushed over and tackled her. A second protester was also blocked by Jill Biden.

Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill watch as a protester is tackled at a rally in Los Angeles on March 3, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is joined by his family on stage during a rally in Essex Junction, Vermont, on March 3, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“The last thing we need is anybody hurt,” Biden said.

Robert Gibbs, a press secretary during President Barack Obama’s administration, called for Secret Service for both Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after the Los Angeles situation.

鈥淲hat happened tonight was nothing short of genuinely scary,” Gibbs said.

In a letter to acting Department of Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf this week, the House Committee on Homeland Security asked for Secret Service for Sanders and Biden, saying they “appear to satisfy” several criteria outlined in guidelines issued in 2017.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the Secret Service is authoritative to protect major presidential and vice presidential candidates within 120 days of the general presidential election, as well as the candidates’ spouses. The general election is slated for Nov. 3.

In a statement to CNN, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service said teams are ready to protect candidates.

“Our men and women stand ready to execute this vital mission when a candidate makes a request through the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Congressional Candidate Advisory Panel,” the spokeswoman said.

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A Talk With Voters at California’s Primaries

California is an important Democratic stronghold and it has positioned itself as an opponent to the Trump Administration on many issues. Its primary on March 3 was a significant win for Bernie Sanders. With 415 delegates at stake, California’s Democratic primary represented the biggest haul in the country. The state is arguably the most liberal in the nation, though it has some more centrist regions, including Orange County. The Epoch Times spoke to voters in Orange County as they entered the voting centers. We also spoke with voters in the Bay Area—in San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties—a more strongly Democratic region. Many young Democrats in both regions spoke of differences between themselves and their Republican parents and families. Many voters said they would support the Democrats in the general…