Posts on Tuesday, July 23, 2019
The Americans for Limited Government requested documents Tuesday relating to an Obama-era corruption case at then-Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice.
The Americans for Limited Government requested documents pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request relating to “alleged public corruption, abuse of power, misuse of power or the otherwise compromised status” as well as “alleged acceptance of bribes” by Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials.The documents pertained to a years-long investigation into financial crimes that the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) executives “allegedly committed over a period between 2002-2012.”
Chris Kraft, who created NASA's Mission Control and made split-second white-knuckle decisions from the first daring Mercury mission to the triumphant moon landings, has died. Kraft died in Houston on Monday at the age of 95. His death came just two days after the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Kraft founded Mission Control and created the job of flight director - later comparing it to an orchestra conductor - and established how flights would be run as the space race between the U.S. and Soviets heated up. The legendary engineer served as flight director for all of the one-man Mercury flights and
…Every minute spent outraged at what Muller did yesterday, is one minute less that Bill Barr has to be worried about being held accountable for what he is not doing today..
With Robert Muller scheduled to testify tomorrow; and considering his chief handler will be sitting beside him; and accepting that both have coordinated, scripted and rehearsed the appearance with the House committees for several months; it is worth reminding everyone about the DC two-step. A predictable outrage trap which should be avoided, but won’t be…. [Snip] avoid the “justification trap” by ignoring the downstream activity [Snip] focus on revealing the origin of the fraud.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), in 2015, called for the deportation of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. In response to Trump rolling out his travel ban idea in December 2015, a version of which he would later successfully implement as president despite legal challenges, Tlaib said on Twitter: “Deport this a**hole!” (Tweet) Trump, like Tlaib, is an American citizen, so deporting either would not be possible. But this tweet carries particular irony now, given Trump’s comments about Tlaib and her fellow members of the so-called “Squad”
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed by an overwhelming margin a resolution opposing the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, with three of the four Democratic freshmen known as “the squad” voting against the majority of their colleagues.
Sponsored by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), and co-sponsored by almost 80 percent of the House (175 Republicans and 174 Democrats), H.Res. 46 passed by 398 votes to 17.The measure opposes the BDS movement, calls on Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct negotiations, reaffirms support for the so-called “two-state solution” to the conflict, and – in response to a key complaint of opponents
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government asked for clarification on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said he could win the 18-year war in 10 days but that "Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth." Trump made the remarks Monday while meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose help he seeks in negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban that would also see U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan. "I could win that war in a week. I just don't want to kill 10 million people," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "If I wanted to win that
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – A 9-year-old girl was injured after being tossed into the air by a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park on July 22. According to park officials, the incident occurred near Observation Point Trail in the Old Faithful Geyser area on Monday afternoon. A group of approximately 50 people were within five-to-10 feet of the bison for at least 20 minutes before eventually causing the bison to charge. A 9-year-old girl from Odessa, Florida was tossed into the air by the bull bison. She was taken to Old Faithful Lodge by her family where she was assessed and
A US military commander said a Navy ship may have downed a second Iranian drone last week in the Strait of Hormuz. ”As always it was a complex tactical picture, we believe two drones. We believe two drones were successfully—there may have been more that we are not aware of—those are the two that we engaged successfully,” Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told CBS News on Tuesday. Speaking aboard the USS Boxer, the ship that targeted the drones, McKenzie said they are “confident we brought down one drone, we may have brought down a second.” CBS said the incidents took place
New York—U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr said Tuesday that increased encryption of data on phones and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk. Barr’s comments at a cybersecurity conference mark a continuing effort by the Justice Department to push tech companies to provide law enforcement with access to encrypted devices and applications during investigations. “There have been enough dogmatic pronouncements that lawful access simply cannot be done,” Barr said. “It can be, and it must be.” The attorney general said law enforcement is increasingly unable to access information on devices, and between devices in the virtual world,
Former FBI Director James Comey defended the Department of Justice's handling of the Russia investigation under his watch, as well as former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, recalling in an interview on Tuesday that he had told his staff that they didn't want to "smear innocent people" in the probe.Appearing on MSNBC ahead of Mueller's expected testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Comey insisted that he and everyone at the DOJ "should have been fired" if they didn't pursue an investigation in Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and whether there was an "American connection" in its efforts.He expressed hope that House Democrats would "attack" Attorney General William Barr
Republicans are preparing an aggressive defense of President Trump surrounding former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony Wednesday, with the president's campaign and the party firing up a war room meant to highlight "Democrat hypocrisy" -- and GOP lawmakers poised to use the hearing to scrutinize the origins of the Russia probe itself.
(Snip) Democrats plan to use the forum to spotlight allegations against Trump of obstruction of justice, Republicans are homing in on questions about the early stages of the investigation that eventually was overtaken by Mueller. (Snip)“We’ll call the Democrats out on their delusion and then showcase what
Vogue Editor: Why Discuss Melania Trump
In An Interview When Michelle Obama
Is So ‘Incredible?’ replies
In An Interview When Michelle Obama
Is So ‘Incredible?’ replies
Vogue Editor Anna Wintour couldn’t be bothered talking about First Lady Melania Trump, not when her predecessor Michelle Obama “was so incredible.”Wintour spoke to The Economist last week but apparently only wanted to speak about the fashion accomplishments of Obama — even when the question was about Trump. (Photo) Interviewer Anne McElvoy pressed Wintour about the current first lady’s fashion sense while she accompanied President Donald Trump on an official visit to the U.K., saying , “[Melania] I think, very consciously, wanted to see herself as an ambassador for British fashion,
Robert Mueller is a man of few words. Once, when he was FBI director, he picked up complaints — passed along by his wife — that he was pushing his aides too hard. So, he called up Chuck Rosenberg, his chief of staff. “How are you doing?” Mueller asked him.
“Fine,” Rosenberg replied. “What can I get you, boss?” “Nothing,” replied Mueller, ending the conversation, satisfied he had done all he needed to do to check up on his overworked staff. That exchange, recounted in “The Threat Matrix,” a penetrating book about the FBI by journalist Garrett Graff, is emblematic
President Trump took aim at Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum Tuesday evening over her supposedly "softball" questions for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and former 2020 candidate for president.
In a pair of tweets, the president lashed out at both MacCallum and Swalwell, who told Fox about the Judiciary panel's upcoming hearing with Robert Mueller, the former special counsel in charge of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian election interference. Mueller is set to testify before the committee this week.
The media has been apoplectic in selling outrage over the U.S. Department of Justice sending a letter to Robert Mueller with guidelines for his testimony. [Snip] However, in the background, for those who watch these manufactured events, you can see that everything around this “letter” was staged. [Snip] Yes, it is revealed today…. the Lawfare staff of Chairman Nadler -who are coordinating with Mueller’s staff- requested the letter to set-up a manufactured narrative before the testimony.
President Donald Trump had the highest poll numbers of his presidency last week after his protracted war of words with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the “squad,” which also includes Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.Today on Bullet Points, host Anders Hagstrom goes over why Trumps’ tweets helped him politically, even if they were racially charged.Also, the city of Berkeley, California decided to abolish all references to gender in its municipal code, resulting in some peculiar phrasing.Last, Democratic governors across the country are begging the national party to be more moderate,
'Dangerous to an unprecedented degree':
Psychiatrists warn Congress that Trump
incites violence replies
Psychiatrists warn Congress that Trump
incites violence replies
Mental health experts warned in an online event meant to convince Congress and the public Tuesday that President Trump incited his followers to violence, with one psychiatrist comparing Trump's rallies to those of Adolf Hitler. The experts, four psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist, presented their positions alongside a mental health analysis of special counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report, in which they concluded Trump does not have the sound mental capacity to function in his role as president. Dr. James Merikangas, a psychiatrist from George Washington University, said the chanting at Trump's rallies were reminiscent of "Nuremberg rallies that Adolf Hilter had."
CNN continued bashing President Trump for his rhetoric against the Squad on Tuesday. CNN Right Now invited Wajahat Ali, a New York Times columnist and CNN contributor, on to speak about Trump’s comments.Ali criticized the President and his supporters for contributing to a “pattern” of what he considers “white nationalism.” He then spouted out a number of falsehoods to back up this claim. The columnist accused Trump of calling Mexicans rapists, a lie that even Politifact gave a false rating to during the 2016 election. He also falsely stated that there was a “Muslim ban,” but the Trump administration has never implemented a ban on Muslims entering the country.
President Donald Trump said in a Tuesday speech that while the economy is thriving overall in the U.S., it is thriving for one demographic in particular: young Americans.
“It’s the best time in the history of our country for young people, like yourself, to join the workforce because America is thriving, America is booming,” Trump told the crowd attending Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit. “Our economic revival is incredible.” According to Trump, wages have risen for two demographic groups in particular: young Americans and blue-collar workers. Trump added that for young Americans, wages have risen by “more than ten percent.”
Posting reviews has become second nature for many consumers nowadays – 82 percent of adults say they read online reviews at least some of the time, according to a Pew Research Center Study – so when they have a bad experience with a business, up goes a review, to share it with others.
But for one man in Florida, what he thought was a simple review turned into a year-long battle in court.
"I never thought I'd be sued over anything that I write. There's no reason to say anything but the truth," said Tom Lloyd, of DeLand, Florida.
House Democrats are launching an aggressive media campaign on Tuesday to accompany former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday regarding his investigation into alleged Russian collusion and obstruction, according to a report. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has turned Mueller’s 448-page report — which found no criminal conspiracy with Russia and declined to make an assessment on obstruction — into a six-page document highlighting what they consider to be its most damning findings, The Hill reported. The six-page document, dubbed “Exposing the Truth,” will be distributed Tuesday to Democrat lawmakers to guide their “outreach to voters,” according to the outlet.
The Pentagon has revealed a few details about a secret Army mission that has Black Hawk helicopters flying missions over the Washington, D.C., area backed by active-duty and reserve soldiers. The mysterious classified operation was disclosed when the Army asked Congress for approval to shift funds to provide an extra $1.55 million for aircraft maintenance, air crews and travel in support of an “emerging classified flight mission.” It’s part of a $2.5 billion request this month to “reprogram” funds in the current fiscal year’s budget to programs considered high priorities. “Without additional funding,
Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) exploded at an audience member on Tuesday who asked her to condemn female genital mutilation — noting that it would be powerful if she did it — to which Omar said she was "disgusted" by the question and that it was a waste of time.
Ani Zonneveld, president of Muslims for Progressive Values, asked Omar, "Will you be able to make a statement against FGM? Because that's an issue in Detroit, and it would be really powerful if the two Muslim Congresswomen, yourself and Rashida, would make a statement on this issue."
A lawsuit filed against Michigan State University may become the first prospective class-action suit to benefit students accused of campus sex assault. [Snip] According to Inside Higher Ed, Miltenberg said he believes “several hundred” current and former students could be affected by potential flaws in their Title IX cases conducted by university processes. [Snip] “Due process requires cross-examination in circumstances like these because it is ‘the greatest legal engine ever invented’ for uncovering the truth,” the court ruled.
The ruling was consistent with the thinking of the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced it is opening a review into whether the United States’ biggest and most powerful technology companies have stifled competition or hurt consumers. [Snip] It comes as a growing number of lawmakers have called for stricter regulation or even breaking up of the big tech companies, which have come under intense scrutiny following a series of scandals that compromised users’ privacy. [Snip] The federal business watchdog will reportedly find that Facebook deceived users about how it handled phone numbers it asked for as part of a security feature and provided insufficient information about how to turn off a facial recognition tool for photos.
Now Brexit begins
replies
The British elected Boris Johnson as their new prime minister, meaning both the United States and the United Kingdom will be led by blond natives of New York City.
His election means someone who actually wanted to leave the European Union will now be in charge of Brexit. He also inherits a mess in the Persian Gulf(Snip)
Like a certain president, the new prime minister faces a resistance from within his own party.
(Snip)
"He won more than twice as many votes as his rival, Jeremy Hunt. But some Conservatives are acting as if he has seized power in
Judicial Watch announced on Tuesday that it has filed an ethics complaint against Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) with the House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics for potential immigration, marriage, tax, and student loan fraud.(Video) In press release posted Tuesday, the government watchdog announced that it has submitted "a hand-delivered ethics complaint to Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics David Skaggs calling for a full investigation into potential crimes tied to allegations that Rep. Ilhan Omar may have married her biological brother."Omar, who is one of the four members of the so-called "Squad"
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) called for the FBI to launch a criminal investigation into the extremist Antifa movement, which is responsible for numerous acts of violence and vandalism in the United States. [Snip] FBI Director Christopher Wray indicated that the Bureau will not investigate Antifa because they view Antifa as “more of an ideology than an organization.”
“The Bureau has significant tools to go after organizations, criminal enterprises, that use anonymity, that use masks to carry out violence — groups like the Klan, groups like, at times, the Mafia,” countered Sen. Cruz.
Esper vote is a
rebuke of Warren replies
rebuke of Warren replies
Mark Esper became a rare appointee of President Donald John Trump to receive 90 or more votes in the Senate, an occurrence common under previous presidents.
Esper can thank Elizabeth Warren. [Snip] Republicans are waking up feeling Trumpy.
Democrats meanwhile fired a warning to Warren in endorsing Esper.
The Hill reported, "Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) gave him a glowing review as he introduced him at the confirmation hearing. [Snip] "'I believe that Dr. Esper has those traits and would encourage all of my colleagues to support this nomination,' he said."
Kaine was Hillary's running mate.
Today Boris Johnson has been elected leader of the Conservative party, and tomorrow he will be crowned Prime Minister.
I’m a lot more optimistic about Boris than many people seem to be. On Brexit, certainly, I think he’ll do the right thing — not least because all the other options have been exhausted.
But I’m also prepared to be disappointed.
So which will it be? Bold Boris or Useless Boris?
We’ll know soon enough. Here are some of the problems he’ll need to tackle successfully in order to fulfil his Churchillian destiny.
1. Deliver Brexit
The schemes of Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler are predictable. As we said three months ago, Robert Mueller would not be allowed to testify without a handler. Small group participant Aaron Zebly will now join Mueller for his testimony. This has always been the plan, but strategically announced today.
Remember, Mueller’s team is working closely with Nadler’s team; they are part of the same purpose. They are all part of the same network. The impeachment objective is a group effort from inside government & outside (Lawfare). These are not separate groups.
The latest video by popular man-on-the-street interviewer Austen Fletcher efficiently captures the alarming homeless situation in the city of Los Angeles, particularly the infamous "Skid Row," wherein reside thousands of homeless people — most of whom are either suffering severe psychological problems or substance addiction, and among whom hundreds of sexual predators roam.The 4-minute video, which Fletcher (also known as Fleccas) says he filmed in just one hour, is presented as a final look at the area he's moving out of because of the rapidly deteriorating situation. In the area, he explains, there's been a 50% increase in homelessness since 2012
ALBANY - President Donald Trump sued New York and Congress on Tuesday over a state law that allows congressional committees to seek his state tax returns.The expected move comes as Democrats in Congress mull whether to request the president's New York taxes from the state after the state Legislature passed a bill in May to make them available to federal lawmakers. Trump's attorneys argued in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that New York's TRUST Act violates the constitution and the Republican president's First Amendment rights. "The TRUST Act also grew out of a larger campaign in New York to uncover
Thelma & Louise go to Israel
replies
In his Wall Street Journal column “Thelma and Louise go to Israel,” Bill McGurn looks at the vacation plans of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. “The Democratic Party’s Thelma and Louise—Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar—are taking their act to Israel,” McGurn writes. “In a great gift to Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to let them in.”
This Thelma and Louise are on a mission. They seek to steer the direction of the Democratic Party further to the left against Israel. McGurn’s citation of Thelma and Louise provides a politically optimistic take on their driving. In the spirit of McGurn’s column,
Bill Barr Already Won
replies
Back in May, Representative Justin Amash of Michigan held a town hall to defend his position as the lone Republican calling for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Amash explained to voters that he’d arrived at this position after reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by the president. But for at least one voter, that explanation was more like revelation: As far as she was aware, Trump had been totally exonerated.
“I was surprised to hear there was anything negative in the Mueller report at all about President Trump. I hadn’t heard that before,”
A reporter known for slinging unsubstantiated allegations of improper behavior against conservatives has developed a sudden appreciation for due process and journalistic fact-checking. At least for Democrats. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer published a robust defense of former U.S. senator Al Franken, who resigned under intense pressure in 2017 after eight women publicly detailed unwanted groping and kissing from him.
Mayer argues that the former Minnesota senator should not have resigned, since one of his accusers was conservative and was associated with political opponents of Franken. As for the other seven, Mayer suggests their complaints about unwanted kisses and groping didn’t rise to the level
Special counsel Robert Mueller's deputy Aaron Zebley is expected appear next to the special counsel as his counsel at Wednesday's hearings on the special counsel's report, according to a House Judiciary committee source.
Zebley will be there to advise Mueller, but the special counsel will be the only one answering the committee questions, the source said. Democrats only plan to swear in Mueller as a witness.
Mueller made the last-minute request to have his deputy sworn in for Wednesday's blockbuster hearings (Snip)in case he needed to help with any questions the special counsel could not fully answer himself,
Nadler: ‘Incredibly Arrogant’ for Justice
Department to ‘Instruct’ Robert Mueller
in His Testimony replies
Department to ‘Instruct’ Robert Mueller
in His Testimony replies
On Tuesday, House Judiciary chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) reacted to the Justice Department advising former FBI special counsel to stay in the “boundaries” of his report in his upcoming testimony.
(Snip)
“I think it’s incredibly arrogant of the Department to instruct him to do that,” (Snip)
“He doesn’t have to comply with that letter. He doesn’t work for them. And that letter asks things that are beyond the power of the agency to ask even if he still there,”
Trump: Boris and Farage’s
Brexit Party Should Work Together
To Get Britain Out of
the European Union replies
Brexit Party Should Work Together
To Get Britain Out of
the European Union replies
Donald Trump met with Brexit leader Nigel Farage Tuesday as Britain learnt that Boris Johnson would be the next Prime Minister, a revelation that prompted the President to say Mr Johnson and Mr Farage should work together to take Britain out of the European Union. [Snip] There has been significant discussion over the possibility of a Conservative-Brexit party pact to deliver the Brexit the British people voted for in 2016, but which outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May failed to achieve. [Snip] ...in the event of an early General Election, Johnson would have to form an alliance with “kingmaker” Farage.
When asked if he could have beaten Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, former vice president Joe Biden told the New York Times, "I don't know.""Everybody says that," he continued. "But look, I don't know. You've got to be in the game. I thought Hillary would have made a good president." Biden considered running in 2016, but ultimately decided not to get into the race as his son Beau was dying of cancer at the time. According to close friends, Biden would have run in 2016 if Beau had not died.
Politicians facilitating an “invasion” of illegal immigration are “contributing to the death of every innocent American” that is killed by illegal aliens on a daily basis, said Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza in a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.
“Every one of these congressional leaders who have done nothing to secure our border — to stop this invasion that’s been happening — they are contributing to the death of every innocent American that is happening every single day,” Mendoza declared. (Snip)“Illegal aliens affect American citizens every hour. … Americans are torn apart
San Francisco saw its homeless population rise by 17% in the last two years, but the rise in many surrounding counties has been worse.
A report Monday by Curbed San Francisco summarizing the figures noted: “Five out of nine Bay Area Counties—i.e., all of those not located in the North Bay—saw their homeless counts spike during the same period, with each other county showing worse homelessness surges than SF.”
(Snip)
Now the problem is leaving downtown areas and hitting the suburbs. Curbed reports:
San Mateo County: rise of more than 20% in two years
Santa Clara County: rise
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Tamaulipas – The Gulf Cartel is actively recruiting local teens since young offenders are not sent to prison and only spend a few weeks in a juvenile center if arrested. Some defendants are not old enough to legally drive.
Tamaulipas authorities are noticing a spike in the number of teen offenders arrested in Ciudad Victoria for various crimes on behalf of the Gulf Cartel. A law enforcement official(Snip) said that when underage offenders are arrested, they are sent to a minimum-security juvenile center and are back on the streets in mere days.
Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a complaint with the House of Representatives’ ethics office asking for an investigation into possible crimes committed by Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The possible crimes include “perjury, immigration fraud, marriage fraud, state and federal tax fraud, and federal student loan fraud,” according to the complaint filed Tuesday by Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton.
“The House of Representatives must urgently investigate and resolve the serious allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Omar,” Fitton said.“Substantial, compelling and, to date, unrefuted evidence” supports the allegations, he said. “The evidence developed against Rep. Omar was the
A South Carolina city literally scrubbed the word "Lord" from a memorial honoring fallen police officers after receiving complaints.The Tega Cay Police Department put up a memorial, donated by a civic group, to honor fallen officers. It was similar to other memorials around the country, including Washington, D.C., but the city's attorney cautioned that because it doesn't have historical significance, it should be censored, FOX 46 reports. All references to the Lord were removed.
A prominent MSNBC contributor’s false claim that Fox News would not air ex-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s upcoming congressional testimony has morphed into a full-blown conspiracy theory -- and anti-Trump liberals don’t seem to care.Fox News will cover the highly anticipated hearing in its entirety and has heavily promoted the event, but that didn’t stop everyone -- from an MSNBC anchor to a famed novelist -- from misinforming their fans.“Fox isn’t showing Mueller’s testimony Wednesday. Trump is afraid of what will happen if his base gets to hear Mueller’s testimony for themselves,” MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance -
Bill de Blasio, the groundhog-killing mayor of New York, wants City Hall to take over Consolidated Edison after two power outages in eight days. [Snip] Not only does the mayor not make the trains run on time, he does not even know where they are. [Snip] Mayor deBlasio, who is running for president, wants to give New Yorkers the same electrical service that the subways provide in transportation. [Snip] "'We don’t depend on a private company for water or for policing or for fire protection,' de Blasio said at a press conference Monday." [Snip]
He did not mention subways.
I wonder why.
U.S. economic growth will be better than projected earlier this year while trade tensions will weigh on the global economy more than expected, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. [Snip] The United Kingdom is forecast to grow 1.3 percent, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than earlier expected. “In China, the negative effects of escalating tariffs and weakening external demand have added pressure to an economy already in the midst of a structural slowdown and needed regulatory strengthening to rein in high dependence on debt,” the IMF reports.
The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer’s desperately dishonest attempt to exonerate disgraced former Senator Al Franken (D-MN) is filled with more than just deception and lies of omission. [Snip] The bottom line is this… [Snip] Mayer is sending an unmistakable signal to woman who dares come forward about a Democrat that they will not benefit from #BelieveAllWomen. Instead, they will be dragged through the mud on the pages of the New Yorker. [Snip] And so, Mayer is recalibrating the #MeToo movement. She is reminding women that if a Democrat assaulted you, you had better keep your mouth shut, or else…
Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—Saeb Erekat—has told a political symposium in Jericho that West Bank Arabs would not be allowed to voluntarily leave—virtually holding them captives against their will. “We will not allow resettlement or formation of refugee committees for that aim, while holding on to the settlement of their cause in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions.”
Seven Ways To Curb Google
replies
Recently, Peter Thiel, one of big tech’s few prominent conservative-libertarians, began gunning for Google. [Snip] Thiel is not alone — Google’s list of prominent critics is growing. [Snip] But what would taking down Google actually look like? Beyond criminal investigations for treason, how does one cut a company whose revenue and influence outstrips many national governments down to size?
Here are a few of the best ideas. [Snip] Google, Facebook, and other "edge providers" [Snip] certainly are in the business of censorship. [Snip] As Alinsky said, hold your enemies to their own book of rules. They want a “neutral” internet? Let’s give them a really neutral internet!
Today Boris Johnson has been elected leader of the Conservative party, and tomorrow he will be crowned Prime Minister.
I’m a lot more optimistic about Boris than many people seem to be. On Brexit, certainly, I think he’ll do the right thing — not least because all the other options have been exhausted.
But I’m also prepared to be disappointed. So which will it be? Bold Boris or Useless Boris?
We’ll know soon enough. Here are some of the problems he’ll need to tackle successfully in order to fulfil his Churchillian destiny.
President Donald Trump prolonged the feud between himself and the so-called "Squad" by proclaiming he will win Minnesota in the 2020 election in part because of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) anti-Semitic rhetoric.(Video) "In 2016 I almost won Minnesota," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "In 2020, because of America hating anti-Semite Rep. Omar, [and] the fact that Minnesota is having its best economic year ever, I will win the State!" (Tweet) The president narrowly lost the state of Minnesota in 2016 to his challenger Hillary Clinton.
NEW YORK — Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey has been making the media rounds peddling a list of “questions” that he compiled and published on the Lawfare blog in a posting titled, “What I Would Ask Robert Mueller.”
Comey’s “questions” are deceptively framed in a manner clearly aimed at attempting to perpetuate the Russia collusion conspiracy even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s extensive report found no evidence of any collusion or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. [Snip] What is Comey even talking about here? Which Russian “contacts” should Trump’s campaign have reported to the FBI?
Rudy Giuliani pointed the finger squarely at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after videos surfaced Monday of people attacking NYPD officers by dousing them with water, saying this “would never happen in a million years when I was mayor of New York City.” Footage shows separate incidents of people in Harlem and Brooklyn using buckets to splash and dump water over uniformed officers, as the cops calmly walk away. De Blasio condemned the acts as “Completely unacceptable,” and said, “We won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect.” Still, former mayor Giuliani believes the 2020 presidential candidate is part of the problem.
DOJ warns Robert Mueller to limit
testimony to his final report, as word
of opening statement spreads replies
testimony to his final report, as word
of opening statement spreads replies
The Department of Justice told former special counsel Robert Mueller that his testimony before Congress tomorrow (July 24) should not exceed the scope of his fruitless Russia collusion investigation.In his letter to Mueller, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote: “Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege.” That said, Mueller will read an opening statement that has not been seen by the DOJ, according to Mueller rep Jim Popkin. However — based on Mueller’s own prior remarks — the opening statement is unlikely to provide any new fodder for the Democrats’
The newspaper industry has continued its relentless downward spiral, which started with the advent of the internet and accelerated during the Great Recession. The pace of the decline has not slowed. New research shows that over 2,000 newspapers have closed since 2004, a staggering figure given that the industry was once among the largest employers in America. Penny Abernathy, the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism, is widely considered the preeminent authority on the number of newspapers in the United States. That is not
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials, the Trump administration will propose a rule Tuesday to reduce unwarranted access to food stamps, removing 3.1 million from the program and saving taxpayers $2.5 billion.President Trump has argued that many Americans now using SNAP are not in need, given the strong economy and low unemployment.
Recommended changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would limit access to food stamps for households with savings and other assets. The goal is to end automatic eligibility for those already collecting other federal and state assistance.
According to Reuters, the residents of 43 states automatically become eligible
Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Monday night that he occasionally has to resist urges of violence against President Donald Trump.During an appearance on NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” the 2020 presidential candidate poked fun at the president’s physique, adding that his “testosterone” sometimes makes him want to take a swing at Trump. “Donald Trump is a guy who, you understand, he hurts you, and my testosterone sometimes makes me want to feel like punching him, which would be bad for this elderly out-of-shape man that he is if I did that,”
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk said high school students slept near the ballroom where President Donald Trump is scheduled to address hundreds of conservative teenagers on Tuesday to secure prime seating. “We have people camping out overnight, just to see the President of the United States,” Kirk said to loud cheers from dozens of teenagers late Monday evening. “They will be the first ones in there.” “I wish I was young again, so I could do stuff like this,” he then quipped. (Tweet/Video)
Boris Johnson, the Brexiteer who has promised to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal by the end of October, will replace Theresa May as prime minister after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party on Tuesday. His convincing victory catapults the United Kingdom towards a showdown with the EU and towards a constitutional crisis at home, as British lawmakers have vowed to bring down any government that tries to leave the bloc without a divorce deal.
A furious woman left passengers on a flight in shock as she smashed a laptop over her boyfriend's head, after accusing him of 'looking at another woman'. A video posted to social media which has since gone viral shows the argument escalating, with the woman shouting at her boyfriend, known as Memo, and calling him a 'n*****' multiple times.
How to like Donald Trump
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Salena Zito reported, "Lara Trump says her biggest challenge isn’t retaining the women who voted for her father-in-law in 2016, but instead winning the votes of women who didn’t vote Trump, but who now find they like his policies while disliking his comportment."
The First Daughter In Law's actual words were, "I think there are a lot of people, men and women alike, who feel that way out there. The reality is that you don't have to love everything about this President, but you sure can love the direction that he's taking this country."
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it hand-delivered ethics complaint to Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics David Skaggs calling for a full investigation into potential crimes tied to allegations that Rep. Ilhan Omar may have married her biological brother.
“The evidence is overwhelming Rep. Omar may have violated the law and House rules. The House of Representatives must urgently investigate and resolve the serious allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Omar,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We encourage Americans to share their views on Rep. Omar’s apparent misconduct with their congressmen.”
Who knew that the humble footnote would loom so large in some of the most consequential documents of our time? Those bottom-of-the-page annotations are supposed to impose rigor on authors by forcing them to cite justifications for what they assert. But in the age of collusion claims, footnotes have become so much more -- places for officials to tuck away inconvenient information; discreet spaces in which to make dubious assertions; or fine print in which required disclosures can be hidden in plain sight.
It was in the footnotes, for example, where the FBI appears to have misled the FISA court in its application to spy on Carter Page –
It doesn't get worse for a leftist when even CNN is warning that your 'economic solution' to the economic problems you've laid out are going to destroy the economy.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren came out with a big, serious-looking economic plan intoning about a coming economic crash, her own supposed ability to forecast such things, and then calling for free college, a soaring minimum wage, more Dodd-Frank regulations on big bad banks, and lots of free stuff. It ran at the top of the screen on RealClearPolitics
Tlaib isn't 'of color'
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Racist. As the definition goes, that’s what they call somebody who wins an argument with a liberal. (snip) no one has yet pointed out the most glaring fact about the Squad of Four “women of color” running amok in the Congress: one of them is obviously a white woman. Which rather makes calling their critics racist even more absurd. Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit of Palestinian Arab ancestry. Arabs from the Near East are white, and always have been, as far as the U.S. Census Bureau and American society at large is concerned.
The Trump administration is today implementing a strategy that’s been in planning for two years to relieve crowding at detention centers, deal with the backlog at immigration courts, and rapidly increase the tempo of deportations of illegal immigrants. Predictably, the open borders crowd is appalled and the ACLU is planning to launch a lawsuit (snip) Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has this power under current law. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 gave ICE the power to expedite deportations of illegal immigrants detained anywhere in the country as long as they have been residing in the U.S. for less than two years.
According to unhinged Democrat Rep Rashida Tlaib, we’re all members of ‘The Squad’ now.
“The squad is all of you. I can tell you, you are all the squad, trust me. If you support equity, you support justice, you are one of us,” she said. (CNN, July 22, 2019) “We need bold action, folks. I know what’s happening out there ... it’s beyond just the four of us.” And it is, thank God, beyond just the four-member Squad Mob. That the Squad is “all of you” is only in the Squad’s “women of color” dreams.
No one says things and acts like the “four of us” Squad squatters.
Police clad in riot gear fired tear-gas canisters at protesters who marched through the streets of Puerto Rico’s capitol city Monday night, demanding the island’s governor step down.Videos captured in San Juan show police firing the tear gas at the protesters, who then dispersed and ran off in all directions.The crowd of demonstrators, many waving Puerto Rican flags, largely dissipated after police formed a line and fired the canisters at them, according to Fox News reporter Jeff Paul.The scuffle between the police and the demonstrators comes after massive crowds flooded the city streets
Congress Should Stop Wasting Time On
Mueller — And Investigate Hillary Clinton’s
Role In Steel Dossier replies
Mueller — And Investigate Hillary Clinton’s
Role In Steel Dossier replies
Congressional Democrats will finally get an opportunity to put on a public show starring former Special Counsel Robert Mueller when he appears before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Mueller was last seen at his May 29 press statement, in which he attacked President Trump by promoting a tenuous theory of obstruction of justice as grounds for impeachment. Mueller, despite the “no collusion, no obstruction” conclusion of his dubious report, smeared the president by presuming him guilty anyway, claiming he was not exonerated and signaled House Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings.
America has come a long way from the 1950s and her segregationist past. Today, though, after years of relative racial harmony, talk of racism is again consuming our nation. It’s been resurrected by the race-baiters, those who find racism in every facet of our society, from our criminal justice system to our immigration policies. They divine it from commercial advertising and from our historic monuments. They brand everyone who challenges them as racist. And they don’t need evidence to back up their claims. Baseless accusations come to be embraced as fact, if repeated often enough. President Trump stands for national sovereignty and secure borders,
Boris Johnson insisted he can 'deliver Brexit and unite the country' today after the Tories installed him as their new leader.The front runner was declared the winner of the bruising battle against Jeremy Hunt as the two sat side-by-side in a dramatic ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster.Family members including father Stanley, sister Rachel and brother Jo were among those in the audience to hear the news that he had secured 66 per cent of the votes from activists. However, there was no sign of girlfriend Carrie Symonds.Mr Johnson - whose ambition as a boy was to be 'World King' - paid tribute
Weasel Comey lied to Trump
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Real Clear Investigations is doing something rare in 21st century America. It is committing journalism.
RCI reported, "Sources tell RealClearInvestigations that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz will soon file a report with evidence indicating that Comey was misleading the president. Even as he repeatedly assured Trump that he was not a target, the former director was secretly trying to build a conspiracy case against the president, while at times acting as an investigative agent. (Snip)Democrats on Wednesday will try to get Robert Mueller to give them a reason to impeach President Trump.
The inspector general's report may thwart that effort. Comey apparently is a target.
The Justice Department Monday warned former special counsel Robert Mueller that his upcoming congressional testimony should not stray from the written conclusions outlined in the 448-page final report of the two-year investigation into Russian election interference.
"Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement...and presidential communications privileges," Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote in a two-page letter to Mueller two days before his scheduled testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
The Democrat Party’s open borders, mass immigration platform for the upcoming 2020 presidential election is turning off moderate Democrat voters, a new poll reveals.
For months now, Democrats running in the presidential primary have largely presented platforms promoting amnesty for all 11 to 22 million illegal aliens, free health care for illegal aliens, and the decriminalization of illegal immigration at the United States-Mexico border.
This open borders agenda, spearheaded by a select group of white liberals in the party’s ranks, is causing a rift among Democrats.
The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll finds that a plurality of 47 percent of moderate Democrat voters say providing free health care
Far-left “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) spoke at the NAACP convention over the weekend and railed against the GOP tax cuts in a pitch for her anti-poverty BOOST Act, promising to take money from the rich and give it “back to the people that earned it.”
Tlaib introduced her anti-poverty legislation – the Building Our Opportunities to Survive and Thrive (BOOST) Act – last month and spoke about it at the NAACP convention over the weekend. The proposal offers a guaranteed income – up to $6,000 per year – to families and individuals under certain financial thresholds via a “refundable tax credit that can be paid monthly.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said over the weekend that the United States government must have a “lifelong commitment” to illegal immigrant migrants separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and provide “mental healthcare services” to them “for the rest of their lives.”
Speaking at a town hall event in Queens, New York, Ocasio-Cortez, who has referred to migrant detention centers as “concentration camps,” reportedly argued that the U.S. government must make a “lifelong commitment” to migrant children because “even if you separate a kid from their parents for two days, you have already created life-long lasting trauma.”
One of the more interesting developments surrounding President Donald Trump’s behavior in these recent tumultuous days of domestic controversy is what hasn’t happened. Despite serial maritime provocations by Iran and its Revolutionary Guard, the notorious counterpuncher occupying the Oval Office hasn’t matched Iran’s belligerence — so far. [Snip] He’s also promised massive retaliation if its forces go too far, stark threats remarkably similar to the ones he fired at the North Korean regime during the height of its ballistic missile tests and vows to incinerate Washington two years ago. Remember, Trump dispatched
For all of Donald Trump’s moral flaws – the women, the profanities, the routine personal insults, the continual unpresidential conduct – he has raised the moral bar in one all-important area: This president has kept a great many of his promises (even if that wall is nowhere near to being built). And this outsized fact will be a huge advantage next year against whichever conventional politician wins the Democratic nomination.
CNN’s decision not to allow any “raise your hand” questions in the Democrat candidates’ next round of debates, which the cable news channel will telecast on July 30 and 31 from Detroit, is first and foremost an example
Former FBI Director James Comey, who often can’t recall anything about the crimes committed by himself, his FBI and President Obama’s DoJ, but who lectures pompously and endlessly on ethics in government, recently released a list of questions he felt former special prosecutor Robert Mueller should be asked (snip) You can figure out how the swamp got the way it is by following the money. No clearer example is found in the financial relationship between two former FBI directors, James Comey and Robert Mueller, which goes a long way towards explaining their joint animus to President Trump and their passionate desire to bring down his presidency.
Stay where you are
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Democrats and others — people of good will who are other than Democrats — are justly appalled that President Trump told four nonwhite and female extremely left-wing members of Congress to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” It was taken as shorthand for ridding the country in general of those who aren’t white.
It would in fact be obnoxious if he had said that, but Trump never said, “Go back where you came from and stay there.” What he said was, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.
Former Fox News contributor Bob Beckel broke a confidentiality agreement over the weekend and claimed that his ouster was the result of “set-up.”
One of the original hosts of “The Five” told a St. Louis-based radio station that President Trump is linked to his May 2017 departure from the network.
A statement released by Fox at the time noted “an insensitive remark to an African-American employee” who dealt with information-technology issues.
“I’ve decided to use your radio show to be the first time I will say this to anybody, and that is in my view that I was completely set up by someone, and my guess
Andrew Weissmann, who served as one of Robert Mueller’s top deputies on the Russia probe, offered a Ukrainian oligarch a sweetheart deal in 2017 in exchange for information on President Donald Trump, according to a new report.
In July 2017, Weissmann, who has been labeled Mueller’s “pit bull” because of his aggressive prosecutorial style, met with attorneys representing Dmitry Firtash, an energy magnate who was indicted on bribery charges in 2014, reports The Hill.
The story cites sources familiar with Weissmann’s offer and defense memos written in meetings with the prosecutor.
Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s long march towards remaking the federal judiciary is moving along.
Just this week, the Third Circuit “flipped” to majority Republican-appointees, the Second Circuit is on the brink of flipping, and several other evenly split Circuits are likely to go Republican.
Ed Whelan summarizes:
As anticipated last fall when Judge Thomas Vanaskie announced his decision to take senior status, the Senate’s confirmation earlier this week of Peter Phipps to Vanaskie’s vacancy means that the Third Circuit will have a majority of its judges in active service—eight of fourteen—who were appointed by Republican presidents.
At the outset
President Trump and congressional leaders are nearing a deal that would raise the discretionary-spending caps by $320 billion over two years and offset less than one-quarter of those costs (and even those offsets would take a decade to materialize). The budget deal would essentially repeal the final two years of the 2011 Budget Control Act and raise the baseline for future discretionary spending by nearly $2 trillion over the decade.
This represents a fitting conclusion of the Budget Control Act — the crown jewel of the 2011 “tea-party Congress.” The decade-long shredding of these hard-fought budget constraints mirrors the shredding of Republican credibility on fiscal responsibility.The story begins
Francis Menton sticks it to the global warming lobby, good and hard:
If you follow closely the subject of hypothesized human-caused global warming, you probably regularly experience, as I do, a strong sense of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, you read dozens of pieces from seemingly authoritative media sources, as well as from important political officeholders, declaring that the causal relationship between human CO2 emissions and rapidly rising global temperatures is definitive….
On the other hand, you studied the scientific method back in high school, and you can’t help asking yourself the basic questions that that method entails:
“I’m running for our children and grandchildren,” Wendy Davis concludes at the end of her campaign launch video, “so they can live and love.” Er … who wants to tell her? The woman who temporarily blocked the Texas state legislature to protect late term abortion will run for Congress next year, hoping to unseat freshman Republican Chip Roy: Early Monday morning, Davis announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in Central Texas’ 21st District. She is challenging U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a freshman Republican from Austin.
The Washington Post has a very revealing quote for those who are breathlessly awaiting Robert Mueller’s appearance on the Hill.
The paper talked to his longtime deputy at the FBI, John Pistole, who was quick to tamp down expectations.
“For anybody hoping he’s going to provide new information or evidence against the president, I think many people will be very disappointed,” Pistole said.
He also noted that “on the other side of the aisle, some may be disappointed to find out that he’s not a demagogue of the left.”
A former juvenile court judge, a Democrat who took the bench after being declared the winner of a disputed 2010 election, was jailed Monday, and had to be taken out of the courtroom in Cincinnati, according to reports.
A deputy with her arms under the defendant’s shoulders pulled Tracie Hunter across the courtroom after she went limp. Supporters stood and yelled in anger, and deputies intercepted a woman who tried to rush to her.
There were more demonstrations outside the Hamilton County Courthouse, and civil rights activists said there will be boycotts or other actions in protest.
Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday warned that an economic crash was coming and said she had a plan to stop it.
Pointing to high debt and a sagging manufacturing sector, Ms. Warren said the economy teeters on the edge of disaster.
“The country’s economic foundation is fragile. A single shock could bring it all down. And the Trump administration’s reckless behavior is increasing the odds of just such a shock,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in an op-ed in Medium.
The alarm took a swipe at the strong economy that is President Trump’s chief argument for reelection. It also highlighted Ms. Warren’s agenda of wealth redistribution.
At the height of summer vacation time, House Democrats are holding two back-to-back hearings on Wednesday starring former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.Their goal is to bring renewed public attention to Mueller's report, almost two years in the making.(Video) The hearings "should be interesting," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told "Fox News Sunday." He said he hopes they "won't end up being a dud.""We want the American people to hear directly from Special Counsel Mueller what his investigation found," Nadler said:
Homeland Security announced an aggressive new policy Monday to fast-track deportations of recent immigrants caught in the living in the U.S. illegally, looking to expand a tool that’s been used successfully at the border for years.
Expedited removal allows immigration officers to order a deportation without the extensive immigration court proceedings and appeals that accompany other removals. For years, it’s been applied to immigrants caught within 100 miles of the border who illegally entered in recent weeks.
Under the policy, which acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan announced in a notice published online, immigrants who entered illegally within the last two years, and were caught anywhere in the U.S.,