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Archive for May, 2023

Target Partnered with Satan Supporter Who Wants To ‘Eradicate’ Critics of Transgenderism


BY: JORDAN BOYD | MAY 22, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/22/target-partnered-with-satan-supporter-who-wants-to-eradicate-critics-of-transgenderism/

Target collaborates with Satanist to release new trans merch

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This article describes disturbing products and messages.

Target furthered its commitment to advancing radical gender ideology this month when it partnered with a Satan supporter who called for the eradication of anyone who disagrees with the mutilation of children to supply transgender-themed merchandise to Target’s “pride” collection.

The recent collaboration between Target and the U.K.-based brand Abprallen and its designer “Erik,” a self-proclaimed “gay trans man,” features a sweatshirt emblazoned with a caduceus wrapped in a “cure transphobia not trans people” ribbon, a rainbow UFO tote bag that states “too queer for here,” and a pink “we belong everywhere” fanny pack.

“Being able to transition brings with it euphoria, comfort, self-love, and perhaps most importantly – hope,” Erik wrote in one Instagram post promoting a “transitioning saves lives” image. What Erik didn’t mention is the irreversible damage gender experiments yield, such as “sexual dysfunction, infertility, cardiac event[,] endometrial cancer,” life-threatening infections, and transition regret.

Erik’s products, which are showcased on Target’s website, average just a couple of stars. One five-star review penned by the designer, however, restated excitement that one of the largest U.S. retailers would stock this type of clothing.

“These have already got the transphobes infuriated with me and I feel like quite the celebrity to think that they believe this is all some big conspiracy and I have any power to brainwash anyone when I’m just some guy drawing pictures!” the designer wrote in an Instagram post announcing the partnership.

What Erik didn’t mention in the social media defense of Abprallen products is that “just drawing pictures” includes a long history of producing and selling goods that elevate Satan and transgenderism in the same breath. One quick glance at the designer’s website and Instagram shows dozens of designs featuring satanic and sacrilegious symbols such as pentagrams, “Satan respects pronouns” T-shirts, “gay as hell” stickers, and stained glass windows covered up by “trans bodies are holy.”

“So, for me, Satan is hope, compassion, equality, and love. So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all LGBT+ people. I went with a variation of Baphomet for this design, a deity who themself is a mixture of genders, beings, ideas, and existences. They reject binary stereotypes and expectations. Perfect,” Erik wrote.

One particularly graphic image on the designer’s Instagram shows a naked demonic creature with a horned skull and mutilated breasts.

“Being called a demon is something I can cope with, and the idea of a trans demon is pretty damn cool, most of my work focusses on gothic or dark and satanic imagery juxtaposed with bright colours and LGBT+ positive messages,” Erik wrote in the caption.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClMekujjM0m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Abprallen appears to have sold some of these products at an “Anti-Christmas Fayre Satanic Flea Market” in London in December of 2022.

In addition to promoting explicit evil, Erik often uses violent language and imagery, with products such as a “burn down the cis-tem” lighter, a “we bash back” mace, and “time’s up for transphobes” skull pins to call for action against people who take issue with radical gender ideology and the dangerous mutilation and castration it prescribes. Erik also sells merchandise promoting the murder of babies in the womb.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcohB-j1vz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“In order to keep transphobes at bay we must eradicate them, it is very important to not engage in conversation with them – fascists do not listen to reason and they do not deserve the trans person’s valuable time,” Erik wrote in early March.

Target’s embrace of someone who promotes the explicit fusion of radical gender ideology and Satanism might seem recent but it’s not. In 2021, when a man dubbed a “homophobic heckler” asked a Target employee if the company supports “satanic pride propaganda,” the red-shirted employee replied “Yeah, both, Satan and Pride” without missing a beat.

Since 2012, Target has happily stocked the front of its stores with pro-LGBT T-shirts, accessories, pet items, party supplies, and decor. In recent years, Target expanded the reach of messages like “trans people will always exist,” “queer,” and “live laugh lesbian” to the children’s section.

Even well before the scheduled commencement of “pride month” in June, Target began selling “light binding effect” tops and “tuck-friendly” shorts in the children’s clothing section.

Target isn’t the only company elevating people and products that blend transgenderism and demon worship. In recent years, Hollywood stars like Lil Nas X and Sam Smith have tried to advance the LGBT agenda using demonic shoes, music videos, and performances with clear links to Satan.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Merrick Garland’s J6 Juries Prove Durham’s Point: Conservatives Can’t Get A Fair Trial In D.C.


BY: MARGOT CLEVELAND | MAY 22, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/22/merrick-garlands-j6-juries-prove-durhams-point-conservatives-cant-get-a-fair-trial-in-d-c/

AG Merrick Garland

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Special Counsel John Durham breached neither ethics nor etiquette when he highlighted the difficulty of obtaining a conviction in a politically charged case when the jury holds opposing partisan views. He merely stated the reality on the ground in D.C.-area federal courts. And by his own actions prosecuting the J6 defendants solely in the nation’s capital, Attorney General Merrick Garland has confirmed that assessment by proving the corollary: Criminal cases against individuals viewed by the local populace as political pariahs make for easy convictions. 

“Did the Durham Report’s Criticism of Juries Go Too Far?” The Washington Post’s headline from last week asked rhetorically. It was quite an ironic concern coming from the legacy outlet serially guilty of publishing fake news to propagate the Russia-collusion hoax. A better question for the “democracy dies in darkness” rag would be: Did Clinton and Democrats’ Dirty Politics Go Too Far?

But no, instead of focusing on the substantive content contained in the 300-plus pages of Durham’s report detailing malfeasance by the Department of Justice and FBI and the Clinton campaign’s responsibility for the scandal, The Washington Post focused on Durham’s introductory remarks explaining the “special care” the special counsel’s office used in making criminal charging decisions — decisions Durham stressed were “based solely on the facts and evidence developed in the investigation and without fear of, or favor to, any person.”

After noting the high burden the Constitution places on the government in criminal cases, Durham explained why, in numerous instances, he did not seek criminal charges even though the conduct deserved “censure or disciplinary action.” 

“In examining politically-charged and high-profile issues such as these, the Office must exercise — and has exercised — special care,” Durham explained. “First, juries can bring strongly held views to the courtroom in criminal trials involving political subject matters,” Durham continued, “and those views can, in turn, affect the likelihood of obtaining a conviction, separate and apart from the strength of the actual evidence and despite a court’s best efforts to empanel a fair and impartial jury.”

Those taking umbrage at Durham’s remarks, claiming they erode faith in our justice system, seem to have missed that the Justice Department’s manual, “The Principles of Federal Prosecution,” quoted in the special counsel report, makes the same point. Sometimes while “the law and the facts create a sound, prosecutable case,” the manual explained, there is still “the likelihood of an acquittal due to unpopularity of some aspect of the prosecution or because of the overwhelming popularity of the defendant or his/her cause…” It continues:

For example, in a civil rights case or a case involving an extremely popular political figure, it might be clear that the evidence of guilt viewed objectively by an unbiased factfinder would be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction, yet the prosecutor might reasonably doubt, based on the circumstances, that the jury would convict.

Prosecutors in such cases, the manual explained, might assess a guilty verdict unlikely “based on factors extraneous to an objective view of the law and the facts.”

In other words, biased juries and politics, rather than an “objective view of the law and the facts,” may dictate whether a defendant is convicted or acquitted. These are not merely the sentiments of Durham or Republicans, but the Department of Justice. So it isn’t Durham’s words that erode trust in the legal system, but rather insular juries.

It also isn’t merely the unsuccessful cases Durham brought against Michael Sussmann in the D.C. federal court and Igor Danchenko in the nearby federal court in Virginia that foster Americans’ distrust of the justice system. It is also the DOJ’s insistence that the scores of J6 prosecutions remain in the nation’s capital.

D.C. Jury Pool Is Biased

Following the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, the Department of Justice has charged hundreds with federal crimes. Because the alleged offenses occurred in D.C., federal law provides that “venue,” meaning the physical location for the criminal proceedings, is proper in the federal D.C. district court. 

Congress, however, has provided two bases to change venue. First, a federal court must transfer the criminal proceedings if the defendant requests a change of venue and “so great a prejudice against the defendant exists … that the defendant cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial there.” 

While many J6 defendants have moved for a change of venue based on such prejudice, the DOJ has uniformly opposed the transfers. And because the “so great prejudice” standard is nearly insurmountable, the federal D.C. district court has denied the change of venue requests, even against evidence that 90 percent of D.C. voters cast their ballots against Trump in both 2016 and 2020. Furthermore, while almost everyone in D.C. knows about the indictments, polls show more than 70 percent of them — which is 15 percent higher than the national average — have formed an opinion about guilt or innocence.

Nor have the D.C. federal courts granted a change of venue “for convenience” — a second statutory basis Congress provided — which would allow the J6 defendants to be tried in their home states for their convenience, the convenience of witnesses, and “in the interest of justice.” Given that the DOJ farmed out the J6 cases to field offices throughout the United States, tasking local agents with surveilling and arresting the defendants, and that there are U.S. attorney offices in every state, trying the defendants across the country is also no inconvenience to the federal government. 

So even if the prejudice is not “so great” that it is mandatory to change the venue of the case, why does the DOJ oppose the discretionary transfer for convenience? 

Because Garland — like Durham — knows D.C. juries “bring strongly held views to the courtroom in criminal trials involving political subject matters and those views can, in turn, affect the likelihood of obtaining a conviction.” In fact, so great is the concern of a pro-DOJ bias that several defendants have made the nearly unheard-of decision in a criminal case to waive their right to a jury trial and have the judge decide their fate.

Americans likewise recognize the effect biased juries have on case outcomes. The attorney general ignoring the public perception of Lady Justice peaking from behind her blindfold will further erode respect for the judicial system and likely prompt future jurors to convert the trial process to a payback system — convicting the innocent or acquitting the guilty in a misguided attempt to right the scales of justice.

What Courts and Congress Should Do

The courts and Congress can and should respond. When faced with discretionary venue changes for “convenience,” courts should weigh more the “convenience” of the defendants and “the interest of justice.” When a question of mandatory transfers based on “great prejudice” arises, the courts should stop pretending our partisan divide is passable based on jurors’ promises.

Congress has several options too. While it has authorized the Supreme Court to promulgate rules governing federal criminal procedures, it retains the power to enact its own rules. At a minimum, in high-profile criminal cases, Congress should grant both the prosecution and the defense more “peremptory challenges” — challenges to members of the jury pool that can be used for any reason (except invidious discrimination). This will eliminate some of the most concerning situations. 

For instance, in Durham’s trial against Hillary Clinton’s former lawyer, Sussmann, the federal judge rejected several of Durham’s “for-cause” challenges against jurors who had contributed to the Clinton campaign. When for-cause challenges fail, attorneys must rely on a limited number of peremptory challenges, six for the special counsel’s legal team and 10 for Sussmann. Expanding the number of peremptory challenges would allow for the removal of more potentially prejudiced jurors, and without a venue change, this represents the best mechanism for ensuring an unbiased jury.

More significantly, though, Congress should amend the venue rules to give defendants a better opportunity to relocate highly politicized cases to less partisan locales. While the courts already have that power, they have proved themselves too parsimonious to date. 

But what about when partisanship prejudices the prosecution? Here, the Sixth Amendment places limits on venue, providing that in “all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law…”

In other words, while a defendant may consent to a change of venue, he can also demand a trial in “the State and district wherein the crime” was committed. 

However, the Constitution also gives Congress the authority to “ascertain” the districts. To counter the overwhelmingly parochial D.C. populace, redrawing the borders of the district to limit venue there to the physical Capitol buildings, and then have the rest of D.C. subsumed by the surrounding districts in Virginia and Maryland, would ensure a broader jury pool.

Only so much can be done, however, to ensure juries don’t supplant the rule of law with their political passions, acquitting the guilty because they prefer the defendant’s politics to the prosecutor’s. But that’s the reality that comes from a constitutional system that protects individual rights against government abuse and believes “that it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”

That’s a good thing, especially as the current DOJ frames pro-lifers and parents as domestic terrorists. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing to remind Americans that juries may not convict because of strongly held political passions rather than actual innocence. Nor is it a bad thing to push Congress to ensure the venue statutes counter bias to the largest extent possible.

Margot Cleveland is The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.

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Gregg Jarrett Op-ed: Durham reports shows Biden and Obama knew truth of Trump collusion hoax but kept silent


Gregg Jarrett

 Gregg Jarrett | Fox News | Published May 22, 2023 4:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/durham-reports-shows-biden-obama-knew-truth-trump-collusion-hoax-kept-silent

A silence kept in order to hide the truth is a lie.  

By that maxim, there are plenty of liars among prominent Democrats who knew that the damning Trump-Russia collusion narrative was all a hoax. But they chose to remain mum, preferring instead to watch contentedly as an American president was vilified nonstop by a media-driven orgy of lies. It consumed the nation for years and inflicted untold harm. None of them had the decency to volunteer the truth.

This is one of the key findings in the 306-page Durham report that the special counsel filled to the brim with documented acts of deviousness, dishonesty and malice by high officials in government whom we are supposed to trust but should not.    

Comparisons.org
Obama and Biden selfie
Barack Obama and Joe Biden (Joe Biden/Instagram)

In July 2016, CIA Director John Brennan rushed to the White House to brief then-President Barack Obama and Joe Biden, our current president, about alarming new evidence uncovered by American intelligence. The agency had obtained reliable information that “Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against Donald Trump by tying him to Putin and the Russians” (page 81 of the report).    

BOMBSHELL DURHAM REPORT CONFIRMS FBI, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAD THESE RADICAL MOTIVES

It was an outrageous and wholly invented accusation unsupported by anything except Hillary’s craven imagination. Her shrewd goal was to frame her opponent for unidentified crimes that he never committed and, thereby, damage or sink his candidacy.  

As Durham noted, the despicable smear had the dual benefit of distracting from her own nagging email scandal that was dragging down her poll numbers. Given its potency, the Clinton canard ranks as the dirtiest trick ever perpetrated in American politics.

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Obama and Biden knew all about Hillary’s treachery and so did others in their orbit who were secretly briefed, including Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director James Comey. This is corroborated by Brennan’s handwritten notes. For the next three years all of them remained silent about the CIA’s findings.  

Collectively, they concealed the truth of Trump’s innocence as he was hounded by the constant condemnation of conspiring with Moscow, even though he did no such thing. On almost a daily basis, the media pronounced him guilty in the court of public opinion. Brennan and Clapper took to the airwaves and dishonestly denounced Trump as a Russian asset, hiding what they knew.     

At the outset of the hoax, Hillary’s devoted coterie of disciples plotted to spread the lie. They secretly paid a sleazy ex-foreign spy, Christopher Steele, to obtain Russian disinformation about Trump and compose a phony “dossier.” They leaked it to journalists who promptly insisted that it was true without ever bothering to verify or corroborate its contents. News organizations even published the full collection of lies that was covertly bankrolled by Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee.  

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Andrew McCabe at hearing
The FBI’s Andrew McCabe testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on May 11, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

DURHAM REPORT REVEALED CORRUPTION THAT COULD MEAN THIS STUNNER FOR TRUMP IN 2024

The shameless media was emboldened by the unscrupulous maneuvers of Comey and his confederates. Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok launched a dogged investigation of Trump. It commenced literally days after the FBI director learned of Hillary’s fraudulent machinations.  

The bureau had no basis whatsoever to open the probe because agents lacked “any actual evidence of collusion” and traduced their own strict guidelines, according to Durham. Those in charge broke every rule in the book. In a brazen reversal of standards, they willingly exploited the Clinton lie as a pretext to persecute Trump with salacious and specious slurs. Their lawless actions were inflamed by their “prejudice against him” and their “pronounced hostile feelings,” the report explained.

The vainglorious James Comey, who refused to cooperate with the Durham investigation, now publicly claims to be suffering near total amnesia. It is a curious affliction since the special counsel’s report reveals that he demanded and received “daily briefings.” Whenever agents working the case had the temerity to complain that there was no real evidence implicating Trump in any wrongdoing, Comey stuck wads of cotton in his ears. He pushed a relentless witch hunt in a maniacal quest to destroy the man he loathed so obsessively. 

James Comey
James Comey speaks to members of the media after testifying before the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform Committees joint investigation in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, 2018. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The same FBI bias that worked against Trump worked in favor of Clinton. Comey commandeered authority he did not have to absolve her of the crimes she clearly committed in mishandling classified emails and destroying evidence under subpoena. He refused to pursue investigations of Hillary despite compelling evidence that she misused her charitable foundation for self-enrichment in ways eerily similar to the notorious Biden family influence peddling schemes. 

Tens of millions of Russian dollars landed in Clinton’s nonprofit, which she treated as her personal piggy bank. With Comey at the helm, four ongoing probes into likely “criminal activity” magically vanished. Trump didn’t collude with Russia, but it appears his opponent did – and got away with it. 

Durham minced no words in describing the FBI’s double standard and the “dual system of justice” it produced. Hillary received the courtesy of a defensive briefing about corrupt foreign actors but Trump did not. The FBI rejected a surveillance warrant on Clinton from the secret FISA court while seeking four successive spy warrants involving Trump’s campaign. To secure the intrusions, exculpatory evidence was withheld and supporting documents altered. 

Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton and former President Donald Trump (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Comey deceived the judges by vouching for the credibility of the bogus dossier that his agency had already debunked. He represented that Steele was a reliable source when he knew that the shady spook was not. Indeed, Steele was fired by the FBI as a paid confidential informant because he repeatedly lied. This vital fact was deliberately concealed from the court.     

The irony embedded in the great collusion con is fully exposed in the Durham report. Instead of conspiring with Putin in the bowels of the Kremlin, Trump became the victim of Clinton-induced Russian disinformation that helped fuel the fabricated dossier. Hillary’s cronies supplied much of the deceit in Steele’s work of fiction, but so did Moscow. 

From the moment he took the oath of office, the Republican president was saddled with multiple investigations by the FBI, Congress and a special counsel. Demands for his indictment and impeachment reverberated through the halls of Capitol Hill, in newsrooms across America, on television airwaves, and on social media websites everywhere. All the while, those who knew the truth remained conspicuously quiet.

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The special counsel’s well-documented report lifts the veil on the cesspool of corruption that has infected the FBI for far too long. Beyond Clinton, there are many villains in this sordid story but none so contemptible as Obama, Biden, Brennan, Clapper and Comey. They knew it was all a cunning lie but kept silent to hide the truth. They watched as a spasm of false allegations tore the nation apart.  

Such silence speaks volumes about their absence of character and integrity. They were more than willing to fan the flames of political divisiveness in America. That is not leadership. It is cowardice.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM GREGG JARRETT

Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News legal analyst and commentator, and formerly worked as a defense attorney and adjunct law professor. His upcoming book, “The Trial of the Century,” about the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” will be released on May 30, 2023.  It is available now for pre-order online at the Simon & Schuster website.  Gregg is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.” His follow-up book was also a New York Times bestseller, “Witch Hunt: The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History.” Jarrett’s book, “The Constitution of the United States and Other Patriotic Documents,” will be published by Broadside Books, a division of HarperCollins on September 19, 2023.

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McCarthy: Latest Debt Ceiling Package Is ‘on the Right Path’


By: NEWSMAX STAFF | Monday, 22 May 2023 04:01 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/debt-ceiling-mccarthy/2023/05/22/id/1120762/

McCarthy: Latest Debt Ceiling Package Is 'on the Right Path'
(Getty Images)

Top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy said talks over raising the U.S. federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling were “on the right path” ahead of a meeting with Democratic President Joe Biden. The Democratic president and Republican speaker of the House of Representatives have just 10 days to reach a deal to increase the government’s self-imposed borrowing limit or trigger an unprecedented default. Biden and McCarthy will meet at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT), the White House said, after their negotiating representatives met for more than two hours on Monday.

“I firmly believe what we’re negotiating right now, a majority of Republicans will see that it is a right place to put us on the right path,” McCarthy told reporters.

Any deal to raise the limit must pass both chambers of Congress before Biden could sign it into law. The U.S. Treasury has warned it could be unable to pay all its bills as soon as June 1.

A failure to lift the debt ceiling would trigger a default that would shake financial markets and drive interest rates higher on everything from car payments to credit cards. Ongoing uncertainty is already weighing on investors and stocks.

U.S. markets rose on Monday as investors awaited updates on the negotiations.

McCarthy’s Republicans control the House 222-213, while Biden’s Democrats hold the Senate 51-49, making it difficult to reach a bipartisan deal that would secure enough votes to pass.

It will also take several days to move legislation through Congress if and when Biden and McCarthy come to an agreement. McCarthy said that a deal must be reached this week for it to pass Congress and be signed into law by Biden in time to avoid default.

“We can get a deal tonight. We could deal tomorrow but you got to get something done this week to be able to pass it and move it to the Senate,” McCarthy told reporters.

A White House official on Monday said that Republican negotiators had proposed additional cuts to programs providing food aid to low-income Americans, adding that no deal could pass Congress without support from both parties.

CUTS AND CLAWBACKS

Republicans are pushing for discretionary spending cuts, new work requirements for some programs for low-income Americans and a clawback of COVID-19 aid approved by Congress but not yet spent in exchange for an increase, which is needed to cover the costs of lawmakers’ previously approved spending and tax cuts.

Democrats want to hold spending steady at this year’s levels, while Republicans want to return to 2022 levels. A plan passed by the House last month would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year.

Biden, who has made the economy a centerpiece of his domestic agenda and is seeking re-election, has said he would consider spending cuts alongside tax adjustments but that Republicans’ latest offer was “unacceptable.”

The president tweeted that he would not back “Big Oil” subsidies and “wealthy tax cheats” while putting healthcare and food assistance at risk for millions of Americans.

Both sides must also weigh any concessions with pressure from hardline factions within their own parties.

Some far-right House Freedom Caucus members have urged a halt to talks, demanding that the Senate adopt their House-passed legislation, which has been rejected by Democrats. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican who is seeking another term after losing to Biden in the 2020 election, has urged members of his party to force a default if they do not achieve all their goals, downplaying any economic consequences.

Liberal Democrats have pushed back against any cuts that would harm families and lower-income Americans, with some urging Biden to act on his own by invoking the Constitution’s 14th Amendment — an untested move which the president said on Sunday would face constraints.

The amendment states that the “validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned,” but the clause has been largely unaddressed by the courts.

Biden is racing for a solution after refusing for months to negotiate on the debt ceiling and insisting that Republicans should pass a “clean” unconditional increase before he would agree to any spending negotiations.

In Japan on Sunday, he acknowledged the political implications, saying some far-right House Republicans “know the damage that it would do to the economy” if there was a default but hoped the blame would fall to him and thwart his re-election.

Congress three times raised the debt limit under Trump, without a similar demand from Republicans for sharp spending cuts.

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Today’s TWO Politically INCORRECT Cartoons by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Not Your Kids!

A.F. BRANCO | on May 21, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-not-your-kids/

Governor Walz welcomes anti-parent teachers while working to exclude parental input.

Walz The Anti-Parent Governor
Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – 2020 Hindsight

A.F. BRANCO | on May 22, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-2020-hindsight/

Trump focused on the 2020 election to prevent the Democrats from cheating again.

Democrat Elction Strategy
Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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SUMMING UP THE WEEK OF MAY 19, 2023


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Glenn Beck and Mark Levin lay out exactly how to make the ‘Biden Crime Family’ pay for their lawlessness: ‘The time for talk is over!’


By: CARLOS GARCIA | May 18, 2023

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/glenn-beck-and-mark-levin-lay-out-exactly-how-to-make-the-biden-crime-family-pay-for-their-lawlessness-the-time-for-talk-is-over-2660296944.html/

Image Source: Blaze TV YouTube video screenshot composite

Glenn Beck documented in detail the abject lawlessness of the “Biden Crime Family” in a livestreaming video special in which Mark Levin explained what Congress and local prosecutors can do to bring the Bidens to justice. Beck meticulously reported the monumental evidence of corruption at the highest levels of government in a special episode titled “The Reckoning: Biden Crime Family” on Thursday evening on BlazeTV.

Starting with the recent revelations in the Durham report, Beck sifted through the mounds of previous facts to weave together exactly how the members of the Biden family have manipulated the media and abused their political power to enrich themselves. He charged that the media is trying to use sleight of hand in order to push the focus off President Joe Biden and onto his son, Hunter Biden, instead.

“Democrats, and the media, want you to zoom in to this entire picture by focusing on Hunter’s potential tax and gun violations,” Beck said. “They want it very clear that Joe Biden wasn’t involved.”

Beck asked Americans to take action by visitinghttp://thereckoningguide.com and downloading his dossier on the “Biden Crime Family” to see the documents for themselves.

He also asked viewers to take additional action.

“We need you to flood the phone lines and email inboxes of every prosecutor or attorney general with the power to prosecute these crimes. The only way these officials will take action is if the pressure becomes so great they can no longer ignore us,” said Beck on the program.

“Contact them today, and if they don’t respond, send them another email. And then another,” he added. “And keep going until you are heard. And if they give you an unsatisfactory answer, keep at it. That’s what we’re doing here.”

Levin laid out two things that Congress can do to curtail Biden’s ability to cover up his crimes.

“Number one, slash the budget of the FBI and the Department of Justice. I mean slash it big-time, break it up, redistribute its power. Take some power away from it, because I can tell you now, if the framers woke up today and looked at the FBI, they’d say, ‘What the hell have you done to yourself?'” said Levin.

“Number two, they oughta drag these guys before these committees left and right and just work them over, I mean harass them,” Levin continued. “Get their documents, do whatever they have to do, make everything public to we the American people, not to the New York Times, or fools like MSNBC, but for the rest of the American people.”

He also reiterated Beck’s call for Americans to pressure their local prosecutors to investigate crimes in the same manner and with the same force as the attorneys general on the left do.

“There are seventy charges just on Hunter Biden alone that are provable! Seventy!” Glenn Beck added.

Here’s the entire video special on the “Biden Crime Family”:

THE RECKONING: Biden Crime Family www.youtube.com

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FBI Office Handling the Hunter Biden Investigation Failed the Russia-Hoax Test


BY: MARGOT CLEVELAND | MAY 19, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/19/fbi-office-handling-the-hunter-biden-investigation-failed-the-russia-hoax-test/

Hunter Biden

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The same FBI field office covering the Hunter Biden investigation lost Russian Igor Danchenko “in plain sight,” John Durham’s special counsel report revealed. Yet when Danchenko’s FBI handler pulled details of that prior espionage investigation mere days after Danchenko was opened as a confidential human source (CHS), the agent failed to document Danchenko’s suspicious history or alert the Crossfire Hurricane team to the fact that Danchenko could be a Russian spy. These facts and more add to the already outrageous details disclosed during Durham’s failed prosecution of Danchenko — such as that the FBI paid Danchenko hundreds of thousands of dollars for the fraud he helped perpetrate on the country.

While Durham failed to convict Danchenko of lying to the FBI, the October 2022 trial of the man who served as Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source exposed extensive malfeasance by both the Crossfire Hurricane team and later Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s staff. Among other things, the evidence and court filings revealed that agents opened Danchenko as a CHS even though the FBI had previously launched an espionage investigation into the Russian. However, the special counsel’s report added more details, greatly expanding the scandal.

For instance, after noting the previously reported fact that Danchenko had been the subject of an FBI counterespionage investigation from 2009 to 2011, Durham detailed the basis for the launch of that probe. As Durham explained, a researcher from the Brookings Institution — the D.C. think tank at which Danchenko worked at the time — informed a government contact that Danchenko had commented he “had access to people who would be willing to pay money for classified information.” 

The FBI later interviewed the Brookings Institution researcher who repeated Danchenko’s apparent espionage outreach. Durham also revealed that a second Brookings employee stated he had harbored suspicions that Danchenko was connected to Russian intelligence because, notwithstanding the fact that Danchenko held multiple advanced degrees, he stayed at Brookings in a low-level research assistance position. 

“The implicit assumption,” Durham concluded, was “that Brookings unwittingly provided Danchenko access to information of high value to the Russians.” 

The information provided by the Brookings employees led the FBI’s Baltimore field office to launch a preliminary espionage investigation into Danchenko, with agents later converting the probe into a full investigation. While Durham did not stress the point here, the FBI’s decision to originally launch only a preliminary investigation against Danchenko furthers the special counsel’s conclusion that the immediate opening of a full investigation into the Trump campaign was unjustified and contrary to how the FBI handled other investigations.

The special counsel did, however, highlight several more aspects of the initial investigation into Danchenko, such as that agents interviewed several people at Georgetown University who knew Danchenko. One individual questioned by the FBI explained she had recently interned at an intelligence agency and that afterward, Danchenko quizzed her on her “knowledge of a specific Russian military matter.” The former intelligence agency intern also revealed that Danchenko claimed his Russian passport listed him as GRU, which is the Russian military intelligence service. 

These additional details make the decision by the Crossfire Hurricane team to hire Danchenko as a CHS even more troubling. 

Durham’s report also found disquieting what Danchenko’s handler, FBI Special Agent Kevin Helson, told investigators. According to Durham, the special counsel’s office determined that Helson became aware of the investigation into Danchenko shortly after he opened Danchenko as a source. Yet Helson failed to update the CHS paperwork. Here, Durham noted that data showed Helson had conducted a “Sentinel” search, querying the counterespionage case file on Danchenko. But when confronted with that fact in an interview by the special counsel’s team, Helson claimed he had no recollection as to why he had searched Danchenko’s case file. 

Durham dinged Helson on several other facts related to Danchenko, suggesting the special counsel didn’t believe Helson’s version of events. But either way, Durham explained, “Helson and the Counterintelligence Division missed another opportunity to make any needed course corrections to Crossfire Hurricane and the use of Danchenko as a CHS.”

Besides his scathing summary of the FBI’s use of Danchenko as a CHS, Durham also revealed several new aspects of the initial botched investigation of Danchenko that was headed out of the FBI’s Baltimore field office. While Durham had revealed during Danchenko’s trial that the FBI had mistakenly closed out its investigation against Danchenko, wrongly believing he had left the country, Monday’s report showed how bush league that mistake was: All it took was for the special counsel’s office to review the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Person Encounter List for Igor Danchenko to determine he had not departed the U.S. on a one-way ticket to London, as the Baltimore field office believed.

But that was not the only mistake. According to Durham, in 2012, after the FBI had closed out the investigation into Danchenko, another FBI agent informed the Baltimore field office that Danchenko may not have left the United States as had been believed. Yet the investigation into Danchenko was never reopened. And when interviewed by Durham, the Baltimore field office agent admitted that “certainly a lot more investigation” of Danchenko should have occurred.

Given that the FBI’s Baltimore field office covers the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office — the office conducting the investigation into Hunter Biden — one can’t help but wonder what investigative steps were botched by agents in that case.

Margot Cleveland is The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.

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Jason Chaffetz Op-ed: Durham report revealed corruption that could mean this stunner for Trump in 2024


Jason Chaffetz

By Jason Chaffetz | Fox News | Published May 19, 2023 4:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/durham-report-revealed-corruption-could-mean-stunner-trump-2024

Who is going to trust the Department of Justice now? In the wake of Special Counsel John Durham’s long-awaited report, Americans now know there was widespread political collusion and deliberate deception from the very top of the Obama administration, the Clinton campaign, the corporate media and the Department of Justice (DOJ), all in favor of the Democrats.  Not only did they abuse their power and lie to the public, they seem to be proud of it. 

With these facts now added to the long list of formerly crazy conspiracy theories come true, former president Donald Trump is essentially inoculated from any future prosecution by virtue of the public mistrust in an obviously weaponized federal government. Even if prosecutors somehow manage to get a partisan jury to convict, the public will see it as a political witch hunt predicated primarily on partisan politics.  

The more they try to “get ’m” the stronger they make him. 

John Durham
Special Counsel John Durham has created a firestorm of controversy with his just-released report on government collusion that targeted Donald Trump. (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)

For this reason, both Democrats and Republicans should fear what could come next if they don’t clip the wings of this rogue federal agency and institute serious systemic changes. If they can do it to Trump, and they did, then they can do it again to anyone. 

One thing has become crystal clear: the Justice Department cannot and will not police itself. DOJ is unwilling and unprepared to discipline let alone prosecute its own. That’s one reason the work of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is so vital. 

To restore its position as a coequal branch of government, Congress must lose its reluctance to wield the heavy tools available in the law and the Constitution. It can and must develop an independent means of enforcing congressional subpoenas.  

The threat of impeachment of Senate-confirmed bureaucrats must become more feared. The House of Representatives must unite to implement what is perhaps the most powerful tool – the power of the purse. And Congress should reconsider and expand the role of independent offices of inspectors general (OIG) to ensure the Justice Department can no longer ride above the law.  

Video

Republicans have been bafflingly reluctant to wield impeachment power. Getting support to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in 2015 was a heavy lift. It shouldn’t be. If Congress doesn’t hold administration officials accountable, who will? Under the advice-and-consent clause of the Constitution, the Senate was given a co-equal voice to confirm a bureaucrat and remove them, but they do not. 

Likewise, Congress has failed to secure its own subpoena power. For too long, the body has been content to rely on the DOJ to enforce congressional subpoenas. But now that we clearly see the DOJ applying a political litmus test to such requests, the American people need a new solution. For Democrats, subpoenas are enforced in record time with guns drawn. For Republicans, the DOJ will only enforce “legitimate” subpoenas based on their own whims after months of review. 

Congress can also leverage the power of the purse to play hardball by denying agency funding until the government produces requested documents and witnesses. But they don’t. 

While all of those options are on the table, perhaps the most effective solution could come from empowering the government’s independent inspectors general. Most everyone in government is currently subject to review by an office of Inspector General (OIG).  

One thing has become crystal clear: the Justice Department cannot and will not police itself. DOJ is unwilling and unprepared to discipline let alone prosecute its own. That’s one reason the work of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is so vital. 

The ability of these investigators to subpoena documents, interview witnesses and expose wrongdoing has yielded important evidence and numerous criminal referrals. But they don’t have authority to make any prosecutorial decisions – and they probably should. 

To the shock of most people, the IGs are prohibited from investigating wrongdoing by attorneys at the DOJ. Nor can they compel testimony once someone leaves federal service, and both of these need to change. 

Before the Durham report, there were two IG reports on the Russia collusion hoax that combined for more than 1,000 pages. They included discipline and criminal referrals that DOJ ignored. Consequences for wrongdoing by federal law enforcement have been minimal.  

Even ex-FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to making a false statement after altering a document in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, received only probation and community service for his crime. He forged documents to effect an election and he didn’t even lose his law license! 

Sadly, the American people have lost trust in some of the most important institutions, the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Justice. And this may very well propel Trump back into the White House. 

 CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM JASON CHAFFETZ

Jason Chaffetz is a FOX News (FNC) contributor and the host of the Jason In The House podcast on FOX News Radio. He joined the network in 2017.

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Se. Roger Marshall, M.D. Op-ed: I visited Biden’s broken border and you won’t believe what I learned


Sen. Roger Marshall, M.D.

 By Sen. Roger Marshall, M.D. | Fox News | Published May 19, 2023 6:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/visited-bidens-broken-border-you-wont-believe-what-learned

“The border is not open,” a lie repeatedly told to the American people by the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  But that isn’t what I witnessed last week in Brownsville, TX, the epicenter of this crisis the night that Title 42 was lifted. The scene was bleak, morale was low, and there was no sign of this crisis ending anytime soon.  

Across the Rio Grande Valley intake centers there’s room for 4,500 migrants. However, when we arrived the number of migrants at the RGV facilities had already hit 7,300 and was steadily rising. The day before the border patrol had recorded 11,000 illegal migrants crossing the southern border, with more than 3,000 “got-a-ways.”   

We visited ‘Camp Monument,’ a small makeshift intake center that is completely overwhelmed. According to border patrol, the cartels know exactly how to exploit this weakness. Quickly after processing, these migrants will communicate back to those waiting across the border when to make their move. A cycle that never ends. 

El Paso border crossing
Migrants stand across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, in December 2022. (Border Patrol)

To my shock, the Mexican officials, and I assume the cartels indirectly, are in communication with our border patrol and are notified when CBP has room and space for the next wave to be processed. 

Brownsville is a hot spot for illegal crossings; thousands continue to pour into our country – unvetted – given shelter, supplies, food and, in many ways, freedom. There is no fear of the consequences from crossings. Our systems are so backed up that our court orders are largely a joke, and the smugglers know this. We’re telling migrants to show up for a court date five years later, in 2028, to assess their crime. By then, they will be long gone.  

Border patrol officers shared with us the harsh realities of this crisis and how they feel abandoned by this administration. They have lost all operational control and are forced into an impossible situation.  

Video

Officers admitted to us only 10% of the agents are tasked with securing the border – while 90% are running the refugee camp, acting as nurses and social workers, processing and transporting migrants to their next destination.  

The magnitude of this crisis at our border should concern every American. The data we received, and the briefings given to us by border patrol, law enforcement and CBP do not reflect a border that’s “closed” but rather a border that has been erased by failed leadership in the White House. 

We heard the heartbreaking stories of repeated sexual assaults young women are enduring to come here, the massive drug smuggling operations the cartels are running with lethal fentanyl and confirmed our biggest fear – the cartels are calling the shots.  

The situation in Brownsville, the Rio Grande Valley and beyond is dire. A fifth-generation rancher told us the border crisis is the worst he has ever seen. A local Marine told us he was safer fighting in Afghanistan than living in Brownsville. 

Officers admitted to us only 10% of the agents are tasked with securing the border – while 90% are running the refugee camp, acting as nurses and social workers, processing and transporting migrants to their next destination.  

Each day that this crisis continues, the national security threat grows. In the Rio Grande Valley alone, they are averaging 90 Chinese military-aged nationals crossings every day. The largest number of Chinese nationals we’ve ever seen.  

As we saw this week, with the arrest of an Afghani on the terror watchlist in California and CBP announcing that 16 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist were arrested by border patrol at the southern border in April alone, these “got-aways” undoubtedly include terrorists, convicted criminals and the cartel’s drug smugglers.  

At what point does President Joe Biden look in the mirror and address the mess he’s created? Biden’s policies have created a draw for people worldwide to risk their own lives and their families as they put their care and safety into the hands of the cartels. We witnessed the impacts of a 3,000-mile journey for many: dehydration, malnutrition, injuries, disease and pestilence.   

Is this the America they were promised by this administration? Advertising freedom but instead living in the shadows owned by the cartel for years to come, even after they arrive?   

Yuma Arizona migrants released by Border Patrol
Migrants who have been processed by U.S. Border Patrol and have been released from their center, are given assistance from the Regional Center for Border Health to relocate to areas outside of Yuma, on Friday, May 12, 2023, in Somerton, AZ. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

On the night of our visit, as the clock ran out on Title 42, across the river thousands of migrants waited for their turn to cross the Rio Grande. We heard music, laughing, singing and cheering from these campsites. To me, that’s an obvious indication of how little they think of our border security measures – these migrants thought the worst part of their journey was over, and now, they just wait for their turn to cross.   

For our country to continue to be the best in the world, we must prioritize our safety, security, and restore law and order. That requires secure borders. 

But there is a solution. Every time I have visited the border, I asked the border patrol officers what they needed to keep our border secure. In the past, they have said more resources. This time their tone was different; they said very deliberately they do not need more resources; they need policies that we know work reinstated by this White House. Our agents on the front lines of this crisis need the president to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy and eliminate the catch-and-release policies. 

This could all be accomplished quickly. Biden created this crisis, and he could end it with a stroke of his pen. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM SEN. ROGER MARSHALL

Republican Roger Marshall, M.D., represents Kansas in the U.S. Senate. Previously he was the congressman for Kansas’ 1st District. Prior to Congress, Dr. Marshall was a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist in Great Bend, Kansas. He received his M.D. at the University Of Kansas School Of Medicine in 1987.

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Debt Limit Talks Stall as Republicans ‘Press Pause’


NEWSMAX STAFF | Friday, 19 May 2023 02:26 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/debt-limit-mccarthy-biden/2023/05/19/id/1120492/

Debt limit talks came to an abrupt standstill Friday after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it’s time to “pause” negotiations, and a White House official acknowledged there are “real differences” that are making talks difficult. McCarthy said resolution to the standoff is “easy,” if only President Joe Biden would agree to some spending cuts Republicans are demanding. It is unclear when negotiations would resume.

“We’ve got to get movement by the White House and we don’t have any movement yet,” McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol. “So, yeah, we’ve got to pause.”

A White House official who was granted anonymity Friday to discuss the private conversations said there are “real differences” between the parties on the budget issues and further “talks will be difficult.” The official added that the president’s team is working hard towards a “reasonable bipartisan solution” that can pass both the House and the Senate.

Biden’s administration is racing to strike a deal with Republicans led by McCarthy as the nation careens toward a potentially catastrophic debt default if the government fails to increase the borrowing limit, now at $31 trillion, to keep paying the nation’s bills.

Wall Street turned lower as the negotiations on raising the nation’s debt limit came to a sudden halt, raising worries that the country could edge closer to risking a highly damaging default on U.S. government debt.

The president who has been in Japan attending the Group of Seven summit had no immediate comment. Biden had already planned to cut short the rest of his trip and he is expected to return to Washington later Sunday.

Negotiators met for a third day behind closed doors at the Capitol with hopes of settling on an agreement this weekend before possible House votes next week. They face a looming deadline as soon as June 1 when the Treasury Department has said it will run out of cash to pay the government’s incurred debt. Republicans want to extract steep spending cuts that Biden has so far refused to accept. Any deal would need the support of both Republicans and Democrats to find approval in a divided Congress and be passed into law.

“Look, we can’t be spending more money next year,” McCarthy said at the Capitol. “We have to spend less than we spent the year before. It’s pretty easy.”

But McCarthy is facing a hard-right flank of Freedom Caucus and other Republican lawmakers that almost certain to oppose any deal with the White House. The internal political dynamics confronting the embattled McCarthy leaves the Democrats skeptical of giving away too much to the Republicans that drives away the Democrat support they will need to pass any compromise through the Congress.

Experts have warned that even the threat of a debt default would send shockwaves through the economy. Markets had been rising this week on hopes of a deal. But that shifted abruptly Friday after negotiators ended late morning an hour after they had begun.

Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., tapped by McCarthy to lead the talks, emerged from an hourlong session at the Capitol and said gaps remained between House Republicans and the Democrat administration.

“It’s time to press pause because it’s just not productive,” Graves told reporters.

He added that the negotiations have become “just unreasonable” and that it was unclear when talks would resume.

The S&P 500 went from a gain of 0.3% to a loss of 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average went from a gain of 117 points to a loss of about 90 points.

Biden departed early from a dinner with G7 leaders in Hiroshima on Friday night. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden planned to be briefed on the negotiations by his team Friday evening.

As Republicans demand spending cuts and policy changes, Biden is facing increased pushback from Democrats, particularly progressives, not to give in to demands they argue will be harmful to Americans.

Another Republican negotiator, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, said, “There is a “serious gap” between the sides.

“We’re in a tough spot,” said McHenry, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as he left the meeting.

McCarthy faces pressures from his hard-right flank to cut the strongest deal possible for Republicans, and he risks a threat to his leadership as speaker if he fails to deliver.

A day earlier, the conservative House Freedom Caucus said there should be no further discussions until the Senate takes action on the House Republican bill that was approved last month to raise the debt limit into 2024 in exchange for spending caps and policy changes. Biden has said he would veto that Republican measure.

In the Senate, which is controlled by majority Democrats, the Republican leader Mitch McConnell has taken a backseat publicly, and is pushing Biden to strike a deal directly with McCarthy. McConnell blamed Biden for having “waited months before agreeing to negotiate” with the speaker.

“They are the only two who can reach an agreement,” McConnell said in a tweet. “It is past time for the White House to get serious. Time is of the essence.”

Democrats are wary of any deal with Republicans, and particularly refuse the Republican proposal to protect defense and veterans accounts from spending caps, arguing that the cuts will fall too heavily on other domestic programs. Republicans also want to impose stricter work requirements on government aid recipients. Biden has suggested he might be open to considering it, but Democrats in Congress have said is a nonstarter.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Branco – Dream Busters

A.F. BRANCO | on May 19, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-branco-dream-busters/

If MLK were alive today he may be labeled a white supremacist by today’s left.

MLK Called White Supremacy
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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GOP senator embarrasses Biden nominee for federal appeals court with basic question about Constitution


By: CHRIS ENLOE | May 18, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/kennedy-questions-de-alba-commerce-clause/

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) stumped yet another Biden judicial nominee on Wednesday with basic questions on constitutional legal doctrine.

At a hearing to consider federal District Court Judge Ana de Alba for a spot on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Kennedy asked de Alba to explain the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine and the Commerce Clause, which is found in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

“This has been in the news a lot lately, and you’ll probably see it if you’re confirmed to the Court of Appeal. Tell me about the Dormant Commerce Clause,” Kennedy quizzed.

De Alba responded that she is only “somewhat familiar with the Commerce Clause,” indicating where to find it in the Constitution — but said nothing about the Dormant Commerce Clause.

Kennedy responded by helping her. He explained that “there was a big Supreme Court case” dealing with the Dormant Commerce Clause that just came out of California (which came from the very appeals court to which de Alba is nominated). De Alba then apologized for not being able to answer his question, justifying her knowledge gap by explaining that she has never dealt with it as a practicing lawyer or judge. She then promised to research it.

But things got worse when Kennedy asked de Alba to discuss the Commerce Clause broadly.

“So, my understanding about the Commerce Clause, like I stated, senator, is that it is under Article 1 of the Constitution, and it allows the legislature to create laws that allow for movement and things related to commerce in the United States and anything crossing state lines, things like that,” de Alba explained.

In follow-up questions, Kennedy asked “between whom” the clause permits Congress to regulate commerce.

“Between states, for example,” de Alba said.

“Anybody else?” Kennedy asked.

“It’s not coming to mind right now, senator,” de Alba admitted.

Kennedy questions de Alba, Ramirez in Judiciary www.youtube.com

The Commerce Clause, found in Article 1, Section 8, grants to Congress the power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” The Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine, on the other hand, “refers to the prohibition, implicit in the Commerce Clause, against states passing legislation that discriminates against or excessively burdens interstate commerce,” Cornell Law explains.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a case involving California Proposition 12, a state law that says pork products important into the state must meet specific animal welfare standards. The federal government challenged the law, arguing it violated the Dormant Commerce Clause. But the Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision, disagreed, upholding the law.

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Whistleblowers Expose FBI’s Corruption And Ongoing Persecution Of Political Opponents In Damning New Testimony


BY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD| MAY 18, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/18/whistleblowers-expose-fbis-corruption-and-ongoing-persecution-of-political-opponents-in-damning-new-testimony/

FBI Whistleblower Friend testifying before the House Judiciary Committee

Author Shawn Fleetwood profile

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In an explosive House committee hearing on Thursday, several whistleblowers accused the FBI of engaging in a bevy of highly corrupt and partisan activity, including manipulation of statistics, targeting political opponents, and retaliating against whistleblowers seeking to expose the agency’s corruption. The revelations come days after a report from U.S. Attorney John Durham revealed the FBI had no evidence then-candidate Donald Trump colluded with the Russians when it launched its Crossfire Hurricane investigation into the former president’s 2016 campaign.

While speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, former FBI special agent Steve Friend said he filed protected whistleblower disclosures in August 2022 over concerns he had regarding investigations assigned to his office over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. More specifically, Friend was concerned the conduction of these inquiries represented a departure from proper “case management rules established in the FBI’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide” and that such actions “could have undermined potentially righteous prosecutions and may have been part of an effort to inflate the FBI’s statistics on domestic extremism.”

“I also voiced concerns that the FBI’s use of SWAT and large-scale arrest operations to apprehend suspects who were accused of nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors, represented by counsel, and who pledged to cooperate with the federal authorities in the event of criminal charges created an unnecessary risk to FBI personnel and public safety,” Friend said. “At each level of my chain of command, leadership cautioned that despite my exemplary work performance, whistleblowing placed my otherwise bright future with the FBI at risk.”

Despite purportedly following proper whistleblower protocol, Friend said the FBI quickly retaliated against him by weaponizing the security clearance process to remove him from active duty “within one month” of filing his disclosures. According to Friend, the agency then orchestrated a “campaign of humiliation and intimidation” designed to “punish and pressure [him] to resign,” which included leaking his private medical information to The New York Times, refusing to “furnish [his] training records for several months,” and imposing an “illegal gag order” to prevent him from “communicating with [his] family and attorneys.”

In addition to retaliation, Friend went on to accuse the FBI of weaponizing process crimes and reinterpreting laws in order to “initiate pretextual prosecutions and persecute its political enemies.” He also asserted the agency actively colludes with Big Tech platforms to censor political speech the regime disagrees with, gather intelligence on Americans, and “target citizens for malicious prosecution.”

During his testimony, Garret O’Boyle, a U.S. Army combat veteran and former FBI special agent, chronicled his own experience with the FBI’s disdain for whistleblowers. At some point after filing a whistleblower disclosure over concerns the agency was being used to go after the regime’s political opponents, O’Boyle sought another position within the country, which the FBI approved of. According to O’Boyle, it was only after he had sold his home and moved his family “halfway across the country” did the FBI then suspend him.

“They allowed us to sell my family’s home. They ordered me to report to the new unit when our youngest daughter was only two weeks old. Then, on my first day on the new assignment, they suspended me; rendering my family homeless and refused to release our household goods, including our clothes, for weeks,” O’Boyle said.

[READ: The Durham Report Leaves No Doubt: The FBI Is A Mortal Threat To Democracy]

Marcus Allen, a former Marine and FBI staff operations specialist, also testified about his experience with the FBI’s politicization, particularly its attempts to destroy the lives and careers of those within its ranks with dissenting views. As part of his position, Allen was tasked with providing situational awareness and information regarding the Jan. 6 riot. After submitting information to his superiors and others that questioned “the narrative” of Jan. 6, however, Allen was accused of pushing “conspiratorial views” and “unreliable information.” The FBI subsequently suspended Allen in January 2022 and questioned his allegiance to the United States.

According to Allen, it wasn’t until five months later, after a congressional member “made statements indicating the FBI was conducting a purge of employees with conservative viewpoints,” did the FBI reach out seeking an interview. Much like Friend, Allen claims his security clearance was revoked after he filed his whistleblower complaint.

“It has been more than a year since the FBI took my paycheck from me. My family and I have been surviving on early withdrawals from our retirement accounts while the FBI has ignored my request for approval to obtain outside employment during the review of my security clearance,” Allen said. “We have lost our federal health insurance coverage. There is apparently no end in sight.”

Predictably, House Democrats used Thursday’s hearing to slander the whistleblowers to cover for the FBI’s authoritarianism. In one instance, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., attempted to equate Friend’s calls to “defund the FBI” due to its weaponized behavior with support for defunding law enforcement. The Florida Democrat also accused Friend of using Thursday’s hearing to promote his upcoming book — which Friend never mentioned — and attacked the former agent for his concerns over the FBI’s use of excessive force during certain arrests.

In his prior testimony, Friend detailed a case where the FBI planned to use a SWAT team to carry out an arrest warrant on a Jan. 6 “subject.” According to Friend, he was concerned over the use of such tactics because “the subject of the arrest warrant had been in communication with the FBI at that point and had expressed a willingness to cooperate.”

“[I]n my experience in dealing with subjects of crimes and bringing them into custody, the FBI tends to use the least amount of force necessary to do that safely, and I felt that the use of SWAT … was an unnecessary tool to use for that particular individual,” Friend said. Of course, Wasserman Schultz misconstrued Friend’s testimony to make it sound as if he sympathized with the Jan. 6 subject and other suspected criminals upon whom arrest warrants are issued.

A House Judiciary Committee report containing the whistleblowers’ aforementioned allegations and prior testimony can be found here.

If you did not know these were FBI agents, and only heard their testimony, you might conclude this was testimony of people in communist nations, or Hitler’s Germany. I don’t know about you folks, this is frightenly madding. we’ve got to vote these socialists out as soon as possible.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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The Unspoken Warning in the Durham Report: American Self-Government Is Collapsing


BY: JOHN DANIEL DAVIDSON | MAY 18, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/18/the-unspoken-warning-in-the-durham-report-american-self-government-is-collapsing/

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Yesterday in these pages Margot Cleveland rightly noted that the most damning finding in the 306-page report from Special Counsel John Durham is not necessarily the FBI’s scandalous Crossfire Hurricane investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016, but that the egregious abuses of power detailed in the report cannot be remedied “absent a curing of the corrupted hearts and minds of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.”

For all the FBI’s blatant partisanship, its disregard of exculpatory evidence, and its outright deception to secure FISA warrants on Trump campaign associates, writes Cleveland, “what should terrify the country is not the catalog of malfeasance the special counsel recited — for mistakes and even gross failures can be corrected — but that Durham warned of corrupted hearts and minds, unfaithful to the people and their Constitution.”

For his part, Durham didn’t recommend any changes to FBI guidelines or policies, because no amount of reform will be sufficient if the people in charge feel free to disregard guidelines and policies whenever they see fit to do so. As such, wrote Durham, “the answer is not the creation of new rules but a renewed fidelity to the old. The promulgation of additional rules and regulations to be learned in yet more training sessions would likely prove to be a fruitless exercise if the FBI’s guiding principles of ‘Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity’ are not engrained in the hearts and minds of those sworn to meet the FBI’s mission of ‘Protect[ing] the American People and uphold[ing] the Constitution of the United States.’”

Durham is right, as is Cleveland. The abuse of power laid out in the report is terrifying, not just because what the FBI undertook in 2016 amounted to an attempted coup, but because it’s unclear how to prevent it from happening again. Indeed, we saw the same kind of abuse of power at play in 2020 when active and former CIA officials saw fit to interfere in the election by soliciting signatures for a letter designed to quash the Hunter Biden laptop story. There is every reason to believe that these kinds of abuses will happen again in 2024, and in every future presidential election. 

As I wrote earlier this week, such abuse in our law enforcement and intelligence agencies represents a mortal threat to the republic, and we should understand the Durham report in that light.

But Durham’s damning indictment of the DOJ and FBI goes beyond those particular agencies, and indeed beyond the federal government. That people like former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, along with the entire cast of villains and liars in the Durham report, rose to positions of such power, and then proceeded to abuse that power by arrogating to themselves the right to decide who should be president — a right that belongs solely to the American people — says something about the state of our republic.

What it says is this: We have produced, and are still producing, a totally corrupt elite bereft of any sense of “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity,” to say nothing of moral virtue or the common good.

Put bluntly, an elite like that makes self-government in a republic of free citizens impossible. It also means that the elite will work to corrupt ordinary Americans, eroding their respect for the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution. As the elites go, so eventually the entire country goes.

Seen in this light, the Durham report should be understood as a dire warning about the fate of our country. John Adams issued a similar warning when he penned his famous line, that “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” George Washington did the same in his farewell address when he said, “’Tis substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”

The founders knew what we seem to have forgotten: Without a virtuous people, without citizens and leaders who believe in objective moral truth and understand themselves to be bound by it, we cannot be a free people, and we cannot sustain a republic. Laws alone, to say nothing of guidelines and policies, are not enough to support and sustain self-government. You need citizens who will respect and uphold the law, and leaders who actually believe in the principle of self-government — something our current crop of leaders clearly rejects.

Without a morally virtuous citizenry, the founders also knew we would eventually become a society not of free men and women, but of slaves to a tyrannical regime. That’s the real warning embedded in the Durham report. The corruption of the FBI, the CIA, and the entire federal intelligence community, which led to the Russia-collusion hoax and almost took down Trump’s campaign, and then his presidency, cannot be fixed with new rules and policies. It’s a moral failing, moral corruption, and it can only be fixed by a spiritual renewal in America, by a return to — let’s be honest — a civic culture shaped and guided by Christian moral virtue.

It’s easy to look at the Durham report and conclude that the problem is just with a handful of bad apples in the federal intelligence agencies. But the rot goes much deeper than that. People like Comey and Brennan and the legions of corrupt agents and bureaucrats under them were produced by an American society that has lost its way, that has become unmoored from the morality that sustains our system of government and inculcates virtue in our citizenry.

New rules and regulations won’t be enough. Nor will it be enough to defund or disband the FBI. Unless we rediscover the moral virtue necessary for self-government, we will descend, bit by bit, into tyranny. And one day we will look back at the Durham report and understand that it wasn’t just an indictment of the FBI but an indictment of us all — and a harbinger of the end of our republic.

John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Claremont Review of Books, The New York Post, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter, @johnddavidson.

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John Fetterman’s office has doctored several of his quotes to make him sound more coherent, review finds


By Joe Schoffstall , Aubrie Spady | Fox News | Published May 18, 2023 1:15pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-fettermans-office-has-quietly-doctored-several-quotes-make-him-sound-more-coherent-review-fin

A Fox News Digital review has found Sen. John Fetterman’s office is doctoring his quotes to make him sound more coherent as questions linger about his health following a stroke.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman suffered a stroke a year ago, and questions about his health have remained at the forefront as he has struggled through Senate hearings due to speaking and cognitive issues. The Pennsylvania senator’s office has repeatedly slammed critics for drawing attention to the issue and maintains he is fine outside of auditory processing problems. Meanwhile, they have quietly doctored his comments to make him sound more coherent as he grasps with recovery.

The issue exploded on Wednesday when Jeff Stein, a Washington Post economics reporter, admitted to amplifying a misquote Fetterman’s office provided to him, which had significantly altered Fetterman’s actual statements. Stein received backlash for tweeting that Fetterman had asked Silicon Valley Bank ex-CEO Greg Becker, “Shouldn’t you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank? Republicans seem to be more preoccupied with SNAP requirements for hungry people than protecting taxpayers that have to bail out these banks.”

FETTERMAN SAYS HE ‘WASN’T FUNCTIONAL’ AFTER ELECTION WIN: ‘I LITERALLY STOPPED EATING AND DRINKING’

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman
Sen. John Fetterman’s office provided a heavily altered quote to a Washington Post reporter, which sparked a correction after he had viewed the senator’s actual comments. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Fetterman, however, was much less clear in his Tuesday comments, which left the witness speechless. 

“The Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP,” Fetterman said. “You know, for a uh, uh, uh, a hungry family has to have these, this kind of penalties, or these some kinds of word — working uh, require — Shouldn’t you have a working requirement, after we sail your bank, billions of your bank? Because you seem we were preoccupied, uh when, then SNAP requirements for works, for hungry people, but not about protecting the tax, the tax papers, you know, that will bail them out of whatever does about a bank to crash it.”

While it is common for reporters to leave out filler words like “um” and “you know” when transcribing remarks, the extreme changes to Fetterman’s actual words in the quote Stein tweeted left onlookers stunned.

Stein scrubbed his initial tweet, confessing that he received a quote from Fetterman’s office but failed to verify it with the video. “That was my fault,” Stein wrote. “Though it captured his meaning, I deleted the tweet once some of the words in the quote were inaccurate.”

However, Fetterman’s office substantially cleaning up his quotes is not a one-time incident, according to a Fox News Digital review of remarks posted on his congressional website compared to the corresponding video of the hearings. The review found that Fetterman’s office has drastically altered his comments several times after he returned to Capitol Hill in mid-April following a weeks-long absence for depression. 

WATCH: FETTERMAN’S COMMENTS VS. HIS OFFICE’S TRANSCRIPT

Video

Fetterman chaired his first subcommittee hearing on April 19 since returning from his treatment. During the hearing, his opening statements drew online attention. Meanwhile, his office just posted a link to his closing remarks without transcription.

FETTERMAN WILL CHAIR FIRST SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING DAYS AFTER RETURNING FROM WEEKS-LONG ABSENCE

John Fetterman and Barack Obama
Sen. John Fetterman’s office has doctored several of his quotes posted on the congressional website, a Fox News Digital review has found. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

In the next hearing posted on the website, from April 26, the office quoted Fetterman as saying, “I’m really excited about Whole-Home Repairs. Here in Pennsylvania, one of my friends, Nikil Saval in the Senate, shepherded it. And he got linked up with the Republicans and they actually created one of the first kinds of a program like this in the nation.

“I come from a community here, in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where your home can go bad really quickly. And I’m really excited that we can take something like that, which is happening in Pennsylvania, and take it federal.”

However, according to the linked clip, Fetterman’s words differed significantly. 

“I’m really excited by it, because here in Pennsylvania one of my friends really [inaudible] it, Nikil Saval, he was one of the literally — quite literally — as hard left as a politician I’m aware of — you know — certainly in the Senate,” Fetterman says. “Um, he really helped shepherd that. And he got linked up with the Republicans, and he actually created the first kind of a program like this in the nation, you know. And one of my colleague — Mr. Vance — talked about well if there’s a leak in the ceiling, what if you don’t have the money to fix that? What can happen to that, kinda things?’

“I come from a community down in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where there’s a lot of — your home can go bad quickly if you were having those kinds — so I’m a big — you know — I’m incredibly, I think I’m excited that could take from Pennsylvania and go federal.”

In another referenced hearing on the website, from May 11, the office wrote how Fetterman “grills a witness on weed legalization” at a banking hearing. 

NBC REPORTER GETTING ‘BULLIED’ BY MEDIA FOR FETTERMAN REPORT WAS ‘PATHETIC,’ ‘WRONG,’ SAY INSIDERS

John Fetterman Labor Day 2022
Sen. John Fetterman has dealt with auditory issues since suffering a stroke a year ago. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

“We need to make it legal,” Fetterman’s website quoted him as saying. “I just believe it’s a freedom issue. I’ve given hundreds of pardons to people who have had their lives ruined by a B.S. charge.”

The quote came as Fetterman gave an example of people walking into liquor and wine stores in Pennsylvania.

“I don’t know anyone that walks in and is, ‘oh, my God I ended up with grain alcohol instead of this — you know — this bottle of red wine,'” Fetterman said. “People can understand that as well too. And it seems like it. And I don’t use marijuana. It can be made legal tomorrow in Pennsylvania, and I’m not going to. Just like I’m not going to use tobacco. And I’m just saying [inaudible] I support the Safe Act. But if we just made it legal, we don’t have the special Safe Beer Act or anything, we just need to make it legal in that. What I’m saying to you — and I’m going to save you the last minute here — is that I just believe it’s freedom. I believe it’s a freedom issue for people. And I believe it’s making the legality, and I’ve been giving hundreds of hundreds of people pardons for having their lives ruined for having a B.S. — excuse me — a B.S. charge.”

The third such example of the office altering his comments in recent weeks involved the one from Stein that drew condemnation. After spending over a month in a hospital for clinical depression treatment, Fetterman revealed his depression was “in full force” during his first few weeks in the Senate.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 while campaigning for the Pennsylvania Senate race, resulting in auditory processing issues and depression.  Fetterman described his only midterm debate against Dr. Mehmet Oz as like “trying to run a marathon with a broken ankle.” During the debate, Fetterman was granted the use of a closed captioning system so that he would be able to read the questions.

The senator’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on the altered comments by press time.

Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report.

Joe Schoffstall is a politics producer/reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Joe.Schoffstall@Fox.com and on Twitter: @joeschoffstall

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Speaker McCarthy’s secret weapon in the debt ceiling negotiations is paying off


Newt Gingrich

By Newt Gingrich | Gingrich360.com | Published May 18, 2023 8:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/speaker-mccarthys-secret-weapon-debt-ceiling-negotiations-paying-off

There are powerful parallels in the 1961 movie “The Hustler,” the 1913 U.S. Open, and the current debt ceiling negotiation.

Let me explain.

In each case, there is a real question of which competitor is going to succumb to the pressure and break.

BIDEN VIEWS THE DEBT CEILING AS A STARING CONTEST WITH REPUBLICANS, NOT HIS DUTY AS PRESIDENT

In “The Hustler,” Paul Newman plays Eddie Felton, a young pool shark who takes on the greatest pool player of his time, Minnesota Fats (played brilliantly by Jackie Gleason). A great deal of money is involved, with the champion being backed by several big money guys. They are equally good pool players, but Gleason’s character is confident, and Newman’s character is insecure. 

Finally, as the night wears on, the Newman character breaks under the pressure and loses – even though in the early stages he had played as well as or better than Gleason. The movie is then a portrait of a man who collapses and fails and must rebuild himself with the help of sympathetic people. At the end, he comes back to take on the champion again. The key moment in the movie is when Gleason says, “I quit, Eddie, I can’t beat you.”

Video

Francis Ouimet’s great achievement is remarkably told in Mark Frost’s book “The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth Of Modern Golf.” While it is nonfiction, it is such a compelling story it became an entertaining movie of the same name.

In 1913, the two best golfers in the world, both British, came to the United States to prove the superiority of British golf over American golf. Harry Vardon was the first modern professional golfer and considered virtually unbeatable. They decided to prove their dominance at the U.S. Open at the Brookline Country Club in Massachusetts.

In an amazing, in some ways quintessentially American, story a 20-year-old former caddie from the club emerged as a national hero. In an 18-hole playoff, he beat the greatest golfers in the world. He won $300. More importantly, he popularized golf in America and stunned the British golfing elite.

WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?

The key moment in the match came when Vardon turned to his partner and said Ouimet is not going to break psychologically. He is as good as us, and we will not be able to beat him. Like Minnesota Fats in pool, Vardon had always relied on the pressure beating his opponents. He was a great golfer, but he was also a great student of human psychology.

Video

I thought of these two stories as I was watching Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a powerful discussion with the White House press corps after Tuesday’s debt ceiling meeting with President Joe Biden and the other legislative leaders. I was struck by how the two sides are approaching debt ceiling negotiations.

Speaker McCarthy pointed out that he has been advocating serious negotiations for the last 97 days. President Biden has been avoiding serious negotiations and claiming he wanted a debt ceiling increase with no amendments. 

When the House Republicans passed the “Limit, Save, Grow Act” on April 26, they shocked the Washington establishment – and especially President Biden. The Democrats had been counting on the narrow Republican majority in the House to make it impossible for Republicans to pass a debt ceiling bill without Democrats helping. Since they would only help pass a bill with no amendments, they thought they would get a so-called clean debt ceiling increase (see my newsletter on why a clean debt ceiling bill is actually the dirtiest debt deal).

Video

Up until April 26, Democrats believed they held all the cards. They thought the House Republicans would fail. The elite media would blame the Republicans. In a panic the Republicans would cave and agree to whatever President Biden wanted to do on the debt ceiling.

So, the passage of the Limit, Save, Grow Act, changed history. Suddenly, the only bill that could lift the debt ceiling and avoid a default had been passed by the House Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had been busy attacking the Republicans, but suddenly it was clear that Schumer could not pass anything – and could bring nothing to the negotiating table. Similarly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had just been defeated and could bring nothing to the table.

In a remarkable act of statesmanship, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a veteran of a number of debt ceiling showdowns, publicly stepped back and said Speaker McCarthy had earned the right to take the lead on the debt ceiling. McConnell then joined 42 of his colleagues in signing a letter Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, originated which served notice that on the debt ceiling Schumer could not get the 60 votes needed for cloture in the Senate. 

Video

Now, the Biden administration and the congressional Democrats are faced with a new and unexpected reality. A united congressional GOP was behind Speaker McCarthy in demanding spending cuts and reforms as part of any debt ceiling increase.

Having wasted 14 weeks, the Biden administration is finally facing reality and starting to negotiate. 

Having watched Speaker McCarthy live through a 15-vote marathon to become speaker, I am pretty sure who is going to stay cheerful and confident – and who is going to realize they just can’t win.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM NEWT GINGRICH

Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995-1999 and a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He is chairman of Gingrich 360.

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dianne feinstein | shingles | senate | democrat | illness | complication

NY Times: Sen. Feinstein’s Illness More Complicated Than Disclosed

Thursday, 18 May 2023 02:42 PM EDT

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who returned to Washington in May after a months-long absence due to shingles, suffered more complications from the illness than were publicly disclosed, The New York Times reported Thursday. The shingles caused a rare complication known as encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, two people familiar with the senator’s diagnosis told the Times.

The 89-year-old Democrat had been sidelined since February as she recovered from shingles, which had led to calls from some fellow Democrats that she step aside and allow someone else to take her place. Feinstein’s absence had deadlocked the Senate Judiciary Committee she sits on, slowing Democrats’ drive to approve some of President Joe Biden’s most controversial nominees to vacant federal court positions, leading to a partial Republican blockade.

Feinstein, who will not seek re-election in 2024, said on May 10 that said she would work a lighter schedule as she returned and that she was experiencing some side effects, which included vision and balance impairments. Asked for a response, Feinstein’s office pointed to her comment in the New York Times article where she said: “I’m back in Washington, voting and attending committee meetings while I recover from complications related to a shingles diagnosis. I continue to work and get results for California.”

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Whistleblower Warns: ‘The FBI Will Crush You’


By Sandy Fitzgerald    |   Thursday, 18 May 2023 01:41 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/fbi-investigations-weaponization/2023/05/18/id/1120293/

FBI whistleblower Garret O’Boyle, one of three testifying before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Thursday, had a warning for any of his former colleagues who may be thinking about testifying against the agency: Don’t do it.

“The FBI will crush you,” O’Boyle warned, when committee member Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., asked him what he’d advise. “This government will crush you and your family if you try to expose the truth about things that they are doing are wrong, and we are all examples of that.”

O’Boyle said he would tell colleagues that he would take their complaints to Congress for them or put them in touch with Congress, “but I would advise them not to do it.” He admitted that not testifying would not solve the issues the FBI has, or shine light on corruption, but based on his experience, he’d still urge them to turn away.

O’Boyle’s words came at the end of a lengthy, often-heated hearing in which he joined two other FBI whistleblowers, Stephen Friend, and Marcus Allen, to testify about the retribution they experienced for coming forward with statements on several issues. This included the investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the Capitol, the investigations of parents speaking out at school board meetings, and other instances that the Republicans on the committee say show the weaponization of the government against the American people. 

In O’Boyle’s case, he told the committee that he was forced to rely on charity after the FBI moved him and his family from Kansas to Virginia, but soon ended his assignment. He claimed the bureau blocked him for six weeks from getting his family’s personal property back.

Chairman Jim Jordan asked all three men for their reactions to the FBI’s activities against them, and all insisted they followed the oaths they had taken when they went to work with the agency. They agreed with Jordan that they felt the “full weight of the federal government” come down on them, particularly when the FBI sent a letter to members of the committee to inform them that the agents’ security clearances had been revoked. 

“Of course, they timed it perfectly,” said Jordan. “It’s in the letter to us yesterday. We knew they would. We knew it was going to happen that way.”

They also testified that their former colleagues have not reached out to them to support them after they found themselves put out. 

“I know for a fact that my former supervisor had a meeting with my squad shortly after I was suspended, and he told them that I was going to be arrested, fired, and charged. So if that’s not chilling, I don’t know what it is,” said O’Boyle.

Friend agreed, commenting that those who have reached out to him “have used encrypted ways to do it because they fear retribution.”

Allen added that he’s been “ghosted by everybody.” 

Earlier in the hearing, Allen testified that he was targeted based on “unsubstantiated accusations that I hold ‘conspiratorial views’ regarding the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and that I allegedly sympathize with criminal conduct. I do not.”

O’Boyle said the actions against him came after his testimony in another proceeding that the FBI prioritized investigations of anti-abortion activiy after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the Roe v. Wade decision on legal abortion. 

He said Thursday that he was forced to accept a new position in another state and that the FBI ordered him to report when his family’s youngest child was only two weeks old. 

Friend, meanwhile, said he has filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel saying he was suspended after he raised concerns about the FBI’s manipulation of crime statistics, the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants, and the agency’s use of SWAT teams. 

“The FBI weaponized the security clearance processes to facilitate my removal from active duty within one month of my disclosures,” he said, also alleging the agency “initiated a campaign of humiliation and intimidation to punish and pressure me to resign” and refused his request for records so he could get another job “in an obvious attempt to deprive me of the ability to support my family.”

He also accused the FBI’s Inspection Division of having “imposed an illegal gag order in an attempt to prevent me from communicating with my family and attorneys.”

The hearing was organized by Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and comes after the release publication of Special Counsel John Durham’s report that revealed the FBI lacked evidence to open its investigation on former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

The hearing also comes after the Judiciary Committee’s Republicans released a 1,000-page report with the allegations of the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department politicization. 

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Dressed To Kill

A.F. BRANCO | on May 18, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-dressed-to-kill/

No budget for new border agents but plenty of money for 87,000 new armed IRS Agents.

Armed IRS Agents and the Border Patrol
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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All Biden Has To Do Is Explain Why Foreign Governments Paid His Family $10 Million — But He Can’t


BY: SAMUEL MANGOLD-LENETT | MAY 17, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/17/all-biden-has-to-do-is-explain-why-foreign-governments-paid-his-family-10-million-but-he-cant/

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

If Republicans had a spine or a brain — only one is required for this task — they would relentlessly pursue President Joe Biden for his long-standing cash-for-influence scheme, both during and beyond the 2024 presidential election.

During a May 10 press conference, the House Oversight Committee confirmed that since at least 2009, Joe Biden and his family received a minimum of $10 million from foreign entities. As The Federalist reported, this money entered the Bidens’ coffers through a complicated scheme of layered transactions deposited into multiple bank accounts.

Biden could make this entire story go away if he had a good reason for why his family received $10 million from foreign entities. Surely, if they weren’t corrupt, if this money came from non-sketchy and actually legitimate means, he could explain where this money came from and what services or goods his family exchanged to attain it. But this isn’t the case, as we continue to learn, so he cannot explain away the money.

Why did the Bidens receive this comically large sum of money? Well, no one really knows. But it probably has something to do with the fact that their last names are “Biden” and their family patriarch, the incumbent president, is one of the longest-serving federal officials in American history and has been able to avoid any meaningful public scrutiny for much of his career. As such, it increasingly appears the Bidens used their family’s political and corporate connections to engage in an elaborate foreign influence peddling scheme.

But as was the case with Hunter Biden’s role on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where he was handsomely paid despite having zero energy sector experience, the corporate media continues to downplay the first family’s blatantly corrupt business dealings. “House Republicans ramp up claims Biden family received money from foreign contacts,” reads one headline from NPR. “Comer releases Biden family probe update without showing link to president,” declares one from Politico. CNN whitewashed the Biden family’s corruption by writing, “The latest report does not show any payments made directly to Joe Biden, either as vice president or after leaving office.”

And regardless of whether or not “the big guy” who benefited from the foreign business ventures of Biden family members is the current president, there remain glaring ethical and political issues about influence peddling — which House Republicans are continuing to pursue as they prepare to introduce legislation banning influence peddling — and a slew of potential legal issues arising from tax negligence.

Considering the federal government, for at least the short and medium terms, simply will not touch the Biden family, this rules out most legitimate risks of prosecution they might face, even if House Republicans federally criminalize influence peddling. This means that, realistically, the only way to hold them accountable is through utilizing political mechanisms. As such, the GOP should make the Bidens’ foreign benefactors central to their 2024 campaign messaging.

It’s obvious to everyone with functioning eyes and ears that Joe Biden is neurologically compromised, and it’s obvious to everyone paying attention that he and his family are financially compromised, as well.

Until there is a prosecutorial path forward, the GOP must proceed with political means and fill the airwaves in 2024 battleground states with messages amplifying how Joe Biden and his family sold out the country to enrich themselves.

Samuel Mangold-Lenett is a staff editor at The Federalist. His writing has been featured in the Daily Wire, Townhall, The American Spectator, and other outlets. He is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. Follow him on Twitter @smlenett.

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6 Freshly Documented Instances Of Systemic Pro-Democrat FBI Corruption


BY: JOY PULLMANN | MAY 17, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/17/6-freshly-documented-instances-of-systemic-pro-democrat-fbi-corruption/

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Former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann and others lied to the nation about the special counsel report released Monday that deeply documents years of systemic FBI corruption in favor of the Democratic Party. That report reveals and adds detail to multiple instances in which FBI employees used high-level intelligence and law-enforcement positions to promote misinformation that affected at least two presidential elections, always on behalf of Democrats.

Special Counsel John Durham’s report lists and compares multiple such instances to illustrate “Systemic Problems” that are “difficult to explain.” Many more have been uncovered in the past few years. This information key to Americans’ oversight of their government through free and fair elections has been blacked out on corporate media airwaves and censored online by private grantees and social media companies obeying funding conditions and threats from federal officials.

1. Weaponizing Democrat Party Misinformation Developed With Probable Foreign Spies

It just so happens that the false information the FBI used to immediately open a spy operation on Democrats’ opposition was developed by the Democrat presidential campaign, in conjunction with at least two potential or allegedly former foreign spies.

According to the Durham report, top FBI, DOJ, and CIA officials, as well as President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, were told “within days of its receipt” that the Hillary Clinton campaign had developed a “plan to vilify Trump by tying him to Vladimir Putin so as to divert attention from her own concerns relating to her use of a private email server.”

CIA Director John Brennan briefed President Obama, Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and Attorney General Eric Holder on this intelligence on Aug. 3, 2016, a few days after Clinton’s campaign developed the plan. The CIA reportedly got this info about Clinton’s smear plan from its surveillance of Russian intelligence.

This means that, in the summer of 2016, the FBI and DOJ, and the head of the Democrat Party, knew that the Steele dossier, Alfa Bank allegations, and other claims of Donald Trump being a traitorous Russian stooge “were part of a political effort to smear a political opponent and to use the resources of the federal government’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies in support of a political objective.”

This should have gotten the FBI to question its Crossfire Hurricane operation, Durham’s report says. Instead, however, the FBI raced ahead, with FBI headquarters demanding faster pursuit of Trump under what they knew were false pretenses.

The FBI’s actions indicated a clear double standard for Republicans and Democrats, the report shows. “Unlike the FBI’s opening of a full investigation of unknown members of the Trump campaign based on raw, uncorroborated information, in this separate matter involving a purported Clinton campaign plan, the FBI never opened any type of inquiry, issued any taskings, employed any analytical personnel, or produced any analytical products in connection with the information,” notes the Durham report.

The report says if the Clinton campaign knowingly supplied this false information to the government, that’s a criminal offense. Durham claims his team was unable to establish this criminal intent, but it’s obvious it existed even if it can’t be established with emails and voice recordings.

So, again, months before the press started stampeding false claims of Russian collusion into three impeachment attempts that strangled Trump’s ability to wield the power voters had given him, the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies, the sitting president and head of the Democratic Party, and Democrats’ next president were aware it was a political disinformation operation with no basis in fact. The head of that same FBI that ran a multi-year spy operation against Trump based on this claim knew it was politically motivated disinformation before the lie even got its boots on.

This goes far beyond agency “bias.” It is the complete corruption of half of the nation’s political party system and its federal law enforcement. It is the systematic disenfranchisement of Americans who don’t agree with the national security blob — or wouldn’t, if that blob allowed them to learn true facts about its evil machinations.

It is the systematic weaponization of the U.S. national security apparatus against constitutional self-government. It is the end of government of the people, by the people, and for the people in the United States of America. That’s what Durham’s report shows. Anyone who doesn’t treat this as a five-alarm fire set by saboteurs is helping fan the flames.

2. Protecting Democrats’ POTUS Pick While Slandering Republicans’ POTUS Pick

Several times, the Durham report notes that FBI and Department of Justice officials treated the Clinton and Trump campaigns completely differently. Another notable way was in regard to potential contacts with agents from foreign governments.

When the feds learned of a foreign influence operation seeking to target Hillary Clinton, they gave her campaign what is called a “defensive briefing.” That means they warned the campaign about the potential for undue foreign influence.

When the feds learned that a foreign influence operation might be seeking to target Trump, they warned almost everyone except the Trump campaign. The FBI, DOJ, and CIA not only gave Trump’s campaign no defensive briefings on such potential threats, the report says, these agencies used the threats as an excuse to surveil Trump’s campaign and boost Clinton’s disinformation operation linking Trump to Russia in the press.

“The speed with which surveillance of a U.S. person associated with Trump’s campaign was authorized … are difficult to explain compared to the FBI’s and the [Justice] Department’s actions nearly two years earlier when confronted with corroborated allegations of attempted foreign influence involving Clinton, who at the time was still an undeclared candidate for the presidency,” says the report on pages 73 and 74.

3. Dismissing Foreign Funds Transfers for Clinton, Not for Trump

In contrast to the bureau’s full-scale rush to use its powers to smear Republicans with known falsehoods, the report shows that when the FBI knew the Democrat presidential campaign might be violating federal law, the FBI stood down. When an informant told the FBI the Clinton campaign was likely accepting illegal foreign campaign contributions, the FBI told the informant to drop it and did nothing further.

“Once again, the investigative actions taken by FBI Headquarters in the [Clinton] Foundation matters contrast with those taken in Crossfire Hurricane,” says Durham’s report. “As an initial matter, the NYFO [FBI New York Field Office] and WFO [Washington Field Office] investigations appear to have been opened as preliminary investigations due to the political sensitivity and their reliance on unvetted hearsay information (the Clinton Cash book) and CHS reporting. By contrast, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was immediately opened as a full investigation despite the fact that it was similarly predicated on unvetted hearsay information.”

Another double standard was revealed in this contrasting FBI treatment of different political parties: “Furthermore, while the Department appears to have had legitimate concerns about the Foundation investigation occurring so close to a presidential election, it does not appear that similar concerns were expressed by the [Justice] Department or FBI regarding the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”

4. Putting Powerful Democrats Above the Law

We already knew from the years The Federalist has spent unraveling Spygate that former FBI Counterintelligence Division Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and his mistress, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s staff lawyer Lisa Page, weaponized their government positions to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. These are the two who infamously texted that they’d “stop” Trump from becoming president.

Durham’s report shows multiple instances of McCabe, Strzok, Page, and their superiors wielding federal law enforcement positions as weapons against Republicans. The Durham report contains more evidence that high-level federal intelligence officials see it as routine to put powerful Democrats above the law.

Besides the disparate treatment outlined above and many other such instances, Durham’s report includes a telling text exchange between Strzok and Page. It shows them deciding not to apply the law to Hillary Clinton because of her powerful position. It seems that the powerful are indeed above the law in the United States — provided they’re affiliated with the Democratic Party.

5. Refusing Interviews with the Special Counsel

Key FBI figures refused interviews with Durham’s team, including Comey, Strzok, the Clinton campaign’s Marc Elias, McCabe, Page, and Glenn Simpson of the opposition research firm that cooked up the Steele dossier for Clinton’s campaign.

Add that to the many instances of “former” FBI and CIA figures being employed in social media companies to assist with government censorship demands, and going on TV to fuel the Russiagate hoax and other lies to Americans about crucial public issues. It adds up to yet another indication of an intelligence state using its vast — and unconstitutional — powers on behalf of the Democrat Party.

6. Refusing to Obey Congressional Subpoenas About Records on Biden Corruption

Durham’s report indicates that the FBI repeatedly sat on evidence the Clinton campaign was accepting bribes — payments in exchange for policy preferences. The FBI is still doing that with Joe Biden. According to several high-level members of Congress, the FBI has been refusing to release to them subpoenaed, non-classified information about how it handled documentation alleging that Biden also traded political favors for campaign donations.

“We know the FBI relied on unverified claims to relentlessly target a Republican president. What did the FBI do to investigate claims involving a Democrat President?” asked Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Numerous private and congressional watchdogs have documented that the Biden family has received millions of dollars from foreign individuals and companies connected to hostile governments including communist China.

“We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States,” Grassley said in a press release earlier this month. “What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further.”

Congressional subpoenas have the force of law. Federal agencies operate at the discretion and funding of Congress, according to the Constitution. The FBI’s leadership doesn’t seem to believe, however, that constitutional checks and balances apply to them. So long as Congress doesn’t enforce its own prerogatives, the FBI’s corrupt leaders are right.

It’s been publicly known for decades that the FBI uses its surveillance, investigatory, and other law enforcement powers to manipulate American politics. Recall its surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. and infamous FBI head J. Edgar Hoover’s spying on the Supreme Court, Congress, and presidents.

The Durham report is, in that respect, nothing new. What would be new would be punishing the FBI’s use of blackmail, smear operations, threats, censorship, illegal spying, and election rigging. If that doesn’t happen, the United States is quite simply not a free country anymore.

Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. Her just-published ebook is “101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation.” Her bestselling ebook is “Classic Books for Young Children.” Mrs. Pullmann identifies as native American and gender natural. Her many books include “The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids,” from Encounter Books. Joy is also a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs.

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Riley Gaines, Nancy Mace and others rip Adidas over women’s bathing suit model


Ryan Gaydos

By Ryan Gaydos | Fox News | Published May 17, 2023 1:25pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/sports/riley-gaines-nancy-mace-others-rip-adidas-womens-bathing-suit-model

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swim star who has turned into an activist to keep women’s sports fair and equal, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., were among those Wednesday who took issue with the model advertising a woman’s Adidas swimsuit as part of the company’s pride collection.

Adidas collaborated with South African designer Rich Mnisi to release the “Let Love Be Your Legacy” collection and campaign. The company attempts to “encourage allyship and freedom of expression without bias, in all spaces of sport and culture” with its campaign with Mnisi.

Riley Gaines waves to the crowd
University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines reacts after finishing tied for fifth with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships  in Atlanta on March 18, 2022. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“In creating this collection, I had a strong impulse to speak to my inner-child and express to the world how LGBTQ+ allyship can create a legacy of love,” Mnisi said in an Adidas news release. “Unifying these themes together through my own visual language and Adidas’ iconic performance and lifestyle pieces is a powerful combination, making the collection a symbol for self-acceptance and LGBTQ+ advocacy. My hope is this range inspires LGBTQ+ allies to speak up more for the queer people they love and not let them fight for acceptance alone.”

One of the models who is seen on the Adidas website in the woman’s bathing suit drew the attention of social media Wednesday.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
Rep. Nancy Mace attends a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED FACES BACKLASH FOR NAMING TRANSGENDER FEMALE POP STAR KIM PETRAS AS SWIMSUIT COVER MODEL

Gaines and others reacted.

Adidas said in its news release it partnered with Athlete Ally, “which focuses on ending homophobia and transphobia in sport.”

“Together with adidas our goal is to drive inclusivity in sport– supporting student athletes from the LGBTQI+ and their allies to push for fair access and safe participation in sport. Through our partnership, we’ve created more affirming athletic spaces to celebrate the community across sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions,” Athlete Ally founder Hudson Taylor said.

Adidas store in 2012
The Adidas logo is seen at the company’s store in Beijing on Feb. 18, 2012. (Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The collection can also be unlocked in FIFA 23.

Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

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Donald Trump to Newsmax: Durham Report ‘Great Vindication’


By Eric Mack    |   Tuesday, 16 May 2023 07:31 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/donald-trump-john-durham-report/2023/05/16/id/1120066/

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Newsmax the release of the Durham Report offers some substantial “vindication” for him at long last – and some evidence of “treason” by perpetrators of the Russia collusion hoax.

“This is the biggest story of – maybe in the history of – our country: The crime of the century,” Trump told Tuesday night’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”

“That’s been very obvious to me for a long time,” he added to host Rob Schmitt. “I would tell you, it’s a great vindication. It feels good. The report has been, you know, wildly praised.

“I wish it would have come faster, but the detail he went into — 308 pages — the detail is extraordinary. I guess you could call it treason, you could call it a lot of different things, but this should never be allowed to happen in our country again.”

Trump denounced deep state forces he said had worked to cast a “cloud” over his 2016 campaign and subsequent administration, saying the blaming of Russia for election interference was a myth peddled by Democrats.

“There is a deep state,” Trump said. “There are a lot of problems, and I did a lot of firing, but it goes down very low, when you look at it.”

Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 foe, created the Russia hoax to excuse her loss, Trump added.

“Let’s blame it on Russia,” Trump said in reference to the internal discussions by Clinton’s campaign. “Somehow, somebody came up with the idea: Let’s blame her loss on Russia.”

Trump said this myth had real power, as “the fake news started picking it up” and ultimately refused to let it go: “It ended up going 2½ years, and they made the most of it.

“It’s a disgrace, but this was really an excuse for why she lost the election and she blamed it on Russia.

“It’s very sad, very bad for our country.”

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GOP Reps. Jordan, Turner Write to CIA on Laptop Disinfo Letter


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Wednesday, 17 May 2023 01:11 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/intelligence-letter-disinformation/2023/05/17/id/1120185/

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, have fired off a letter to CIA Director Bill Burns renewing their requests for documents and phone records concerning the public statement on the Hunter Biden emails letter that was signed by 51 former intelligence community officials.

The House committees last week issued a report that revealed the October 2020 letter was perceived as being so partisan that many intelligence officers refused to sign it.

“On March 21, 2023, we wrote to you requesting documents in the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) custody relating to this statement about Hunter Biden,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “This statement, signed by former intelligence community officials using their official titles and emphasizing their national security credentials, suggested that public reporting about Hunter Biden’s business dealings and Biden family influence-peddling ‘ha[d] all the hallmarks of a Russian information operation.’

“We have since learned that the statement was drafted and disseminated following communications between former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell and Biden campaign adviser—now Secretary of State—Antony Blinken.”

Jordan and Turner wrote, after making a minimal production of documents May 9, “the CIA admitted that it did not perform a full and complete search of all agency records prior to that production.”

A May 12 phone conversation with House staff ended with the CIA committing to cooperate in full with the committees’ oversight.

Jordan and Turner wrote the CIA committed to:

  • Conducting an agency-wide search for documents and communications with each of the names of the 51 signatories to the public statement for the period Oct. 1-31, 2020.
  • Conducting a search for all documents and communications related to the approval of [former CIA employee] David Cariens’ memoir “Escaping Madness,” including but not limited to Cariens’ email(s) to the PCRB [Prepublication Classification Review Board] seeking approval of his work, any internal communications about the work, and any outgoing email responses from the PCRB to Cariens.
  • Conducting a search of all CIA phone records for the period Oct. 1-31, 2020, for any phone communications between CIA employees and any of the 51 signatories to the public statement, including but not limited to Cariens.

The lawmakers ended their May 16 letter by saying they expect all documents by May 30.

“If the CIA does not produce all responsive documents, the committees may resort to compulsory process,” Jordan and Turner wrote.

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – The Hearing Impaired

A.F. BRANCO | on May 17, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-the-hearing-impaired/

The Durham Report proves the media, FBI, and the entire left-wing controlled deep state along with Hillary and Obama, collaborated in a coup against President Trump.

Durham Report
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

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A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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IRS reportedly fires entire group of investigators probing Hunter Biden, whistleblower accuses admin of retaliation


By: CARLOS GARCIA | May 15, 2023

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/irs-reportedly-fires-entire-group-of-investigators-probing-hunter-biden-whistleblower-accuses-admin-of-retaliation-2660270494.html/

Photo (left): Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Photo (right): Handout/DNCC via Getty Images

The IRS fired the entire group of investigators looking into Hunter Biden and a whistleblower included in the group accused the Biden administration of retaliating against his revelations.

In April, the whistleblower came forward to accuse the Biden administration of improperly obstructing the investigation into the president’s son. A letter from attorney Mark Lytle to members of Congress claimed that the whistleblower could provided disclosures proving various improper decisions by the Biden administration.

“Political considerations were having an impact on the decision for agents to make investigative steps in the case. And those political considerations are not normally a part of a career investigator’s toolkit,” Lytle said.

According to the New York Post, the IRS responded by firing the group that included the whistleblower on Monday.

“Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress,” said attorneys to the whistleblower to Congress.

They also claimed that the whistleblower was told the decision was made at the behest of the Department of Justice.

The whistleblower has not said that the case involved was that into Hunter Biden, but congressional sources and the Wall Street Journal confirmed the claim.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel testified to the House Committee on Ways and Means in April that there would be no retaliation against any whistleblower.

“However, this move is clearly retaliatory and may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry,” said the whistleblower’s attorneys to Congress.

“We respectfully request that you give this matter your prompt attention,” they added. “Removing the experienced investigators who have worked this case for years and are now the subject-matter experts is exactly the sort of issue our client intended to blow the whistle on to begin with.”

Hunter Biden’s taxes have been under investigation since 2018.

Here’s more about the whistleblower accusations:

IRS agent requests whistleblower protections in Hunter Biden tax investigation www.youtube.com

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Biden Vetoes Bipartisan Bill Protecting US Solar Panel Makers from Chinese Competition


Thomas Catenacci

By Thomas Catenacci | Fox News | Published May 16, 2023 2:19pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-sinks-bipartisan-bill-protecting-us-solar-panel-makers-chinese-competition

President Biden vetoed a bipartisan resolution Tuesday that would have reversed his executive action last year ordering the Department of Commerce not to enforce tariffs on Chinese solar panel manufacturers for two years. Biden explained that the legislation — which recently passed the House and Senate with Democratic support — “bets against American innovation.” Last year, Biden implemented the 24-month moratorium on the enforcement of solar panel anti-circumvention tariffs designed to protect U.S. companies, a move the White House said would facilitate investment in domestic solar panel production capabilities.

“Passage of this resolution bets against American innovation,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday. “It would undermine these efforts and create deep uncertainty for American businesses and workers in the solar industry. Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution.”

Biden added that he doesn’t “intend to” extend the tariff suspension when the 24-month moratorium expires in June 2024.

DEM CONGRESSWOMAN SILENT ON WHY SHE SIGNED HUSH AGREEMENT INVOLVING CHINESE TECH COMPANY

President Biden implemented a two-year pause on enforcing tariffs on Chinese solar panels.
In June 2022, President Biden implemented a two-year pause on enforcing tariffs on Chinese solar panels. Congress passed a resolution to overturn that moratorium. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images | CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The president’s executive action in June 2022 came after the Commerce Department said months earlier it would investigate whether Chinese manufacturers were routing solar panels through countries in Southeast Asia to avoid U.S. tariffs. And in December, the agency published its preliminary findings showing four large solar companies had routed products through Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam to circumvent duties.

The Commerce Department is expected to release its final findings this month.

CHINESE TECH COMPANIES ARE EXPLOITING US GREEN ENERGY GOALS, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS WARN

In response to the December findings, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and joined by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., introduced the resolution striking down Biden’s action in January, arguing tariffs were necessary to protect the fledgling U.S. solar industry which is dwarfed by Chinese industry. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced companion legislation co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

The resolution — which utilizes the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows Congress to revoke federal regulations — passed the House in a 221-202 vote on April 28 and the Senate in a 56-41 vote on May 3.

Solar panels are pictured at the ENGIE Sun Valley Solar project in Hill County, Texas, on March 1, 2023. (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)

“I am disappointed that President Biden vetoed this important legislation,” Kildee said Tuesday. “Failing to stand up to those who engage in unfair trade practices hurts American workers and manufacturers. Our workers and businesses will never be able to compete globally unless we hold those who violate U.S. trade laws accountable.” 

“The president’s position, and today’s veto, fails to hold China accountable and hurts American workers,” the Democratic lawmaker continued. “Congress passed this bipartisan resolution with strong support from Republicans and Democrats. Now that the president has vetoed this bill, Congress should once again vote to override today’s veto without delay.”

Overall, Chinese companies control a more than 80% share in the global solar panel industry, controlling the supply chain in all the manufacturing stages of the product, according to the International Energy Agency. The Chinese solar industry has been tied to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang province.

The resolution was endorsed by pro-tariff groups like the Coalition for a Prosperous America and human rights groups like the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Environmental groups and green energy organizations including the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) opposed it.

“This action is a reaffirmation of the administration’s commitment to business certainty in the clean energy sector, and a signal to companies to continue creating jobs, building domestic manufacturing capacity and investing in American communities,” Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO, said in response to Biden’s veto Tuesday.

Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

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FBI Ignored ‘Clear Warning Sign’ of Clinton-Led Effort to ‘Manipulate’ Bureau for ‘Political Purposes’


Brooke Singman

By Brooke Singman | Fox News | Published May 16, 2023 2:43pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-ignored-clear-warning-sign-clinton-led-effort-manipulate-department

The FBI “failed to act” on a “clear warning sign” that the bureau was the “target” of a Hillary Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Special Counsel John Durham found. Durham was referring to intelligence on a plan stirred up by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in July 2016 to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia in an effort to distract from the investigation into her use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information.

DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI ‘FAILED TO UPHOLD’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

A photo of John Brennan
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 16:  Former CIA director John Brennan (2nd L) and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper (R) arrive at a closed hearing before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee May 16, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Durham found that then-CIA Director John Brennan “realized the significance” of the intelligence that Clinton was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia—so much so, he “expeditiously” briefed then-President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and other top national security officials. But nothing came of that briefing or of his subsequent referral of the information to the FBI, according to Durham’s final report.

“The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,” the report states.

Hillary Clinton rally
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane – D1BEULPJOPAC (REUTERS/Chris Keane)

“Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye,” the report continued.

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/05/ENCLOSURE_1__Brennan_Notes__U-1.pdf

In October 2020, Fox News Digital first reported the Brennan briefing to Obama and administration officials, after then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes memorializing that meeting.

The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Donald Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as “Crossfire Hurricane.”

FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

Durham found, after years of investigating, that the FBI did not have any actual evidence to support the start of that investigation. But on July 28, 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama on a plan from one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign foreign policy advisers “to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.” Biden, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director James Comey, and former ODNI James Clapper were in the Brennan-Obama briefing, the report says. 

US President Barack Obama speaks with FBI Director James Comey (R).  (Getty)

After that briefing, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Fox News first obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: “The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.”

“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo continued. “An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.“

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/05/ENCLOSURE_2__DCIA_Memo_09-07-16__U-1.pdf

The memo was heavily redacted.

Durham interviewed a number of Clinton campaign officials, including then-foreign policy advisor, now-Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan, when asked about the Clinton Plan intelligence, said he had not seen the reporting, and called it “ridiculous.” 

“Although the campaign was broadly focused on Trump and Russia, Sullivan could not recall anyone articulating a strategy or ‘plan’ to distract negative attention away from Clinton by tying trump to Russia, but could not conclusively rule out the possibility,” the report states. 

Jake Sullivan
FILE – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Sept. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)


FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

Durham, in his report, said the FBI “failed to act on what should have been—when combined with other incontrovertible facts— a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.”

“Whether or not the Clinton plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false it, it should have prompted FBI personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports, and the Alfa Bank allegations,” Durham’s report states.

Durham also said the FBI “should have disseminated the Clinton Plan intelligence more widely among those responsible for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation so that they could effectively incorporate it into their analysis and decision-making and their representations to the OI attorneys, and, ultimately, the FISC.”

Christopher Steele
Christopher Steele authored the infamous anti-Trump dossier first published by BuzzFeed News. (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

The anti-Trump Steele dossier was also linked to the Clinton campaign. The dossier contained allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian government. It was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer. The Clinton campaign and the DNC funded the dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie, where both Elias and Sussmann were employed at the time. 

The Justice Department inspector general revealed that the unverified anti-Trump dossier helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

And the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian election interference revealed that the dossier had, at the time, only “limited corroboration.” CIA officials at the time pushed back, arguing the dossier should not be included in the assessment, casting it as simply “internet rumor.” 

John durham special counsel
Special Counsel John Durham, who then-United States Attorney General William Barr appointed in 2019 after the release of the Mueller report to probe the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, arrives at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on May 17, 2022, in Washington, D.C.  (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)

The dossier has been largely discredited. 

FLASHBACK: NEWLY DECLASSIFIED INTEL DOCUMENT NOTED STEELE DOSSIER CLAIMS HAD ‘LIMITED CORROBORATION’ 

The FBI’s investigation was handed off to Special Counsel Robert Mueller after Trump was elected. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017. But Mueller’s team, like the FBI, did not investigate the allegations linked to Clinton-affiliated individuals.

But Durham’s team could not charge anyone related to omission or failure to act on the “Clinton Plan Intelligence.”

“Whether these failures by U.S. officials amounted to criminal acts, however, is a different question,” Durham’s report states.

“Although the evidence we collected revealed a troubling disregard for the Clinton Plan intelligence and potential confirmation bias in favor of continued investigative scrutiny of Trump and his associates, it did not yield evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any FBI or CIA officials intentionally furthered a Clinton campaign plan to frame or falsely accuse Trump of improper ties to Russia,” the report states.

TRUMP SAYS THERE ‘MUST BE A HEAVY PRICE TO PAY’ FOR COMEY, DEMOCRATS AFTER RELEASE OF DURHAM REPORT

Former President Donald Trump
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in at the Waco Regional Airport in March 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

READ DURHAM’S REPORT ON THE ORIGINS OF THE FBI’S RUSSIAN COLLUSION PROBE

Durham said his team also was not able to find sufficient evidence to prove that the “omission” of the Clinton Plan intelligence from applications to the FISC “was a conscious or intentional decision, much less one intended to influence the Court’s view of the facts supporting probable cause.” 

“In sum, the government’s handling of the Clinton Plan intelligence may have amounted to a significant intelligence failure and a troubling instance in which confirmation bias and a tunnel-vision pursuit of investigative ends may have caused government personnel to fill to appreciate the extent to which uncorroborated reporting funded by an opposing political campaign was intended to influence rather than inform the FBI,” the report states.

It added: “It did not, all things considered, however, amount to a provable criminal offense.” 

Reacting to Durham’s report, the FBI said in a statement: “The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.”

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her at Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.

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IRS Whistleblower Letter Accuses DOJ of Retaliation in Hunter Biden Probe


Chris Pandolfo

By Chris Pandolfo , Gillian Turner | Fox News | Published May 16, 2023 2:02pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/irs-whistleblower-letter-accuses-doj-retaliation-hunter-biden-probe

Attorneys for an IRS whistleblower say the whistleblower’s entire team has been removed from the Hunter Biden probe and have accused the government of illegal retaliation, according to a letter sent to the House and Senate judiciary committees. The whistleblower’s attorneys told Congress that the removal was on the order of the Department of Justice.

“Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress,” the letter states.

“He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice,” attorneys Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt wrote.

Whistleblower protections are enshrined in federal statute. The protocol is for a whistleblower to first go to their immediate supervisor or the supervisor in charge with the issue at hand. If the whistleblower believes that reaching out to a supervisor could jeopardize their well-being, or that supervisor is implicated in any potential misconduct, the whistleblower can go directly to the inspector general of their agency. From there, the inspector general can communicate with Congress, when appropriate.

In this case, one of the disclosures the IRS whistleblower made was to the U.S. Treasury inspector general for tax administration, sources told Fox News.

The removal of a whistleblower from a situation or investigation could potentially be seen as retaliatory, depending on the circumstances, but it also may be necessary to preserve objectivity of the investigation and the alleged witness, sources said.

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/05/IRSDOJretaliation.pdf

Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send tips to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.

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Pam Bondi to Newsmax: ‘Damaged’ FBI Agents Should Pay Targets’ Legal Fees


By Fran Beyer    |   Tuesday, 16 May 2023 02:22 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/pam-bondi-john-durham-fbi/2023/05/16/id/1120034/

The FBI should pony up for all the legal fees of people investigated during an inquiry into potential contacts between former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, said Tuesday on Newsmax.

In an interview on “John Bachman Now,” Bondi, who also was on the legal team defending the former president during his first impeachment, said the report completed Monday by special counsel John Durham “gives new meaning to weaponization of the federal government.”

“First of all, civilly, they all need to be held accountable for all of the legal fees that these people had to pay as a result of this fake witch hunt,” she asserted.

“Anyone at the FBI who was involved in this, they are in trouble now,” she said.

“If any of these people, any of these agents in the top down … if they made any criminal cases during that time, any legitimate cases whether or not the people have been convicted or not, [U.S. Attorney General] Merrick Garland has an obligation to let the defense attorneys know in those cases.

“These are damaged agents, according to John Durham … they have an obligation and they should be right now scouring through any cases that those agents have ever touched.”

Bondi also praised the GOP-majority House for taking on the matter, asserting Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who heads the Judiciary Committee, “is going after this.”

“They’re not going to let it go. They are fighting it,” she said. “What would have happened if we didn’t have Congress at least right now to hold these people accountable? There have got to be criminal investigations.”

She also railed at “the weaponization of district attorneys” investigating Trump, including New York and Georgia.

“Look what they’re doing,” she said. “It’s no coincidence that all this is being piled on at one time. All these cases around the country against him. … it should scare every single American now what’s happening with the FBI.”

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McCarthy: Debt Ceiling Deal Possible This Week After Biden Meet


NEWSMAX STAFF| Tuesday, 16 May 2023 04:19 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/debt-biden-mccarthy/2023/05/16/id/1120051/

Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy’s U.S. debt ceiling negotiations ended on Tuesday after less than an hour, as the looming fear of an unprecedented American debt default prompted Biden to cut short an upcoming Asia trip. But the meeting ended on an upbeat and unexpected note as McCarthy, coming out of the meeting with Biden and other congressional leaders, said, “It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week.”

House of Representatives Speaker McCarthy told reporters Biden is trying to reach a debt ceiling deal by June 1 to lift the threat of economic calamity

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time,” McCarthy told reporters, saying the less-than-an-hour session had set the stage for future conversations.

Biden and McCarthy sat down in the Oval Office with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The president leaves on Wednesday for a three-day G7 summit in Japan, but a source said Biden decided on Tuesday to skip a stop to Papau New Guinea and Australia afterward.

Ahead of the Oval Office meeting, Biden and McCarthy’s aides have discussed the requirements for two key programs that provide food and cash aid to families, in the past week’s negotiations over raising the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling to avoid an economically catastrophic default. Expanding the work requirements has been a key demand of Republicans, who are also pushing for spending cuts in exchange for their votes to raise the debt limit.

Biden and McCarthy have little time to strike a deal. On Monday, the Treasury Department reiterated its warning that it could run short of money to pay all its bills as soon as June 1, triggering a default that economists say would be likely to spark a sharp economic downturn.

McCarthy on Tuesday told reporters that his party, which controls the chamber by a 222-213 margin, would only agree to a deal that cuts spending.

“We can raise the debt ceiling if we limit what we’re going to spend in the future,” McCarthy told reporters. Both parties agree on the need for urgent action.

In the past week, staffs for both sides have discussed a range of issues, including spending caps, new work requirements for some benefit programs for low-income Americans and changes to energy permitting in exchange for votes to lift the limit, according to people briefed on the talks. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details about closed-door negotiations, said the work requirement discussions focus on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Biden alluded to the talks in public remarks over the weekend, saying he would not consider such a move for the Medicaid health program for low-income Americans.

“The president has been clear that he will not accept proposals that take away peoples’ health coverage,” said White House spokesperson Michael Kikukawa. “The president has also been clear that he will not accept policies that push Americans into poverty. He will evaluate whatever proposals Republicans bring to the table based on those principles.”

PREVIOUS DOWNGRADE

A similar 2011 standoff over the debt limit led to a historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, sparking a sell-off in stocks and pushing the government’s borrowing costs higher. The current deadlock has rattled investors, sending the cost of insuring exposure to U.S. government debt to record highs. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday found that three-fourths of Americans fear a default would take a heavy toll on families like theirs.

“Nobody should use default as a hostage,” Schumer said in a Senate speech on Tuesday. “The consequences would be devastating for America.”

NICE TRY CHUCKIE BABY. You forgot we have records, videos and Congressional records where you held The Debt Ceiling hostage WITH TRUMP. LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES. Your usual conduct.

Some observers have raised concerns that the five-party talks are too unwieldy to make progress. No. 2 Senate Republican John Thune told reporters the talks appear to have “too many cooks.”

“As we’ve said all along, it is Biden and McCarthy,” Thune said. “So, whoever can actually speak on behalf of the president needs to get in the room, and get McCarthy’s best people in there, and get it done.”

McCarthy himself said he would prefer one-on-one talks with Biden.

“If the president comes to an agreement, the Democrats in the Senate will vote for it. The House will pass it, if we are all in agreement,” McCarthy said. “Why do we waste more time going around and around, not solving any of the real problems? I think you’re putting the country in jeopardy when you do that.”

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Iron Curtain

A.F. BRANCO | on May 16, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-iron-curtain/

The MS-Media continues to shield Biden and the Democrats from the worst corruption in history.

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Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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CNN execs reportedly ‘put fear of God’ into CNN reporter for coverage of Trump town hall: ‘Visibly shaken’


By: CHRIS ENLOE | May 15, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/oliver-darcy-meeting-cnn-executives/

Image source: YouTube screenshot

CNN executives reportedly dressed down reporter Oliver Darcy for “emotional” coverage of the network’s town hall with former President Donald Trump. After the town hall last Wednesday, Darcy appeared to question the judgement of CNN leaders who decided that hosting Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, would be a good idea for the network, let alone the country.

“It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” wrote Darcy in the opening of the Reliable Sources newsletter after the town hall.

He added:

While [moderator Kaitlan] Collins is largely receiving praise for her relentless fact-checking of the former president, she was facing an impossible task.

CNN and new network boss Chris Licht are facing a fury of criticism — both internally and externally over the event. How Licht and other CNN executives address the criticism in the coming days and weeks will be crucial. Will they defend what transpired at Saint Anselm College? Or will they express some regret? For now, CNN is defending itself.

On Thursday, Darcy and his editor were summoned to a meeting with CNN executives. At the meeting were CEO Chris Licht and other executives responsible for communications and editorial. According to media reporter Dylan Byers, Darcy was told in no uncertain terms that “his coverage had been too emotional.” The executives reportedly instructed Darcy that he should remain “dispassionate” — i.e., not overly emotional but impartial — in all his work, whether writing about CNN or any other media organization.

Sources further told Byers that during the meeting, “Darcy stood by his work and pushed back on the ’emotional’ characterization.” But after the meeting, Darcy was “visibly shaken,” the sources added.

“They put the fear of God into him,” one source said.

Semafor later reported that the meeting ended “cordially,” with Licht offering his support for Darcy. Still, according to Semafor, Darcy “has wondered to colleagues whether he should resign or if he will be fired by the network” since the meeting and news of it broke. But a CNN spokesperson said Darcy will remain with the network.

“Oliver does not intend to resign and his newsletter will be out per usual this evening,” CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said.

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Senate Republicans Demand Biden Forfeit Info Over His Attempt To Federally Interfere In U.S. Elections


BY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD | MAY 15, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/15/senate-republicans-demand-biden-forfeit-info-over-his-attempt-to-federally-interfere-in-u-s-elections/

Sen. James Lankford giving a speech at CPAC

Senate Republicans are demanding President Joe Biden hand over documents related to his March 2021 executive order directing federal agencies to interfere in state and local elections.

On Wednesday, 13 Senate Republicans sent a letter to Biden requesting his administration forfeit documents related to Executive Order 14019, which required hundreds of federal agencies to interfere in the electoral process by using taxpayer money to boost voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities. As The Federalist previously reported, voter registration efforts are almost always a partisan venture and often involve left-wing groups that abuse their nonprofit status to target likely-Democrat voters.

“First, while we all agree that increased voter participation is a good thing, the job of federal agencies is to perform their defined missions in a nonpartisan way, not use their taxpayer funds for clandestine voter mobilization and election-turnout operations,” the senators wrote. “Second, it seems doubtful that Congress approved all federal agencies to use appropriated funds for the purpose of voter mobilization.”

Under Executive Order 14019, the heads of each agency were required to draft “a strategic plan” explaining how his or her department intends to fulfill Biden’s directive. Despite attempts by good government groups to acquire these plans, the Biden administration has routinely stonewalled such efforts by slow-walking its response to federal court orders and heavily redacting any related documents it has released.

In their letter, Senate Republicans are demanding the White House provide them with copies of these strategic plans, as well as a “full accounting of all federal funding used to-date” to comply with the order, by May 23.

“Therefore, reviewing the agency plans is critical to understanding the degree to which implementation of this order has resulted in improper uses of federal resources,” the senators wrote.

Signatories of the letter include Republican Sens. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Katie Britt of Alabama.

Most recently, Budd, along with New York GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney, introduced the Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act, which, in addition to requiring federal agencies to disclose their strategic plans to Congress, would prohibit federal agencies from using federal funds to “solicit or enter into an agreement with a nongovernmental organization to conduct voter registration or voter mobilization activities.”

The bill would furthermore amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to bar public universities from using taxpayer-funded Federal Work Study programs to pay college students to engage in voter registration campaigns. In April 2022, the Biden administration told colleges they could use work-study funds to partake in such activities. Having taxpayers fund get-out-the-vote efforts in this way had previously not been allowed.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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The Left’s 2020 ‘Fake Electors’ Narrative Is Fake News


BY: MARGOT CLEVELAND | MAY 15, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/15/the-lefts-2020-fake-electors-narrative-is-fake-news/

JFK and Richard Nixon in 1960

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Headlines recently proclaimed that eight of Trump’s “fake” electors accepted immunity deals. Of course, in reporting the news, the corporate outlets all missed the real story — that the electors’ testimony failed to incriminate anyone, including Trump, and that the county prosecutors engaged in massive misconduct. Equally appalling, however, was the corrupt media’s continued peddling of the “fake electors” narrative. 

There were no “fake” electors. There were contingent Republican electors named consistent with legal precedent to preserve the still ongoing legal challenges to the validity of Georgia’s certified vote. 

Nor was appointing an alternative slate of electors some cockamamie plan devised by Trump lawyers. On the contrary, Trump’s election lawyers and the contingent electors followed the precise approach Democrats successfully used when the date Congress established for certifying an election came before the legal challenges John F. Kennedy had brought in Hawaii were decided. And that approach allowed Kennedy to be certified the winner of Hawaii’s three electoral votes on Jan. 6, 1961, even though the Aloha State had originally certified Richard Nixon the victor.

The Hawaii scenario in 1960 mirrors in every material respect the facts on the ground in Georgia on Dec. 14, 2020 — the date both the Democrat and Republican presidential electors met and cast their 16 electoral votes for Joe Biden and Donald Trump respectively. 

Here’s What Happened in Hawaii Six-0 

Election day in 1960 fell on Nov. 8 and pitted Kennedy, a Democrat, against Republican Richard Nixon. The outcome remained unknown for some time, with a total of 93 electoral votes from eight different states undecided in the days following the election. Hawaii was one of those states. 

By Dec. 9 of that year, Kennedy had accumulated enough electoral votes to win the White House, but Hawaii’s winner was still in question. While the presidency did not depend on Hawaii’s three electoral votes, Democrats there had challenged the initial returns that gave Nixon a 141-vote edge, or 0.08 percent margin of victory.

Based on the original count in favor of Nixon, the acting governor of Hawaii, Republican James Kealoha, certified the Republican electors on Nov. 28, 1960. On Dec. 13, over the objections of the state attorney general, state circuit court Judge Ronald Jamieson ordered a recount. Then, on Dec. 19, both the Nixon and Kennedy electors met, “cast their votes for President and Vice President, and certified their own meeting and votes.” 

In casting their electoral ballots for Kennedy, the three Hawaiian Democrats certified they were the “duly and legally qualified and appointed” electors for president and vice president for the state of Hawaii and that they had been “certified (as such) by the Executive.” The Hawaii electors further attested: “We hereby certify that the lists of all the votes of the state of Hawaii given for President, and of all the votes given for Vice President, are contained herein.”

Two of the three Democrat electors were retired federal judges, William Heen and Delbert Metzger, and Heen personally mailed the Democrat electoral votes to Congress on Dec. 20. In fact, the envelope containing the certificates, further attested: “We hereby certify that the lists of all the votes of the state of Hawaii given for president … are contained herein.”

Ten days later, on Dec. 30, 1960, Judge Jamieson held that Kennedy had won the election. In so holding, Jamieson stressed the importance of the Democrat electors having met on Dec. 19, as prescribed by the Electoral Count Act, to cast their ballots in favor of Kennedy. That step allowed the Hawaii governor to then certify Kennedy as the winner of Hawaii’s three electoral votes and, in turn, Congress to count Hawaii’s electoral votes in favor of Kennedy.

The Peach State Repeat

The Georgia situation in 2020 mirrored the events of 60 years ago in Hawaii. 

Election day in 2020 fell on Nov. 3, although by then many ballots had already been cast, given the adoption of mass mail-in and early voting. Trump held a lead in Georgia until the morning of Friday, Nov. 6, when Biden overtook the incumbent. With the margin remaining tight, on Nov. 11, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a statewide audit. 

Following the audit, Biden remained in the lead by approximately 12,000 votes, leading Raffensperger to certify the election results on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. Republic Gov. Brian Kemp signed the certification the same day. Then on Nov. 21, Trump requested a recount, as allowed under Georgia law given the closeness of the count.

On Dec. 4, 2020, then-President Trump and Republican elector David Shafer filed suit in a Fulton County state court against Raffensperger, arguing tens of thousands of votes counted in the presidential election had been cast in violation of Georgia law. While Trump’s lawsuit was still pending, on Dec. 7, 2020, based on the recount, Raffensperger recertified Biden as the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes by a margin of 11,779. 

Trump and Shafer’s Fulton County lawsuit contesting the election results remained pending on Dec. 14, 2020, the date the presidential electors were required by federal law to meet. Thus, while the Democrat electors met and cast their ballots for Joe Biden, the Republican electors met separately and cast their 16 votes for Trump. 

At that time, Shafer made clear the Trump electors had met and cast their votes to ensure Trump’s legal battle in court remained viable. Nonetheless, following Biden’s election, Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis targeted the Republican electors as part of her criminal special purpose grand jury investigation.

While the grand jury has since issued a report and been disbanded, Willis agreed to grant immunity to eight of the electors, likely to push them to implicate the other electors. However, their lawyer confirmed in a court filing that none of the electors implicated anyone in criminal activity. 

Since then, Shafer’s attorneys, Holly Pierson and Craig Gillen, wrote Willis a detailed letter reviewing the Hawaii precedent. The attorneys noted they had made three prior written requests to meet “to discuss the factual and legal issues” relevant to Shafer’s role as a contingent Trump elector but had “not yet received any response to those requests.” 

The 11-page, single-spaced letter then proceeded to detail both the Hawaii precedent for Shafer’s actions following the 2020 election and the legal advice the Republican elector received that “he and the other contingent presidential electors should meet at the state capitol building on December 14, 2020, and perform the duties of a presidential elector to preserve potential remedies in the event Trump et al. v. Raffensperger, et al. was successful.” 

In addition to detailing the Hawaii precedent from 1960, Shafer’s lawyers highlighted the fact that in contesting the 2000 election, lawyers for then-Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore cited that very precedent to support his position that two elector slates could be appointed. In fact, Democrat Rep. Patsy Mink of Hawaii suggested the 2000 Florida electoral dispute be resolved based on that Hawaii precedent too. And three Supreme Court justices in Bush v. Gore cited the Hawaii precedent as a basis for allowing the Florida recount to proceed. 

As the letter and Hawaii precedent make clear, Shafer and the other Trump electors not only did nothing wrong, but they acted prudentially to ensure that if the state court lawsuit resolved in the president’s favor, Georgia’s electoral votes would be properly counted on Jan. 6, 2020.

Here we see one of the only differences between Trump’s legal challenge and Kennedy’s: The Hawaii state court promptly resolved the merits of Kennedy’s legal challenge, while in violation of the Georgia Election Code that requires lawsuits contesting elections to be heard within 20 days, the Fulton County court delayed assigning a judge to hear Trump’s election dispute and then delayed the first scheduled hearing until Jan. 8, 2021 — two days after Congress certified Biden the winner of the 2020 election. 

Now you know the rest of the story. There were no fake electors. The question now is whether Willis will charge Shafer and others with fake crimes.

Margot Cleveland is The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.

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Allison Weisenberger Op-ed: Biden’s Title 42 disaster is making America Los Angeles


Allison Weisenberger

 By Allison Weisenberger | Fox News | Published May 15, 2023 4:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/bidens-title-42-disaster-is-making-america-los-angeles

To say that our border is about to be overwhelmed with the end of Title 42 is an understatement. Our border and the heroic men and women who patrol it have been overwhelmed for more than two years now. Now the dam – long spilling over – is about to break, and communities in border states are going to experience chaos and lawlessness like this country has not yet seen. 

As a mother of young children living in Los Angeles County, I can tell you that soft border policies are in direct conflict with any parent seeking to keep their children safe. This isn’t the Los Angeles of yesteryear. 

We have already seen the footage of the streets of El Paso, Texas, completely overrun. You have seen the images of massive amounts of people lining up at our border on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande Valley. Border Patrol intelligence revealed more than 700,000 migrants were waiting in Mexico for Title 42 to expire – this figure is larger than the population of El Paso, (600,000).

The only way to end this crisis, and to head off the much worse one literally waiting on America’s doorstep, is to change policy.

Even worse than the visible tsunami of people showing up to claim asylum, numbers of known “gotaways” are also already through the roof, according to Homeland Security’s own statistics. These are the ones who do not surrender themselves to law enforcement or try to apply for asylum; they’re the ones who have to run and avoid authorities to get into the United States. As former Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan explains, these are the worst of the worst actors, and include murderers, sexual predators and gang members, to name a few.

DHS SEC. MAYORKAS TAKES VICTORY LAP AS BORDER SURGE CONTINUES

I live in a city close to the border – one overrun by a crime wave that has only worsened during the course of this manmade disaster. Unless the proper steps are taken, what my family and other southern Californians have experienced for more than two years will become the new daily reality for cities, towns and neighborhoods across America. 

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From 2020 to 2022, homicides, robberies, assaults and car thefts all increased by double-digit rates amid Soros-backed District Attorney George Gascon’s efforts to shield illegal aliens from prosecutions, in a city where 1 in 5 people are either here illegally themselves or live with someone who is. With more people pouring over the border, with Border Patrol even more overwhelmed, and with more bad actors using this crisis to evade authorities, things are going to get much, much worse in the City of Angels.

Meanwhile, more Americans died from fentanyl in 2021 than during the entire course of the Vietnam War. Fentanyl deaths among American children and teens have also spiked, a heartbreaking reality of our border crisis. More chaos means more cover for traffickers, and that will mean more weapons-grade poisons on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and at our kids’ schools.

Now, without even this remnant of a Band-Aid solution, this crisis is only going to get worse. U.S. authorities will be more overwhelmed than ever before, and bad actors are going to escape past them into the interior.

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ENDING TITLE 42 PROVES BIDEN’S BORDER DISASTER COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

The reality is that the Biden administration has been using Title 42 – a public health measure used during the pandemic – as a stopgap measure to mitigate the impending chaos of his own disastrous open-borders policies. Biden’s own administration asked the courts to prolong Title 42 just a few months ago.

Our Border Patrol agents have been stretched further than ever thought possible for the duration of this crisis. With Title 42 gone, it only makes sense to wonder if there are any agents left to arrest bad guys and seize deadly drugs like fentanyl, or if the entire agency is going to be overwhelmed with the influx of paperwork.

President Biden made headlines recently by announcing that his administration would send 1,500 troops to the border. Anyone with sense knows this is for show. Biden could mobilize the entire 82nd Airborne Division and it would not make any difference as long as our policies encourage lawlessness, empower cartels, and enable the industrial-level trafficking and smuggling operation that has been a reality in border states every single day since Biden took office. 

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The only way to end this crisis, and to head off the much worse one literally waiting on America’s doorstep, is to change policy. 

That means ensuring that the laws duly passed by the American people are faithfully enforced. It means giving American authorities the tools they need to confront and destroy the cartels enriching themselves off this crisis through incalculable human suffering. It means finishing the wall – including other necessary infrastructure such as access roads. 

Last week, House Republicans delivered on their promise to pass a strong border bill; now it’s time for them to use the power of the purse to bring Biden and Senate Democrats to the table on this issue. They have already shown it can be done on the debt ceiling, thanks to the backbone of the House Freedom Caucus. Just like we have to fix federal spending so that we don’t drown our children in debt, we have to secure our border to protect our children’s safety. 

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The preamble to our Constitution outlines some of the most critical duties of any good government, and among them is the duty to “establish Justice and insure domestic Tranquility.” 

American families deserve better than chaos and confusion. Our kids deserve better than to grow up unprotected from overdoses and smugglers. Migrants deserve better than a reckless promise of exploiting the American asylum process only to be exploited themselves in return. 

In order for America to be truly free, the rule of law must prevail. In order to be a place worth living, our streets and communities must be safe for American families to raise their children.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY ALLISON WEISENBERGER

Allison Weisenberger is a founder and vice president of Women for America. You can follow her on Twitter @AllisonJanel

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Durham finds DOJ, FBI ‘failed to uphold’ mission of ‘strict fidelity to the law’ in Trump-Russia probe


Brooke Singman

By Brooke Singman | Fox News | Published May 15, 2023 3:28pm EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/durham-doj-fbi-failed-uphold-mission-strict-fidelity-law-trump-russia-probe

FIRST ON FOX: Special Counsel John Durham found that the Department of Justice and FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation.

Fox News Digital obtained Durham’s report Monday afternoon after his years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI’s original investigation, known as “Crossfire Hurricane.” That investigation looked into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Durham was set to release his report Monday afternoon – the report spans more than 300 pages.

“Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,” the report said.

Durham added that his investigation also revealed that “senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities.” 

“This information in part triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” the report states. “In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump’s political opponents.” 

“The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence,” the report states. 

Durham said there is a “continuing need for the FBI and the Department to recognize that lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an over-willigness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents caused investigators to fail to adequately consider alternative hypotheses and to act without appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a U.S. political campaign and a foreign power.” 

“Although recognizing that in hindsight much is clearer, much of this also seems to have been clear at the time,” Durham’s report states. “We therefore believe it is important to examine past conduct to identify shortcomings and improve how the government carries out its most sensitive functions.” 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller completed his investigation in April 2019, which yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election.

John durham special counsel
Special Counsel John Durham was appointed in 2019 after the release of the Mueller report to probe the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. ((Photo by Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images))

Durham indicted three people as part of his investigation: former Clinton attorney Michael Sussmann in September 2021, Igor Danchenko in November 2021 and Kevin Clinesmith in August 2020. Sussmann and Danchenko were found to be not guilty. Clinesmith pleaded guilty and served community service time.

The report states that Clinesmith “committed a criminal offense by fabricating language in an email that was material to the FBI obtaining a FISA surveillance order.”

“In other instances, FBI personnel working on that same FISA application displayed, at best, a cavalier attitude towards accuracy and completeness,” it says. 

“FBI personnel also repeatedly disregarded important requirements when they continued to seek renewals of that FISA surveillance while acknowledging – both then and in hindsight – that they did not genuinely believe there was probable cause to believe that the target was knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of a foreign power, or knowingly helping another person in such activities,” the report continued. “And certain personnel disregarded significant exculpatory information that should have prompted investigative restraint and re-examination.”

Durham’s report “does not recommend any wholesale changes in the guidelines and policies that the Department and the FBI now have in place to ensure proper conduct and accountability in how counterintelligence activities are carried out.” 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her at Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.

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DOJ ‘turning a blind eye’ as Biden corruption informant reportedly goes missing, says GOP rep


By Taylor Penley | FOXBusiness | Published May 15, 2023 11:29am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fbi-doj-turning-blind-eye-biden-corruption-informant-missing-gop-rep

Republicans’ search for a key Biden corruption informant continues as Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., revealed over the weekend that a key source in the effort to dig deeper into the alleged Biden family bribery scheme is nowhere to be found. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., confirmed GOP officials still could not “track down” the key witness as of Monday morning, telling FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the federal agencies such as the FBI and DOJ have “turned a blind eye” to both the missing informant and the Biden family’s alleged corruption.

“The telling thing about this is that our Federal Bureau of Investigation and our Justice Department have basically just turned a blind eye to all of this and now it’s come down to the point where speaker McCarthy has to have a one-on-one meeting with Director Wray over the way that they’ve handled this and bungled this thing from the start,” the Oversight Committee member and Foreign Affairs Committee member said on “Mornings with Maria.”

ELON MUSK FIRES TWITTER LAWYER JIM BAKER, WHO WAS INVOLVED IN CENSORING HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP AND RUSSIA PROBE

Hunter Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden (R) and his son Hunter Biden walk to a vehicle after disembarking Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 16, 2022. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“They went after George Santos and, as I said, he’s relatively small potatoes, yet, when you have over ten million reasons to look at this White House and is going on – corruption and influence peddling – they even have a report that they issued apparently, but they are not very forthcoming with it as well,” he continued.  

Comer, who has been among Republicans’ top advocates for uncovering the truth about the Biden family’s alleged shady business dealings, told Bartiromo on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” the stunning revelations that are adding fuel to the fire in the ongoing congressional probe.

“Nine of the 10 people that we’ve identified that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they’re one of three things, Maria. They’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing,” Comer said.

MARIA BARTIROMO LEARNS STUNNING REVELATIONS ABOUT BIDEN FAMILY INVESTIGATION WITH REP. JAMES COMER

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Rep. James Comer on Biden probe findings: Clearly a trail of corruption that leads to the top

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., discusses the House Oversight Committee’s Biden family business probe findings and the impact on president’s policy decisions.

“So, it’s of the utmost importance that the FBI work with us to be able to try to identify what research they’ve done, what investigations they’ve done, because we have people that want to come forward, but honestly, they fear for their lives.”

Burchett said Republicans would have a long wait if they expect the FBI to look into the incident.

“They don’t give a rip,” he said. “They just basically sent a flippant return to us about our inquiries into this whole mess, and it just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

“Then-Vice-President Biden was lecturing the people of Romania about their ethics and corruption. At the same time, his son and his business associates were taking over $1 million from a Romanian who was basically under investigation for corruption,” he said. 

JAMES COMER: MULTIPLE BANKS SUSPECTED BIDEN FAMILY WAS INVOLVED IN MONEY LAUNDERING

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Newsweek editor Josh Hammer raises eyebrows over missing Hunter Biden informant: ‘What is going on here?’

Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer responds to Reps. James Comer and Tim Burchett’s claims that the Biden White House is intimidating informants and the Biden administration’s claims that ‘White supremacy’ is the greatest threat in the U.S.

Burchett blasted the Biden family for maintaining an alleged “arrogance that is beyond belief,” adding that the money trail the family left behind is “easy to follow.”

Responding to Bartiromo’s question concerning how congressional Republicans can hold federal agencies’ feet to the fire, Burchett said House Republicans have the power of the purse and can use that power accordingly.

“The Congress is this country’s checkbook, and we can start cutting funds to the FBI,” he said.

“It’s not the rank-and-file FBI agents [behind this]… it’s this top level of arrogance that we’ve seen. It is the swamp. It does exist, and that’s what we’ll have to do. We’ll have to start cutting their checkbook a little bit just to get them to the table if that’s what it takes.”

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McCarthy: Too ‘Far Apart’ for Debt Deal by Weekend


By Eric Mack    |   Monday, 15 May 2023 02:37 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/debt-ceiling-talks-house/2023/05/15/id/1119869/

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blasted President Joe Biden for being disingenuous and failing to negotiate on the House-passed debt ceiling package, saying time is running out and Biden wants debt default more than a deal.

“I still think it’s far apart,” McCarthy told a reporter Monday while walking through the Capitol Building. “It doesn’t seem to me yet they want a deal. It just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting, but they aren’t talking anything serious.”

McCarthy cited the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report released recently that was forced to raise the debt estimates from the February report.

“In the meantime, we just watched the CBO come out and say we’re $100 billion further in debt,” McCarthy said. “It seems more like they want a default than a deal to me.”

Time is running out to reach a deal before the June warning of surpassing the debt limit and sending the U.S. into debt default for the first time.

“I think we’ve got to have a deal done by this weekend to have a timeline to be able to pass it in both houses,” McCarthy said.

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Today’s TWO Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – No Middle Ground

A.F. BRANCO | on May 14, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-no-middle-ground/

Gov DeSantis is NO Donald Trump but he’s Far better than Minnesota Gov Tim Walz.

DeSantis vs Walz
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Mission Accomplished

A.F. BRANCO | on May 15, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-mission-accomplished-2/

The CNN town hall with Trump looked more like a debate than a town hall.

CNN Trump Town Hall Cartoon
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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SUMMING UP THE WEEK OF MAY 12, 2023


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America under threat from syncretism, George Barna says in study; churches urged to respond


By Leonardo Blair, Senior Features Reporter | FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/america-under-threat-from-syncretism-george-barna-says.html?clickType=link-topbar-news

A man reading the Bible. | Getty Images

While the World Health Organization has declared that COVID-19 is no longer a “public health emergency,” America’s embrace of syncretism — the fusion of different religions — and the growing rejection of a biblical worldview remains a threat to general quality of life in a post-pandemic world, especially for children, new research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University suggests.

“During times of crisis, every generation turns to their worldview to navigate the challenges. Sadly, because syncretism is the prevailing worldview of each generation in America today, the response of Americans to the pandemic and the political turbulence it facilitated have been every bit as muddled and chaotic as the worldview on which they are based,” wrote George Barna, director of research at the Cultural Research Center on the findings from his research.

“The ideological and philosophical confusion that characterizes America is perhaps the biggest reflection of the nation’s rejection of biblical principles and its decision to replace God’s truth with ‘personal truth.’”

Using recent data from the American Worldview Inventory, which is the first-ever national survey conducted in the United States measuring the incidence of both biblical and competing worldviews, Barna shows how the four adult generations in the U.S. — millennials, Gen X (baby busters), baby boomers and elders — had very different spiritual responses to the pandemic.

The research, which involved the tracking of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults undertaken in January, showed the lowest incidence of adults with a biblical worldview among the youngest cohorts, millennials, adults born between 1984 and 2002, and Gen X, adults born from 1965 through 1983.

The data show that of the four generations, millennials had the lowest incidence of biblical worldview at 2%. Their connection to Christianity was also shown as quite weak before the pandemic and “was even weaker by the end of the COVID-19” pandemic. 

“Millennials were hit hard by the pandemic in dimensions such as their emotions, finances, vocation, relationships, and ideology,” Barna wrote.

Only 5% of Gen X adults held a biblical worldview, according to the data. The study shows that Gen X endured the greatest degree of “spiritual turbulence,” with 10 statistically significant changes and two notable directional changes.

“In all but one instance, those changes showed Gen Xers moving away from biblical perspectives or behaviors. In general, the nature of the spiritual transitions among Gen Xers during the pandemic era was a shift away from trust in God. Among the biggest changes in their religious perspective were declines in believing God created humans, that He is the basis of truth, and that He is the omniscient and omnipotent ruler of the universe,” Barna noted.

“Those doubts have precipitated important transitions in religious behavior, including less frequent Bible reading, church attendance, confession of personal sin, seeking to do God’s will, and worshiping God. Another noteworthy shift is the decline in how many Gen Xers believe that human life is sacred.”

Baby boomers, adults born between 1946 and 1964, and elders, adults 77 and older, were shown to be the most likely among adults to hold a biblical worldview. However, they were still in the minority among their respective cohorts and showed declines over the course of the pandemic.

The biblical worldview incidence among boomers dropped from 9% to 7% over the past three years, while it dropped among elders from 9% to 8%.

Barna suggested that the decision by Christian churches to shutter during the pandemic wasn’t helpful for the American public because it left people unprepared for the challenges of a post-pandemic society.

“The last three years have been a time of high anxiety for tens of millions of adults. It was an ideal time for the Christian Church to provide wise guidance and emotional calm. Unfortunately, most churches agreed to the government’s dictate that they close their doors and remain mostly silent. That left an unprepared populace to follow the primary form of leadership available to them: government perspectives and policies,” Barna argued.

“Obviously, that has not worked well, given how dissatisfied a large majority of the country is with the direction of the nation and the quality of post-COVID life. With only one out of every 50 millennials embracing a biblical worldview, America’s children are especially vulnerable to the inward-looking approach to life that their parents and most other adults practice,” he added.

“As a nation, we may be past the danger of COVID-19, but we are in the thick of the danger brought about by people relying upon syncretism as their dominant worldview. Biblical churches must see this as a time for an urgent response to the direction society is taking. While the Left pursues the Great Reset, it is time for the Church to pursue the Great Renewal — leading people’s hearts, minds, and souls back to God and His life principles.”

Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost

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Exclusive: RNC Launches New Year-Round Election Integrity Department Ahead Of 2024


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | MAY 12, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/12/exclusive-rnc-launches-new-year-round-election-integrity-department-ahead-of-2024/

GOP Debate

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The Republican National Committee (RNC) is gearing up for next year’s presidential race with the launch of a new department dedicated solely to election integrity. The new internal infrastructure will bring on year-round staff operating new technology designed to facilitate recruitment and litigation, according to a 35-page report shared exclusively with The Federalist.

“The RNC built a historic election integrity program in 2022: we put 80,000 volunteers on the ground, secured key legal victories, and learned how we can grow even stronger in the future,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told The Federalist. “As we prepare for 2024, the RNC will establish a full-time permanent Election Integrity Department that will combine our existing tools to build on our unprecedented progress.”

The report sent to RNC members Thursday details the party’s plans to transform the GOP’s election integrity efforts from pop-up operations into year-round initiatives that remain ongoing immediately after each election. Prior to 2021, the national Republican Party was restricted from engaging in electoral oversight, such as hiring poll watchers over a 1981 consent decree. That meant any initiatives designed to maintain integrity in American elections were patchwork efforts coordinated by independent campaigns with the support of the GOP congressional campaign committees. The decades-long order was lifted in 2018 after more than three decades, and the party officially resumed efforts on poll watching and voter fraud in the 2021-2022 election cycle.

“The need for the RNC to be the permanent and year-round home for the Republican [Election Integrity Operations] is glaringly obvious, and the party is fortunate that we now have that,” the report reads. “For the past two years, the RNC has worked tirelessly as a bridge among those groups with unprecedented cooperation.”

The RNC is now preparing to hire an army to the tune of “tens of thousands” of attorneys and poll watchers with an aggressive litigation strategy to ensure a free and fair election next year.

“Beginning with the successful 2021 operations in Virginia and New Jersey, the RNC established a multifaceted [Election Integrity Operations] program in partnership with the NRSC and NRCC that resulted in dozens of lawsuits,” wrote Ashley MacLeay and Art Wittich, who chaired the RNC committee behind the report.

The fallout from the 2020 election, wherein Democrats exploited lockdown-era protocols to radically expand unsupervised access to the ballot box, has led the GOP to prioritize election integrity as a pillar of the RNC’s 2024 campaign strategy.

Three years ago, Democrat operatives through Facebook’s Center for Tech and Civic Life took over the administration of elections and erected ballot boxes in liberal strongholds to gin up turnout. Mark Zuckerberg’s project gave more than $400 million to the effort, with only a small fraction of the “Zuckbucks” spent in areas won by President Donald Trump.

[READ: The 2020 Election Wasn’t Stolen, It Was Bought By Mark Zuckerberg]

Other efforts by Democrats to rig the 2020 contest included turning election day into election season, with voters able to cast ballots weeks before November, absent of the typical safeguards that protect against fraud. All happened while Big Tech conspired with the corporate press and even federal intelligence agencies to manipulate public opinion throughout the process.

While Republicans are limited with what they can do to confront the corporate collusion, the new RNC department marks an effort to master the mechanics of modern elections. The GOP is also planning to jump in the ballot harvesting game in states with loose restrictions. The party largely refrained from participating in the mass collection of ballots three years ago to the detriment of Republican candidates who faced Democrat opponents eager to exploit relaxed protocols.

Last fall, the RNC took a two-pronged approach to ballot harvesting: GOP attorneys fought to ban the practice in states such as Arizona, where attorneys were successful, while party workers took advantage of harvesting in states where efforts failed to rein in the rules.

[RELATED: Conservatives, Get Busy Ballot Harvesting Or Get Busy Losing]

“The RNC ballot harvested where the law allowed it in 2022, helping to secure key congressional wins that flipped the House,” McDaniel told The Federalist. “We will build on and expand those efforts in 2024 where legal while still holding Democrats accountable for bad laws that undermine election integrity.”

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.

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9 Questions Corporate Media Should Ask Biden About Latest Corruption Evidence But Won’t


BY: JORDAN BOYD | MAY 12, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/12/9-questions-corporate-media-should-ask-biden-about-latest-corruption-evidence-but-wont/

President Joe Biden talks to the press

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Corrupt corporate media outlets love scandal but when it comes to questions about whether President Joe Biden sold out the U.S. to enrich his family, they deliberately turn a blind eye.

There are plenty of questions ripe for the asking about the Biden family’s dealings with people tied to some of the nation’s biggest foreign adversaries. Republicans have spent months searching for answers, but every piece of evidence of corruption they uncover simply raises more questions. Meanwhile, press outlets that usually busy themselves with aiding Democrat investigations of this nature either deny the evidence or remain silent altogether.

Here are nine questions the corporate media should ask POTUS about his latest scandal but likely won’t.

1. What Exactly Is the Biden Family Business?

Perhaps the biggest question the American people deserve to know an answer to is: What exactly does the Biden family do to warrant massive payments from foreign nationals? Outside of spending decades influencing U.S. domestic and foreign policy, nobody seems to know.

“We know what [Trump’s] businesses were. I’m not saying whether I agreed with what he did or not but I actually know what these businesses are. What are the Biden businesses?” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer asked during a press conference this week.

2. Why Did Your Unqualified Grandchild Get Paid?

Joe Biden’s son Hunter receiving checks from foreign energy moguls makes some sense if you overlook his suspect rise to fame in the international energy sector. Why at least one of Biden’s grandkids, some nieces or nephews, and even an ex-daughter-in-law are all on the receiving end of funds from foreign nationals is unexplainable.

Despite having no formal experience or education that would qualify them to receive payments from foreign energy companies or “legal fees,” bank records show that at least nine people, between Biden family members and their lovers, spent decades getting rich on at least $10 million from people associated with some of the United States’ biggest foreign adversaries.

3. How Many More Bidens Received Money from Foreign Nationals?

If Hunter’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle profited off of deals she claimed to have “my head buried in the sand” about, it’s more than fair to ask the president just how many more members of the Biden circle benefitted from these international deals.

4. Why Dilute Payments from Foreign Nationals?

Payments to the Bidens were diced up and transferred to a spread of Biden associates before hitting the family’s bank accounts. These transactions often occurred within weeks of significant political action by the then-vice president in the country of the transactions’ origins.

“It’s very hard to come up with any legitimate business reason to conduct transactions in this type of complex way,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong noted during a recent Oversight Committee presser. “Why would separate payments go to Hunter Biden’s business and to himself individually? Why would Walker transfer money from his business account to his personal account before distributing the money? Why are other Biden family members receiving any of these payments?”

These are fair questions, based not on speculation but on the pure facts outlined in the Biden family bank records. If the Bidens’ multimillion-dollar “business” is legitimate, the president shouldn’t have a problem answering basic questions about the complexity of transactions from Chinese, Romanian, and other companies.

5. How Many More Biden Bank Accounts and Shell Companies Are There?

Republican investigators say they’ve looked into four of at least 12 apparently Biden-linked bank accounts and have discovered “a web” of more than 20 companies that were “formed during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.” The question of how many more are out there has yet to be determined but could be helped with clarification from the president.

6. Why Did You Repeatedly Lie about Your Knowledge of Hunter’s Dealings?

During a presidential debate in October 2020, Biden told the nation that neither he nor any of his family members profited from overseas business deals with companies connected to communist China.

That is completely false. It’s also evident that Biden knew about his family’s dealings.

In fact, visitor logs show that Hunter’s associates visited the White House more than 80 times while the elder Biden was vice president. During some of these meetings, several of Hunter’s closest assistants and business partners met with Biden and Biden aides and even attended VP briefings. Vice President Biden also welcomed Hunter on several official trips on Air Force Two, which Hunter appeared to use to secure deals that would enrich his family.

Why would the president go to great lengths to lie over and over and over about it?

7. Should Presidents’ Families Make Money off of People Associated with Our Top Foreign Enemy?

The White House maintains Biden’s hands are clean. Yet, even if Republicans do not find a direct link between the president and the millions sustaining his family’s lavish lifestyles, as corporate media repeatedly and hypocritically demand, he is at least eligible for scrutiny just for his closeness to the alleged corruption.

Biden’s approval with Americans is already low. His proximity to the national security threat his family transactions pose only serves to further hurt that low trust.

8. Have You Instructed the DOJ to Avoid Taking Action against You and Your Family?

Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys in California and Washington, D.C. both apparently blocked the filing of criminal tax charges against Hunter Biden, according to one IRS whistleblower. The Department of Justice also gave potentially false statements about information on the Bidens’ business in China. And the FBI, which falls under the DOJ’s authority, has refused to turn over records that allegedly implicate Biden in a bribery scheme, despite a congressional subpoena. What’s stopping the DOJ from continuing to do what’s politically favorable for the president and his family by ignoring the issue at hand? Certainly not Biden.

9. How Many Media Outlets Have You Asked to Defend You amid the Investigation?

Comer asked Democrats this week “Do you want to continue covering up the Bidens’ influence-peddling schemes when the evidence is being placed right in front of you?”

The same can be asked of the corrupt corporate media which, since before the 2020 election, offered the president and his family not scrutiny but defense. From the moment House Republicans officially launched an investigation into Biden’s corruption, the press inaccurately asserted there was “no evidence of wrongdoing.” In addition to repeatedly taking the White House’s assertions of innocence at face value, the press tried to distract from the Biden family’s scandals by conflating that corruption with the Trump family’s conduct and blacked out coverage of Comer’s ongoing supply of evidence.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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WaPo Accidentally Admits ‘Zuckbucks’ Were Used To Turn Out Likely-Democrat Voters In 2020


BY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD | MAY 12, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/12/wapo-accidentally-admits-zuckbucks-were-used-to-turn-out-likely-democrat-voters-in-2020/

Mark Zuckerberg giving a speech

Elon Musk shared a Federalist article on Twitter this week that detailed how “Zuckbucks” were used to influence the outcome of the 2020 election, and leftists are livid.

On Tuesday, the Twitter CEO linked to an October 2021 article, written by Federalist contributor William Doyle, that examines how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits such as the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) leading up to the 2020 presidential contest. CTCL and CEIR then poured these “Zuckbucks” into local election offices in battleground states around the country to change how elections were administered, such as by expanding unsupervised election protocols like mail-in voting and the use of ballot drop boxes.

Notably, Doyle’s article examines how these grants were heavily skewed toward Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive, privately funded Democrat get-out-the-vote operation. Organizations such as the Capital Research Center have also released detailed analyses on the partisan distribution of these funds.

While Musk simply referred to the article as “interesting,” that was apparently too much for Washington Post columnist Philip Bump to handle. In response, Bump penned an article titled, “Musk shares baseless election claim with millions of Twitter users,” in which he attempted to smear the Twitter CEO and discredit The Federalist’s article.

“This is a common way in which Musk elevates right-wing rhetoric. He’ll often engage with fringe voices by declaring their commentary to be “concerning” — suggesting it’s just something worth mulling over,” complained Bump in melodramatic fashion.

But then Bump openly admits the purpose of “Zuckbucks” wasn’t to help election offices “promote safe and reliable voting” during the Covid outbreak, as CTCL and CEIR originally claimed, but to increase voter turnout in Democrat-majority areas.

Much of the analysis in the Federalist article centers on the idea that these investments were larger in more-Democratic counties, using that as a peg for the argument that the investments were partisan and critical to Biden’s success.

But that argument is easily countered. CTCL’s investments were often in heavily Democratic areas — because those areas often have lower turnout rates. If you want to increase turnout, the smartest place to try to do so is places where turnout is lowest. In the United States, that’s often lower-income communities and communities that have high populations of Black and Hispanic residents, two groups that often vote heavily Democratic.

In trying to explain away the disparities in “Zuckbucks” distribution, Bump instead admits a Democrat get-out-the-vote effort is exactly what happened. While Zuckerberg’s donations to CTCL and CEIR were marketed as just a good-faith initiative to ensure Covid didn’t disrupt local election administration, House Republicans later discovered that less than 1 percent of CTCL’s 2020 funds were spent on personal protective equipment.

“The argument has gone from: Private funding from CTCL for election administration offices was only meant to help the elections run smoothly,” to “CTCL poured money into Democratic strongholds to boost turnout and that’s a good thing,” tweeted Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

Whether they realize it or not, Bump and the Post are admitting the main purpose of “Zuckbucks” was to boost turnout among voters in Democrat strongholds. It’s a remarkable fact that, for once, the Post got right.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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John K. Amanchukwu, Sr. Op-ed: We must save our schools to save our children from crime epidemic


Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, Sr.

 By Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, Sr. | Fox News | Published May 12, 2023 8:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/we-must-save-our-schools-save-our-children-crime-epidemic

Last month, in a shocking display of mob violence, hundreds of teenagers took to the streets in Chicago, smashing car windows, firing guns, and even assaulting innocent bystanders. It’s a scene that has become all too familiar throughout the country in recent months amid a youth crime wave that has devastated families and communities and revealed a stunning lack of moral foundation in our youngest generation. 

While many Americans are rightfully demanding that political leaders do more to end the lawlessness and punish offenders – including ending the war on police – city halls and state legislatures can only put a Band-Aid on a much deeper problem. When it comes to youth crime, if we want to end the violence in our streets, we must start raising the standards in our schools. 

There is no denying that the American education system is failing students – especially students in low-income, urban areas. In Chicago, 18 schools had zero students who rated as proficient in either math or reading in 2022. In Baltimore City Public Schools, 90% of students are not proficient in math, and 80% of elementary students are not proficient in English. The graduation rate is just 69%. 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN A BLACK LIVES MATTER MARCH, TEACHES ‘PYRAMID OF HATE’

Some districts have given up entirely on improving learning outcomes. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, teachers are simply handing out higher grades even as fewer and fewer students meet state testing standards. 

Frederick Douglas High School in Baltimore. Nearly half of the high school students in Baltimore City Public Schools earned below a 1.0 GPA during the first three quarters of the school year.
Frederick Douglas High School in Baltimore. Nearly half of the high school students in Baltimore City Public Schools earned below a 1.0 GPA during the first three quarters of the 2020-2021 school year.  (Baltimore City Public Schools)

Politicians, especially on the left, have been quick to blame pandemic for these alarming figures. But the hard truth is our schools were failing long before COVID-19. In 2019, prior to the lockdowns, just 37% and 32% of students rated as proficient in reading and math, respectively, across all of Illinois. In 2018, 140 New York City schools had at least one grade where more than 90% of students failed state competency tests. 

It’s not a question of funding, either. Baltimore City Public Schools ranks fourth nationally in funding on a per-student basis. The New York City education budget was 89% above the national average last year – $37,000 per student. In total, the federal government distributed $190 billion to schools in COVID-19 relief funds. 

So why is student achievement continuing to slip, going hand-in-hand with a precipitous rise in violence both in and out of classrooms? 

One big reason is that schools have stopped teaching hard skills like reading and math and are instead peddling left-wing grievance politics like critical race theory and radical gender theory. CRT teaches kids – especially Black kids – that racial minorities are marginalized in this country, and that lashing out in acts of violence and looting are ways of “leveling the playing field.” 

Video

The so-called “equity” agenda is a particularly sinister aspect of this worldview. In schools, “equity” means lowering the bar for all students in order to manufacture the same outcome for everyone, destroying merit and any incentive for high achievement along the way.  

CRT and “equity” training teach kids the lie that concepts like rationality and hard work, rather than forming the bedrock of a happy and prosperous life, are “racist” and don’t matter anyway because success or failure is pre-determined by skin color, gender, and sexual orientation. 

This lie is especially harmful for Black and low-income kids, who are the primary targets of the far left’s classroom indoctrination campaign. 

Many such students often lack a stable family life, and in particular a father in the home – another major driver of poor academic performance and lawless children. Without the solid moral grounding that strong families provide, kids in the school system are at the complete mercy of evil and twisted ideologies that encourage division and violence along racial and class lines. 

One big reason is that schools have stopped teaching hard skills like reading and math and are instead peddling left-wing grievance politics like critical race theory and radical gender theory. 

This has predictably led to the complete erosion of any form of discipline in our schools, and by extension our streets. If Black students believe that they are doomed to be victims of an irredeemably racist and corrupt society, is it any surprise that they have no interest in school and are prone to acts of destruction and violence? 

Meanwhile, school staff and even law enforcement officials have been effectively neutered by liberal politicians who view punishment for wrongdoing as just another relic of a “systemically racist” society. 

The results of this moral corruption of an entire generation of kids are truly tragic – even more so because they were avoidable. Last year, nine kids under 17 were killed between 2 and 5 p.m. on school days in Chicago. In New York City, 124 kids under 18 committed shootings in 2022. Other crimes like carjackings are also on the rise among young people, while violence inside of schools is at an all-time high. 

Addressing these problems starts first and foremost in the home. We desperately need to change the culture of fatherlessness in this country, particularly in the Black community, and return faith to a central place in our lives.  

Video

We also need to purge our schools of the divisive ideologies that are seeding resentment and self-loathing in our young people. Groups like 1776 Action, which I am proud to work alongside, are doing heroic work to achieve this goal, and their Parent Power Pledge is helping voters know which politicians will fight for change once elected. 

As I have seen in my own ministry and outreach, there is hope for the future. With the right approach, we can still save many young people from destroying themselves and their communities. But it’s going to take bold leadership, accountability for failing officials, and a commitment to education, not indoctrination, in our schools.  

Pastor John K. Amanchukwu Sr. is an influential preacher, author and activist who spreads God’s truth zealously and without fear. He is a senior fellow at 1776 Action and author. See www.ERACEDBOOK.COM.

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False leftist attacks on Justice Thomas are part of pressure campaign to undermine Supreme Court


 By John Yoo | Fox News | Published May 12, 2023 4:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/false-leftist-attacks-justice-thomas-part-pressure-campaign-undermine-supreme-court

The attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas for his friendship with Texas billionaire Harlan Crow not only continue an illegitimate political pressure campaign against the Supreme Court but also expose the moral vacuum that is Washington, D.C. 

ProPublica, a website funded by liberal millionaires, the Washington Post, a newspaper owned by a billionaire, and The New York Times, a media company long owned by a wealthy family, have runs stories over the last month claiming that Thomas has violated ethics codes governing federal judges.  

“This tangled web around Justice Clarence Thomas just gets worse and worse by the day,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-IL, said this week. Several of his colleagues have called for an investigation into Thomas and have made demands for confidential financial information from Crow. 

PENCE COMES OUT SWINGING IN SUPPORT OF CLARENCE THOMAS

But a close look shows that this supposed scandal amounts to little more than an accounting error that has never given rise to claims of scandal before, at least when liberal judges were involved. (In the interests of full disclosure, I served as a law clerk for Thomas at the Supreme Court and have had the honor to participate in panels and conferences with him.) 

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will survive the manufactured attacks on his ethics. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

In the first ProPublica report, critics attacked Thomas for failing to report in his financial disclosure forms that Crow had hosted him for trips on his private jet, yacht, and lodge. The financial reporting rules did not require disclosure of hospitality from personal friends – indeed, only in March, after these trips took place, did the federal judiciary decide that judges in future should report private jet travel or stays at commercial hotels.  

Although the article implied that Crow sought to buy influence with Thomas, the former runs a construction and real estate company that has no business before the Court. These critics will also want the IRS to force all of us to start reporting and paying taxes whenever we stay overnight at a friend’s home, take a ride in a car or enjoy a meal with buddies. 

The second attack occurred over Crow’s 2014 purchase of Thomas’s childhood home in Savannah, where the latter’s mother was still living at the time. Crow paid $133,363 for the property (Zillow appears to value the house now at more than $300,000) because he reportedly wanted to turn it into a museum about the justice’s youth.  

Crow has an affection for Americana – he has filled his office complex in Dallas with paintings, statutes, historical documents and memorabilia about the United States. Thomas, who had a one-third interest in the property, did not list the sale in his financial disclosure forms because he lost money on the deal; this was an error, but a small one that he will surely correct.  

But a close look shows that this supposed scandal amounts to little more than an accounting error that has never given rise to claims of scandal before, at least when liberal judges were involved.

It pales in comparison to other justices who have failed to recuse themselves in cases where the parties had paid them literally millions of dollars or have failed to report stock sales and spousal income. Don’t search for the stories attacking these liberal justices; no one thought much about it until after the ProPublica stories last month. 

The third attack reveals the moral emptiness of the Washington scandal machine at its worst. Thomas took in a grand-nephew who was struggling and sought to raise him, much as his own grandfather had taken over his own upbringing.  Crow paid for a few years of private school for the young boy. Thomas didn’t report it because the judicial ethics code only requires disclosure of such a gift if the boy had been his direct son, not a ward.  

Society should admire a man, who had already raised his own son, taking on responsibility for an at-risk youth. If anything, society should encourage more adults to support children who face difficult environments or don’t have the resources for a good education. But inside the Beltway, unelected media censors attack a morally good act simply because it wasn’t reported on the right form. 

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The thinness of these accusations, or, as former attorney general Michael Mukasey suggested, their hallucinatory quality, reveals that something else is going on. The first and most obvious agenda behind these attacks is the broader assault on the institution of the Supreme Court.  

Many Democrats during the 2020 elections promised that they would pack the Supreme Court because, thanks to then-President Donald Trump’s appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, it had come to hold a 6-3 conservative majority.  As the court deliberated over the Dobbs abortion case last year, someone at the court then took the unprecedented step of leaking the opinion, which prompted an assassination attempt on Kavanaugh.  Now that the conservative majority has overturned Roe v. Wade and expanded religious, speech and gun rights, furious leftists are rolling out a coordinated attack on the justices’ private friendships, finances and activities.  

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supreme court justices new session
The left’s assault on the record of Justice Clarence Thomas are part of an organized effort to attack the credibility of the Supreme Court.  (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)

Democratic senators won’t succeed in forcing any of the conservative justices to resign from the court, unless they can somehow convince a majority of the Republican House and two-thirds of their Senate colleagues to agree to impeach. But they want to undermine the legitimacy of the Supreme Court now so they can attack its independence in the future. If Biden retains the presidency and Democrats win back the House, court-packing legislation won’t be far behind. 

Journalists should not blindly advance such an obvious political agenda, but the pretend financial scandal feeds their own biases. Leftist politicians, and their media and academic helpers, have long targeted Thomas as being too weak for the job or some kind of race traitor. Current Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, for example, once accused Thomas of being a “house negro.” 

Commentators accused Thomas of simply following Justice Antonin Scalia and having no voice of his own. It seems undeniable that these attacks are racist in nature. Where are the articles that accuse Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the Dobbs opinion of being led around by an intellectually superior colleague, or that attack Kavanaugh for being unfaithful to the interests of Irish-Americans.  

Critics attack Thomas because he is a Black man who, by thinking for himself, has arrived at conservative constitutional principles at odds with the leftist civil rights leadership. 

As the court deliberated over the Dobbs abortion case last year, someone at the court then took the unprecedented step of leaking the opinion, which prompted an assassination attempt on Kavanaugh.  

In the Washington world dominated by a Democratic president and Senate, assisted by a sympathetic media and academy, only power explains the manufactured scandal over the Supreme Court, not morality. These critics are confronting a court that, for the first time in almost 90 years, is not helping them impose their vision of the future upon an unwilling American people.  They are willing to go to the extreme lengths of devising a false ethics scandal, unguided by any true sense of morality, to remove an obstacle to their progressive plans. After all, if the goal is ending social inequality, stopping racism or fighting global warming, true believers will not allow a little thing that judicial independence stand in their way. They forget that our nation depends not on the dictates of government, but on the intimate connections of friendship, family and local attachments that explain Thomas. 

Only in the Washington of today would morality become a matter of checking off boxes. Thomas’s critics would substitute ethics forms for asking the proper question of whether our judges and other leaders are actually doing the right thing.  

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, one of Thomas’s accusers, no doubt has legions of lawyers and accountants who fill out his campaign finance forms correctly, while he continues to be a member of an all-White beach club.  

Clarence Thomas attacks
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has been the subject of sharp attacks throughout his tenure since 1991. They have all failed. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Other members of Congress may file the right financial disclosure forms, even as they openly include legislative earmarks that sacrifice the public good for the benefit of favored corporations or campaign contributors. They cannot actually overcome the moral integrity of Justice Thomas – to which even retired justice Stephen Breyer recently attested – so instead they throw up a cloud of reporting violations.  

What Americans confused by this blizzard of accusations should ask is whether the justices of the Supreme Court have failed in their moral and constitutional duty to remain impartial in deciding cases, not whether they have failed in the Beltway’s gotcha ethics game. On this score, Thomas’s answer is a no. 

John Yoo is a professor of law at UC Berkeley and a Trustee of Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit legal organization that defends Americans’ individual liberty and constitutional rights.

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Uncertainty, Disarray Cloud Biden Border Policy as New Rules Take Hold


NEWSMAX | Friday, 12 May 2023 03:52 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/headline/biden-border-migrants/2023/05/12/id/1119625/

The Biden administration began implementing a sweeping policy shift at the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as a COVID-era order that had allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants expired and new asylum restrictions took effect amid confusion and uncertainty. Several last-minute court actions added to questions about how President Joe Biden’s reworked border strategy will play out, with advocates filing a legal challenge to the new asylum regulation as it was enacted.

Facing concerns that the end of a 3-year-old order – known as Title 42 – could further strain U.S. border facilities, cities and towns, U.S. officials were keeping a close eye on the movements of migrants that had already reached record numbers in recent days.

“We continue to encounter high levels of non-citizens at the border, but we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,” when Title 42 expired, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Blas Nunez-Neto told reporters on Friday.

Seeking to discourage migrants from traveling to the border, the Mexican government said its national migration institute has ordered its offices not to issue immigration documents or other permits enabling travel within the country, creating another obstacle for migrants. Though a chaotic race to U.S. border ports of entry on Thursday appeared to have given way to relative calm on Friday, there was a sense of confusion among some migrants.

At the U.S. border fence dividing El Paso, Texas, from Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez, hundreds of migrants who had slept there overnight formed a single file line to be brought into the U.S. by authorities and put on buses. Texas National Guard, state troopers and border agents patrolled the area. Immigration advocates represented by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge against the new asylum bars, claiming they violate U.S. and international laws.

Advocates argue the new regulation, put in place by Biden’s Democratic administration to curb illegal crossings, resembles restrictions imposed by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, that they had successfully blocked in court. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden regulation, saying it aims to encourage migrants to enter using legal pathways. “It’s going to be a tough transition,” he told MSNBC.

U.S. asylum officers hurried to figure out the logistics of what would be required to apply the new asylum regulation. Returns of some migrants to Mexico – Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans – were due to begin on Friday under the new border provisions, a homeland security official said.

SCRAMBLE AHEAD OF THE CHANGES

In chaotic scenes on Thursday, migrants scrambled to enter the country before the new rule went into effect. The regulation presumes most migrants are ineligible for asylum if they passed through other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere, or if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry, which Biden has expanded.

Tens of thousands of migrants this week waded through rivers, climbed walls and embankments onto U.S. territory. In San Diego, a Colombian man, who was among asylum seekers taken to a hotel for processing, said he and his wife crossed on foot east of Tijuana and spent four nights outside. He was granted an asylum hearing in 60 days and paroled.

“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” said the man, who described himself as a former Colombian air force member who had been threatened by armed groups in his homeland.

Around 25,000 migrants were being held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities near the border on Friday, down slightly from record highs earlier in the week, according to the National Border Patrol Council, a union for agents. About 10,000 migrants per day were reported crossing illegally this week.

A 17-year-old Honduran boy died after being found unconscious in a Florida shelter on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Unaccompanied children are exempt from the new regulation, and advocates have warned that parents might send their children across the border alone.

COVID EMERGENCY ENDS, ASYLUM BAN BEGINS

Trump first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 as COVID swept the globe, with U.S. health officials saying it was needed to curb the spread of the virus in detention facilities. The order allowed American authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico or other countries without a chance to request asylum.

Some Democrats and immigration advocates say Biden’s new regulation is too harsh. The measure also counters previous statements Biden made in 2020 on the campaign trail, when he said he thought it was “wrong” for people not to be able to seek asylum on U.S. soil.

Biden, who campaigned on reversing Trump’s policies and is now running for re-election in 2024, kept the order in place until now.

Migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes many repeat crossers.

Mexico has generally only accepted certain nationalities – its own citizens, migrants from northern Central America and more recently migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. So, during the same period, around 2.8 million migrants ineligible for expulsion were allowed into the United States under a process known as Title 8 to pursue their immigration claims in court, which can take months or years.

Republicans fault Biden for easing Trump’s more restrictive policies, while the Biden administration has blamed Republicans for blocking legislation to reform the immigration system.

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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A.F. Branco Cartoons Etc 05/11/2023


A.F. BRANCO | on May 11, 2023 at 4:57 pm

A.F. Branco Cartoons Etc 05/11/2023


See Video at https://rumble.com/embed/v2kkvrg/?pub=1545j1

A.F. Branco and Joe Dan go live Thursday, May 11, 2023 9:00pm EST – 6:00pm PST to discuss Tony’s latest cartoons and issues of the day such as the Trump CNN townhall, and the latest Biden scandal revelations.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

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