DHS Was Wrong About Russians Targeting At Least Two States’ Election Systems

The Department of Homeland Security was wrong when it told both California and Wisconsin that Russian hackers had tried to hack their election website and registration files.

The DHS notified 21 states including California and Wisconsin that Russian-linked individuals had tried to target either voter registration files or public election sites. The DHS is now claiming that these hackers targeted the California Department of Technology and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

“The work of our intelligence agencies is critical in defending against cyber threats. I remain committed to a partnership with DHS and other intelligence agencies, however, elections officials and the American public expect and deserve timely and accurate information,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement Wednesday.

Mark Thomsen, chairman of Wisconsin’s Elections Commission, said Tuesday, “Either they were right on Friday and this is a cover-up, or they were wrong on Friday and we deserve an apology.”

DHS spokesman Scott McConnell was rather unapologetic in a Tuesday statement to The Daily Caller.

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What Does Roy Moore’s Senate Primary Victory Mean For The GOP?

Roy Moore’s victory in the Alabama Republican Senate primary Tuesday appears to show Washington establishment Republicans are still not safe after President Trump’s insurgent 2016 candidacy.

“A stunning defeat for Mitch McConnell,” Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative, told The Daily Caller Wednesday about the election result.

Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange, who was endorsed by President Trump. Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, blamed presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner for the endorsement, telling TheDC it was a “shameful” move by Kushner.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon also privately charged that Trump’s son-in-law was responsible for the endorsement, according to a Republican Alabama political operative. A White House official has denied that Kushner was involved with the endorsement.


Bannon contended that Kushner pushed Trump to endorse Strange in order to please McConnell, according to the Alabama source. Another source close to the White House said that it was the Senate Majority Leader himself who pushed Trump to back Strange.

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Bama Blowout: Moore’s ‘Grassroots Muscle’ Beats Strange’s ‘Corporate Money’ in GOP Senate Runoff

Conservative grassroots Alabama Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore faces off against D.C. establishment Senator Luther Strange tonight, and all eyes will be on Alabama to see if Moore’s “grassroots muscle” will defeat Strange’s “corporate money.”

The D.C. establishment has poured at least $30 million into the race and reportedly gave President Donald Trump plenty of happy talk to convince him to campaign for Strange. The Swamp did so because they are reportedly terrified that if Moore wins tonight, other grassroots candidates will challenge, in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s words, Swamp creatures “in their own states.”

Just hours before polls closed in Alabama, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who would have faced a grassroots challenger in a primary, announced that he will retire at the end of his Senate term, essentially saying, “no mas.”

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon campaigned for Moore in Alabama on Monday and said that a vote for Moore is a vote for the economic nationalist agenda that got Trump elected. Trump campaigned for Strange last Friday in the Yellowhammer State, but many voters who attended the rally indicated that though they still support Trump, they will vote for Moore, who has led in every poll leading up to tonight’s runoff.

Trump, who never admits making a mistake, openly told the crowd that he may have done so by going against his grassroots supporters and endorsing and campaigning for Strange on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and all of the establishment-aligned groups that have shown nothing but utter disdain for grassroots conservatives and working-class Trump voters.

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Bannon to Hannity: If Moore Wins, ‘Real Review’ Needed to Find Out How Trump Got Bad Info, Came Down on Wrong Side

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon told Sean Hannity on Monday evening that if grassroots conservative candidate Roy Moore defeats D.C. establishment Senator Luther Strange on Tuesday, a “real review has to be done of how President Donald Trump got the wrong information and came down on the wrong side of the football here.”

Bannon gave Hannity his first cable television interview since leaving the White House after rallying for Moore in Alabama.

Bannon blasted the D.C. establishment and their preferred consultants like Karl Rove, Ward Baker, and Steven Law for having run the “cruelest, nastiest ads” that he has ever seen to “destroy Judge Moore” and his family to give “ammunition to Democrats later on if Judge Moore wins tomorrow.”

“This is the same thing they did with Donald Trump,” Bannon said, referring to the $30 million the establishment has spent to smear Moore. “The same gang that’s going after Roy Moore is the same gang that went after Donald Trump.”

The D.C. Swamp reportedly gave Trump a lot of “happy talk” and persuaded him to campaign for Strange because they fear that a Moore win will inspire other grassroots candidates to challenge, in Sarah Palin’s words, Swamp creatures “in their own states.”

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Bills Blocking Taxpayer Funding Of Sports Arenas Could Gain Steam In Midst Of Anthem Protests

Senators proposed a bill this summer to prevent federal taxpayer funding from going towards the construction of professional sports arenas, and after more players began supporting the protest of the national anthem before games, the legislation may begin to pick up steam.

A companion measure to the legislation was already proposed in the House back in March by Oklahoma Republican Rep. Steve Russell.

Last June, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Corey Booker and Republican Oklahoma Sen. Jim Lankford put forth a bill that would ban professional sports teams from using municipal bonds in relation to federal funding to build their sports arenas.

“Professional sports teams generate billions of dollars in revenue,” Booker said in a statement. “There’s no reason why we should give these multimillion-dollar businesses a federal tax break to build new stadiums. It’s not fair to finance these expensive projects on the backs of taxpayers, especially when wealthy teams end up reaping most of the benefits.”

The Oklahoma Republican senator agreed, saying, “The federal government is responsible for a lot of important functions, but financing sports stadiums for multi-million – sometimes billion – dollar franchises is definitely not one of them.”

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Zuckerberg Promises To Protect ‘Election Integrity’ After Handing Over Docs To Mueller

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a pledge during a live broadcast on his profile Thursday to protect “election integrity” — a response to clamoring over a Russia firm’s apparent attempt to influence U.S. politics on the platform.

“The integrity of our elections is fundamental to democracy around the world,” said Zuckerberg. “That’s why we’ve built teams dedicated to working on election integrity and preventing governments from interfering in the elections of other nations.”

The tech wunderkind plans on fulfilling this pledge in a number of ways, including by cooperating with congressional investigators and focusing more resources on the detection and potential censorship of violators. So far he and his company seem to be making an effort to satisfy the promise.

“In the next year, we will more than double the team working on election integrity. In total, we’ll add more than 250 people across all our teams focused on security and safety for our community,” said Zuckerberg, while enumerating a number of other changes.

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Even If Mueller Is Fired, ‘There No Escaping This Thing’

The Washington Post cited a government official Wednesday that said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation won’t end even if Trump fires Mueller.

“I am convinced that no matter where they end up, this investigation will run to completion even if they fire Mueller,” the official said, according to the Post. “There is a feeling of inevitability now that we didn’t have before — not of the outcome of the investigation, but that there will be an outcome. There is no escaping this thing, whatever the conclusions.”

The report also stated: “Mueller is moving as quickly as he can and is taking his three-part mandate very seriously, one government official told The Washington Post. He believes for the moment he has all the resources he needs and the office is now a fully-formed agency and using a grand jury for subpoenas and interviews vigorously, the official said.”

Mueller was given broad authority when he was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May. He is authorized to investigate any coordination or links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, any matters that “arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” and charges such as perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses, and destruction of evidence.

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Manafort Calls On DOJ To Release His Intercepted Communications With Foreigners

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is calling on the Justice Department to release transcripts of any intercepted communications he may have had with foreigners.

Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant, also called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate the leak of details of secret surveillance warrants obtained by U.S. investigators.

“Mr. Manafort requests that the Department of Justice release any intercepts involving him and any non-Americans so interested parties can come to the same conclusion as the DOJ — there is nothing there,” Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement.

On Monday, CNN reported that investigators obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Manafort prior to the presidential election. The wiretapping continued into early this year, according to CNN’s unnamed sources.

It is unclear whether the warrant was obtained before or after Manafort left the Trump campaign in August. According to CNN, the surveillance on Manafort, who has a residence in Trump Tower in New York, picked up conversations he had with Russian operatives about the election.

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Soros-Funded Activists Demand Democrats Oppose Border Security At Any Cost

Leading activist groups backed by pro-open borders financier George Soros are demanding that congressional Democrats obstruct any measures that allow the administration to enforce existing immigration law, even if they come as part of a package granting amnesty to more than 800,000 “DREAMers.”

Soros-backed “resistance” group Indivisible is partnering with the National Immigration Law Center and United We Dream to increase pressure on all congressional Democrats, but especially House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom the activists criticize for having a “cozy relationship with Trump.”

The activists are organizing phone call campaigns this week to pressure Democrats to reject any DACA legislation that includes funding for border security measures.

Both the NILC and United We Dream list the Open Society Foundations — Soros’ stated vehicle for progressive social change — as one of their key financial backers. Soros, a U.S. citizen who once admitted he considers himself “some kind of god” and has referred to national borders as an “obstacle,” uses OSF to influence immigration policies on a global scale.

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Mueller Picks Another Clinton/Obama Donor For Russia Probe Team

Yet another Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama donor has been picked to work on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of Russia investigators.

The latest hire is Kyle Freeny, a Justice Department attorney working in the agency’s international money laundering unit.

According to Politico, Freeny on Friday attended the grand jury testimony of Jason Maloni, the spokesman for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Politico notes that Freeny is the 17th attorney identified as a member of Mueller’s investigative team.

Mueller, a former FBI director, is conducting an expansive probe into possible campaign collusion involving the Trump team, as well as possible financial misdealings on the part of former Trump associates, such as Manafort. 

Freeny, who joined DOJ in 2007, has something in common with at least eight of her Mueller team members.

According to documents maintained by the Federal Election Commission, Freeny has donated in each of the past three presidential elections to Democratic nominees, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

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Susan Rice Admits Unmasking Trump Team After Denying Knowing Anything

Susan Rice admitted to lawmakers last week that she unmasked Trump transition team officials even though earlier this year she denied knowing anything about it.

Rice was asked by PBS Newshour‘s Judy Woodruff on March 22 about allegations that Trump transition officials were swept up in surveillance of foreigners at the end of the Obama administration.

“I know nothing about this,” Rice had said at the time.

However, last week, she told the House intelligence committee that she had unmasked Trump transition team members in order to understand why the Emrati crown prince was visiting New York late last year, according to a CNN report.

She said the Obama administration “felt misled” by the United Arab Emirates, who had not mentioned that the crown prince was visiting the country.

Rice’s admission also showed that Trump transition team members were indeed caught up in surveillance of a foreign target, confirming President Trump’s suspicions that his transition team was being surveilled.

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Here’s Susan Rice’s Explanation For Unmasking Trump Campaign Officials

Susan Rice, the national security adviser under President Obama, explained during an interview with the House Intelligence Committee last week why she unmasked members of the Donald Trump transition team.

CNN reports that Rice told the committee in a closed-door interview that she sought the names of senior Trump officials in order to find out why Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, decided to visit New York late last year.

Zayed met with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon on Dec. 15, sources told CNN.

Rice at one point earlier this year was at the center of allegations that she improperly unmasked Trump transition officials who were identified in reports compiled by the intelligence community.

But in an interview last Friday, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy hinted in an interview with The Daily Caller that Rice did not improperly unmask anyone on the Trump team. Nor did she leak classified information to the media, as some Republicans have suggested

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DWS IT Guy Was Banned From House After Trying To Hide Secret Server

A secret server is behind the Capitol Police’s decision to ban a former IT aide to Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the House network.

Now-indicted former congressional IT aide Imran Awan allegedly routed data from numerous House Democrats to a secret server. Police grew suspicious and requested a copy of the server early this year, but they were provided with an elaborate falsified image designed to hide the massive violations. The falsified image is what ultimately triggered their ban from the House network Feb. 2, according to a senior House official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The secret server was connected to the House Democratic Caucus, an organization chaired by then-Rep. Xavier Becerra. Police informed Becerra that the server was the subject of an investigation and requested a copy of it. Authorities considered the false image they received to be interference in a criminal investigation, the senior official said.

Data was also backed up to Dropbox in huge quantities, the official said. Congressional offices are prohibited from using Dropbox, so an unofficial account was used, meaning Awan could have still had access to the data even though he was banned from the congressional network.

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Federal Judge Rules To Withhold Important Information In Benghazi Case

Days before the fifth-year anniversary of the terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens, a federal judge ruled that jurors at the trial of Libyan radical Islamist Ahmed Abu Khattala, charged with organizing the September 11, 2012 assault, cannot be told information that may prove he threatened to murder one of Stevens’s successor, Politico reported.

Khattala’s trial is expected to happen later this month in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper prevented prosecutors from showing evidence to jurors that proves Khattala communicated to an ally about murdering the other U.S. ambassador in retaliation for the U.S.’s capture of another Libyan Islamist in 2012, Abu Anas Al-Libi.

Other American casualties of the Benghazi attack include diplomat Sean Smith and CIA security contractors Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Politico notes that although court filings do not name who the second ambassador is, it is likely U.S. Ambassador Deborah Jones, who succeeded Stevens and was confirmed to the Libya post in May 2013.  until July 2014, when the embassy was eventually shut down.

Judge Cooper also prohibited prosecutors from showing evidence that Khattala ordered associates to assassinate an American teacher in Libya.

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Bannon Tears Into The National Security Establishment Saying ‘I Hold These People In Contempt’

Bannon, who has returned to his former position at the helm of Breitbart News, singled out prominent Bush administration veterans, sarcastically calling them “geniuses” who ended up being wrong about America’s crucial foreign policy challenges. When Rose asked Bannon about criticism many former Republican foreign policy gurus have directed at President Donald Trump, his response was unequivocal:

“This is once again where the narrative is dead wrong,” he said, referring to Bush advisers who said Trump was unfit to assume the duties of commander-in-chief.

“The geniuses the Bush administration that let China into the WTO [World Trade Organization], the geniuses in the Bush administration that said ‘Hey, they’re gonna be a liberal democracy, they’re gonna be free market capitalism, okay?’ The same geniuses that got us into Iraq. That’s the geniuses in the Bush administration.”

At first reluctant to identify anyone by name, Bannon unloaded on who’s who of Republican national security leaders when pressed by Rose.

“Condi [Condoleeza] Rice, George W. Bush, his entire national security apparatus,” he began.

An incredulous Rose interrupted with some more examples: “Brent Scowcroft, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney?”

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DWS NEXT? Early Prosecutor Moves Suggest Intent To Bring House Cybersecurity, Theft Charges

Prosecutors have given Imran Awan a copy of the hard drive of a House laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to keep law enforcement from looking at, court filings show, suggesting prosecutors intend to bring charges related to the underlying cybersecurity and theft probe. The hard-drive copy was included in discovery even though Wasserman Schultz has said the laptop contains House information on it and is a government-paid work laptop, and even though Imran was fired and banned from the House network because of suspected cybersecurity violations.

Imran left the laptop, with username RepDWS, in a phone booth in circumstances that suggest that it was not accidentally forgotten there. Alongside it, he left a copy of his ID and letters to the U.S. attorney that ensured it would be treated as evidence instead of simply returned as a missing laptop.

Imran entered a House office building the night of April 6, two months after he was banned by House authorities from touching its network, and placed the laptop, a copy of his ID, and letters to the US Attorney in a phone booth, according to a police report. There would be little reason to enter the phone booth, and it would be difficult to forget items there.

Imran also left in the phone booth a notebook that said “attorney client privilege,” which could be a reason why prosecutors gave Imran’s lawyer a copy of what could be Wasserman Schultz’s laptop. Prosecutors said they were giving him a copy under the legal process of discovery, in which defendants have a right to evidence being used against them.

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The Climate Change Lobby Is Complicit In America’s Unpreparedness for Natural Disasters

Why does it seem like America is persistently under-prepared for the natural disasters we hear about every few years?

For as many billions of dollars, nationally and internationally, that are ploughed into meteorology and its bastard love-child climate change, you’d think there would be a preparedness in every community, every household, and in every region at risk from floods, hurricanes, tornados, or ManBearPig.

Either everyone’s really stupid and stubborn, or dollars are wasted, with people are being — as usual — cajoled into believing the big arm of government will be there to bail them out each time.

I suspect the latter part of that equation is the most likely.

HEARTS AND MINDS, NOT SANDBAGS AND INSURANCE

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Dems Already Fundraising Over DACA Repeal

Democrats let no time pass before they starting fundraising over the Trump administration’s decision to rescind former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Democratic Party launched an email campaign Tuesday afternoon to try and raise money to thwart the Trump administration and Republicans who wish to roll back the Obama-era immigration policy.

“Donald Trump’s heartless decision to rescind DACA will force these young people into the shadows. It is a moral disgrace,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in an email to supporters. “Today, show Donald Trump we will not let his cruelty stand. Chip in $3 or more right now.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that the administration would formally rescind DACA. “I am here today to announce that the program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama administration is being rescinded,” Sessions told reporters at the Department of Justice.

Obama also chimed in after the administration made its announcement, calling the president “cruel” and saying he has a lack of “basic decency.” The former president asserted that DACA recipients “pose no threat” to the American people and that they are not “taking away anything from the rest of us.”

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Hillary Clinton Lobbies for DACA as Obama Plans Rebuke

Within minutes of news breaking on Sunday night that President Donald Trump will likely end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, failed 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton boosted efforts by Jorge Ramos to try to sway Trump’s decision.

Former President Barack Obama is planning to post a message of rebuke should sitting President Trump roll back the illegal amnesty executive order DACA that Obama set in place, according to Politico.

News broke Sunday night that Trump will likely announce the end of the program. Politico reported that according to sources the announcement Trump had planned for Tuesday will be that the program will be ended, but with an effective date six months down the road. This will supposedly give Congress, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, the time they need if they should choose to pass legislation addressing the program.

Obama launched the program in 2012 deferring immigration enforcement when it came to those who had arrived in the United States as children.

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Trump Names His Pick To Head NASA Among A Slate Of Nominees For Key Roles

The White House announced a group of 42 people Friday that President Trump plans to appoint to key roles such as ambassador to Germany and head of the nation’s space agency.

The Trump administration continues, albeit slowly, to fill key government positions. The president has been facing slow Senate confirmations. As of early August, the Senate took 54 days on average to confirm a nominee compared to 41 days for Obama and 35 days for President George W. Bush.

Among the people announced Friday are two sitting congressmen.

Trump intends to nominate Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Tom Marino to become director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Marino was an early supporter of the Trump campaign and previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He handily won the congressional seat he currently holds.

The other congressman is Republican Oklahoma Rep. James Bridenstine. The president intends to nominate Rep. Bridenstine to serve as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This announcement brought criticism from Florida lawmakers.

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Gorka: ‘We’re Starting MAGA Phase Two’ and Working from Outside to Support President Trump

Former Deputy Adviser to the President Dr. Sebastian Gorka discussed his exit from the White House with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily.

Gorka said the simple version of the reason he resigned is that “people like myself, people like Steve Bannon, came into the building because of a very clear agenda, which was the MAGA agenda, Make America Great Again — and, in the last seven months, we’ve seen people who really had nothing to do with MAGA, who weren’t affiliated with the campaign, rise in influence inside the building.”

“The issues that I was brought in to deal with — national security, counterterrorism specifically — weren’t heading in the right direction,” he lamented.

Gorka said the last straw was “the speech written for the president on Afghanistan last week when I realized the best I can do to support the president is from the outside.”

“When you have one of the most important national security speeches in his early tenure not mention the key phrase ‘radical Islam’ or ‘radical Islamic terrorism,’ then we have to take the game to the outside. So we’re starting MAGA Phase Two, and people like Steve and myself have a whole slew of tools — I was going to say ‘weapons,’ but let’s say tools, that’s a ‘basket full of tools’ for our fellow deplorables — that we can use on the outside to support the president and keep the MAGA train running on its rails,” Gorka said, riffing on Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” comment from the 2016 presidential campaign.

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