December 30, 2016

Trump to Meet With Intelligence Leaders About Claims of Russian Hacking

President-elect Donald Trump pledged Thursday to meet with members of the intelligence community in response to President Barack Obama’s new sanctions against the Russia, which Obama says are a punishment for Russian tampering with the American political process.

“It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” said the incoming president from his estate Mar-a-Largo, where he is on a working vacation with his family.

“Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation,” Trump said in a statement.

Obama said his actions were prompted by a Joint Analysis Report from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, which said that Russian civilian and military intelligence services’ conducted malicious cyber activity, as well as harassment of American diplomats in Russia.

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December 29, 2016

Kerry Tells Israel To Pick Being Democratic Or Jewish — ‘It Cannot Be Both’

John Kerry stated Wednesday that if Israel chooses to remain a singular state with Palestine, “it cannot be both” Jewish and democratic.

“There are a similar number of Jews and Palestinians living between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea,” Kerry explained. “They have a choice.”

“They can choose to live together in one state or they can separate into two states.”

“Here is a fundamental reality,” the outgoing Secretary of State added. “If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, but it cannot be both.”

“It won’t ever really be at peace.”

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December 28, 2016

John Kerry To Deliver Obama’s Plan To Solve The Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver a speech outlining the Obama administration’s plan to solve the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians Wednesday, said Department of State spokesman Mark Toner Tuesday.

While it remains unclear what exactly Kerry will say, it is believed that the speech will center on four core issues regarding a potential two-state solution: borders, the partition of Jerusalem, security and the refugee problem.

Kerry’s speech may be based on a “framework document” released in March 2014 which outlined a potential solution to the conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the framework, but Kerry was unable to secure the support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who never provided a response to the plan.

Kerry attempted to revive direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in 2014, but they ultimately collapsed in April of the same year. Both Kerry and U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk would later blame Israel for the failed talks. The State Department attempted to walk back those accusations.

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December 27, 2016

Miller’s Alleged Affair Led To White House Rejection

Campaign staffer Jason Miller for Donald Trump recently turned down a job working as Director of Communications, but new information has surfaced that could explain Miller’s decision, according to a Politico report Monday.

Miller allegedly had an affair during the course of the campaign, according to Politico’s report. The allegations come from transition aide A.J. Delgado, who tweeted congratulations to the “baby-daddy” for his promotion, calling Miller the “2016 version of John Edwards.”

“When you try to put a brave face and tweet about nonsense to distract, your feed looks like @JasonMillerDC’s,” Delgado wrote Twitter. “When people need to resign graciously and refuse to, it’s a bit … spooky.” Delgado then clarified who she was talking about, “Jason Miller, who needed to resign … yesterday.”

Miller mentioned family time when he officially turned down the position in the White House Saturday, “After spending this past week with my family, the most amount of time I have been able to spend with them since March 2015, it is clear they need to be my top priority right now,” Miller said in the prepared statement. “I need to put them in front of my career.”

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December 26, 2016

New Book Exposes How EPA Distorts Science To Fit Its Political Goals

The Environmental Protection Agency has based its most onerous air pollution regulations on junk science meant to further political goals, says the author of a new book.

Lawyer-statistician Steve Milloy’s new book, “Scare Pollution,” shows readers how EPA has distorted the science behind air pollution regulations to hamper politically incorrect industries, from coal to logging to manufacturing.

“I have worked on EPA science controversies for 25 years,” Milloy told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “EPA doesn’t use science so much as it abuses it for its political ends.”

Milloy is referring to EPA regulations that rely on the shaky claim that fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, kills people. That claim alone has allowed EPA to claim billions of dollar worth of supposed benefits from regulating coal plants, factories and automobiles.

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December 23, 2016

EPA Employees Not ‘Intentionally’ Breaking Law By Deleting Official Texts, IG Claims

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials only archived 86 text messages out of 3.1 million agency employees sent and received in 2015, according to a federal watchdog’s report made public Wednesday by House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith.

The EPA Office of Inspector General (IG) released the report requested by the Texas Republican, which described enormous text message retention problems within the EPA. One unnamed senior official configured his phone to automatically delete texts after 30 days.

The IG claimed EPA officials never “intentionally” violated the Federal Records Act and did not include the low number of archived texts in the body of its report, relaying it instead to congressional staff.

Multiple federal laws and regulations require that officials preserve all documents — including email and text messages — created in the course of conducting official business of the U.S. government.

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December 22, 2016

EPA Employees Not ‘Intentionally’ Breaking Law By Deleting Official Texts, IG Claims

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials only archived 86 text messages out of 3.1 million agency employees sent and received in 2015, according to a federal watchdog’s report made public Wednesday by House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith.

The EPA Office of Inspector General (IG) released the report requested by the Texas Republican, which described enormous text message retention problems within the EPA. One unnamed senior official configured his phone to automatically delete texts after 30 days.

The IG claimed EPA officials never “intentionally” violated the Federal Records Act and did not include the low number of archived texts in the body of its report, relaying it instead to congressional staff.

Multiple federal laws and regulations require that officials preserve all documents — including email and text messages — created in the course of conducting official business of the U.S. government.

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December 21, 2016

EPA REFUSES To Explain Why It Let Pollution Sit For DECADES

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials refuse to explain why they let pollution fester at up to 302 highly-contaminated sites under their authority for years or even decades. They also won’t explain what they’re doing to protect people’s health.

The EPA doesn’t know what dangers exist at 191 sites, and humans face health risks at another 111, an investigation from The Daily Caller News Foundation revealed Monday. Pollution has threatened human health at up to 117 Superfund sites for more than 30 years.

EPA officials refused to explain why cleaning or even just assessing pollution risks has taken so long.

“I don’t think we will be providing anything further,” Associate Administrator Frank Benenati told TheDCNF after he was emailed the link to the investigation Monday. Benenati is also the EPA’s chief spokesman. The EPA ignored multiple DCNF requests regarding the Superfund investigation over a three-day period before Benenati ultimately responded just hours before deadline.

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December 20, 2016

Hillary Loses Electoral College Vote 18 Years To Day After Bill’s Impeachment

Hillary Clinton lost the Electoral College vote to Donald Trump on Dec. 19, 2016, 18 years to the day after the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton on two charges of perjury and one of obstruction of justice.

Trump and his running mate Mike Pence won 304 electoral votes, surpassing the needed 270 to beat Clinton. Of the six electors that did not vote for Trump or Clinton, four were were originally slated for Hillary.

In 1998, the Republican-controlled House voted 228 to 206 to approve the first article of impeachment which accused President Clinton of perjury before a grand jury. One hour later, lawmakers passed another article claiming he tampered with witnesses and helped hide evidence.

Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power failed to pass the House. The Senate later acquitted Bill Clinton of both charges on Feb. 12, 1999.

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December 19, 2016

The Call To Censor Bad News Isn’t New, Doesn’t Make Sense, And Should Frighten You A Great Deal

The American citizen currently enjoys greater access to information than any average person in human history. But you wouldn’t know that from reading The New York Times, Buzzfeed or any other of the many outlets busying themselves calling for the administration, in concert with corporations, to censor fake news stories.

The problem, they say, is that with this real and dramatically increased access to information, we have seen a real and dramatic uptick in access to false information. This much, we can all agree on. But then, many say, this uptick in false information requires a regime of corporate or government censorship they had not before trumpeted. That is where we disagree.

Because they have identified an ancient problem — misinformation — and claimed that in the modern day we are susceptible to this more than before, despite the exact opposite being the case.

“Over the last week, two of the world’s biggest internet companies have faced mounting criticism over how fake news on their sites may have influenced the presidential election’s outcome,” The New York Times reported just a week after the election, ginning up pressure to ban news deemed fake.

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December 16, 2016

9 Reasons Why PolitiFact Is Unqualified to Label ‘Fake News’

Left-leaning PolitiFact is on the newly revealed list of “fact checking” organizations Facebook will reportedly use to label “fake news” stories as they appear on the social media platform.

“We’ll use the reports from our community, along with other signals, to send stories to these organizations,” Facebook VP Adam Mosseri wrote in the Facebook news blog. “If the fact checking organizations identify a story as fake, it will get flagged as disputed and there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why.”

Facebook’s decision to tout PolitiFact as a credible and independent fact checker is awfully disturbing, given the organization’s repeated smear campaign against Donald Trump throughout the 2016 election.

Facebook’s “fake news” flaggers, Politifact, et al., have a history of showing sympathy for left-wing narratives. Time and again PolitiFact published stories that favored Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, while promoting “fact checks” meant to rebut or embarrass Republicans.

Below is a list of the many instances proving why Politifact is completely unqualified to be an objective judge of what’s real and “fake” news.

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December 15, 2016

Evidence of Detroit Voter Fraud, Too Many Votes in 37% of Precincts

Voting machines in 37 per cent of Detroit precincts recorded more votes than mathematically possible during November’s presidential election, according to records obtained by The Detroit News.

Reports obtained by the newspaper from Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett found that in 248 of the city’s 662 precincts, more votes had been counted than the number of people who had been marked as having voted, which might serve as evidence of voter fraud across the city.

Following the report, Michigan’s Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced plans to conduct a full investigation into the irregularities. Detroit was one of the areas in which Hillary Clinton’s support was particularly strong.

“We’re assuming there were (human) errors, and we will have discussions with Detroit election officials and staff in addition to reviewing the ballots,” said Michigan’s Elections Director Chris Thomas on Monday.

However, Krista Haroutunian, the chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, said that although “there’s always going to be small problems to some degree, we didn’t expect the degree of problem we saw in Detroit.”

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December 14, 2016

FREAK OUT: Journalists Declare ‘Emergency,’ ‘War’ Following Russian Hacking Reports

Don’t turn on your television if you want reassurance that the sky isn’t falling or, in the case of Keith Olbermann, don’t go on YouTube.

On Sunday during a conversation about the reports of Russian hacking, CNN’s Brian Stelter said: “Is this something of a national emergency? And are journalists afraid to say so because they’re going to sound partisan?”

Writer Julia Ioffe was not afraid to sound partisan and responded, “It does feel we are on the verge of something potentially awful and Trump seems to be taking us there daily with some of his cabinet picks, some of his statements.”

Stelter defended critical coverage of this remark by saying Monday, “I asked my guests the question — didn’t state it as fact.”

Later on Monday, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes would state it as fact. Hayes hosted a town hall event in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with Bernie Sanders and afterward he tweeted, “Thanks for watching and thanks to the people of Kenosha for coming out. I think a huge part of understanding the the national emergency we now find ourselves in is listening to an engaging with our fellow Americans. I get that it can be maddening. But it’s necessary.”

GQ special correspondent Keith Olbermann, however, takes the cake when it comes to freaking out over news reports that Russia interfered in America’s election to get Donald Trump elected. To open up his YouTube show Monday night, he said, “We are at war with Russia or perhaps more correctly we have lost a war with Russia without a battle. We are no longer a sovereign nation, we are no longer a free people, we are victims of a bloodless coup.”

Stelter found Olbermann’s freak out compelling, and tweeted, “Olbermann tonight in his latest essay for [GQ Magazine]: ‘The nation and all of our freedoms hang by a thread.”

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December 13, 2016

White House, Clinton Tied To PR Firm Behind Electoral College Push

The public relations firm working behind the scenes with the faithless electors is rife with ties to prominent Democrats like President Obama and twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Megaphone Strategies, whose stated mission is to “use PR as a tool to diversify progressive movements,” typically works with progressive causes like Black Lives Matter. The firm is representing the handful of “faithless electors” trying to keep President-elect Donald Trump from winning the Electoral College vote.

The firm was co-founded by Van Jones, the former green jobs czar in the Obama White House who later resigned after it was revealed he signed a statement questioning whether the Bush administration had a role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Jones now works as a CNN commentator.

Molly Haigh, Megaphone’s cofounder and president, worked for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Haigh blames the Republican party’s “racist, misogynist, xenophobic fear mongering” for Trump’s rise to power.

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December 12, 2016

FBI Disagrees With CIA On Russian Influence In The Presidential Election

The FBI did not corroborate the CIA’s claim that Russia had a hand in the election of President-elect Donald Trump in a meeting with lawmakers last week.

A senior FBI counterintelligence official met with Republican and Democrat members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in order to give the bureau’s view of a recent CIA report. The official did not concur with the CIA, frustrating Democrats.

The CIA believes Russia “quite” clearly intended to send Trump to the White House. The claim is a bold one, and concerned Democrats and some Republicans who are worried about Trump’s desire to mend relations with an increasingly aggressive Russia. The CIA report was “direct, bald and unqualified,” one of the officials at the meeting told The Washington Post Saturday.

The FBI official was much less convinced of the claims, providing “fuzzy” and “ambiguous” remarks.

The different conclusions reached by the two intelligence agencies is a reflection of their different institutional styles. CIA officials often use past behavior and analysis based on gathered intelligence to advise leaders, whereas the FBI comes from a more legalistic background which relies on hard evidence to make a case.

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December 9, 2016

CNN Spends Election Cycle Calling Trump Supporters Racist, Then Gets Hit With Class Action Racism Suit

After months of calling Trump supporters racist, CNN now faces a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit alleging racism from their own black employees.

Odd, considering how vigorously CNN leveled those same charges before and after the election. CNN host Van Jones called the election of Trump a “whitelash” against a black president, while a CNN contributor accused Trump of “a lack of tolerance for other people.”

Now, the channel that openly called Trump a “bigot, racist and misogynist” who would “embolden bigotry” faces its own allegations of racial discrimination from black employees.

Former and current black employees filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against CNN, Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner, reports the Daily Mail.

Filed on behalf of two black employees, Celeslie Henley and Ernest Colbert Jr, the lawsuit alleges that black employees were paid less and had fewer opportunities for promotions.

“Dramatic’ differences in pay, harsher evaluations for black males and fewer available promotions are among evidence of the prejudice,” the lawsuit claims.

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December 8, 2016

How the Establishment Will Try to Destroy Trump

Shortly before Thanksgiving, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote a column that should chill you to the bone.

Titled “Donald Trump’s Demand for Love,” Bruni said: “I had just shaken the president-elect’s normal-size hand and he was moving on to the next person when he wheeled around, took a half step back, touched my arm and looked me in the eye anew. ‘I’m going to get you to write some good stuff about me,’ Donald Trump said.”

Bruni is a fabulous writer, but if he ever writes good stuff about you, Mr. President-elect, YOU WILL HAVE FAILED.

I assume this was just our president-elect doing something he gets the least credit for, which is being nice. But you can never be too careful.

The Times is in total opposition to Trump’s stated goal to make America great again. Trump has got to know — not next year, but by 5 p.m. today — that anyone pursuing his agenda will incite rage, insanity and spitting blood from that newspaper.

There’s a long and tragic history of Republicans who won the war but lost the peace by trading results for respectability.

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December 7, 2016

Journalists Struggle To Define ‘Fake News’ Even As They Declare War On It

In the weeks following Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in last month’s election, liberal journalists have launched an all-out assault on “fake news,” which some have blamed for the disconnect between political journalists and everyday Americans.

But many of those same journalists seem unable to agree on a consistent definition of what “fake news” is, oftentimes pushing leading conservative and alternative media organizations that provide ideological balance in the public forum under the same “fake news” umbrella alongside websites whose entire purpose is generating viral hoaxes.

Left-leaning BuzzFeed News’ coverage of “fake news” — which has been subject to accusations of misleading the public in service of a narrative —  has focused on hoax websites run by teenagers in Macedonia pushing out lies like “Pope Francis endorses Donald Trump.”

Other left-leaning news organizations, meanwhile, have lumped in legitimate news organizations alongside objectively fake sources.

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December 6, 2016

GOP Leadership to Delay Donald Trump’s Election-Winning Priorities

A top ally of House Speaker Paul Ryan has outlined the GOP leadership’s strategy to isolate and block President Donald Trump’s populist campaign promises, likely including his popular immigration reforms.

“We all agree that some of President Trump’s proposed policies are not going to line up very well with our conservative policies,” Texas Rep. Bill Flores told an inside-the-beltway audience on Dec. 1.

“Let’s do the things where we agree — let’s do tax reform, lets do Obamacare, lets replace Obamacare, let’s start dealing with border security, let’s rebuild our national security and then, on those areas where his agenda is not exactly aligned with ours … then, we’ll figure out the rest in the next six months,” Flores told Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute.

“The GOP Congressional leadership wants to pass all its priorities quickly — tax cuts, regulatory cuts, Obamacare repeal, a Scalia replacement, maybe throw in some kind of weak ‘border security’ bill for show,” influential blogger Mickey Kaus told Breitbart, adding:

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December 5, 2016

Dem Rep Ellison: House Democrats Will Do Nothing But ‘Vote No’ Under Trump

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, widely considered a frontrunner to be the next Democratic National Committee chair, says House Democrats will do nothing but “vote no” in the coming years under the new Trump administration.

Ellison, who has faced questions over whether he can juggle both working in Congress and rebuilding a depleted Democratic Party, defended himself at a party meeting on Friday by suggesting that working as a Democratic congressman won’t require much effort.

“I’m in the process of deciding this issue of whether I can perform both roles,” Ellison said, according to the New York Times. Referring to his work in the House, he said that “All there is to do is to vote ‘no’.”

Ellison then promised that “every other moment” not spent voting “no” will be devoted to his work for the DNC.

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December 2, 2016

The Nuclear Option: Press Furious Trump Still Tweeting His Message Directly to the People

Just when they thought it was safe to go outside again, the political press is breaking out the smelling salts again.

They’re back to having the vapors and breaking out in warts over the orange-haired vulgarian holding court at his fabulous and opulent New Jersey golf course. Trump National Bedminster has become President-elect Donald Trump’s White House-in-waiting as he hosts countless dignitaries, revolutionaries, and even establishment politicians who have come from near and far to kiss the giant ring.

There is Gov. Chris Christie, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and retired Gen. Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis. And Republican Mitt Romney, who was never elected president.
The personal, private torture all this public groveling must be for Mr. Romney, who spent the past year and a half doing everything he could to keep the Republican nominee from winning the White House he himself failed to win four years ago.

At least you can’t say Mr. Trump did not warn us: Early on, he announced that he was a big believer in torture — as long as it works.

In the case of Mr. Romney, it apparently does. He may be a good upstanding Mormon, but the guy just cannot get enough of this torture and domination. Called back for a redo of his interview to be secretary of state, Mr. Romney clicked his heels and saluted.

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December 1, 2016

New York U.S. Attorney Agrees To Stay In Post Following Meeting With Trump

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara agreed to stay on in his current position in the Southern District of New York after Donald Trump asked him to on Wednesday.

Bharara, who made his name prosecuting the top Republican and Democrat in the New York State Senate went to Trump Tower Wednesday after the president-elect asked for for a meeting.

Following the meeting, Bharara spoke with reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower stating, “The president-elect asked, presumably because he’s a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years, asked to meet with me to discuss whether or not I’d be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor for the last seven years.”

He went on to say, “We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on. I have already spoken to Senator Sessions, who is as you know is the nominee to be the attorney general. He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing to work at the southern district.”

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