March 15: The Daily Caller: Democrat debate between two remaining male candidates
Sunday night’s debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, the last two standing candidates in the 2020 Democratic field, featured both sides trading predictable lines on the coronavirus pandemic and committing to naming female running mates.  The DNC moved the debate from its scheduled location in Arizona to CNN’s studio in Washington, D.C. last week amid coronavirus fears. The only people present in the room were Biden, Sanders, and moderators Dana Bash, Ilia Calderon and Jake Tapper.

March 15: The Associated Press: Federal Reserve drops rates to near zero
The Federal Reserve took massive emergency action Sunday to try to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds.  The Fed’s surprise announcement signaled its rising concern that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in coming months, likely causing a recession, and that it’s poised to do whatever it can to counter the risks. It cut its key rate by a full percentage point to a range between zero and 0.25%. The central bank said it will keep its rate there until it is “confident that the economy has weathered recent events.”

March 14: DNYUZ News: Chinese tycoon who criticized Xi’s response to coronavirus has vanished
Ren Zhiqiang’s latest commentary was among his most explosive yet.  He is an outspoken property tycoon in Beijing, and, wrote in a scathing essay that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was a power-hungry “clown.” He said the ruling Communist Party’s strict limits on free speech had exacerbated the coronavirus epidemic.  Now Mr. Ren, one of the most prominent critics of Mr. Xi in mainland China, is missing, his friends said on Saturday.  His disappearance comes amid a far-reaching campaign by the party to quash criticism of its slow, secretive initial response to the epidemic which has killed over 3,100 people in China and sickened more than 80,000.

March 14: The Washington Examiner: Surgeon General to the media: “stop finger-pointing” at the Trump Administration over coronavirus
Surgeon General Jerome Adams ripped into reporters during a White House press conference, telling them they should stop blaming the Trump administration for their response to the coronavirus outbreak.   "We really need you all to lean into and prioritize the health and safety of the American people," Adams said at the Saturday press conference. "No more bickering. No more partisanship. No more criticism or finger-pointing."

March 14: The Washington Times: Russian recon aircraft closes on U.S. airspace
After Russian reconnaissance aircraft came within 45 miles of the coast of Alaska on Saturday, the commanding general of the joint U.S.–Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said they are seeing repeated incursions into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, known as ADIZ.  F-22 fighters assigned to NORAD were scrambled to intercept two pairs of Russian Tu-142 that entered the ADIZ from the west and the north of Alaska. One pair of Russian aircraft spent about four hours in the zone near a spot where the U.S. Navy was conducting submarine operations in the Arctic, NORAD officials said.

March 14: The Washington Examiner: House passes coronavirus bill 363 to 40
The House voted just before 1 a.m. Saturday to pass an emergency coronavirus response bill to increase testing and aid people kept from work, a measure meant for quick signing by President Trump next week as the government tries to arrest the pandemic. The bill will provide for free coronavirus testing, guarantee workers two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid leave, increase unemployment benefits, provide lunches for children who would normally eat at school, and increase Medicaid funding.

March 13: The Daily Caller: Governor Abbott declares a “State of Disaster” in Texas
The governor of Texas declared a “State of Disaster” Friday regarding the coronavirus pandemic. “From the very beginning, our number one objective has been to implement preventative strategies that build on our state’s existing public health capabilities so that no matter how this situation unfolds, Texas will be ready,” Abbott said. “That is exactly what our state agencies have done.”

March 13: The Washington Times:   Full Court of Appeals to hear challenges over Don McGahn testimony
The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., granted a request by House Democrats Friday to rehear cases over testimony from former White House Counsel Don McGahn and funds for President Trump’s border wall.  Both cases are scheduled to be argued before the full circuit court on April 28. Democratic lawmakers in Congress have argued the president violated federal law by reallocating more than $8 billion from the Department of Defense to build the border wall.

March 13: Fox News: More rocket attacks from Iran-backed militia in Iraq
Dozens of rockets slammed into an Iraqi base north of Baghdad Saturday wounding 3 American and 2 Iraqi troops.  It’s the same base where 2 Americans and a British Army medic were killed in a rocket attack Wednesday prompting US airstrike on Iranian-backed forces blamed for the attack.  U.S. Air Force jets destroyed 5 weapon storage sites housing 107 mm Katyusha rockets, the same rockets used in the attack Wednesday and Saturday.

March 13: ABC News: Trump declares a National Emergency over Coronavirus
President Donald Trump announced Friday he's declaring a national emergency to deal with the coronavirus as cases increase. He said his action would give all hospitals the maximum ability to respond to the virus including the waiver of regulations that will now allow doctors in other states to serve those in states where there are critical needs and fewer medical services; the waiver of regulations for “critical access” hospitals that limit the number of beds and the length of stay to 96 hours; and the waiver of requirements for a patient to stay three days in a hospital before being moved to a nursing home.

March 12: The Washington Times: Russian/Saudi oil price war rages
The raging oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia has highlighted the delicate balance between oil prices and energy sector profitability, and analysts think the industry has reached the tipping point at which some companies simply won’t survive.  “A lot of people argue we’re at that moment now,” said Gifford Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. “I think this is it or we are at least crossing into it, when you go south of $30 or $35 a barrel. These are areas that are pretty precarious because when it comes to the business plans and forecasts, those prices aren’t just off, they’re way off.”

March 12: Reuters:  Chinese: U.S. military may have virus to China; right!
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on Thursday the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak, doubling down on a war of words with Washington.  China has taken great offense at comments by U.S. officials accusing it of being slow to react to the virus, first detected in Wuhan late last year, and of not being transparent enough.  On Wednesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the speed of China's reaction to the emergence of the coronavirus had probably cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for the outbreak.

March 12: Fox News:  U.S. forces respond to rocket attack; launch
strikes against Iran-backed militias
The U.S. military launched multiple strikes using warplanes targeting multiple bases used by Iranian-backed Shia militias believed to be behind the rocket attack on Camp Taji,  Iraq, the day before that killed two Americans and one British soldier, a senior U.S. military source told Fox News. The launch began after 1 a.m. Baghdad time. "These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces," the Pentagon said.

March 11: The Hill: House passes key surveillance bill with deadline looming
The House on Wednesday passed legislation to reauthorize a key intelligence surveillance bill after weeks of back-and-forth tussling between members in both parties.   The passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 278-136, comes the day after the House struck a bipartisan deal on the legislation and just before the bill is set to expire on Sunday.  Negotiators had worked for weeks, as both liberal Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed for additional privacy protections, putting them at odds with lawmakers who wanted a clean reauthorization of the FISA bill, which they believed would easily pass in the upper chamber.

March 11: The Washington Times: President announces ban on travel from
Europe for thirty days because of spread of coronavirus
President  Trump said Wednesday he will take the “strong but necessary” action of suspending all travel from Europe for the next 30 days to combat the coronavirus.  The rules will go in effect Friday at midnight.  There will be some exceptions for properly screened Americans, though the decision marks a dramatic escalation in the fight against the disease known as COVID-19. There is also an exception for travel from the United Kingdom which left the European Union earlier this year.

March 11: The Daily Caller: “Buy American” President signs executive order 
to end medical supply chain reliance on China
White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro confirmed Wednesday the administration is working on an executive order to eliminate the government’s reliance on foreign-made medical supplies.  The “Buy American” order comes on the heels of concerns expressed by senators during their Tuesday meeting with President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill.  Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that during the meeting on easing coronavirus-related financial pressures on Americans, he asked Trump to support the Senate’s “efforts to invest in diversifying our supply chain, especially in pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.”

March 11: Fox News: Hunter Biden slammed by judge for “duplicitous” bid
to delay paternity proceedings
An Arkansas judge issued a scathing order Tuesday evening largely rejecting Hunter Biden’s "duplicitous" requests and his argument that he needed a nine-month delay in his paternity case proceedings because of the coronavirus outbreak and other personal matters.  But soon afterward, the parties said they had reached a "global, final settlement of all issues" -- a surprising turn of events that still needs the court's approval. The abrupt about-face, if approved by Independence County Circuit Court Judge Holly Meyer, would mean that Biden would not need to turn over a slew of financial information to the court.

March 10: Breitbart News: Biden to Michigan auto worker “You’re full of s _ _ t”
Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden got into an argument over guns with a Michigan plant worker Tuesday, arguing over “AR-14.”  The worker and Biden went back and forth on proposed gun controls, with the working saying, “You are actively trying to infringe our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”  Biden responded, “You’re full of s _ _t.”  Upon further claims that he was trying to take their guns, Biden responded to the worker, “Don’t tell me that,” and said he would “slap” him.

March 9: The Associated Press: Italy shuts down,
Israel tightens entry to country
The battle to halt the coronavirus brought sweeping new restrictions Monday, with Italy expanding a travel ban to the entire country, Israel ordering all visitors quarantined just weeks before Passover and Easter, and Spain closing all schools in and around its capital.  Even as workers in Beijing returned to their jobs and new infections in China continued to subside, Italians struggled to navigate the rapidly changing parameters of the nation’s self-imposed lockdown.

March 9: The Daily Caller: Trump’s Chief of Staff voluntarily self-quarantines self
President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff Mark Meadows announced Monday that he will be self-quarantining after possibly meeting the individual who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) while infected with coronavirus.  Mark Meadows was advised this weekend that he might have come in contact with the individual. Meadows took a  precautionary test which came back negative. Meadows’ chief of staff Ben Williamson said: “He’ll be self-quarantined till the 14 day period passes Wednesday.”

March 9: Fox News: Schumer’s targeting of Supreme Court justices is not
over as GOP considers censuring him
Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) may still face consequences from his colleagues after facing criticism from conservatives and liberals alike for remarks he directed towards Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh at an abortion rights rally last week that some have considered threatening.  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has continued to call for Schumer to be censured after introducing a resolution in the Senate to do just that. And dozens of well-known leaders signed a letter Monday adding their voices to the calls.

March 9: New Scientist: Boeing developing submarine for US Navy that could
kill without any humans aboard
The US Navy is quietly developing armed robot submarines controlled by onboard  artificial intelligence. The vessels could potentially kill without explicit human control.  The Office of Naval Research is carrying out the project, known as CLAWS, which it describes in budget documents as an autonomous undersea weapon system for clandestine use. CLAWS will “increase mission areas into kinetic effects”, say the documents – military-speak for destroying things. 

March 8: Fox News: Hunter Biden accused of contempt for the law by mother of child he fathered
Hunter Biden should be held in contempt for continuing to defy a court order to turn over his financial information, flaunting his lack of "respect" for the legal process and undermining the interests of the child he has refused to support or even acknowledge, according to a blistering new filing from the mother of Biden's child in an ongoing paternity case. The motion comes as Joe Biden has surged to front-runner status in the Democratic presidential primary amid new questions over whether his son may have corruptly benefitted from his father's position as vice president. The case threatens to surface new information about the younger Biden's  overseas dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere during the Obama administration -- and his father's apparent knowledge of those arrangements.

March 7: Reuters: Biden warns against blood bath in the Presidential campaign
U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will campaign in the Midwest on Saturday, as the two prepare for a showdown in Michigan, Missouri and four other nominating contests next week.  After Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, ramped up his attacks on Biden on Friday, Biden told a crowd at a fundraiser in Bethesda, Maryland, he was worried his battle with Sanders for the Democratic nomination could turn ugly.  "What we can't let happen is let this primary become a negative bloodbath. We can't tear this party apart and re-elect Trump. We have to keep our eyes on the ball," Biden said as he telephoned in to the Bethesda event.

March 7: The Washington Free Beacon: Justices asks Supreme Court to uphold “wait in
Mexico” asylum policy amid concerns of increased border crossings
Fearing an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers on the southern border, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to lift a court decision blocking implementation of the "Wait in Mexico" asylum policy. The 9th  U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction blocking the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) in February. The appeals court limited the injunction to blocking the policy only in Arizona and California. The injunction's reduced reach will still foment chaos at ports of entry, the administration told the justices in a Friday legal filing.  "The injunction is virtually guaranteed to impose irreparable harm by prompting a rush on the border," Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the justices in a legal filing. "There is no need to speculate about the consequences. Immediately following the 9th Circuit's Feb. 28 decision, hundreds of migrants presented themselves at the border for admission."

March 6: The Wall Street Journal: Illinois heading for default?
Long the economic hub of the Midwest, Illinois has lost more than 850,000 residents to other states during the past decade. The state has been shrinking for six consecutive years and suffered the largest raw population decline of any state in the 2010s.  Like Puerto Rico, Illinois is drowning in a sea of red ink. Growing government debt and a crushing tax burden are depressing economic growth. State spending is up, but personal-income growth is lagging. Since 2000, Illinois’s per capita personal income growth has been 21% lower than the national average. Home prices are growing at the second-slowest pace in the nation, at only 2% compared with 5.1% on average nationwide. With speculation that Illinois could be the first state to go into default, ratings firms are paying attention. Illinois’s credit rating is one notch above junk.

March 6: Fox News: House Dems file for rehearing on McGahan subpoena
The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday asking it to have an "en banc" rehearing – a hearing before all 11 judges on the court – of its case to enforce a subpoena against former White House Counsel Don McGahn.  The committee sued to force McGahn to testify and won on the district court level before the appeals court reversed the ruling, arguing that the judiciary would be violating the separation of powers and historical precedent if it were to meddle in this dispute between the other two branches of the federal government.

March 6: The Daily Caller: Administration to deploy active duty military police on the
southern border following 9th Circuit Court decision
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday that roughly 160 active duty soldiers will be deployed at two ports of entry along the southern border to assist the agency. Around 80 personnel will be sent to El Paso, while another 80 will be sent to California.  The administration’s decision to deploy military police support stems from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to block Migrant Protection Protocols — a program that keep thousands of asylum seekers in Mexico — in California and Arizona beginning March 12.

March 6: The Washington Times: SecDef Esper presses China
on “unsafe” use of laser on U.S. Navy aircraft
Defense Secretary Mark Esper this week confronted  China’s defense minister over the Chinese military’s use of a high-powered laser to illuminate a U.S. Navy patrol aircraft near Guam last month.  Esper called Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe to discuss several issues, including the Feb. 17 laser incident some 380 miles west of Guam.  China’s government made no mention of the laser incident in the official government readout of the Esper-Wei call, and the Chinese government’s spokesmen have been silent on the provocative action.

March 6: The EIB Network: Romney under pressure, decides to support Hunter Biden subpoena
“Romney obviously is feeling some pressure,” Rush Limbaugh said. “Well, get this. Mitt Romney has said that he will vote to authorize as part of the Senate investigation into Hunter Biden and Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, he’s authorized the subpoenas to look into Hunter Biden.”

March 5: The Washington Examiner:  Emails show Hunter Biden touted
political influence to get university position
Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, reportedly touted his political connections in order to obtain a teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.   New emails reveal that, while communicating with university officials, Biden attempted to convince the administration to have him teach a course on drug policy, providing a potential list of guest lecturers who were largely connected to his father.

March 5: Fox News: Trump:  With all his gaffs Is Biden competent to serve as President?
Trump speaking at a Fox News Town Hall in Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pa., on Thursday evening, openly suggested that the new Democratic front-runner's repeated gaffes could be a sign of a competency issue -- honing a line of attack that Republicans are expected to repeatedly deploy if Biden becomes his party's nominee.  Trump went on to argue that Biden was "damaged" by the impeachment process that implicated his son Hunter in apparent overseas corruption while Biden was vice president. "They aimed at Trump and they took Biden down," the president said.

March 5: The Daily Caller: Warren bows out of Presidential race, fails to endorse another candidate
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren got emotional during her first appearance after dropping out of the 2020 presidential race Thursday, also saying that she won’t be making an endorsement at this time.  “I say this with a deep sense of gratitude for every single person who got in this fight, every single person who tried on a new idea, every single person who just moved a little in their notion of what a president of the United States should look like,” Warren said, her voice beginning to crack.

March 5: Fox News: California leads the nation in non-citizens voting
State officials and lawmakers from California and Texas to Pennsylvania and West Virginia are raising concerns over the threat that noncitizens on the voter rolls pose to the integrity of U.S. elections.  On Thursday, Tomi Lahren said that the issue is most pronounced in California. "We have a voter fraud and election integrity epidemic in the state of California," she said, "I want to expose it so I sat down with the great ladies of Election Integrity Project-California (EIPCa)."  "So to say that illegal immigrants are voting is a given in this state?" asked Lahren.  "Absolutely," said EIPCa president and co-founder Linda Paine, "because when you open the door to corruption and fraud, people are going to walk through it."

March 5: This Week:  Southwest CEO: Domestic travel drop off feels like 911
Mounting concern over the new coronavirus outbreak has caused school closures and movie premiere pushbacks, and now the crisis' effect on the aviation industry is drawing comparisons to 9/11.  Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC that the company has lost several hundred million dollars in a week's time thanks to a decline in bookings amid increasing fears over COVID-19. Kelly added that the drop-off was "noticeable" and "precipitous" and has continued declining on a daily basis.  Kelly said of the new coronavirus outbreak "It has a 9/11-like feel."

March 4: WUSA Channel 9: Whistle blower faces retaliation for disclosing alleged under
reporting of crime stats in D.C.
A whistleblower from the D.C. Police Department is talking openly about the crime underreporting she says she’s witnessed inside the Metropolitan Police Department.  “I was surprised,” said MPD Sergeant Charlotte Djossou. “I didn’t want to believe it.”  Djossou, a 15-year MPD veteran previously honored for her service by Police Chief Peter Newsham, is going public with stunning allegations about what she says is going on in her own department.  She claims D.C. police supervisors are ordering investigators to downgrade crime classifications form more serious crimes to less serious ones to make the city’s crime stats look better.  “The commanders and the captains get promoted, and they get awards, when the crime stats are low,” Djossou said.

March 4: The Daily Caller: Ben Carson: The coronavirus has a lesson for politicians
Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD, praised Vice President Pence for his work in fighting the spread of the coronavirus doing so with pharmaceutical companies who he noted are “normally are rivals.”   He noted that they have been working “together voluntarily” along with members of the coronavirus task force to develop therapeutic medications and other remedies to stop the spread of the virus.  “Wouldn’t that be a great lesson for the politicians,” he concluded.

March 4: The Washington Free Beacon: Chief Justice Roberts calls Schumer’s
threats to the Supreme Court “dangerous” 
Chief Justice John Roberts condemned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY as "dangerous" after the New York Democrat made threatening statements as justices heard oral arguments in a controversial abortion case on Wednesday.  Schumer addressed pro-abortion demonstrators rallying in front of the Supreme Court Wednesday morning and promised the pair (Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) would "pay the price" if they voted to restrict abortion access. Chief Justice Roberts called such rhetoric "dangerous" saying in a statement "Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said. "All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

March 4: Fox News: It’s the Ninth Circuit again, stopping Trump policy of making asylum
seekers remain in Mexico while awaiting hearings
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Wednesday that it would block the "Remain in Mexico" policy in Arizona and California, the two border states where its authority extends.  The three-judge panel did not extend its decision to include federal court circuits in two other border states -- New Mexico and Texas -- as it originally had last week.  The Trump administration said it is asking the Supreme Court to intervene and had asked the policy remain in place until next week for the high court to rule.

March 3: NBC News: Delegate Tracker -  Biden leads Sanders
NBC News is tracking the number of delegates each candidate has won in the 2020 Democratic and Republican presidential races. Each party is governed by their own set of rules, but each state and territory offer a certain number of pledged delegates up for grabs based on the results of primary voting nights and caucuses. The Democratic nominee will be selected by delegates at the Democratic National Convention taking place July 13-16 in Milwaukee. To win the nomination on the first ballot, a Democratic candidate must receive support from a majority of pledged delegates — at least 1,991 of the total 3,979 pledged delegates. 

March 3: The Washington Free Beacon: Supreme Court Case: Does the President have
the authority to fire the head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau?
At issue is the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that includes language that says its director, unlike other senior government officials, may only be removed for "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office…"  The CFPB is the brain child of Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the language in the law was upheld by the notorious 9th Circuit Count of Appeals in San Francisco.  The matter is now before the Supreme Court.  In oral arguments Chief Justice Roberts drew attention to the CFPB's funding rules, asking if they exacerbate the constitutional questions. Unlike most agencies, the bureau does not have its budget set by Congress. Instead, the Federal Reserve finances CFPB operations. In that sense, Roberts said, the CFPB director is even more powerful than the president, who largely depends on congressional appropriations.

March 1: The Associated Press: Buttigieg ends campaign for President
Pete Buttigieg, former top-tier candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, ended his campaign on Sunday.  “The truth is the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy if not for our cause,” Buttigieg told supporters in South Bend, Indiana. “We must recognize that at this point in the race, the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and country together.”  The decision came just a day after one of Buttigieg’s leading rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, scored a resounding victory in South Carolina that sparked new pressure on the party’s moderate wing to coalesce behind Biden.

March 1: The Washington Examiner: Nunes:  If we win back the House we
are ready to go after “dirty cops”
California Rep. Devin Nunes said House Republicans have subpoenas "ready to go" if they win control of the House in November.  Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a warning to Justice Department and FBI officials involved in the Russia investigation during an interview with Fox News on Friday. “You can be sure of this, if we take the House in November, we have subpoenas ready to go that will continue going after these dirty cops,” the Republican congressman said.  It's a tall order for the GOP to regain control of the lower chamber. Republicans need a net gain of 18 seats to win back the House. Most committees and subcommittees delegate the power to authorize subpoenas to the panel chairman or chairwoman.

March 1: The Daily Caller: Trump endorses candidate in Texas 7th
Wesley Hunt is quickly gaining notoriety as the Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District of Texas.  In recent weeks Hunt has gained President Donald Trump’s official endorsement, and Hunt also released a campaign video this week entitled “Chains,” which went viral on social media.  The presidential endorsement launched the army veteran’s campaign into the spotlight as he vies for the position currently held by Democratic Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  In a tweet, President Trump said that Hunt will “help us accomplish our America First policies.” He continued on to say that he is “strong on Crime, the Border, our 2nd Amendment, Trade, Military and Vets. Wesley has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

March 1: Fox News: GOP billionaire buys major portion of Twitter stock
A billionaire Republican has purchased a "sizable" stake in Twitter and "plans to push" to oust CEO Jack Dorsey among other changes, according to new reports, raising the prospect of a shocking election-year shakeup of the social media platform that conservatives have long accused of overt left-wing political bias.  Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. has already nominated four directors to Twitter's board. The Bloomberg News noted that unlike other prominent tech CEOs, Dorsey didn't have voting control over Twitter because the company had just one class of stock; and he has long been a target for removal given Twitter's struggling user growth numbers and stock performance.

February 29: The New York Post: Chinese officials knew of coronavirus but
tried to cover it up
Chinese scientists knew about the coronavirus and its deadly effects as early as December — but were ordered by government officials to suppress the evidence, according to a report.  In late December, several genomics companies tested samples from sick patients in Wuhan — the center of the coronavirus outbreak — and noticed alarming similarities between their illnesses and the 2002 SARS virus, the Sunday Times of London reported, citing Chinese business news site Caixin Global.  The researchers alerted Beijing of their findings — and on Jan. 3, received a gag order from China’s National Health Commission, with instructions to destroy the samples.

February 29: The Associated Press: Biden wins big in South Carolina
Joe Biden scored a thundering victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders’ winning streak.   The race now pivots immediately to a new phase when 14 “Super Tuesday” states take the campaign nationwide early next week.  Biden: 48.8% Sanders: 19.8%.

February 29: Fox News: Chicago releases felon sought by ICE; sexually assaults toddler
ICE is claiming that Chiacago released a Mexican citizen who later sexually assaulted a toddler at a fast food restaurant.  A CBS affiliate reported he confessed to placing "the child on his lap while he was in a restroom stall, pulled off her pants, and covered her mouth when she started calling out 'daddy daddy.”  Chrstopher Puente, 34, was arrested on Feb. 19 for sexually assaulting a 3-year-old despite ICE's previous request that police continue detaining the previously deported felon. According to a press release on Thursday, Puente had two felony convictions for forced-entry burglary and forgery.  Despite his background, Chicago declined ICE's June 2019 request to detain Puente

February 29: The Daily Caller: President announces the first Corona death in the US
President Donald Trump announced the first coronavirus death in the U.S. Saturday during a press conference, adding that additional travel restrictions will be imposed on new countries.  The president and Vice President Mike Pence gave updates about the coronavirus, noting that one high-risk patient died in the U.S. from it.  The woman who died was from Washington state. Trump added that 22 people total in America have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and that many of them are well on their way to recovery.

February 28: The Washington Free Beacon: Report:  Programs pushed by Democrat
hopefuls will help the rich and hurt low income families
Although backed by redistributionist rhetoric, many programs pushed by 2020 Democrats would primarily benefit highly educated professionals, often at the expense of the bottom fifth of earners, a new report released by the Manhattan Institute concludes.  The report examines the distributive impacts of major proposals, including Medicare for All, student debt forgiveness, and the repeal of key components of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). It argues that while Democratic candidates talk big about supporting workers and the poor, these programs primarily serve the interests of the wealthy.

February 27: Fox News: Chinese destroyer aims laser and US Navy aircraft in unsafe manner
A People’s Republic of  China (PRC) navy destroyer 161 on Feb. 17 aimed a laser at a  US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft while it was flying above international waters, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.  The incident took place approximately 380 miles west of Guam and occurred without provocation, the fleet's public affairs office said in a statement.  The laser China used, which is invisible to the naked eye, had been observed by a sensor that was onboard the P-8A.  Weapons-grade lasers have the potential to cause serious harm to servicemembers and could have damaged various ship and aircraft systems.

February 27: The Washington Examiner:  US ambassador to NATO stunned by report of
Russian/Syrian attack on NATO ally/Turkish troops
A long-developing proxy clash in Syria between Russia and Turkey is “very much moving into crisis mode,” a senior American diplomat said amid reports that Turkish troops were attacked in an airstrike.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called an emergency meeting of his national security team late Thursday as local media reported that Russia targeted a Turkish command post in Idlib. Turkish officials blamed the strike on Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who has survived the civil war by virtue of Russian and Iranian military support for his regime.

February 26: Fox News: Sanctuary Cities: Appeals Court Ruling
A federal appeals court on Wednesday handed a major win to the Trump administration in its fight against “sanctuary” jurisdictions, ruling that it can deny grant money to states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York overturned a lower court ruling that stopped the administration’s 2017 move to withhold grant money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which dispenses over $250 million a year to state and local criminal justice efforts.  The latest decision conflicts with rulings from other appeals courts across the country concerning sanctuary policies, indicating a Supreme Court review is ultimately likely.

February 26: The Washington Free Beacon: Dem candidates/senators miss the born alive vote
Democratic presidential candidates skipped a vote on a bill that would have guaranteed medical care for newborns, a vote that Republicans and pro-life activists say will come back to haunt the candidates in November. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were not present for the vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would mandate that doctors provide potentially life-saving care to babies who survive abortion. All three 2020 hopefuls voted to block the same bill when it was first proposed in 2019. Bill sponsor Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) ripped the Democratic presidential candidates for dodging the vote.

February 25: Scorecard: Texas convicted voter fraud perp faces deportation
A noncitizen who illegally voted five times in Texas is headed for deportation.  Mexican national Rosa Maria Ortega was  convicted of felony voter fraud in 2017 after falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen on a voter registration application and voting in Dallas County multiple times between 2004 and 2014.  A Tarrant County jury found Ortega guilty of two counts of illegal voting, a second-degree felony, and sentenced her to eight years in prison. After serving nine months in prison, Ortega was paroled in December, then taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She awaits deportation back to Mexico. 

February 26: Fox News: Democrat offering cash for votes faces 50 years in jail
A Cincinnati city councilwoman could face up to 50 years in prison after being arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges, authorities say, according to reports.  Shortly after being taken into custody, Tamaya Dennard appeared in court in handcuffs and leg irons to face charges of honest services fraud, bribery and attempted extortion, FOX 19 of Cincinnati reported.

February 25: The Daily Caller: ABC suspends veteran reporter over upcoming Veritas video
ABC News has suspended a reporter involved in an upcoming Project Veritas video the evening before the project is set to be released.  Project Veritas plans to release a video Wednesday exposing bias at ABC News.  Veteran reporter David Wright was suspended Tuesday evening ahead of the project’s release, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. ABC News did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.  They have previously received insider videos exposing network biases in numerous networks, including CNN and ABC News. The watchdog group has also aired videos of a Democratic Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ staffer promoting violence against his political opponents.

February 25: The Hill: Moderators come under fire at SC Democrat debate
The CBS News moderators came under fire on social media Tuesday as the Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina grew heated, with crosstalk often drowning them out.  Megham McCain compared the debate’s atmosphere to the contentious discussions she faces on "The View," saying, "these moderators need to get this under control."  Former Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman and Fox News contributor Donna Brazile also addressed the moderation issues, tweeting, "Dear Madam Moderators: throw your shoes down. Get control."

February 24: The Associated Press: Coronavirus spreads to Europe and Middle East
The new virus took aim at a broadening swath of the globe Monday, with officials in Europe and the Middle East scrambling to limit the spread of an outbreak that showed signs of stabilizing at its Chinese epicenter but posed new threats far beyond.  Italian authorities set up roadblocks, called off soccer matches and shuttered sites. In Iran, the government said 12 people had died nationwide, while five neighboring countries — Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Afghanistan — reported their first cases of the virus, with all those infected having links to Iran.  Across the world, stock markets and futures tumbled on fears of a global economic slowdown due to the expanding spread of the virus.

February 24: The New York Post: Weinstein convicted of sex crimes
Harvey Weinstein’s victims, and those who believe them, finally got their Hollywood ending: The dethroned Hollywood mogul led out of a courtroom in handcuffs.  On Monday, after nearly a week of deliberations, the jury returned their verdict: Guilty on two counts, rape and a criminal sex act.  Weinstein, who spent his evenings and weekends throughout the trial partying, his days bantering with press and ignoring admonitions by his trial judge, was immediately remanded to jail.  He will likely never get out.

February 24: Fox News: Trump calls upon Sotomayor and Ginsberg to recuse themselves over comments
President Trump late Monday called on Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg to recuse themselves from any cases involving his administration over their past comments.  Trump has proven in the past that he is not bashful about criticizing justices, but he seemed to be particularly bothered by a recent dissent by Sotomayor hinting that conservative-leaning justices have a bias towards Trump.

February 24: The Jerusalem Post: Israel strikes targets in Gaza and
Syria in response to rocket attacks
The IDF struck numerous targets belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group in Syria and throughout the Gaza Strip following rocket fire towards southern Israel over the course of Sunday evening.  The military said that Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck PIJ targets south of the capital of  Damascus, including a compound which was “used as a hub of Islamic Jihad’s activity in Syria” as well as dozens of terror targets belonging to the group across in the Strip.   Palestinian media said that two PIJ operatives were killed in the strike.

February 23: Breitbart News: Democrat elites prefer Trump to Burnie
It’s an article of faith inside the Bernie Sanders campaign that the Democratic establishment is going to do everything it can to stop the him from winning the Democratic nomination this year. This is what happened four years ago during the primary battle, when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was helping Hillary Clinton win the nomination, even as it feigned neutrality in the contest.   For Democrats this year the intra-party antipathy toward Sanders is even stronger than it was in 2016; it feels like an Anybody But Bernie movement, or even an outright Never Sanders pledge. Anti-Sanders sentiment inside the high pavilions of the Democratic Party is fierce. On February 3, the Onion nailed it with a quip that the Democrats would go so far as to ask Trump as their nominee, as a way of stopping Sanders.

February 23: The Wall Street Journal: White House consider revamping surveillance laws
Senior White House officials are discussing plans to pursue an overhaul of how the government surveils individuals in the U.S. suspected of posing a national security risk. Apparently the effort seeks to take advantage of the looming expiration of some spying powers next month, including portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a Watergate-era law that Mr. Trump believes has been improperly used.   Overhauling FISA has become a rallying cry for conservatives and allies of the president in the aftermath of a watchdog report detailing several errors made by the FBI in its applications for surveillance.  Some Republicans have called for upending FISA, prompting pushback from some in the administration, including Attorney General William Barr.

February 22: Politico: Dominoes fall in Nevada as Bernie wins the prize
On Saturday in Nevada, Bernie Sanders laid waste not just to his five main rivals but also the  conventional wisdom about the Democratic presidential primaries.   You could see the dominoes of punditry cliches falling inside the caucus rooms. The powerful Culinary Union, which opposes Sanders’ Medicare for All plan and spent the final weeks of the campaign in a high-profile fight with his campaign, was supposed to weaken him. And yet the Sanders’s ranks were speckled with red-shirted Culinary members. (Overall, Sanders won 34% of caucus-goers from union households, besting all of his rivals.)   With over 60% of the precincts reporting Bernie got 46% of the vote, Biden 19.6%, Buttigieg 15.3% and Warren 10.1%.

February 22: The Daily Caller: CNN/MSNBC repeatedly air misleading Bloomberg ad
TV networks, led by CNN and MSNBC, have aired a Michael Bloomberg ad more than 70 times in recent days in which the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful falsely said he led New York City through 9/11.   “I led a complex, diverse city through 9/11, and I have common sense plans to move America away from chaos to progress,” Bloomberg said in a 30-second campaign ad.   The problem with the claim is that Bloomberg did not take over as mayor of the Big Apple until Jan. 1, 2002, four months after terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan.   Rudolph Giuliani served as mayor when the attacks occurred.

February 22: The LA Times: Shake it up baby now, twist and shout: The 9th Circuit Court
When President Trump ticks off his accomplishments he frequently mentions his appointment of 51 judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals across the nation.  In few places has the effect been felt more powerfully than in the sprawling 9th Circuit, which covers California and eight other states.   Trump has now named 10 judges to the 9th Circuit — more than one-third of its active judges — tilting it to the right.  Some of the older appointees are point to Judge Daniel P. Collins, a former federal prosecutor, saying he appears to be oblivious to court tradition saying by sending memos at all times of the night in violation of a court rule.  Collins also moved quickly to challenge some rulings by his new colleagues, calling for review of five decisions by three-judge panels.  Active judges vote on the calls behind the scenes, and the public becomes aware of a failed effort only when dissents are later filed by the judges who favored reconsideration. Judges said it was unprecedented for a new jurist to try to overturn so many decisions in such a short period of time.

February 21: The Daily Caller: Trump and efforts to shake up the Fed
There is more to President Donald Trump’s monetary policy than political self-interest. If the president simply wanted low rates and to ease the regulatory burden of the Federal Reserve, he could achieve these outcomes without much resistance. However, Trump also wants to disrupt the Fed’s ruling monetary clique. To this end, he has nominated Judy Shelton to the FED’s  board.  Shelton’s confirmation hearing  had the drama and combativeness befitting a Supreme Court confirmation fight. To quote Senate Banking Committee Chair Mike Crapo, there was an “orchestrated, calculated effort” to defeat Shelton led by Senators Joh Tester (D-MT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  The well-prepared Democrats on the committee left no doubt of their united opposition to her confirmation.

February 21: The Washington Free Beacon: The Presidential race is stacking up
to be a battle of the boroughs
There are  329 million people in the U.S.  They are spread across 3.8 million square miles. The presidential race will be determined by the actions of three of them: Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Michael Bloomberg. Each is a New Yorker. Each hails from a different borough. Trump was born in Queens, Sanders in Brooklyn, and Bloomberg, a native of Massachusetts, has worked and lived in Manhattan since 1973.

February 20: The Washington Examiner: Appeals court blocks Mississippi’s h
eartbeat abortion ban
A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy.  A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Thursday to uphold a federal judge's ruling issued in May 2019 that the law couldn't stand. The same appeals court in December also struck down another Mississippi law that would have made abortion illegal after 15 weeks.  Supporters of six-week bans call them "heartbeat bills" because they make abortion illegal from the time a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat.

February 20: The Hill: Democrats are having second thoughts about
Bloomberg after his first debate  
Democrats are having second thoughts about Mike Bloomberg after he fell flat in his debate stage debut.  Before Wednesday night’s performance — which Democrats across the board labeled “terrible” and “pathetic” — many in the party were hopeful the former New York City mayor would emerge as a strong competitor to front-runner Sen.  Sanders (I-Vt.), who continues to gain momentum.  But Bloomberg’s debate implosion left a lot to be desired.

February 20: Fox News: Judge concurs; original Roger Stone sentence
recommendations were excessive
The judge presiding over Roger Stone’s case agreed with senior Justice Department leadership on Thursday that the original sentence proposal was excessive -- amid a clash inside the DOJ over his sentencing.  U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sentenced Stone to forty months in federal prison on Thursday, said the original sentence proposed last week by federal prosecutors of 87 to 108 months was steep given the charges.  She said the recommendation was "greater than necessary," while also saying the defense's recommendation of probation was "simply not sufficient."

February 20: The Daily Caller: Trump has first time every positive rating from Gallup
President Donald Trump is enjoying a positive approval rating for the first time since his inauguration, according to a poll released Thursday.  49% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, compared to 48% who disapprove of Trump’s performance, according to a Gallup poll published Thursday. The poll also found that the president is enjoying his highest approval ratings among Independents since taking office at 43%.

February 20: Fox News: Navy stations F-35s on amphibs; changes future tactics
The Navy has ushered in a new era in amphibious warfare operations.   Launching a massive, fast-paced air assault from the sea, providing close-air support for amphibious assault forces, and bringing forward-operating surveillance and networking technology to maritime warfare are all part of the changing operational calculus introduced by adding stealth F-35s to maritime attack.  U.S. amphibious assault ships could deploy with over twelve such aircraft, expanding the capabilities of the fleet.

February 19: The Galveston Daily News: Galveston County elections are secure
The bottom line is whenever you rely upon manual counting of paper ballots you introduce human error; the results are usually not accurate. Why spend over $3 million in taxpayer dollars to upgrade to a paper back up when what we have works?  So, when Dwight Sullivan, your County Clerk, says our elections are secure, believe him!  He's telling the truth!

February 19: The Washington Free Beacon: Bloomberg: Bernie, we tried communism
and it didn’t work
Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg attacked Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) economic agenda during Wednesday's debate, saying, "It was called communism and it just didn't work."  Asked if he would support Sanders's economic proposals as a business owner, Bloomberg said, "Absolutely not," adding that Sanders's communist policies have failed historically.

February 19: The Washington Times: Secession fever spikes in five states as
conservatives seek to escape blue rule
You’ve got Oregonians seeking to cascade into Idaho, Virginians who identify as West Virginians, Illinoians fighting to escape Chicago, Californians dreaming of starting a 51st state, and New Yorkers who think three states are better than one.  Separation fever is sweeping the nation as quixotic but tenacious bands of frustrated rural dwellers, suburbanites and conservatives seek to break free from states with legislatures increasingly controlled by liberal big cities and metropolitan strongholds.

February 18: The Washington Free Beacon: Stone gets 14 times more cable
coverage than George Washington on his birthday
An analysis found that cable news networks mentioned former Trump adviser Roger Stone nearly 15 times as often as George Washington on Washington's birthday. A TVEyes search found Roger Stone was mentioned 131 times on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN on Monday. Excluding references to Washington, D.C., Washington state, and the Washington Post, the founding father received only nine mentions.

February 16: Fox News: Congressman Nunes: AG Barr is trying to clean up
the mess from Obama’s FBI
" I think people need to understand that he’s (Barr) cleaning up the mess from not only the Obama administration, but also the mess that was left with the whole Russia-gate fiasco," Nunes said, “…taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to fund then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, that went chasing and trying to put us into a status of a permanent coup against the president of the United States," Nunes continued.  "I think what the attorney general said (about tweeting) was very clear, that the president should be careful making comments about criminal investigations. One should not see that as anything other than but what it is," Nunez said, adding that Barr "didn’t say to stop tweeting, because the fact of the matter is, with 90 percent of the media being hard left and really just working for the Democratic Party, the president has to be able to tweet."

February 16: The Hill: Senate Intelligence Committee to consider
investigating whistleblower complaint process
With Trump’s trial in the rearview mirror, the Senate Intelligence Committee is quietly shifting its attention back to its investigation into the complaint process after hitting pause on the inquiry as the impeachment effort consumed Washington.   The probe will force senators to decide if, and how, they speak with the whistleblower — a controversial call that could test the bipartisan reputation the Intelligence panel has maintained even amid deeply partisan fights in Congress. 

February 16: Fox News: Conway: Bloomberg comments to women
“far worse” than Trump’s access Hollywood tape
Counselor to  President Trump Kellyanne Conway joined Democrats in their criticism of Michael Bloomberg, after a Washington Post report detailed allegations of inappropriate comments toward women and discrimination within the presidential hopeful's media company.  The report described allegations from lawsuits and depositions against Bloomberg, as well as witness interviews, that described misogynistic remarks and a "pattern and practice of sexual harassment, sexual degradation of women and discrimination."  "The way Michael Bloomberg treated employees, female employees … who were relying on him for their livelihood, for their health benefits, for their 401ks, to have created that kind of culture, that unsafe workplace, to feel that you’re being harassed because of your gender, that is problematic, and I think you’re going to hear more of it," Conway said.  Conway contrasted this with her own experience working for President Trump. "He's the best boss I've ever had," she said.

February 16: The Hill: Trump “split screen” with Democrat primary hopefuls
President Trump has injected himself into the early primary states, staging rallies and shadowing Democrats as they campaign for votes in an effort to seize attention and better position himself for November.  The president’s prominence is unusual. Most incumbents have refrained from going full bore on the campaign trail while the opposing party is sorting out its own nominating process. But Trump has made himself a central player in each of the early primary states through his mega rallies.  He has held events in Iowa, New Hampshire, and is expected to go to Nevada and  South Carolina. The strategy has already produced results in the first two voting states. Trump earned 31,464 votes in Iowa and roughly 129,000 in New Hampshire, the most of any of the last four incumbents in those state primaries and may also have long term benefits as he heads toward the November election.

February 15: The Daily Caller: Trump deploying elite border patrol unites to sanctuary cities
The Trump administration is deploying an elite unit of the Border Patrol, including 100 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehend illegal aliens in sanctuary cities.  Members of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) will be helping ICE officers arrest illegal aliens living at large in sanctuary cities, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, Lawrence Payne, confirmed on Saturday. BORTAC officers — considered the SWAT team of the Border Patrol — are specially trained for high-risk operations and typically execute operations against violent targets.

February 15: Breitbart News: Border Patrol seeing more armed undocumented
attempting to enter the US
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended an allegedly armed human smuggler during an attempt to bring illegals into the country. Sector agents report they have observed an increasing trend in armed human smugglers.  “Our agents are encountering armed smugglers now more than ever before,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement, “These are dangerous criminals who continue to show little regard for human life.”

February 15: The Daily Caller: Pelosi claims Trump not acquitted because there
was no trial in the Senate
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed President Donald Trump wasn’t really acquitted in the impeachment trial during an interview on CNN.  According to her “You can’t have an acquittal unless you have a trial, and you can’t have a trial unless you have witnesses and documents. So he can say he’s acquitted, and the headlines can say ‘acquitted,’ but he’s impeached forever, branded with that, and not vindicated.”   The Senate indeed did vote to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial, with every Republican but one, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, voting against the charge of abuse of power, and all Republicans including Romney voting against the charge of obstruction.

February 14: NBC News: DOJ opens inquiry into FBI interview with Michael Flynn
The Justice Department recently opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the FBI's interview of Michael Flynn while he was serving as President Donald Trump's national security adviser.  Reportedly Attorney General Barr has asked the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jeffrey Jensen, to look into Flynn's FBI interview.  In early January prosecutors recommended Flynn serve up to six months in jail but were overruled three weeks later when the government submitted a new sentencing recommendation to the judge saying probation for Flynn was appropriate.

February 14:The Daily Caller: White House says Trump “not bothered” by AG Barr’s
comments about tweeting; has full faith and confidence in  Barr
According to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham President Trump “wasn’t bothered” by Attorney General Bill Barr’s comments about his tweets on the Roger Stone case.  “The President wasn’t bothered by the comments at all and he has the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions. President Trump uses social media very effectively to fight for the American people against injustices in our country, including fake news. The President has full faith and confidence in Attorney General Barr to do his job and uphold the law,” Grisham said.

February 14: The Washington Examiner: Texas poll suggests a brokered
Democrat convention is possible
The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll of Democratic voters in Texas shows a race where no candidate is close to earning a majority of delegates following the state's primary on March 3. The poll found that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont leads with 24% support, with former Vice President Joe Biden closely behind at 22%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 15%, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 10%. This poll from the second largest super Tuesday state indicates that the fight to be a dominant front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary may go on well into late spring or early summer.

February 13: The Washington Free Beacon:
USS Normandy (CG-60) seizes suspected Iranian weapons
destined for Yemen
This week the US guided missile cruiser Normandy seized weapons believed to be of Iranian "design and manufacture," including 150 anti-tank guided missiles and three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, the American military said on Thursday.  In a statement, the military said Normandy boarded a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel, in the Arabian Sea on Sunday.  "… weapons components seized aboard the dhow were of Iranian design and manufacture and included three Iranian surface-to-air missiles," US military sources said.  In recent years, U.S. warships have intercepted and seized Iranian arms likely bound for Houthi fighters in Yemen.

February 12: The Washington Examiner: McConnell: We’re a long way
from finishing confirmations of conservative judges
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said people should not expect him to take his foot off the accelerator in confirming conservative judges to fill vacancies at federal courts across the country.  "My motto for the year is 'leave no vacancy behind,'" McConnell said. "That includes district courts as well. So we're a long way from being finished with doing court confirmations this year."   The Kentucky Republican set up five more judicial nominations for votes last week after impeachment ended.

February 12: The LA Times: It’s words, not bullets,
for “bear whisperer” in the Eastern Sierras
Steve Searles is not really a cop, not really a civilian; he lives in limbo between those two worlds.  He has carved out a niche and a career as Mammoth Lakes’ “bear whisperer,” a protector of the wild things that roam the night: the ubiquitous bears, deer, coyotes and all manner of high-country cat. He protects the residents and the 2.5 million annual visitors too, though they have the numerical advantage.  Watch the video

February 12: Fox News: Roger Stone Jury forewoman defends prosecutors after her anti-Trump social media posts become public
Former Memphis City Schools Board President Tomeka Hart revealed Wednesday that she was the forewoman of the jury that convicted former Trump adviser Roger Stone on obstruction charges last year -- and soon afterward, a string of her anti-Trump, left-wing social media posts came to light.  Meanwhile it was disclosed that Seth Cousins, another Stone juror,  donated to Democrat  Beto O'Rourke and other progressive causes.  And another juror's husband reportedly worked at the Justice Department division that played a role in prosecuting Stone.  The revelations came as President Trump called into question the handling of Stone's prosecution. 

February 12: The Daily Caller: Foreigners working for the Sander’s campaign raise questions
Foreign nationals, under the direction of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, have sent thousands of texts and phone calls urging American voters to support the democratic socialist in the Democratic primaries.  Since October 2019, a particularly devoted contingent of about 40 Australian volunteers have sent thousands of messages a day to American voters through a phone banking system operated by the Sanders campaign, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  According to the Federal Elections Commission it’s legal for foreign nationals to volunteer for political campaigns as long as they’re not compensated for their services.

February 11: The Washington Times: AG Barr: Rouge DAs responsible for violent crime in large cities
Attorney General Bill Barr on Tuesday slammed “rogue DAs” he said are sabotaging the sanctity of the criminal justice system by bringing lesser charges or pleading down cases in order to keep people out of prison.
Barr, in a speech to the Major County Sheriffs of America, said the “self-styled ‘social justice’ reformers” are contributing to a recent rise in violent crimes in some of the country’s largest cities, defying an overall nationwide trend toward safety.

February 11: The Washington Examiner: Planned Parenthood and ACLU suing Administration
over rule requiring separate billing for abortion and other healthcare services
Planned Parenthood of Maryland and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing the Trump administration over a rule that will require some health insurers to send their customers separate premium bills to cover abortion.   The finalized rule requires Obamacare insurers to send separate bills to enrollees, one for abortion coverage and one for all other healthcare costs.  As required by the Hyde Amendment Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that it "fulfills Congress’ intent and reflects President Trump’s strong commitment to preventing taxpayer funding of abortion coverage."

February 11: The Daily Caller: Virginia’s House passes gun ban and seizure legislation
The Virginia House of Delegates passed a package of gun control proposals Tuesday on a near party line vote. The proposal passed the House 51-48 with all Republicans and several Democrats voting against the bill. The legislation includes a ban on the sale of several firearms defined as “assault weapons,” including the popular AR-15. Virginia residents who currently own these types of firearms will not be forced to participate in a mandatory buyback program as had initially proposed but the bill gives the state government the authority to confiscate certain types of magazines that are considered “high capacity.”

February 11: Fox News: Former CNBC anchor files to challenge AOC in the Democrat primary
Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is hoping to knock Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), out in this year's primary, as she runs to take New York's 14th congressional district.  A registered Democrat and descendant of Cuban immigrants, Caruso-Cabrera has been a fierce critic of socialism and advocate for free markets. According to CNBC, she filed to run late Monday.

February 10: Defense.gov: President Trump releases his 2021 budget
request; beefs up national defense
The President’s budget request includes $740.5 billion for national security, $705.4 billion of which is for the Department of Defense.  These funds are to be used to continue to improve military readiness and invest in the modernization of a more lethal force;  to strengthen alliances, deepen interoperability, and attract new partners; to  reform the Department for greater performance and accountability; and  to support service members and their families, recognizing that our people are our most valuable resource.

February 9: The Wall Street Journal: Florida law implementing amendment restoring
1.4 million felons voting rights causes confusion
More than a year after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million people with felony convictions, widespread confusion surrounds its implementation.  A law aimed at carrying out the amendment has sparked legal battles that remain unresolved, the state has provided little guidance to local elections officials, and some counties are filling the void with inconsistent remedies.

February 9: Fox News: DHS defends barring NY from global entry TTP saying it is not retaliation
DHS stated its move has nothing to do with the state's decision to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, and everything to do with keeping Customs and Border Protection [CBP] officials from accessing necessary data.  Acting Secretary of DHS Wolf stressed the significance of having access to the state's DMV data in order to conduct proper security checks for applicants to programs such Global Entry, saying New York was making it impossible for CBP to do what was needed.

February 9: The Washington Examiner: House will attempt to revive the Equal Rights
Amendment this week
The House is poised this week to pass a measure that would revive the long-dead Equal Rights Amendment by repealing the 1982 deadline imposed on states to ratify it,  “permanently reopen the ratification process for the amendment by eliminating the deadline,” the Congressional Budget Office reported.   But the effort to resuscitate the ERA faces significant obstacles.   The GOP-led Senate is unlikely to endorse the House measure.   Even if the Senate cleared the measure, the Justice Department has ruled it would be unconstitutional.  House lawmakers must start over if they wish to ratify the ERA, the Office of Legal Counsel ruled in January.

February 9: The Jerusalem Post:  Will the sun set on annexation of Judea and Samaria
Likud voters in Judea and Samaria are a relatively small yet influential group, and Netanyahu is left doing damage control and repeating over and over that annexation will really happen. The question is when?

February 8: Channel 4 Jacksonville: Republican voter registration booth rammed by van
Hours after a van plowed through a Republican Party tent where volunteers were registering voters, Jacksonville police arrested a 27-year-old man on two counts of aggravated assault on a person over 65 years old, criminal mischief and driving without a license.  Police Lt. Larry Gayle said after driving through the tent, the driver stopped, took a video and “flipped off” the people who were inside the tent before driving away.  No injuries were reported. One of the volunteers provided photos of the older brown Chevrolet driving away.

February 8: The Daily Caller: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tries unsuccessfully to bully
Facebook and Twitter into removing an edited video of her at the State of the Union Address
Facebook and Twitter are refusing to bow to requests from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to nix an edited video of the California Democrat tearing up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.  The edited video was posted on both social media platforms after the Tuesday night SOTU in which Pelosi can be seen ripping a copy of the speech. The video is spliced together to make it appear that Pelosi ripped the speech as Trump is saluting a Tuskegee airman and others in the audience.

February 8: Fox News: Trump to propose 12% increase in NASA’s budget in order to
get men back to the moon in four years
President Trump is seeking billions of dollars in new funding for NASA aimed at returning astronauts to the moon within four years, according to administration officials. Trump will propose a 12 percent budget increase for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration when he releases his spending plan next week. The boost includes funding to develop human landers.  No one has been to the moon since 1972 under NASA’s now-shuttered Apollo program. But since taking office, Trump has made space exploration a top priority, and his administration has set a target of 2024 for the next lunar landing.

February 8: The Washington Examiner: Dershowitz: FISA court needs “reshuffle”
to stop FBI officials with a “grudge”
Alan Dershowitz called for a "reshuffle" of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to protect the privacy of American citizens.  The Harvard Law School professor emeritus said that anyone, could be subject to surveillance abuse if a low-ranking FBI official has a "grudge" and a role in the FISA process.  "This could happen to you or me or anybody. Today, the way the FISA court operates, some low-ranking FBI agent with a grudge against somebody could walk in and say, 'Dershowitz,… were talking to the Russians, let’s intrude on his privacy, his wife’s privacy, his children’s privacy,'" He said that Attorney General William Barr's memo to the FBI ordering the organization to clear any investigations into 2020 candidates with him may not go far enough.

February 7: The Washington Free Beacon: Strained relationship between AIPAC and
the new Democrat party standard barriers
A Democrat-backed effort to boycott the nation's leading pro-Israel group is gaining steam, worrying center-left advocates of the Jewish state who have been struggling in recent months to ensure their party continues to uphold the historically close U.S.-Israel relationship.  Far-left critics of Israel and its supporters in the United States have been gaining traction in the Democratic Party for some time. As young leaders such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) gain increasing control of the party, anti-Israel voices once shunned by mainstream Democrats are beginning to find themselves welcomed with open arms.

February 7: The Washington Examiner: Trump: Vindman out because he lacked “judgment”
President Trump explained he fired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman because of his lack of judgment and insubordination.  Vindman “....was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. In other words, “OUT,” Trump reported. Vindman, a key witness in the impeachment trial against Trump, was fired and escorted out of the White House. His dismissal came two days after the president was acquitted on all impeachment charges by the Senate.

February 6: The Daily Caller: DHS suspends travel program for New York residents
The Department of Homeland Security is suspending New Yorkers from enrolling in Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs in response to a new state law that bans information sharing with the federal government.  The “Trusted” program allows expedited entry of pre-approved individuals and is heavily reliant on information from state driver’s licenses.  Because a new law in New York allows illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses and bans information sharing between DMVs and DHS agencies, DHS decided to suspend the program for New York residents.

February 6: Fox News: Senator Scott (FL) calls for amending the Constitution to
require a 60% vote in the House in order to impeach a President
"An act as divisive as impeachment must have bipartisan backing and overwhelming support. It should be harder – much harder – for either political party to take the process our Founders created as a last resort against a tyrannical leader and use it instead as a tool for the tyranny of a political majority," Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said in a statement. "I look forward to all of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, joining me in this effort to protect the integrity of our nation and our constitution."

February 5: CNBC News: Trump found not guilty of the two impeachment charges
On Wednesday the Senate voted to acquit President Trump of both counts of impeachment.  Fifty-two Senators voted for acquittal with 48, including Romney (R-UT), voting to find him guilty of abuse of power.  The President was also acquitted of the charge of obstruction by a vote of 53 to 47.  Chief Justice Roberts, in his final remarks before the trial officially adjourned, said that he leaves the chamber “with sincere good wishes as we carry out our common commitment to the Constitution through the distinct roles assigned to us by that charter.”  “You have been generous hosts and I look forward to seeing you again under happier circumstances,” Roberts said.

February 4: The Daily Caller: Trump to give Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Donald Trump plans to award conservative radio legend Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Limbaugh announced on his radio show Monday that he has advanced lung cancer and will be going through treatment for it.  “There are going to be days that I’m not going to be able to be here. Because I will be undergoing treatment,” he said on air.

February 4: ABC News: In a sign of disrespect, Speaker
Pelosi rips up Trump's State of the Union Speech
In a moment that bookended an already divided night at the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore in half a copy of the State of the Union address given to her by the president just as he finished speaking. President Donald Trump didn't appear to notice as Pelosi, standing behind him in the gallery, ripped up the papers. When asked after the event why she ripped up the speech, Pelosi told reporters it was "because it was a courteous thing to do considering the alternative. It was such a dirty speech."

February 4: The Hill: Acquittal of Trump may have
profound impact on Presidential power
President Trump’s acquittal at the end of his Senate trial could set a new bar for future impeachment trials, according to experts and historians interviewed by The Hill.  It may take years or even decades to truly determine what kind of mark Trump’s trial leaves, but historians and legal experts say an acquittal will likely lower the bar for permissible presidential conduct and give the executive branch more power in the face of congressional oversight — if the decision is based in part on the Trump legal team’s expansive view of presidential power.

February 4: Philadelphia Inquirer | Military.com | News Break:
Three highlights from the President’s State of the Union address

[Philadelphia Inquirer] A Philadelphia mother and her fourth-grade daughter made a special appearance Tuesday night as guests for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.  Stephanie Davis and daughter Janiyah sat in the gallery as the president spoke. He talked directly to the girl while discussing his plans for school choice and federal tax credits. “Some good news for you” the President said,   'I am pleased to inform you that your long wait is over. … an opportunity scholarship has become available, is going to you, and you will soon be heading to the school of your choice,” Trump concluded.

[Military.com] He's only 13, but he's already got his eye on joining the nation's newest military branch, the U.S. Space Force.  Meet Iain Lanphier, the Scottsdale, Arizona 8th-grader.  Sitting next to Ian was 100-year-old Charles McGee, one of the last survivors of the legendary  Tuskegee Airmen -- African-American pilots who fought heroically in World War II. "Charles McGee was born in Cleveland, Ohio, one century ago," Trump said. " ... After more than 130 combat missions in World War II, he came back to a country still struggling for Civil Rights and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam." Earlier that day Trump signed the papers making him an honorary brigadier general.

[News Break] President Donald Trump surprised a military family with an unexpected reunion during the State of the Union on Tuesday evening. While discussing how "war places a heavy burden on our nation's extraordinary military families," Trump recognized Amy Williams from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and her two children, 6-year-old Elliana and 3-year-old Rowan.

February 4: Associated Press: Biden’s poor showing shakes up the Democrat establishment
Joe Biden’s third presidential bid enters a critical stretch after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses sent the former vice president on to New Hampshire with a skittish donor base, low cash reserves and the looming threat of billionaire rival Michael Bloomberg and his unlimited personal wealth.  In New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden insisted he had a “good night” in Iowa even as he trailed the top moderate candidate, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of Indiana; Bernie Sanders, according to initial returns from 62% of precincts. Biden was running fourth, close to Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who just days ago polled in single digits.

February 3: The Daily Caller: Harvard professor arrested  for ties with
Chinese Communist Government
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence on American college campuses has continued to be of concern, highlighting a trend at America’s most elite institutions.  Most recently, Charles Lieber, the chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, was charged with aiding the Chinese government and hiding his ties about accepting millions in funding. His involvement with the Chinese government included recruiting skilled individuals to the Thousand Talent Program, which in some cases has resulted in violations of U.S. law, such as espionage, theft of trade secrets, and grant fraud.  Other universities with similar situations include Boston University and the University of Kansas.

February 3: Fox News: Limbaugh announces he has “advanced lung cancer”
Talk radio king Rush Limbaugh stunned his 20-million member audience Monday with the announcement he’s been diagnosed with “advanced lung cancer.”  The 69-year-old conservative talk pioneer closed his broadcast with the grim news, saying he will be leaving his golden EIB microphone for treatment, but hopes to return later this week.  The radio icon then told his audience that his job has provided him with the “greatness satisfaction and happiness” of his life.  “So, I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you. It’s a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today,” he said. “I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down. The upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.”

February 2: Breitbart News: Sanders could sweep early primary states
Former Vice President Joe Biden is only 5 points ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the latest poll of voters in South Carolina, the state where Biden had built a “firewall” of support among African-Americans.  The new poll result raises the possibility that Sanders could sweep all four of the early primary states that vote in February. He leads in the latest polls in Iowa and New Hampshire; he is statistically tied with Biden in the most recent poll in Nevada; and now he is clinging to a slim lead over Sanders in South Carolina.

February 2: Daily Caller: Google employees used company resources to resist Trump
Apparently Google employees interpreted Trump’s election as a terrible outcome that they should have done more to prevent the American people from choosing and something they would work hard to make sure didn’t happen again. Indeed, company documents and communications showing Google employees organizing anti-Trump protests using internal company channels, company time, and company office space.  “If your stomach turns when you consider a Trump presidency, I urge you not to let this moment pass quietly,” one Google employee wrote in an email to coworkers, urging them to attend an anti-Trump protest in San Francisco ten days after Trump’s election.

February 1: BBC News: UK begins new chapter outside the European Union
Celebrations and anti-Brexit protests were held on Friday night to mark the UK's departure.  Ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis said everyone would be a winner in the end.  The UK officially left the European Union on Friday at 23:00 GMT after 47 years of membership, and more than three years after it voted to do so in a referendum.  In a message released on social media an hour before the UK left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to bring the country together and "take us forward".  "For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come," he said. "And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss."

February 1: The Daily Caller: Democrat Texan Congressman concerned about ICE
apprehending an illegal at local courthouse
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) said he was “disturbed” to hear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a criminal illegal alien in a courthouse. The Congressman was repeating a criticism made by many immigrant-rights activists – courthouses should be considered “sensitive locations,” or off-limits to ICE because such arrests might lead to the illegal immigrant community becoming fearful of approaching law enforcement altogether.  ICE has long pushed back on this argument, pointing out that arrests in these locations are a safe alternative to apprehensions out of the field — where individuals might be armed, and others might be put at risk. Courthouses, where individuals enter through a metal detector and are surrounded by law enforcement, ensure safety for everyone involved.

February 1: The Washington Examiner:  Romney “formerly not invited” to CPAC after
impeachment witness vote
The chairman of CPAC announced that Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is "formally not invited" to the conservative group's annual conference this year.  Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union, said Romney is not allowed at the event after the Utah Republican voted in favor of summoning witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump. Romney was one of two Republicans who joined 47 Democrats in supporting the motion, which failed to pass on Friday.

January 29: The Daily Caller: UK to allow China’s Huawei access to 5G networks
Britain announced Tuesday plans to allow Chinese company Huawei limited access to the country’s 5G networks, effectively dismissing U.S. pressure to avoid the telecommunications giant.  The country will allow the company to supply and build 5G network infrastructure but will deny it access to some of Britain’s government sites, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Britain officials had been under intense pressure from the Trump administration to block Huawei.  President Donald Trump and U.S. officials believe Huawei represents a threat to national security, warning Beijing could direct the company to spy on Americans or cause disruptions to critical infrastructure.

January 28: AmmoLand.com: Trump Administration publishes historic rulemaking to
modernize U.S. firearms export regime
On Jan. 23, 2020, the Trump administration  published rules that will be a boon to the United States firearms industry and all who utilize its products. The new regulations will become effective on March 9, 2020.  The changes move firearm-related commerce from an antiquated Cold War paradigm into the modern era of broader international trade and access to information.  No more will small, non-exporting businesses – including gunsmiths – be caught up in an expansive regulatory scheme for manufacturers of “munitions” and their parts that requires a $2,250 annual registration fee with U.S. State Department.  The rule will move the control for exporting these items from the Munitions List (administered by the Department of State) to the “dual use” list of items licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The rule was the result of a year-long interagency process.  Meanwhile attorney generals from several anti-gun states have filed suit in Federal Court in Seattle, Washington, in an effort to stop the rule from taking effect.

January 28: The Washington Examiner: Trump and Netanyahu get
down to business while enemies circle
President Trump unveiled what he called his “deal of the century” for peace in the Middle East announcing a four-year halt to Israeli settlement building as the basis for finding a “realistic” two-state solution.  His plan calls for what would be the world’s longest tunnel, linking Gaza to the West Bank, and other bold proposals such as allowing Israel to annex the Jordan Valley in return for Palestinian statehood.  “I was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems,” said Trump to cheers and applause as he stood beside Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

January 28: Fox News:  Rand Paul: Trump’s children should sue Schumer
for defamation of character
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said Tuesday that President Trump’s children should sue Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for defamation of character after Schumer  accused both them and their father of  illegally making money off of the presidency. Paul said he was "offended" and "shocked" that Schumer would "be so scurrilous" as to accuse the president and his children of making money illegally off of politics when "the only people we know who have actually made money off this have been Hunter Biden and Joe Biden."  He continued "So, Hunter Biden makes a million dollars a year. That's documented.  But, Schumer simply creates and makes up and says, 'Oh, maybe the president's kids are making money.'"

January 28: News One: Trump’s team wraps up impeachment defense;
rejects Bolton testimony:
President Donald Trump's legal team argued forcefully against the relevance of testimony from Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday as the lawyers wrapped their defense and the Senate braced for debate on whether to summon Bolton and other witnesses into the impeachment trial.  Attorney Jay Sekulow undermined the credibility of Bolton's book by noting that other administration officials have disputed comments attributed to him.  Trump’s attorneys also argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with impeachable offenses clearly enumerated.

January 27: The Washington Examiner:  Paul: “Disgruntled, angry” Bolton using
leak to “make a lot more money”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul dismissed claims that former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s testimony would add anything new to the impeachment case and charged that parts of Bolton's book critical of the president were leaked so he could make more money.  “He’s a disgruntled, angry man who was fired. So you’d have to take him with a grain of salt. He wants to sell a book,” the Kentucky senator told Secrets Monday in comments that echoed those of President Trump.  Paul suggested that the book excerpts leaked to the New York Times were part of a scheme to rally calls that the Senate call witnesses, especially Bolton, which would help the former aide cash in even more on his book,

January 27: The Daily Caller: Hemmer asks impeachment manager Demings
three times why the House didn’t subpoena Bolton
Fox News host Bill Hemmer had to ask House Impeachment Manager Val Demings three times why the House had not subpoenaed former National Security Adviser John Bolton — and even then, she did not give an answer.  Hemmer spoke to Demings during a break Monday in the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

January 27: Breitbart News:  Trump defense team lays out their case
Trump defense counsel Cipollone made some quick observations before the Senate adjourns. He said he was thinking how Trump’s impeachment would look like on a law school exam. After going over the fact pattern, he said the first thought would be this could not happen in America. He continued one would reject the impeachment. He concluded by saying the most important point is that this choice belongs to the American people and they will get to make their choice months from now. He said there is no basis in the law for Senators to remove the president from the ballot.

January 26: The Washington Examiner: Should Bolton testify don’t expect
him to slam dunk Trump
John Bolton is unlikely to drop the bombshell on President Trump hoped for by Democrats should he testify in the Senate impeachment trial, according to those who know him well.  Bolton is a committed hawk who devoted his career inside and outside the government to persuading Republican politicians to adopt his foreign policy agenda. Whatever his opinion of Trump with regard to Ukraine Bolton associates are convinced he would not jeopardize his influence with Republicans on national security matters by testifying against the president.

January 26: The Washington Free Beacon: CNN blames bar shooting on lax gun laws; it
got the facts wrong
A CNN article on a recent Kansas City bar shooting mischaracterized the shooter's criminal history to blame the killing on Missouri's gun laws.   29-year-old Jahron Swift was identified by police as the shooter.  All of Swift's prior arrests and weapons charges came before Missouri's gun law went into effect. Even after it was enacted on Jan. 1, 2017, the permit-less carry law would not have nullified Swift's pending unlawful use of weapons charges. But regardless of the permit-less carry law, Swift was convicted of two felonies and therefore could not have legally carried a gun.

January 26: Fox News: Tennessee law would allow agencies to deny LGBTQ
adoption applications for religious  reasons 
The Governor of Tenseness signed a controversial law Friday that allows adoption agencies within the state to refuse to place children in homes that "violate the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies.”  The measure, signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, was widely condemned by members of the LGBTQ community for providing legal protections to agencies that reject foster care or adoption applications from same-sex homes. It also prohibits the state from denying agencies licenses or grants for public funding because they have a religious objection to placing a child in a certain home.

January 26: Yahoo News: Rocket attack his U.S. embassy in Bagdad injuring at least one
Three rockets slammed into the US embassy in Iraq's capital on Sunday in the first direct hit reported after months of close calls, as thousands kept up anti-government sit-ins across the country.  None of the attacks has been claimed but Washington has repeatedly blamed Iran-backed military factions in Iraq. 

January 25: The Daily Caller: Senator Ernst: Trump legal team shredded
House 24 hour impeachment case in just two hours
Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst on Saturday reacted to the White House counsel’s defense against impeaching President Donald Trump, saying they “shredded” the House managers’ case in just two hours.  “Within two hours I thought that the White House Counsel and their team entirely shredded the case that has been presented by the house managers,” Ernst said to reporters on Capitol Hill after listening to Trump’s lawyers.

January 25: Breitbart News: Senator Hawley (R-MO) plans to force subpoena
votes for Bidens, Schiff, and the Whistleblower
Senator Josh Hawley revealed Saturday he has drafted motions to subpoena former Vice President Biden, his son Hunter, House intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA),and the so-called whistleblower.  Hawley will attempt to force a vote on the subpoenas if the Senate approves additional witnesses and documents as part of the upper chamber’s trial.  Hawley’s motion is likely to be opposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has come out against subpoenaing Hunter Biden over concerns that the move will extend the trial longer.

January 24: Real Clear Politics: Trump speaks at March for Life rally in DC
It is my profound honor to be the first President in history to attend the March for Life. We’re here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. For 47 years, Americans of all backgrounds have traveled from across the country to stand for life. And today, as President of the United States, I am truly proud to stand with you

January 24: Fox News: Trump tells defense team, just be honest and tell the truth
President Trump told Fox News Friday that his defense team in the Senate impeachment trial merely has to "be honest" in laying out the case for why he shouldn't be removed from office before calling the proceedings a "fraud."  "What my people have to do is just be honest, just tell the truth," Trump told Raymond Arroyo at the March for Life rally in Washington. "They’ve been testifying, the Democrats, they’ve been telling so many lies, so many fabrications, so much exaggeration. And this is not impeachable."

January 24: Yahoo.Com: Experts fear too late for China virus lockdown
China's bid to contain a deadly new virus by placing cities of millions under quarantine is an unprecedented undertaking but it is unlikely to stop the disease spreading, experts warn.  The contagious virus has already reached elsewhere in China and abroad, and even an authoritarian government has only a small timeframe in which trapped residents will submit to such a lockdown, they say.  "I think we have passed the golden period of control and prevention," said Guan Yi, an expert on viruses at Hong Kong University.

January 24: Fox News: Senator Ernst impeachment “hypocrisy”
Democrats' claim that the Trump Administration broke America's promise to protect  Ukraine from Russia by withholding military aid is just an example of the party's hypocrisy, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) claimed Thursday.  "The Democratic House Managers’ hypocrisy is on full display," Ernst wrote on Twitter.  "They’ve spent most of their time lecturing the Senate on aid to Ukraine, yet four of them voted AGAINST legislation that provided the very same aid they’re lecturing us on."  "What I find very interesting now is that the House Managers are very, very centered on the fact that Russia was invading Ukraine. And military funding to Ukraine," she said during a break from President Trump’s impeachment trial earlier Thursday, reminding reporters that Crimea was invaded in 2014 during the Obama administration.

January 23: The Daily Caller:  Biden: DACA recipients are “More American
than most Americans”
Former Vice President Joe Biden said at a campaign event in Iowa on Tuesday that illegal immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are “more American” than most of their U.S.-born counterparts because they do well in school.  “These kids have come, they’ve done well, most of these kids — there’s a lot of them, and they’re not just Hispanic, they’re Asian-Pacific Islanders as well. and they in fact have done very, very well,” Biden said at an event in Ames, Iowa.

January 23: Fox News: Turnabout is fair play; Oklahoma bans
state travel to California
The governor of Oklahoma has banned all state-funded travel to California after officials there placed a similar ban on travel to his state.  Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt announced the ban in an executive order on Thursday, barring all non-essential travel by state employees to the Golden State, with exceptions for business recruiting trips, college sports games and trips by schools to participate in out-of-state programs.  Stitt’s executive order came as a response to similar travel bans imposed by California where Oklahoma was added after enacting legislation allowing adoption agencies to deny placement services to same-sex parents.

January 23: Fox News:  Key GOP senator “Offended” by Nadler cover up charge
House Democrats' handling of the impeachment to date may be turning off Republicans they need to help them in the final vote.  The first sign of a backlash among that critical group came Wednesday when Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)  said she was offended by House manager Jerry Nadler’s assertion that GOP members voting against allowing new testimony and evidence were engaged in a “cover-up.”  Murkowski’s complaint about Nadler's remarks is particularly noteworthy, as she is among the small group of Republican senators seen as a possible swing vote on impeachment and a possible supporter of allowing more witness testimony later on in the trial. But Murkowski is not alone—Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Wednesday said Democrats “took a huge step backward” in their opening.

January 23: The Daily Caller: DOJ concedes that two of its Carter Page
FISA orders were “not valid”
The Justice Department recently conceded that two of the four orders to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page were “not valid,” Judge James Boasberg said in a court order unsealed Thursday.   The Justice Department made the surprising concession in response to an inspector general’s report that found “significant” errors and omissions in four applications submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to surveil Page.  While the IG report was highly critical of the FBI and Justice Department, it did not weigh in on the validity of the four surveillance applications, which were granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

January 22: NBC News:  Senate adopts Leader McConnell’s rules for
impeachment trial of Trump
The Senate passed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's resolution laying out a blueprint for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial along party lines early Wednesday after 13 hours of back and forth between House prosecutors and attorneys for the White House.  Under the terms of the organizing resolution, the House case managers will have 24 hours over three days to make their arguments to remove the president from office on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress. Attorneys for the White House likewise will have 24 hours over three days to state their case for acquittal.

January 22: Fox News: House and White House legal teams tangle causing
Justice Roberts to admonish both
"We've (the President’s legal team) been respectful of the Senate,"  White House counsel Pat Cipollone fired said.   "We've made our arguments to you. And you don't deserve, and we don't deserve, what just happened. Mr. Nadler came up here and made false allegations against our team. He made false allegations against all of you; he accused you of a cover-up. He's been making false allegations against the president. The only one who should be embarrassed, Mr. Nadler is you, for the way you've addressed the United States Senate. This is the United States Senate. You're not in charge here. ... It’s about time we bring this power trip in for a landing."  The attacks went on back and forth causing the Chief Justice to admonish both legal teams

January 22: The UK Daily Mail: Gabbard sues Clinton; I’m no Russian Spy
Tulsi Gabbard is suing  Hillary Clinton for defamation after Clinton indicated she thinks the Hawaii congresswoman is a Russian plant in the 2020 presidential race.  'Rep. Gabbard must defend her good name,' her lawyer said in a statement on Wednesday.  The complaint references Gabbard's military service in the Army National Guard, charges Clinton with hurting her presidential bid, and outlines her belief Clinton made the comments in retaliation for Gabbard endorsing Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary. 

January 21: The UK Daily Mail: Democrats lose their first battle of
Trump's impeachment trial as Senate rejects subpoenaing the White
House for Ukraine documents
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) blasted a proposed rules package and said Trump sought to 'coerce' Ukraine into helping him 'cheat' in the election. Trump denies he committed an impeachable offense and his defense has assailed the Democrats' process and lack of Republican backing. Majority Leader McConnell modified the initial rules to allow 24 hours of debate for each side over three days.  Minority Leader Schumer proposed an amendment that would allow Democrats to subpoena White House documents.  The Senate voted down the Schumer proposal by a 53 to 47 party line vote.   Several moderate GOP lawmakers - who Democrats had hoped to pick off to their side - said they were fine with waiting to vote on subpoenaing documents and witnesses after each side presents its opening argument, which is the same procedure used in Bill Clinton's Senate trial.

January 21: Fox News: Perino: Schumer risks losing public and senate
interest with amendments to the impeachment rules
Fox News cohost Dana Perino said Tuesday Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) risks losing the public's -- and the U.S. Senate's -- attention if he continues to offer "amendments" to the parameters of the Trump impeachment trial.  Most observers have a "limited amount of attention span," she said.  "He (Schumer) has to make a decision," Perino said.. "Does he want to go through all of these or tell [Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell: 'Put these amendments in the record. Table them all at once. Get to the substance right away.'"

January 21: Fox News: Trump addresses World Economic Forum in Switzerland
President Trump on Tuesday addressed the global business community in Davos while his adversaries back home prepared for  his impeachment trial.  Trump took the stage and touted his administration's policies for helping create a historic unemployment level and taking a new proactive stance toward trade. He said recent trade agreements will represent a new model for the 21st Century that is based on fairness and reciprocity.  "Today I'm proud to declare the United States is in the midst of an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen before," he said. He went on to vow never to let "radical socialists destroy our economy."

January 20: The Washington Examiner:  White House adds GOP members to defense team
Eight Republican members of the House have joined President Trump's impeachment team ahead of his Senate trial.  The White House released the names including representatives Doug Collins (GA), Mike Johnson (LA), Jim Jordan (OH), Debbie Lesko (AZ), Mark Meadows (NC), John Ratcliffe (TX), Elise Stefanik (NY), and Lee Zeldin (NY). "Throughout this process, these Members of Congress have provided guidance to the White House team, which was prohibited from participating in the proceedings concocted by Democrats in the House of Representatives," the White House said in a statement. "The President looks forward to their continued participation and is confident that the Members will help expeditiously end this brazen political vendetta on behalf of the American people."

January 20: The Jerusalem Post: Iran threatens to pull out of the NPT if Europe
refers it to UN council
Iran said on Monday it could quit the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if European countries refer it to the U.N. Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in its confrontation with the West.  The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic program.  The fate of the 2015 pact has been in doubt since the United States pulled out of it and reimposed sanctions.

January 20: The Daily Caller: Trump considering crackdown on “Birth Tourism”
Reports say every year, tens of thousands of foreign visitors enter the U.S. and give birth.  The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a crackdown on those who visit the United States with the explicit intention to give birth, taking advantage of the country’s birthright citizen laws. The President  is expected to roll out changes to visa requirements in the coming days in order to stifle the “birth tourism” industry . The proposals would be the latest in the administration’s efforts to clamp down on abuse of the U.S. immigration system.

January 20: The Washington Free Beacon: CNN: While covering a peaceful gun
rights rally, repeatedly mentions instances of gun violence
While reporting on a peaceful gun-rights rally in Richmond, Va., on Monday, CNN kept a chyron up about a shooting the night before in Kansas City. CNN reported on three recent gun-related events: a Monday morning shooting in Honolulu, a Sunday night shooting in Kansas City, and a Monday gun-rights rally in Richmond. As the segment transitioned from the Kansas City shooting to the Richmond protest, the chyron title read "Virginia Gun Fight" with the subtitle "2 Dead, 15 Injured in Kansas City shooting."

January 19: The Daily Caller: Chris Wallace challenges impeachment manager
about “solemn” souvenir pen ceremony
“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace challenged New York Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries directly over the souvenir impeachment pens handed out by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Jeffries, who was named one of Pelosi’s impeachment managers late last week, spoke with Wallace on Sunday morning and claimed that House Democrats took “no joy” in that ceremony despite the fact that they were all seen smiling, posing for photos and received ceremonial signing pens.

January 18: The Hill: Ted Cruz: Having witnesses could extend an impeachment
trial by up to eight weeks
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Sunday that the Senate’s impeachment trial could last as long as eight weeks if the chamber elects to hear from witnesses.  “I think it’s certainly possible that this trial could last one to two weeks. On the other hand, if the Senate makes the decision to go down the road of additional witnesses, that could extend it to six to eight weeks or even longer,” Cruz said. “This week is going to be the first time in a year that the president has had the opportunity to defend himself, to lay out the facts, to lay out the law, to lay out the actual substance,” he added.

January 18: Fox News: McConnell could provide for a “kill switch” for
impeachment trial if Democrats attempt to drag it out
Senate Majority Leader McConnell reportedly is close to finalizing a rule that would allow President Trump's team to move to dismiss the articles of impeachment in the Senate quickly after some evidence has been presented, as a sort of safety valve in case Democrats try to drag out the trial for weeks.  McConnell, R-Ky., wouldn't be obligated to publicize the final version of his resolution setting the parameters of the impeachment trial until Tuesday, but top Republicans have said they supported affording Trump the opportunity to cut the trial short.

January 18: The Daily Caller: Trump asks Supreme Court to allow plan restricting green
cards for benefit-dependent immigrants
he Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court for permission to enforce a new rule that allows authorities to consider a foreign national’s reliance on government benefits when deciding whether to give them a green card.  The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides that aliens should not be admitted if they are “likely at any time to become a public charge.” In the past, the government defined a “public charge” as a person primarily dependent on a cash assistance program, but the Trump administration expanded that definition in August 2019 to include people who use Medicaid, housing benefits or food stamps for a period of months.

January 17: The Washington Times: Sanders supports threaten to stay home if Biden is the nominee
Bernie Sanders supporters are warning that a lack of enthusiasm for Joe Biden could bring about the same result that nominating another establishment Democrat did four years ago: electing Donald Trump.   Sanders backers fret the socialist Vermont senator, 78, is being consistently ignored and underestimated by Beltway insiders and a Washington-based press corps — the same bunch, in their view, who failed to predict Trump's 2016 White House win and were sure Hillary Clinton, who beat Sanders for the Democratic nomination, would easily prevail.

January 17: Associated Press: Anti-Trump protests have shrunk
Days after President Donald Trump killed an Iranian general and said he was sending more soldiers to the Middle East, about 100 protesters stood on a pedestrian bridge over Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive with an illuminated sign that read “No War in Iran.”  Some 200 people marched in the bitter cold near Boston, while a few dozen people demonstrated on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall and at similarly sized gatherings across the U.S.   Three years after Trump took office and millions of people swarmed to the Women’s March in Washington and companion marches across the country, these typically modest protests are often the most visible sign of today’s Trump resistance.  Buy the Associated Press believes this should not be confused with “…a lack of energy or motivation to vote Trump out of office come November.”

January 17: Fox News: Gingrich: This impeachment will last “forever” but not
how Pelosi thinks
House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA)seemed giddy Wednesday as she announced the impeachment managers who would go to the Senate and attempt to prosecute a case against President Trump.  “He’s been impeached forever,” Pelosi said. “They can never erase that.”  Former Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “The wide repudiation of the House Democratic betrayal of the Constitution is already beginning. As a historian myself, I think it’s important to document these reactions.”

January 17: The Daily Caller: The Supremes’ Cases: State laws on “unfaithful”
electors; religious exemptions to Obamacare
he Supreme Court took up two high-profile disputes Friday as it rounds out its docket for the 2019-2020 term, agreeing to decide on the Trump administration’s bid to enforce exemptions from the Obamacare contraception mandate for religious dissenters, and whether state laws punishing “faithless” presidential electors are unconstitutional.  The latter case will be decided just months before the 2020 election, and could be decisive to the outcome of a closely-fought race.

January 17:  Fox News: Ayatollah lashes out at UK, France, and
Germany as they impose sanctions on Iran
On Friday Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei lashed out at Germany, the U.K. and France, calling them the “footmen of the U.S.,” days after the European countries moved to sanction the Islamic Republic for violating the controversial 2015 nuclear deal.

January 17: The Daily Caller: Starr, Dershowwitz, and Ray to join the
Trump impeachment defense team
President Donald Trump will reportedly add lawyers Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr and Robert Ray to his impeachment legal defense team. Starr helped with former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, and Dershowitz was the former lawyer of Jeffrey Epstein. Ray replaced Starr at the Office of Independent Counsel during Clinton’s administration.

January 17: Fox News: Virginia Sheriff on Dems’ gun control bill
Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins reacted on Friday to the Virginia state House Democratic majority pushing several gun control measures to the upper senate chamber, calling it an "overreaching agenda against the Second Amendment."  “Never have I, or anyone, seen in the Commonwealth of Virginia someone have a topic so strongly opposed as this issue and suddenly this strong uprising against it,” Jenkins said.

January 16: The Associated Press: New Iowa caucus rules could spark clashes
The Iowa caucuses are never simple. Voters spend hours in high school gymnasiums or public libraries, starting their night by declaring support for their preferred presidential candidate. That’s followed by a feverish round of lobbying in which supporters of eliminated candidates are pressed to make a new pick by the evening’s end. This year, the caucuses could be even more chaotic.

January 16: Breitbart News: Seven times GAO found the Obama
Admin. violated federal law
Democrats and journalists were excited to learn the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a legal opinion that the Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding (actually delayed) Congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine last summer. The non-binding opinion was disputed by the OMB, which released a memo last month arguing that the “programmatic” delay sought to fulfill, not oppose, congressional intent.   Nevertheless, if a mere GAO finding is sufficient to justify impeachment, then President Barack Obama ought to have been impeached at least seven times over for each of the cases in which the GAO found that the Obama administration had violated federal law.

January 16: The Daily Caller: Rand Paul: Fears GOP may restrict Trump’s
team from calling witnesses of their choice
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he’s worried that his fellow Republican senators will block testimonies from the witnesses President Donald Trump wants called in his impeachment trial.  Trump previously said he wants Hunter Biden, Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff,  and the whistleblower to testify if the Senate allows witnesses during the impeachment trial.  “Here’s the thing is, fair is fair, and if they’re going to put the president through this, they’re going to have to have witnesses on both sides,” Paul said.

January 16: The New York Times: Justice Dept. appears to be investigating
classified information links, may be focusing on Comey
Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry.  The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a “leaker.” Mr. Trump recently suggested without evidence that Mr. Comey should be prosecuted for “unlawful conduct” and spend years in prison.

January 15: Grabien.com: Biden stumbles his way through final Democrat Debate
Democrats’ 2020 front-runner ended the primary debate season much the way he began it: Stumbling and mumbling.  In his final performance before the Iowa caucuses, Biden once again struggled stringing together coherent sentences.  During one of his first answers, Biden attempted explaining his foreign policy toward the Middle East: "It's a mistake to pull out the straw, small number of troops … It's lie that our embassies were going to be bombed."   Discussing North Korea, Biden offered: "I would not meet without Kim absent preconditions." On trade with China, Biden again got tongue-tied: “If we don’t set the rules of the road by going out to our partners, instead of poking our eye — and, uh, excuse me, poking our finger in the eye of our friends ...”

January 15: The Daily Caller: Most of House impeachment team supported
impeachment prior to the “Whistleblower” coming forward
Six of the seven impeachment managers selected by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi supported the impeachment of President Donald Trump before the whistleblower complaint was filed.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is set to be the lead manager. 

January 15: The UK Sun: Speaker appoints impeachment team, sends articles to Senate
House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today the House prosecutors who will lead the case for the impeachment of Donald Trump.  Pelosi said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chair of the intelligence committee, and Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chair of the Judiciary Committee, are among the seven prosecutors, or "managers."  The other managers include: Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, Val Demings, D-FL Jason Crow, D-WI, Sylvia Garcia, D-TX, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-CA.

January 14: NBC Channel 12: Northam declares state of emergency, Capitol
weapon ban ahead of gun rights rally
Fearing a repeat of the deadly violence that engulfed Charlottesville more than two years ago, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary emergency Wednesday banning all weapons, including guns, from Capitol Square ahead of a massive rally planned next week over gun rights.  The governor, a Democrat, announced the plans at a news conference Wednesday afternoon because of credible threats of potential violence and extremism, one official said. Northam’s announcement comes days after Democratic leaders used a special rules committee to ban guns inside the Capitol and a legislative office building. That ban did not include Capitol grounds, which are under the governor’s control and are where thousands of gun-rights advocates are expected to rally Monday.

January 14: Fox News: Hume: Dems push for witnesses is a “Hail Mary Pass”
Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume said Tuesday that Democrats are depending on completing a  "Hail Mary pass" by pushing for witness testimony in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.  "I think that witnesses could happen. But make no mistake about what this is. This is a Hail Mary pass being encouraged mostly by a Democratic prosecution, House prosecutors who obviously don't think that the evidence that they have introduced so far is sufficient for a conviction… …And they're trying now at the last minute to get further witness testimony," Hume said

January 14: CNS News: Federal spending sets record through December
The federal government spent a record $1,163,090,000,000 in the first three months of fiscal 2020 (October through December),  according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Monday.  That was up $48,008,200,000 from the $1,115,081,800,000 (in constant December 2019 dollars) that the federal government spent in the first three months of fiscal 2019.

January 14: Jerusalem Post: Iranian protests enter third day, injuries reported,
internet disrupted
Iranians continued protests in multiple cities throughout the country on Monday as students and citizens expressed anger at the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and the failure of the Iranian government to admit their involvement.  Security forces continued to face off with demonstrators, as some reports claimed that protests were violently suppressed.   Internet watchdog Netblocks tweeted that internet connectivity dropped at the Sharif University in Tehran on Monday amid protests, but that national connectivity remained stable. In protests in November, internet connection was shut off around the country for over four days.

January 13: The Daily Caller: Ex-Treasury Department official pleads guilty to
leaking Trump Associates’ financial documents to BuzzFeed
A former Treasury Department official pleaded guilty in federal court in New York City to leaking sensitive financial records of multiple Trump associates and figures in the Trump-Russia investigation to a reporter at BuzzFeed News.  Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, who served as a senior adviser at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network pleaded guilty to conspiring to disclose Suspicious Activities Reports, known from October 2017 until her arrest in October 2018.  They were used in around a dozen stories published at BuzzFeed by reporter Jason Leopold, according to prosecutors.

July 13: Breitbart News: Rabbi Shmuley: Booker lost because he followed
“Ilhan Omar wing” of the party
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a former close friend of Senator  Booker (D-NJ) said Booker had suffered a decline in his political fortunes because he sided with the “Ilhan Omar wing” of his party. 

January 12: CBS News Denver: First Time! Colorado judge denies confiscation
request under red flag law
For the first time, a judge has denied a request to take away a man’s guns under Colorado’s new red flag law. A Limon woman claimed a man who she had a relationship with threatened her with a gun and filed the request.  Since the law took effect, the red flag law has had many gun owners seeing red. At least four requests have been filed since the first of 2020; CBS4 is aware of them being filed in Denver, in Larimer County and this one — in Lincoln County. Many gun owners, like Jak Gruenberg, despise it. “Red flag laws just allow for harassment of legal gun owners,” he said.

January12: Sacramento Bee: Boy are you in trouble! Police pull over woman with
child in the back seat
Alarmed drivers on a Northern California highway spotted a young girl Saturday evening in a vehicle holding up a handmade sign that read “Help me, she’s not my mom!! Help!!” California Highway Patrol officers say.  After motorists on Highway 99 south of Elk Grove called 911, CHP officers and a K9 unit performed a high-risk stop on the vehicle near 8 Mile Road in Stockton, CHP officers wrote in a release. Then they discovered it was just a hoax cooked up by the girl, who “thought it was a fun thing to do,” CHP officers wrote. The girl’s mom, who was driving, was not in on the prank. After confirming the incident was bogus, officers let the mother and daughter go, the CHP reported.

January 12: Fox News: Kerry deflects question about why he
released money to Iran
Former Secretary of State John Kerry faced a question about his role in releasing billions of dollars to Iran during the Obama administration and responded by first attacking President Trump’s criticism of the move.  President Trump has claimed that Iran’s recent aggression against the U.S. in Iraq was funded by $150 billion that the Obama administration gave to Iran. Kerry insists that this is false, although in the past he recognized the at least some of the money – which was frozen due to sanctions and held in banks around the world before being released at roughly the same time the Iran nuclear deal was made – would end up in the hands of terrorists.

January 12: The Jerusalem Post: Trump expressed support for protestors
demanding Khamenei quit
US President Donald Trump has tweeted his support to the people of Iran, saying "I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency."  Hundreds of Iranian protesters demanded Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei step down on Saturday after Tehran admitted that its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 people on board.  “Commander-in-chief [Khamenei] resign, resign,” videos posted on Twitter showed hundreds of people chanting in front of Tehran’s Amir Kabir university.

January 11: Yahoo News: Iran admits shooting down Ukrainian airliner; Ukraine
demands compensation
Tehran admitted Saturday that it accidentally downed the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane, killing all 176 people on board on Wednesday, shortly after launching missiles at bases hosting US forces in Iraq.  Ukraine on Saturday demanded that Iran punish those guilty for the incident and compensation. Ukrainian officials said "We expect Iran... to bring the guilty to the courts," the Ukrainian leader wrote on Facebook, calling also for the "payment of compensation" and the return of remains.

January 10: CNN News: Video; Russian ship steams within 60 yards of US destroyer in Middle East
A Russian warship "aggressively approached" a US Navy destroyer while it was operating in the North Arabian Sea Thursday, ignoring warnings from the US vessel and increasing the risk of a collision, the US Navy said Friday.  Video of the incident shows the Russian warship rapidly approaching the USS Farragut, coming as close as 180 feet to the US ship before changing course, according to two defense officials.

January 10: The Daily Caller: Trump would use Executive privilege if Bolton called to testify”
President Donald Trump said in a new interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that he would use executive privilege to prevent former White House aide John Bolton from testifying in an impeachment trial.

January 10: Breitbart News: Game Over; Pelosi to transmit impeachment
articles to the Senate later this week
Speaker Pelosi told Democrats Friday that she is prepared to sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial next week.  “I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate,” Pelosi wrote in the letter. “I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting.”  Pelosi’s announcement marked a sudden reversal of her decision to delay the trial and try to force Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to commit to calling additional witnesses and evidence in the trial.  Senate Democrats pressured Pelosi to drop her attempt to draw out concessions from McConnell.

January 10: The Washington Free Beacon: Texas becomes first state to reject refugees
Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) on Friday told the State Department that his state will become the first in the nation to refuse federal refugee resettlement.  In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abbott wrote that in the wake of the border crisis that rocked the state in 2019, Texas lacks the state and private capacity to deal with even more demand on its humanitarian resources.  "At this time, the state and non-profit organizations have a responsibility to dedicate available resources to those who are already here, including refugees, migrants, and the homeless—indeed, all Texans," Abbott wrote. "As a result, Texas cannot consent to initial refugee resettlement for FY2020."

January 10: Fox News: Not charged -- Mississippi homeowner shoots home invasion suspect
A Mississippi homeowner who reportedly shot and killed a man who broke into his home in broad daylight Tuesday morning will not be charged.  Walter Williams, 31, was named as the suspect shot before noon in Pascagoula, Miss., by the homeowner, according to Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  The name of the homeowner -- who was identified as a longtime employee of the coroner's office -- is not being released because he hasn't been charged with a crime at this time.

January 9: Associated Press:  US Officials: “Highly likely” Iran shot down Ukrainian Jetliner
Two U.S. officials said Thursday it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board.  The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops amid a confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general last week.  “Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said, noting the plane was flying in a “pretty rough neighborhood.”

January 8: The Hill: Graham: The impeachment dam is cracking; anticipate trial will
start in about a week
Sen. Lindsey Grahan (R-SC) said on Wednesday that the Senate will start its impeachment proceedings next week, signaling an end to the stalemate over the articles which have sat in the House since December.  Graham argued that Speaker Pelosi’s (D-CA)  "impeachment dam has broken," pointing to growing calls from some Senate Democrats for her to transmit the two articles of impeachment to the Senate.  "You said it was urgent; if you believe it to be urgent, send it to the Senate for disposition," Graham said. "She's losing Democrats in the Senate. The impeachment dam of Nancy Pelosi is about to crack."

January 8: The UK Daily Mail: Trump: Obama gave the Iranians the
cash they need to buy missiles flung at U.S. bases; offers peace but
warns of “hypersonic weapons” and fast attacks
'The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration,' Trump said, citing $150 billion in frozen assets that the previous president released and $1.5 billion in cash flown by the U.S. to Tehran. 'Under construction are many hypersonic missiles,' Trump warned, and that he was not afraid to use additional force.  However, minutes later he offered an olive branch, urging European nations to make 'a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place' and allows Iran to explore its 'untapped potential' as a mainstream trading partner.  'We want you to have a future, and a great future,' he told Iran's people, claiming its military 'appears to be standing down.’

January 8: Fox News: Fast and Furious: Brian Terry’s killer gets life sentence
The man convicted of the shooting and killing U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010 – a case that exposed the government’s botched “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation – was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.  Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, who was convicted of  first-degree murder and other charges following his extradition from Mexico, was given the life sentence after U.S. District Judge David C. Bury heard tearful statement’s from Terry’s sisters. The agent's death exposed Operation Fast and Furious, an Obama era  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operation in which the federal government allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them once they made their way into Mexico.

January 8: The Jerusalem Post: Israel unveils breakthrough laser to intercept missiles, aerial threats
The Defense Ministry has made a technological breakthrough in the development of lasers that can intercept aerial threats, including rockets and antitank guided missiles, it announced Wednesday.  New laser technology “makes the security apparatus more lethal, more powerful and more advanced,” Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday evening.  Speaking about this new addition to the existing tools of war employed by Israel, he said that “we will add a laser sword when dealing with threats from the North or the South.”

January 8: The U.K. Sun: Ukrainian jetliner shot down?  Iran refuses to release the black box
Iran has refused to hand over to international investigators the black box of a plane that crashed killing 176 people.  The Kiev-bound airliner crashed after taking off from Tehran.  The tragedy came just hours after Tehran fired at least 15 ballistic missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq, sparking fears it could have been shot down by mistake by jittery Iranian air defenses.  And chilling images show pieces of the aircraft's fuselage peppered with shrapnel holes - which some experts say points to a "shoot-down" event.

January 7: Fox News: Iran retaliates with ballistic missile attack
Iran fired "more than a dozen ballistic missiles" into Iraq, targeting U.S. military and coalition forces early Wednesday, Pentagon officials said, in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Soleimani last week.  The missiles launched by Iran targeted military bases in Al-Assad and Erbil, the Pentagon added.  Initial assessments showed "no U.S. casualties," a U.S. military official in Baghdad told Fox News, adding that the U.S. was continuing to look into possible damage.

January 7: Fox News: Senators introduce resolution to dismiss articles of impeachment if they aren’t transmitted to them soon
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri joined with a host of fellow Republicans to introduce a resolution allowing the chamber to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump for lack of prosecution, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delays sending the case for trial.  The resolution specifically would update Senate rules to allow the chamber to bring a motion dismissing the articles.  “In the real world, when a prosecutor brings a case but refuses to try it, the court has the ability and the defendant has the right to have those articles, those indictments, those charges dismissed," Hawley said.  "That is precisely the action that I am proposing today.”

January 6: The Hill: Battle lines harden ahead of pivotal impeachment week
Both sides are digging in as lawmakers enter a pivotal week in the entrenched fight over President Trump’s impeachment trial.  The hardening battle lines come as the two articles of impeachment could be transmitted to the Senate as soon as this week. The House returns to Washington on Tuesday for the first time this year, and Democrats will meet on Wednesday, setting the stage for a crucial decision time.

January 6: Fox News: Pentagon deploys B-52 bombers
to Diego Garcia in Indian Ocean
The U.S. Air Force is deploying six B-52 bombers to Diego Garcia, an island base in the Indian Ocean, amid the rising threat from Iran after the U.S.-led airstrike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.  The move, which CNN first reported, was the latest in efforts by U.S. military officials to bolster resources near the Middle East.  The B-52 bombers reportedly were spotted departing from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to Diego Garcia, which is located 2,300 miles south of Iran’s southernmost tip.

January 6: The Daily Caller:  How many abortions has Planned Parenthood
perform ed within a year?
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed 345,672 abortions during the 2018 fiscal year, the organization’s annual report shows.  Planned Parenthood’s 2018-2019 annual report shows that the organization performed 12,915 more killings during the 2018 fiscal year than the organization did between 2017-2018. Abortion killings made up 95% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy resolution services, according to the Susan B. Anthony List.

January 6: Fox News: Soleimani’s killilng ignites Russia vs Iran schism in Syria
The death of Iranian commander Soleimani at the orders of President Trump last week, not only has cast a murky shadow on the future of Iraq’s leadership, but also has sent schisms through Syria's leadership, multiple sources say. Over the weekend, Syrian government forces and Iranian associates were documented to have fired several shells at the Conoco gas field in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria, which U.S troops still in the embattled country have been tasked with protecting. Aside from the apparent act of retaliation, sources said that the surprise attack on Soleimani las  While some analysts have speculated that Soleimani’s death will empower Russia in the region, they’ve largely observed a stronger Assad-led tilt toward Tehran over Moscow.t week has prompted deeper divisions within the Syrian government itself.

January 5: The UK Daily Mail: Iran puts $80M bounty on Trump’s head; threatens
to attack the White House
Iran has placed an $80million bounty on Donald Trump's head and threatened to attack the White House in response to the president's warning that any strike on American interests in the region will bring massive retaliation.  Iran has also announced it they will no longer abide by any of the limits of its 2015 nuclear deal.  Earlier on Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted for US troops to be expelled from the country. The vote will 'obligate the government to work towards ending the presence of all foreign troops on Iraqi soil,' the country's media office stated.

January 5: Reuters: Iraqi parliament passes non-binding resolution calling for
removal of all foreign troops
The Iraqi parliament called on the government on Sunday to work to end all foreign troop presence as a backlash grew after the killing of a top Iranian military commander and an Iraqi militia leader in a U.S. strike in Baghdad.  A resolution passed by a special session of parliament said the government should cancel its request for assistance from a U.S.-led coalition.  Parliament resolutions, unlike laws, are non-binding to the government. But this one is likely to be heeded: Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi had earlier called on parliament to end foreign troop presence as soon as possible.

January 4: Yahoo News: Fear Hits Tehran Over What Might Come Next
Their supreme leader promised revenge and thousands gathered in Tehran to watch American flags burn, but any show of defiance after the assassination of their most prominent military man is laced with anguish for many Iranians.  In the capital, the strike that took out Al Quds commander Qassem Soleimani capped a year that had already been dominated by turmoil and fear as the country’s finances crumbled, the authorities struggled to contain civil unrest, and provocation of the U.S. backfired.

January 4: The Daily Caller: Trump Administration presses Supreme Court on
LA abortion regulations
The Trump administration pressed the Supreme Court Thursday to protect a contested Louisiana rule that requires abortion providers have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. An abortion clinic and two physicians challenging the law, called Act 620, warn that two of Louisiana’s three abortion clinics will close if the regulation takes effect. The Trump administration said the plaintiffs have not made good faith efforts to comply with the law, such that any adverse consequences for abortion access would be their fault and not the state’s.

January 4: The Washington Free Beacon: NRA promises “Strong presence” to
block VA ban on guns
The National Rifle Association said hursday it will work with gun owners to swamp the first hearing of the Virginia Senate committee considering new gun bans in an effort to beat back the gun-control proposals from Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA).  If gun-rights supporters can convince just a handful of Democrats to oppose a new gun-control measure, it will not become law. NRA spokesperson Mortensen said the Courts of Justice committee is the first stop for those new gun-control proposals, and gun owners in the state need to show their opposition to those bills face-to-face.

January 3: Washington Post: Guaido seeks reelection in Venezuela
Venezuela's opposition faces a critical test on Sunday, when its leader, Juan Guaidó, will seek reelection as head of the National Assembly - a title that forms the basis of his recognition as Venezuela's true head of state by nearly 60 countries around the globe.  For Guaidó, the vote amounts to a do-or-die moment. One year ago, he declared President Nicolás Maduro a usurper for claiming victory in tainted elections and declared himself Venezuela's rightful leader - an assertion based on Guaidó's status as head of the assembly. But after a year of failed attempts to oust Maduro, Guaidó is now struggling to maintain opposition unity, confronting flagging domestic support and scrambling to counter an alleged plot against him.

January 3: The Daily Caller: ICE apprehends illegal allegedly behind deadly
hit-and-run and released by local authorities
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was able to apprehend an illegal alien who, after getting arrested for a deadly hit-and-run accident, was immediately released by local authorities.  ICE agents on Monday arrested Jorge Flores-Villalba, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally, on Monday following his release from police custody in New York, the agency announced in a press statement on Friday. The arrest by federal immigration authorities is the latest example of ICE’s work to apprehend illegal aliens despite a growing lack of cooperation by local and state law enforcement. 

January 2: The Daily Caller: Over 200 members of Congress urge the Supreme
Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade
More than 200 members of Congress urged the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade on Thursday, ahead of a March case concerning the constitutionality of a Louisiana regulation on abortion providers.  The lawmakers, who include 39 senators and 168 members of the House of Representatives, filed a legal brief arguing abortion case law is haphazard and inconsistent, such that reconsideration of Roe is in order.  “Forty-six years after Roe was decided, it remains a radically unsettled precedent: two of the seven Justices who originally joined the majority subsequently repudiated it in whole or in part, and virtually every abortion decision since has been closely divided,” the brief reads.

January 2: The UK Daily Mail: Army paratroopers deployed to Middle East in response to the attack on U.S. embassy
The first wave of hundreds of U.S. Army paratroopers from a rapid reaction force has deployed to Kuwait in response to the assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad by pro-Iran militiamen, with thousands more soldiers on alert for snap deployment.  The initial force included 650 troops and equipment.  One hundred U.S. Marines have already been added to the security force at the embassy in Baghdad.  [Editorial Comment:  This sure is different response than when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State and U.S. forces in Benghazi were attacked.]