Outrageous Redactions to the Russia Report

Andrew C. McCarthy

The FBI and DOJ have been burying the investigators’ questionable judgments and information helpful to Flynn.

"Cute how this works: Kick off the week with some “the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted” bombast from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, by which he rationalizes that his defiance of subpoenas and slow-walking document production to Congress — which is probing investigative irregularities related to the 2016 campaign — is required by DOJ policy and “the rule of law.” Then end the week with the Friday-night bad-news dump: the grudging removal of DOJ and FBI redactions from a House Intelligence Committee report on Russia’s election meddling. 

"Now that we can see what they wanted to conceal, it is clear, yet again, that the Justice Department and the FBI cannot be trusted to decide what the public gets to learn about their decision-making. 

"They tell us that their lack of transparency is necessary for the protection of national security, vital intelligence, and investigative operations. But what we find out is that they were concealing their own questionable judgments and conflicting explanations for their actions; their use of foreign-intelligence and criminal-investigative authorities to investigate Michael Flynn, Trump’s top campaign supporter and former national-security adviser; and their explicitly stated belief that Flynn did not lie in the FBI interview for which Special Counsel Robert Mueller has since prosecuted him on false-statements charges.

"It is simply ridiculous for President Trump to continue bloviating about this situation on Twitter and in friendly media interviews, and for congressional Republicans to continue pretending that the problem is Justice Department and FBI leadership — as if Trump were not responsible for his own administration’s actions. The president has not only the authority but the duty to ensure that his subordinates honor lawful disclosure requests from Congress. 

"What happened with these redactions is inexcusable. " . . .

'Political Bully' Echoes Trump, Calls Child Refugees 'Gangsters and Thugs' on 'Madam Secretary'

MRC "Well, this is a timely coincidence. Within a week of the Trump administration announcing that it will end the 1999 temporary protected status for Hondurans, CBS’s Madam Secretary features the Secretary of State fighting for refugee status of Honduran children against a "political bully." I guess the show has more foresight than I thought, though still not enough to let their Hillary icon or liberal biases go. As the Democrats have been learning lately, you can’t win them all.

"The May 6 episode “The Things We Get To Say” follows reporter Neal Shin (Tim Kang) as he observes an average day for Madam Secretary Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni). This day happens to be perfect since Elizabeth and her staff are handling a Honduran refugee crisis occurring just south of the border. In overcrowded and unsanitary detention centers in Mexico, many Honduran children are dying without care, requesting aid from the United States. There is even a sad online video depicting the children holding a funeral for their friends. Despite already working on a comprehensive immigration reform bill for Congress, they begin mulling over the prospect of giving them refugee status.

"Of course, no controversial political move could be made without everyone’s favorite right-wing partisan hack Senator Morejon (José Zúñiga) chiming in. Once word spreads about the Hondurans, Morejon immediately goes on air and blasts the policy as letting in “gangsters and thugs,” paralleling Trump’s controversial statements on illegal immigrants coming in from Mexico.

Morejon: I believe in the dreams of immigrants who want to contribute to our great nation. But I simply cannot support legislation on immigration put forth by this president when his administration is offering refuge to gangsters and thugs.

"Funny how the episode didn't bring up the fact that many refugees dubbed “minors” brought to the U.S. are actually adults or that gangs like MS-13 are sending in younger members. After all, bringing up those facts would have offered a counter-argument, and this series, with its several ridiculous positions, can’t afford that." . . .

CNN...again

CNN Tries To Provoke Waffle House Hero Into Saying Something Against Trump  "This is CNN. James Shaw refuses to be drawn by Van Jones. He’s a class act. He’s also raised over $150,000 for the victims of the shooting."
Watch the video here.

2020: Don Lemon Reveals CNN Will Limit Airing Trump Rallies ‘In Real Time’

Via Breitbart:

CNN anchor Don Lemon revealed that his network will limit the amount of time it devotes to airing President Donald Trump’s 2020 rallies unfiltered.

“There will be no rallies that run in real time,” Lemon said at a Variety event on Friday. “There will not be so much space for candidates to let them ramble on. The American people will demand that. We will expect more truth from our candidates.”

According to Variety, Lemon referenced “CNN’s decision to carry live coverage of Trump rallies without much commentary as something that won’t be repeated.”

During the 2016 campaign, Trump used his rallies to give his perspective on issues like illegal immigration and trade that went counter to the legacy media’s preferred narrative. He even highlighted “Angel Moms” and people of color whose families were victimized by illegal immigrant crime—like Jamiel Shaw Sr.—that the legacy media had conveniently chosen to ignore.

The legacy media aired many of Trump’s rallies unfiltered because they never thought he could actually win the presidency. But the joke eventually ended up being on them, and now the legacy media seem intent on not making the same “mistakes.”

Keep reading…  Hat tip to Weasel Zippers

Remember this piece of insightful, penetrating journalism? CNN speaking sycophantically to power.  From 2011;

Here is a marvel of CNN's journalistic softballism in this Dan Lothian question to Obama. You can hear someone in the press gaggle loudly enjoying Obama's reply: TD

CNN's April Ryan misquotes Sarah Sanders to imply she wanted physical fight: 'It was street'

. . . "After Ryan asked a combative question during Thursday’s press briefing, accusing her of being "blindsided" by comments Rudy Giuliani recently made on Fox News, Sanders told Ryan, “Well, with all due respect, you actually don’t know much about me in terms of what I feel and what I don't.' ”

. . . 

“ 'For Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the presidential spokesperson, the mouthpiece for the President of the United States, to say, ‘You don’t know me,’ in certain quarters in this nation, that starts a physical fight,” Ryan said. “I was very shocked. It was street. I will even go beyond that, it was gutter.' ”

. . . 

"The United States Secret Service directed Fox News to CNN and the White House when asked if they consider the latest comments a threat. CNN did not respond to request for comment."

Marquette forum says 'white community' 'perpetuates racism'

Campus Reform

"Marquette University held a forum Wednesday for the “white community” to reflect on how it “perpetuates racism” after a racially charged photo began circulating on social media.

"The photo depicts four white males, two of who are holding toy guns, posing in front of a mirror with a black doll. The university has determined that only one of the four individuals is a Marquette student, adding that the photo “was taken more than a year ago in another state.”

[RELATED: Colorado students earn credit for ‘Unmasking Whiteness’]

"Administrators initially released a generic statementcalling the incident “completely unacceptable,” eliciting a firestorm of criticism from students complaining that the university did not take some form of concrete action.

“ 'I have the right to be at this university just like every other white student. I worked my ass off for my spot, twice as hard,” one student complained on Twitter. “And for the Lovell to laugh in the face of my struggle and oppression. Go f**k yourself. I am Marquette too.”

“ 'Admin needs to stop with the ‘Marquette doesn’t tolerate this’ bull****,’” another student declared. “Many students here are RACIST, gun worshipping hillbillies who hate minorities and refugees and I for one am not surprised one bit.' ” . . .

Watch out, Mueller, here comes the judge!

Here Comes the Judge  . . . "What a sweet moment it would be were Judge Ellis to throw out the pre-campaign charges against Mr. Manafort. It would be a start in addressing the concerns that Justice Antonin Scalia voiced in his dissent in Morrison v. Olson, when he warned about how independent prosecutors could affect the “boldness of the president.” Between North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran, boldness is certainly at a premium. Not only in the presidency but among judges, too."

On 'Russian Collusion,' Trump Will Win...Big Time   . . . "The tipping point is close now.  We will know soon.  My bet is on the latter – mainly because there is zero evidence, not a scintilla of proof that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia or did anything wrong." . . .

I am not saying the left is not leaving a devastating mark on our lives.  It is.  These people have crossed a line of evil, destroying many human beings, institutions, and lots in between. But they will not win this.  They will not triumph.  Here is why. . . .

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported there are at least 15 Democrat attorneys on the Mueller team.  "There are NO REPUBLICANS on the team"
A sample:

Rush Atkinson, an attorney on detail from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section at the Department of Justice— Donated $200 to Clinton in 2016Peter Carr – DOJ spokesman under Barack Obama. . .

 Time to Shut Mueller Down  "He’s become a threat to national security."
Democrats are a threat to national security.

. . . The president is trying to come up with a policy to deal with Russian and Iranian aggression in Syria and with Turkey’s partnership with both to preserve the Assad regime. He apparently isn’t even thinking about the almost seventeen-year war we’re fighting in Afghanistan or the fact that — as our top general in Europe warned Congress in March — that Russia could outmatch and outgun U.S. and NATO forces if war broke out in Europe.All of that is taking place at the same time Trump is working with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and their respective teams to arrange the coming summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and the release of the American hostages held in North Korea." . . .

Is Robert Mueller Destroying the Democratic Party?  . . . "There's a dawning national consensus of "enough already" reflected by Judge Elliswhen he demanded to know exactly what Paul Manafort's possible money laundering schemes of years ago had to do with Trump colluding with Russia in the 2016 election. The same might be said of Stormy Daniels, whose Russia connection is even more remote." . . .

Barack Obama Called John McCain to Thank Him for Saving Obamacare

Barack Obama Called John McCain to Thank Him for Saving Obamacare 
"John McCain was Barack Obama’s senator, along with Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. They never were and are not Republicans. That goes for Jeff Flake and a few others. McCain stayed in the Republican Party even though he knew he did not support a Republican platform. He ran on repealing Obamacare and on supporting Republican ideals. He did none of that.

Arizona Senator John McCain killed the bill to repeal Obamacare last July even though he ran on repealing the Socialist health experiment. Obamacare premiums in Arizona were up over 100% in 2016 and McCain needed to say he would end it in order to win his election.
. . . 
"Obama Called to Thank Him And Will Give His Eulogy . . .

McCain nearing the end  . . . "It did not help that the media were in the tank for Senator Obama.

"As for Senator Lieberman on the ticket, it would have been of little benefit.

"I'm not sure that any V.P. choice would have made a difference for Senator McCain.  He lost, and that's all I can say.

"It's really sad to watch an amazing life end with this kind of bitterness.  John McCain was one of the greatest and most consequential lives of the last 50 years, from war hero to a great senator.  Why mess it up talking about regrets?"

Steve Hilton: Mueller probe is a political counter-revolution to overthrow Trump -- It must be defeated

Fox News  . . . "Nothing so democratic is happening in the equivalent situation here in America, as the establishment seeks to overturn the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. But how can that happen? In the U.S., the chosen path to remove President Trump from office has become the Russia probe led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and its tabloid offshoot, the Stormy Daniels imbroglio.

"The elitists in Washington (including – frighteningly – current and former leadership in our law enforcement and security bureaucracy) are monumentally aggrieved that the people had the temerity to elect a populist outsider to the White House. And they’re not prepared to wait for the 2020 election to try to replace populist Donald Trump.

"That’s why this week I described the Mueller probe as a political counter-revolution.

"Think back to the investigation’s origins. It was set up after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and told NBC’s Lester Holt that it was because of the “Russia thing.”

"Yes – it was because of the “Russia thing;” not because there’s any basis to the “Russia thing” but precisely because there isn’t – and because Comey refused to say that. 

"Where did the “Russia thing” itself begin? The Hillary Clinton campaign." . . .

Dark Angel

Clarice Feldman:  Judge Ellis Wants to See Mueller's Hunting License

. . . "In the meantime, not surprisingly, the Mueller team is unable to get service or the defendants into court in the 13 indictments against Russians, the Flynn case is on the shoals, and the guilty pleas they've obtained have nothing to do with Russian collusion.  Or Donald Trump."

Media lies are the real scandal

Don Surber

"John C. Harwood at CNBC wrote a piece, "Most voters have become numb to each new Trump scandal because they don’t believe what he says anyway."

"Wrong. Most voters are numb because we no longer believe the media.

"Since Trump's election on November 8, 2016, the media has reported lie after lie after lie about him and his supporters.

“ 'A Muslim student from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette reported being attacked by two men on Wednesday morning. The victim told investigators that one wore a white Trump hat while they hit her with a metal object and shouted obscenities as she fell to the ground. University police say the suspects fled with the woman’s wallet and hijab,” NBC News reported on November 10, 2016.

"That was a lie." . . .

Read more...

John McCain settles scores in his last days

He regrets choosing Palin, but she was the better candidate and certainly more of a fighter. McCain's fear of being painted as a racist seemed to take all the fight out of him, as evidenced by the video below.    Trump's comment about McCain being a POW was cheap and way out of place, but McCain should have had a face-to-face with him instead of siding with the demagogues of the left. TD

Thomas Lifson  . . . "This odd, unsourced paragraph written by Martin offers a clue:

 Yet many in Mr. McCain’s own party believe that, by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, he bears at least a small measure of blame for unleashing the forces of grievance politics and nativism within the Republican Party.

"I strongly suspect that McCain himself expressed these views to Martin, but asked not to be quoted.

"Quite clearly, McCain is part of the Republican internationalist establishment, against which Trump is fighting. I suppose it is admirable that he is sticking to his guns to the end. But there is no way that these views are less than an insult to the woman who dropped everything after being asked to be his running mate."

Naturally President Trump has been blatantly disinvited. . . . "I have no idea if President Trump would have wanted to speak at the funeral. But it might have been an opportunity for some healing in the face of the universal human condition.

"But Senator McCain is leaving this realm as he lived in it.

"I will say no more, for his cancer is serious and he is to be regarded with compassion. There will be plenty of time ahead for evaluating his legacy."

Were I President Trump, I'd endeavor to meet with McCain and seek his forgiveness face to face as well as publicly for my remarks disparaging his days as a prisoner. If McCain rejected my efforts ,as I feel he would, then it would be his responsibility. TD

COLBERT’S LATE SHOW Openly Mocks Melania Trump…Would Michelle Obama Be Treated The Same? [Video]

"Please let Colbert know on Twitter how wrong he is for mocking our First Lady!"

100% Fed Up "The liberal media keeps hitting below the belt…

"Liberal hack Stephen Colbert of the Late Show thinks it’s funny to mock our first lady. This is typical of most of the late night comedy. The low bar was set by Saturday Night Live and now everyone else is jumping into the act. Shame on Colbert for his disgusting and shameful attempt at comedy. Not funny!

"Actress Laura Benanti returned to The Late Show as Melania Trump to deny she’s being too constrained in the White House.

"WHAT IF THE TABLES WERE TURNED AND THEY MADE FUN OF MICHELLE OBAMA?"

Video here. I was going to embed the video, but couldn't bear doing it.
I have had contempt for this weasel since he bullied President Bush at - you guessed it - a previous White House Press dinner.
He needed no more courage to do what he did than the school bully does when picking on a smaller kid who he knows will not respond. 

"This would NEVER happen to the protected class of liberals. The fact that Colbert would air something like this just further cements proof  we’re in a war to control the narrative being pushed about the President and First Lady. The media wants people to think that their marriage is on the rocks. The press goes nuts if they don’t hold hands or if they do hold hands in the wrong way. It’s ridiculous!

"Please let Colbert know on Twitter how wrong he is for mocking our First Lady!"

GOP Midterm Slogan: ‘We Need Guest Workers to Do Your Jobs’

 Ann Coulter  . . . "Liberals love to sneer about the bovine idiocy of Trump supporters, who are allegedly incapable of processing basic information. (See Evan Osnos, every week in The New Yorker.) The dead silence that greeted Trump as he blathered about replacing Americans with guest workers proves that Trump voters are listening quite closely.

"The president needs to understand, unless he drops his bizarre and totally uncharacteristic desire to bring in people to do your job, the voters might just bring in someone else to do his.

"The plus side of the midterm elections is that liberals have gone mad. The minus side is that voters intensely hate Republicans. Liberal insanity is not going to save a GOP dead set on pleasing the donor class by screwing over ordinary Americans. As usual.

" It was hatred for Republicans that drove millions of voters to Trump in the first place.

"The same conservative talking heads who think the GOP is going to be fine by focusing on those great tax cuts – we'll get to immigration soon, promise! -- spent the first six months of Trump's candidacy indignantly informing us that he was "not a Republican."

"They said it was "unhealthy" for the party to be debating mass deportations. Trump "hasn't really stood for Republican things." The "summer of Trump" would come to a quick and deserved end. The danger, standard-GOP conservatives told us, was what Trump's candidacy "can do to the GOP brand."

"I thought the 2016 election would finally be enough to convince everyone that the Republican "brand" is not worth saving. It's like trying to buy the rights to the name "the U.S.S.R.' " . . .

Mueller's Russian Troll Farm Indictment Could Face An 'Embarrassing Dismissal'

Daily Wire  . . . "Prosecutors on Mueller's team revealed on Friday that lawyers Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly, who represent one of the Russian companies named in the indictment, made multiple requests demanding "nonpublic details about the case and the investigation."

"Dubelier and Seikaly accused Mueller's team of having no regard for the court's rules and suggested that they are just doing whatever they want without any legal authority to justify their actions.

" 'Defendant voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [federal rules], and further intends to enter a plea of not guilty. Defendant has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons. As such, the briefing sought by the Special Counsel’s motion is pettifoggery," Dubelier and Seikaly said in a statement.

"This is just the latest embarrassing developing for Mueller's Russia investigation as a Virginia federal judge accused Mueller's team of "lying," saying that they only cared about trying to take down President Donald Trump."

Pettifog:  
1.to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.
2.to carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.
3.to practice chicanery of any sort.