5 Key Takeaways From The House Hearing With FBI Counterintelligence No. 2 Peter Strzok

Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist

Yesterday's joint hearing in front of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees was the first public hearing Congress held with the official who launched the Russia probe two years ago.

"An embattled FBI official who led investigations into both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump testified in a cantankerous open hearing on the Hill yesterday. Peter Strzok, formerly the second in command of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, lost his position after texts he exchanged on government systems with his also-married lover and colleague Lisa Page revealed extreme bias against President Trump and his voters.
"Yesterday’s joint hearing in front of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees was the first public hearing Congress held with the official who launched the Russia probe two years ago. Here are a few key takeaways from that hearing."
The outline:

1. This Is What DOJ Obstruction Looks Like . . .

2. Strzok Somehow Came Off Even Worse Than He Did In His Texts . . .

3. Democrats Run Interference . . .

4. DOJ Clearly Hiding Its Relationship With Democratic-Funded Smear Group . . .

5. The Mystery Of Why The Investigation Started . . .

Tony Branco

Thai boys didn’t swim out of the cave; they were rescued on stretchers

VOX

"Now that the 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach are safely out of the cave where they were trapped for just over two weeks, we’re learning more details on how the rescue mission was carried out.

"Up until Wednesday, Vox — and other news outlets — were reporting that the boys swam out of the cave, accompanied by professional divers. Over the weekend, rescue officials had been telling reporters that divers were teaching the boys to swim and to use diving equipment.

"But on Wednesday afternoon, a day after the mission was completed, the Thai Navy SEALs posted a video to Facebook that suggests the boys did not swim, but instead were fitted with dive masks, and put on stretchers that were guided through the passageways by the divers:ti-anxiety medication, but AFP’s source said some of the boys were fully sedated." . . .

Republican Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert ripped embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok for cheating on his wife and accused him of lying to Congress.

As we speak, Democrat staffers are searching the internet, looking for dirt on Gohmert. TD

Daily Caller  "Strzok, who sent a number of anti-Trump text messages to his colleague and mistress Lisa Page, appeared for testimony in front of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees on Thursday.

“You do it with a straight face and I watched you in the private testimony you gave and I told some of the other guys, ‘he is really good, he’s lying, he know, we know he’s lying and he can probably pass the polygraph,'” Gohmert alleged during the hearing.

. . . 

“The disgrace is what this man has done to our justice system!” Gohmert declared. “It won’t be recaptured any time soon because of the damages that you have done to the justices and I have talked to FBI around the country, you have embarrassed them, you have embarrassed yourself and I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eyes and lie to her about Lisa Page?”

Democrats around the committee room erupted into jeers and calls of “shame” after Gohmert’s angry screed." . . .

Now on the lighter side: People will DIE! Documented proof!

Yale Law Peers Claim ‘People Will Die’ if Brett Kavanaugh Confirmed to SCOTUS  Ted Kennedy's heart still beats.

The letter, which is signed by more than 200 students, alumni, and faculty, goes a step farther and claims that Kavanaugh’s confirmation will lead to many American deaths. “People will die if he is confirmed,” the letter reads.

Schumer: World will end if Kavanaugh is confirmed  

Townhall above and below

Sanders: A Whole Lot Of People Will Die If ObamaCare Is Repealed

A sight to warm a Democrat's heart

Rich Terrell

Justice And DHS Claim Nearly Half Of Children 5 Or Younger Separated At The Border Came With Adults Who Were Criminals Or Not Even Their Parents   . . . "As the Daily Mail reports, “Meekins described one adult who said he was a parent 'right up until the time of a DNA swab,' and then retracted his claim. Authorities determined that one potential child sponsor was alleged to have abused the child he was trying to claim. Another told the government that if his child were returned to him, he planned to house the youngster with an adult who has been charged with sex abuse of a young girl.” . . .

But no problem if it is still helpful to the Democrats.

Report: Congressional Black Caucus Questioning Nonblack Members Of Congress Who Haven’t Defended Maxine Waters…

Weasel Zippers

"Yes, please, all Dems must listen to the CBC and publicly support Mad Max.

"Via Buzzfeed:

Top Democrats and lawmakers of the Congressional Black Caucus are questioning nonblack members of the House Democratic caucus who haven’t stepped up to publicly defend Maxine Waters.

They are also stewing behind the scenes over public rebukes from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to three sources familiar with internal conversations.

In particular, at least two black lawmakers were said to be angered by Pelosi’s usage of the phrase “make America beautiful again” in her tweet on the subject.

Late last month, Waters encouraged people to confront and protest members of the Trump administration while speaking a rally against family separations at the border. “Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” she said. “And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

 Politicians currently signing up in support of Maxine Waters:

Politico

As Obama turned America into a third-world nation; the liberals have made us a silly nation

Rich Terrell

Papa John's founder forced to resign for saying someone else used the 'N-word'  . . . "The context?  It was during a conference, where Schnatter claimed that Colonel Sanders allegedly called blacks the "N-word."

"In other words, Schnatter had to resign not for calling a black person the N-word, not for even using the N-word to describe blacks around white people, but merely saying that someone else used the N-word.  As of this writing, there was no context that showed that Schnatter approved of Sanders's alleged use of the word, a word that is commonly used to this day by some black people.

"But apparently, it is now a crime for white people to use the N-word to recount that someone else used the N-word." . . .

Starbucks, guilty over environment, introduces sippy cups to replace straws  . . . "So, instead of imposing drippy sippy cups on fastidious coffee-drinkers, Starbucks should make Asia's turtles, sharks, and other watery creatures safer by donating to waste management plants in the offending Asian countries." . . .

Yale Law School Students and Alums: “People Will Die” if Kavanaugh is Confirmed  . . . "Remember when repealing Net Neutrality meant everyone would die? Do you recall the same thing being said about repealing Obamacare, and pulling out of the Paris climate agreement? That same argument is being employed here." . . .


Administrators at Cal Poly are pursuing a variety of "Diversity Action Initiatives" designed to reduce the percentage of white students on campus.

University of Wyoming profs protest ‘Cowboys’ slogan  
"Several professors are urging the University of Wyoming to "shelve" its new marketing slogan, "The World Needs More Cowboys," because they feel it evokes the image of a "white, heterosexual male.' "

Feckless Obama, Iran's Green Revolution, and a second chance for the West to do the right thing under Trump

2011; Pamela Geller: Why Obama Betrayed the Iranian People  . . . "In 2009, demonstrators filled the streets of Iran, denouncing the regime and crying out for freedom.  It was a glorious opportunity for the leader of the free world to demonstrate his support for free people everywhere and strike a decisive blow against the bloody regime that had considered itself at war with the United States for three decades.

"But Barack Obama didn't help them.  Quite the contrary.  The leader of the free world was too busy extending his hand to those same mullahs.

"It was monstrous when Obama stood by and did nothing during the abortive Iranian revolution; instead, he bought ice cream and posed for photo ops on the golf course while the only revolution against Islamic rule in a Muslim country was taking flight in Iran." . . .

Why Obama Let Iran's Green Revolution Fail
"The president wanted a nuclear deal, not regime change."

Looking for help from America; abandoned by Obama

Amil Imani:  Iran Is Ripe for Regime Change

. . . "Let me re-emphasize that the current protests in Iran are just as much against the Islamic Republic as they are about Shi’a Islam. In fact, much of it is against Islam itself. People have experienced what a primitive and defective system of belief Islam is and aim to abandon it for good. Many will still hang on to it for some time.

"Time has arrived to end the Mullahs’ reign of terror. We Iranians and Iranian-Americans -- in spirit free people of the world -- greatly cherish individual liberty and freedom, where the mind is imbued with enlightenment, and every individual by virtue of being born human is afforded measured freedom. It is within the open expanse of liberty that each and every person can be at his or her best. And when the individual person is at his best, humanity is as well." 

Hillary Clinton, in her typical honest forthrightness told the press her Iranian advisors recommended the US not act. One such advisor was Trita Parsi, Referred to by Ms. Geller as the "president of the George Soros-funded National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a" powerful Iranian lobbying group in Washington.  Arash Irandoost of the Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran calls Parsi "an intellectually dishonest regime apologist and an unofficial and unregistered lobbyist for the Iranian regime.' " 

"While millions of Iranians were in the streets opposing the regime, Obama ignored this historic moment and continued his outreach to the Iranian rulers.  His appeasing attitude was a signal that the US is so eager to reach a nuclear deal and befriend the regime that it would tolerate Mullahs’ brutal repression in Iran and hegemonic policies across the region." June 3, 2015  Iranian American Forum

An Open Letter from Yale Law Students Illustrates the Decline of the Radical Legal Mind

David French at National Review

Progressives’ anti-Kavanaugh hysteria is already in full bloom.

. . . " To the extent that any conservative can be a part of the elite academic club, Brett Kavanaugh belongs. He’s a double Yale graduate (college and law school) and a former Harvard Law School professor. How did he get there? Allow the Boston Globe to tell the story:

When Elena Kagan was dean of Harvard Law School, she was in search of rising conservative legal stars. The traditionally liberal campus, the thinking went, could use a little ideological diversity with more robust debate and the challenge of different viewpoints.

Among Kagan’s hires, as a visiting professor, was a newly appointed federal appeals-court judge from Washington named Brett Kavanaugh.

Yes, that’s right. Justice Kagan hired Brett Kavanaugh at Harvard Law. He’s no radical. He’s a serious conservative legal mind, and it is entirely right and proper for a school that enrolls conservative students and even (on occasion) hires conservative professors to put out a simple press release celebrating the elevation of one of its own to the highest court in the land.

. . . "At this point, a radical reader might nod along and say, “Yes, any originalist nominee will cost lives.” But if you look at the Yale letter, it fails to make its case. It’s a long screed claiming that, among other things, Kavanaugh is insufficiently protective of the administrative state (I wonder if any of the signatories are also demanding that Congress “abolish ICE”), overly protective of religious liberty, and lacking in sympathy for favored plaintiffs. It doesn’t contain an ounce of serious legal analysis." . . .

These are the "skulls full of mush"

Ann Coulter: Kavanaugh Threatens The Left's Right to Cheat

Ann Coulter

The fact that the media responded to the nomination of a Supreme Court justice by obsessively covering Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Russia and NATO proves that Trump has checkmated them with Brett Kavanaugh. 

"Liberals know they can't stop Kavanaugh's confirmation, so they'd just as soon not hear any news about it at all. Please cheer us up with stories about Paul Manafort's solitary confinement! 

"But there was one very peculiar reaction to the nomination. The nut wing of the Democratic Party instantly denounced Kavanaugh by claiming that his elevation to the high court would threaten all sorts of "rights."

"Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., tweeted: "Our next justice should be a champion for protecting & advancing rights, not rolling them back -- but Kavanaugh has a long history of demonstrating hostility toward defending the rights of everyday Americans."

"Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted: "If Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court it will have a profoundly negative effect on workers' rights, women's rights and voting rights for decades to come. We must do everything we can to stop this nomination."

"If only these guys could get themselves elected to some sort of legislative body, they could pass laws protecting these rights!

"Wait, I'm sorry. These are elected United States senators. Of all people, why are they carrying on about "rights"? If senators can't protect these alleged "rights," it can only be because most Americans do not agree that they should be "rights."

"That's exactly why the left is so hysterical about the Supreme Court. They run to the courts to win their most unpopular policy ideas, gift-wrapped and handed to them as "constitutional rights."

"What liberals call "rights" are legislative proposals that they can't pass through normal democratic processes -- at least outside of the states they've already flipped with immigration, like California.

"Realizing how widely reviled their ideas are, several decades ago the left figured out a procedural scam to give them whatever they wanted without ever having to pass a law. Hey! You can't review a Supreme Court decision! " . . .

Coulter concludes:

So when you hear liberals carrying on about all the "rights" threatened by Kavanaugh, remember that by "rights," they mean "policy ideas so unpopular that we can't pass a law creating such rights."  

Lawsuit Aims To Remove Measure To Divide California Into Three States From Ballot

Weasel Zippers

"Democrats want to keep the plantation of dependency intact.

"Via Washington Times:

Opponents of an initiative to split California into three states asked the state Supreme Court to pull the measure from the ballot, arguing it’s too drastic a change to state government to go through the normal initiative process.   A lawsuit filed Monday by the Planning and Conservation League argues major changes to the state’s government structure require approval from two-thirds of the Legislature before going under consideration by voters or a state constitutional convention.                                   The initiative would break the state into Northern California, California and Southern California.Northern California would comprise the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Sacramento and counties north of the current state capital. California would be a strip of land along the coast stretching from Los Angeles to Monterey. Southern California would include Fresno and the surrounding farming communities, reaching all the way to San Diego and the Mexican border.Venture capitalist Tim Draper is financing the “Cal 3” initiative in his latest attempt to divide the state. He has spent more than $1.7 million supporting it. The nation’s most populous state has become too difficult to govern because of its size, wealth disparities and geographic diversity, Draper and the initiative’s supporters argue.Draper did not comment on the lawsuit because he had not seen it. A spokeswoman for the initiative also did not comment.The California Supreme Court has tossed initiatives in the past after ruling they went too far in changing government structure.

Keep reading…

Judge Kavanaugh against the leftists in Congress

Rich Terrell

Maybe the left should answer some questions instead of Kavanaugh

"Greg Sargent of the Washington Post, Senator Chuck Schumer, and others on the left are trying to trash President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in as many ways possible. One of their many lines of attack is that Trump knows that Kavanaugh will let Trump off on any potential legal problems, presumably from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

. . .  "I would then ask Schumer why Obama got off without being charged with any crimes, since we know he illegally spied on thousands, and illegally communicated with Hillary Clinton on a non-secure personal computer. Throughout Obama’s eight years, I didn’t see one ounce of concern about Obama getting off scot-free. I would also ask Democrats why the Justice Department under Obama considered Hillary to be above the law.

"I believe that Schumer, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other Democrats should ask Kavanaugh if he believes that politicians from sanctuary cities and states should be held to account for refusing to abide by their oath of office to enforce the laws of the land.

"I do have some questions I believe Kavanaugh should be required to answer: Did he get his teaching gig at Harvard Law by pretending he was an Indian because of his grandma’s high cheekbones? . . . "

Naturally I would ask these questions in a pleasant, nice way. TD

Millions Dead, Constitution Destroyed, And Other Ridiculous Predictions About Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh  "Accountability: Even before President Trump announced his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, predictions of doom and gloom were rampant. They'll only get more dire as Brett Kavanaugh's nomination battle proceeds. Will anyone hold these people accountabl .for their unfounded, irresponsible, uninformed scaremongering claims?" . . .

The left reacts to Kavanaugh  . . . "On a serious note, if we had listened to the advice of the pious #nevertrumper crowd, who apparently are more worried about not being shunned from the Georgetown and Hamptons cocktail circuits than getting the policies enacted and the appointments made that they supposedly wanted, Hillary Clinton would have appointed her second justice last night, swinging the balance of the court from 5-4 conservative to 6-3 liberal. Think about that the next time you hear prominent #nevertrumpers like George Will, Jennifer Rubin, Bret Stephens, or David Brooks spouting off."

Donkey Hotey

Chuck Schumer’s Brazen Fable About Nominees and Supreme Court Precedents  . . . "In other words, Schumer (pictured, right) will demand that Kavanaugh commit, in advance, to deciding future cases as Democrats instruct him." . . .

Kavanaugh Visits Capitol Hill as Durbin Predicts 'Wild West D.C.' If Confirmed  These Democrats are not nice people who mean well. TD


The Nomination of [FILL IN THE BLANK] to the Supreme Court Means [REALLY BAD THINGS]
. . . "Did you know that [FILL IN THE BLANK] believes women should be treated as second-class citizens by denying them access to [LIBERAL AGENDA ITEM]? Did you know that [HE/SHE] doesn't agree that [OPINION ALL MY FRIENDS EXPRESS, WHICH I HAVEN'T REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT, BUT I'D BETTER GO ALONG WITH IT OR THEY MIGHT NOT LIKE ME ANYMORE]? I mean... really? It makes you nostalgic for the good old days of [PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, WHO I ALSO CALLED "HITLER" ALL THE TIME], doesn't it?" . . .

SCOTUS Protests Are as Salty and Ridiculous as We'd Hoped . . . "The Women's March was so excited to get their objections to the pick out there that they released what looks like Mad Libs made in a Bellevue psyche ward as a press release. They didn't even bother filling in Kavanaugh's name, but left in "XX" in their haste. In the second paragraph they remembered to fill in a name, but didn't bother to look up how it was spelled, proving they have no idea who this nominee is and they don't care, either. Trump nominated him so he must be bad." . . .

Noisy Room

Jeffrey Toobin’s Clueless Supreme Court Meltdowns Should Embarrass CNN

Jeffrey Toobin

✔@JeffreyToobin

See the new @USSupremeCourt clearly: Abortion illegal; doctors prosecuted; gay people barred from restaurants, hotels, stores; African-Americans out of elite schools; gun control banned in 50 states; the end of regulatory state. My @NewYorker column.https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/09/how-trumps-supreme-court-pick-could-undo-kennedys-legacy …

1:49 PM - Jul 1, 2018

Tony Branco

People will die!