Conservative Blogger
Thursday, September 3, 2015
RNC asking GOP presidential candidates to pledge not to run as independent
The Republican National Committee on Wednesday began reaching out to several GOP presidential campaigns, asking if their candidates would sign a pledge not to run as an independent in 2016, multiple campaign sources told Fox News.
“The RNC reached out to us today about signing the pledge in order not to run as an independent,” said one source with a leading GOP presidential campaign.
RNC sources told Fox News that the plan has been in the works for weeks.
The pledge states in part that if the GOP contender does not become the nominee: “I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is," and "I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of another party.”
The pledge follows concerns that leading Republican candidate Donald Trump will run as a third-party candidate if he fails to win the GOP nomination. Such a move would likely result in Trump taking enough votes with him to possibly sink the Republican Party’s chances of defeating the Democratic nominee and taking the White House.
A GOP source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Fox News that the pledge would be at the center of a scheduled meeting Thursday between Trump and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in New York City. Trump was scheduled to hold a press availability Thursday afternoon.
The Associated Press reported that RNC officials had been working privately with Trump's campaign for several weeks to avert the possibility of Trump making a third-party run. In recent days, Trump has suggested he would soon decide whether to rule out an independent campaign.
"I think a lot of people are going to be very happy," he said Saturday in Nashville.
Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for Ohio Gov. John Kasich confirmed that Kasich would sign the pledge, making him the first GOP candidate to go on record that he would do so. Former New York Gov. George Pataki's campaign confirmed to Fox late Wednesday that he had signed the pledge, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush did the same when asked by the Associated Press.
The pledge also follows Virginia and South Carolina GOP state parties making a similar pledge effort.
Obama wins critical backing on Iran deal, virtually ensuring survival in Congress
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, DumbAss
The Obama administration now appears to have enough support in Congress to stave off Republican efforts to reject the president's controversial Iran nuclear deal, after a retiring Maryland Democratic senator came out Wednesday morning in favor of the pact.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., announced her support for the deal as Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a lengthy and detailed address in Philadelphia defending the accord.
In his speech, Kerry disputed what he called "false information" circulating on the deal. He said, contrary to the views of many critics, that the deal provides "access" to keep Iran in check, preserves "every option" to respond if Iran balks, and has elements that will last "for the lifetime of Iran's nuclear program."
"President Obama and I are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the framework that we have put forward will get the job done," Kerry said.
But, with Mikulski's endorsement locked down, the speech served more as a public reminder of the administration's stance than a last-minute appeal for support.
Mikulski becomes the 34th senator to support the deal -- giving President Obama enough backing to sustain a veto of a Republican bill opposing it, should that bill pass in a vote later this month. Unless an announced supporter flips his or her vote, Obama would appear to have the crucial coalition in place to preserve the agreement on Capitol Hill.
Her support, though, doesn't end what has been a raging debate. Opposition to the agreement among Republicans, among ex-military leaders and in Israel remains widespread.
"Forcing a bad deal, over the objections of the American people and a majority in Congress, is no win for President Obama," said Cory Fritz, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. "The White House may have convinced just enough Democrats to back an agreement that legitimizes Iran's nuclear program, trusts the regime to self-inspect and offers amnesty to terrorists, but this deal is far from being implemented."
The latest report warning of dire consequences from the agreement came Wednesday morning, from the Iran Strategy Council, a group of ex-senior military officials and defense analysts examining the deal for the The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. The group is co-chaired by retired Gen. James Conway, who served as Marines commandant in the beginning of the Obama administration, and retired Gen. Charles Wald.
"The [nuclear deal] will not prevent a nuclear Iran," the report said, warning of "potentially grave strategic implications" that threaten national security. "No later than 15 years, the deal's major nuclear restrictions will lapse, Iran will stand on the brink of nuclear weapons capability, and once again the United States will likely have to devote significant resources and attention to keeping Tehran from attaining nuclear weapons."
The group was referring to the sunset of major provisions after 15 years. But Kerry and others in the administration argue that even after that period, Iran will remain subject to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and have to abide by inspection requirements. Kerry also argued Wednesday that Iran's "covert pathway" to a bomb would be blocked, and that the intelligence community agrees Iran "could never get away" with establishing a "completely secret nuclear supply chain." He said rejecting a deal would hurt the U.S. and endanger the region.
Kerry also sent a letter Wednesday to all members of Congress outlining U.S. security commitments to Israel and the Gulf Arab states in light of the nuclear deal.
Republicans in Congress and running for president unanimously oppose the deal, which aims to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
The Israeli government is vehemently against it, contending that concessions made to Iran could empower that country, which has sworn to destroy Israel. But critics struggled to use Congress' summer recess to turn the tide against the agreement, despite a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign funded by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
Only two Democratic senators have come out against the deal -- Chuck Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey -- while in recent weeks undeclared Democratic senators, even from red states, have broken in favor one after another.
Each side, meanwhile, has been rolling out letters of support and opposition in the run-up to a vote.
The latest came this past weekend with a full-page letter in The New York Times signed by more than 200 retired military generals and admirals opposing the deal. "This agreement will enable Iran to become far more dangerous, render the Mideast still more unstable and introduce new threats to American interests as well as our allies," the letter, which previously had been sent to congressional leaders, reads.
Even if Congress had been able to pass the disapproval resolution, it couldn't completely stop the deal, which was agreed to among Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. In July, the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed the nuclear deal, approving a resolution that would lift the international sanctions on Iran in 90 days.
Police say woman's lie diverted manhunt for Illinois officer's killers
Police searching for the suspected killers of an Illinois officer said the manhunt was diverted early Thursday by a woman who lied about seeing two suspicious men near the scene of the murder.
Kristen Kiefer, 30, has been charged with disorderly conduct and falsifying a police report. Authorities said she was being held at the Lake County jail pending a bond hearing.
Police said they responded to a 911 call made by Kiefer at approximately 9:20 p.m. local time in Volo, about 5 miles south of Fox Lake, where Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was fatally shot Tuesday after he pursued three suspicious men into a swamp.
Kiefer told police she had pulled over to the side of the road with car trouble when she saw two men, one white and one black, near a cornfield. She claimed they tried to get into her car, but fled because they feared she was going to call the police.
Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Covelli says about 85 federal, state and local law enforcement officials responded to the scene after Kiefer's report. They were joined by 11 police dogs and three air support units in the search, which lasted approximately five hours.
Police said Kiefer initially insisted that her account was true, but later admitted that she had lied. She said she was seeking attention from a family that employs her as a nanny and that she chose the location because it was close to where Gliniewicz had been shot.
The search for the suspects continues.
Former Clinton aide who helped set up server to plead Fifth Amendment to avoid subpoena
A former aide to Hillary Clinton who helped set up her private email server has told at least three congressional committees that he will invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid testifying against his former boss, Fox News has confirmed.
Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before helping install the so-called "homebrew" server system in her Chappaqua, N.Y. home, was asked to testify about the server by the House Select Committee on Benghazi, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
"Mr. Pagliano’s legal counsel told the committee yesterday that he would plead the 5th to any and all questions if he were compelled to testify," a spokesperson for Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox late Wednesday.
The letter from Pagliano's attorney Mark MacDougall cited the ongoing FBI investigation into whether classified national security information was mishandled when it passed through Clinton's server.
"While we understand that Mr. Pagliano’s response to this subpoena may be controversial in the current political environment, we hope that the members of the Select Committee will respect our client’s right to invoke the protections of the Constitution," MacDougall wrote.
The Washington Post reported that Pagliano had been subpoenaed by the Benghazi committee Aug. 11 and committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. had ordered that he appear for questioning Sept. 10. Gowdy had also demanded that Pagliano provide documents related to all servers or computer systems controlled or owned by Clinton between 2009 and 2013.
The Benghazi committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said that Gowdy had issued the subpoena unilaterally in an effort to smear Clinton.
"Although multiple legal experts agree there is no evidence of criminal activity, it is certainly understandable that this witness’s attorneys advised him to assert his Fifth Amendment rights," Cummings told the Post, "especially given the onslaught of wild and unsubstantiated accusations by Republican presidential candidates, members of Congress and others based on false leaks about the investigation."
Clinton, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to her private server.
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