Jimmy Carter finds renaissance in 2020 Democratic scramble

Jimmy Carter is again a kingmaker in the next run for the White House.
It’s quite a turnabout for a man who largely receded from party politics after his presidency, often without being missed by his party’s leaders in Washington, where he was an outsider even as a White House resident.
“Jimmy Carter is a decent, well-meaning person, someone who people are talking about again given the time that we are in,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in an interview. “He won because he worked so hard, and he had a message of truth and honesty. I think about him all the time.”
Klobuchar credited Carter with being “ahead of his time” on several issues, including the environment and climate change (he put solar panels on the White House), health care (a major step toward universal coverage failed mostly because party liberals thought it didn’t go far enough) and government streamlining (an effort that angered some Democrats at the time).
But she also alluded to how his presidency ended: a landslide loss after gas lines, inflation-then-unemployment, and a 14-month-long hostage crisis in Iran. “Their administration was not perfect,” she said.

Now, six administrations later, former President Jimmy Carter, the longest-living chief executive in American history, is re-emerging from political obscurity at age 94 to win over his fellow Democrats once again. (AP)

Klobuchar is one of at least three presidential hopefuls who has ventured to the tiny town of Plains, Georgia, to meet with Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who is 91. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, also have visited with the Carters and attended the former president’s Sunday School lesson in Plains.
“An extraordinary person,” Buttigieg told reporters after meeting Carter. “A guiding light and inspiration,” Booker said in a statement. Klobuchar has attended Carter’s church lesson, as well, and says she emails with him occasionally. “He signs them ‘JC,’” she said with a laugh.
Carter carved an unlikely path to the White House in 1976 and endured humbling defeat after one term. Now, six administrations later, the longest-living chief executive in American history is re-emerging from political obscurity at age 94 to win over his fellow Democrats once again.
A peanut farmer turned politician then worldwide humanitarian, Carter is taking on a special role as Democratic candidates look to his family-run campaign after the Watergate scandal as the road map for toppling President Trump in 2020.
To be sure, more 2020 candidates have quietly sought counsel from Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. Several have talked with Bill Clinton, who left office in 2001. But those huddles have been more hush-hush, disclosed through aides dishing anonymously. Sessions with Carter are trumpeted on social media and discussed freely, suggesting an appeal that Obama and Clinton may not have.
Unlike Clinton, impeached after an affair with a White House intern, Carter has no #MeToo demerits; he and Rosalynn, married since the end of World War II, didn’t even like to dance with other people at state dinners. And unlike Obama, popular among Democrats but polarizing for conservatives and GOP-leaning independents, Carter is difficult to define by current political fault lines.
He’s an outspoken evangelical Christian who criticizes Trump’s serial falsehoods, yet praises Trump for attempting a relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Carter touts his own personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another Trump favorite. “I have his email address,” Carter said in September.
He confirms that he voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, over Hillary Clinton in Georgia’s 2016 presidential primary. In 2017, Carter welcomed Sanders, who’s running again this year, to the Carter Center for a program in which the two men lambasted money in politics. Carter called the United States “an oligarchy.”
Yet Carter has since warned Democrats against “too liberal a program,” lest they ensure Trump’s re-election.
Carter is enough of an enigma that he is the only living president not to draw Trump’s ire or mockery, even if Republicans have caricatured Carter for decades as a failure. Trump and Carter chatted by phone this spring after Carter sent Trump a letter on China and trade. Both men said they had an amiable conversation.
Klobuchar recalled Carter telling her that “family members would disperse to different states and then they would all come back on Friday, go back through the questions they had gotten.” Then “he would talk about how he would answer them” so they’d all be prepared on their next trips, she said.
It was “a different era,” Klobuchar added, recalling that Carter said he felt “high-tech because they had a fax machine on his plane.” Indeed, Klobuchar, born in 1960, wasn’t old enough to vote for Carter until he sought a second term. Booker, 50, recalls voting for Carter, but in a grade-school mock election. Buttigieg, 37, wasn’t even born when Carter left office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trey Gowdy: Brennan, Clapper and Comey know full well dossier was used in the intelligence assessment

Former congressman Trey Gowdy talked to Maria Bartiromo Sunday and discussed the infamous Christopher Steele Dossier, what it is and why it is important find the extent of its use.
"I mean people use the word dossier and how such an official sound to it. I mean let's just call it for what it is. It's a series of rank hearsay compilations put together by an FBI source who was later defrocked. Paid for by the Democrat National Committee then oh by the way Christopher Steele hated Donald Trump too so that we can call it a dossier. It sounds official," Gowdy said on "Sunday Morning Futures."
"It's really something the National Enquirer would blush if they printed so we know that it was used four times by the United States government."
Attorney General William Barr told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer in the interview aired Friday that one portion of the investigation into the Russia probe's orgins, which he has tapped U.S. Attorney John Durham to lead, would cover the time period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, saying “some very strange developments” took place during that time.
Barr specifically was referring to the early January 2017 briefing intelligence officials gave then-president-elect Trump at Trump Tower, and “the leaking of information subsequent to that meeting.” At that meeting, Trump was briefed by intelligence and law enforcement officials on Russian election meddling -- and was also informed by former FBI Director James Comey about the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier which included salacious allegations against him. Details which were later leaked to the press.
The former House Oversight Committee chairman and House Judiciary Committee member accused the Obama-era intelligence officials of not being upfront when it comes to the dossier's use.
"What we're trying to figure out is whether or not it was used a fifth time and the intelligence assessment and you got Brennan, Clapper and Comey all three who know full well whether or not it was used in the intelligence assessment but... they're giving you different versions, right," Gowdy said.
"So there is information that exist in December of 2016 and I hope anyone who has access to it... Senator Burr, Durbin, whoever is open minded. Go look at that. And I think it will help you understand whether or not that dossier, that unverified hearsay, was used... five times or just four times by the United States government is pretty bad. If it was just four times it's really bad, if it was five."
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Liam Quinn contributed to this report.

Illegal Alien Cartoons

Illegal immigrant charged with killing 12 elderly women in Texas

This undated booking photo provided by the Dallas County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office shows Billy Chemirmir. Chemirmir, previously arrested in the death of an 81-year-old woman, has been charged with killing several other elderly women whose jewelry and other valuables he stole, authorities said Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Dallas County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

An illegal immigrant from Kenya is facing murder chargers in connection with the killings of a dozen women in Texas.
46-year-old Billy Chemirmir has been indicted on several counts of capital murder in the deaths of elderly women between the ages of 76 and 94. He has been in jail since March 2018 for allegedly killing an 81-year-old woman in Dallas.
Chemirmir was arrested after police linked him to the attempted murder of a 91-year-old woman, who told police he stole her jewelry. Authorities retrieved his license plate number and were able to trace him to his apartment complex. While at his apartment, they witnessed him throw away a jewelry box, which contained the address of a deceased victim.
Police said the suspect posed as a health care worker before forcing his way into the victims’ homes. They are now investigating more than 700 other elderly deaths for any possible links.

U.S. Diplomats warn airliners of new threats from flying over Persian Gulf

In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo released by the U.S. Navy, Lt. Nicholas Miller. U.S. diplomats warned that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf faced a risk of being “misidentified” amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman, U.S. Navy via AP)

The U.S. issues a warning for airlines who flying over the Persian Gulf.
In a statement Saturday, U.S. diplomats claimed commercial airlines will be at an increased risk while flying over the Persian sea, adding American planes may be misidentified, and possibly attacked by the Iranian military.
This comes amid rising tensions with Iran, after the White House sent warships and bombers to the region in response to recent escalation.
The Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain has also issued similar warnings to its citizens against traveling to Iraq and Iran.
In an announcement Saturday, the country’s foreign ministry urged all citizens to leave both countries, due to the “unstable situation in the region, and recent escalations and threats against security and stability.”
This move comes after Washington, D.C. withdrew all non-emergency personnel from sites in Iraq earlier this week. On Saturday, the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the country is in a “full intelligence war with the U.S.”
Both the United States and the Netherlands have also suspended military operations in Iraq.

Mayor AOC? New York newspaper floats idea of congresswoman succeeding de Blasio

If New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio succeeds in his just-announced quest to win the White House in 2020, that would leave a vacancy in the tough job of leading America’s largest city.
One local newspaper thinks it has spotted the perfect candidate to succeed de Blasio: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a recent editorial, the New York Sun argues that the freshman Democratic congresswoman from the Bronx (whose 14th Congressional District also represents part of Queens) might find the House of Representatives an unpleasant place if the GOP recaptures the chamber in 2020 – and would perhaps appreciate a chance to come home from Washington.
In a Republican-controlled House, the Sun argues, Ocasio-Cortez would be “faced with the interminable drudgery of being without seniority and in a minority.”
Running for mayor of New York, however, might “look attractive to the young firebrand with a ... quick wit and taste for the limelight,” the Sun wrote.
The Sun’s suggestion comes just as de Blasio – now in his second term – is facing much ridicule over his presidential aspirations, with 76 percent of city residents saying he should not run, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
But the Sun ends its editorial with a bit of intrigue.
A suggested mayoral run by AOC might fail, the newspaper suggests, if local Republicans “were to discover a high-spirited millennial with Republican principles to take her on.”
Does the Sun have a particular Republican in mind? The editorial doesn’t say.

Progressive caucus co-chair calls for 'strong primary challenges' against anti-abortion Dems

Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Anti-abortion Democrats could face dwindling resources and primary challenges as abortion becomes a more prominent issue heading into the 2020 elections.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., indicated as much on Friday when she told reporters "you can't say you're a Democrat ... if you're against abortion." Jayapal, who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), reportedly called for "strong primary challenges" against candidates who weren't as bold on that issue.
“I understand that the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is funded by — we are a membership organization — it's funded by our members," she said, referring to the organization, which funds Democratic candidates around the country.
"And I understand that the DCCC is often going to try to protect the incumbent,” she added. "But I do think we have to look at all of these issues and think about what it means to be a Democrat.”
While it's unclear how much her views represented those of the committee leadership, she seemed to highlight growing tension over the issue in her party.
Her comments came as Democrats' position on abortion came under greater scrutiny in the lead-up to 2020. While pro-life Democrats have opposed abortion legislation in prior years, 2019 is reinvigorating debate on the issue and force the party to more explicitly defend its position on the issue. That included support late-term abortion, likely the most controversial abortion procedure in the nation.
The party also spotlighted the issue as Republican legislatures have passed highly restrictive pro-life legislation that Democrats blasted as "extreme." When Alabama passed a bill on Wednesday banning nearly all abortions, it served as a reminder that Democrats could soon face an end to longstanding protections with an apparently conservative Supreme Court.
While some Democratic leaders have OK'ed being pro-life and Democratic, they've also indicated that position would fly in the face of the party's core principles.
That interparty tension caught more attention after Louisiana's Democratic governor signaled on Thursday that he would support his state's "heartbeat" legislation -- one of the more restrictive pro-life proposals that Democrats have decried as attacks on women's rights.
That tension on abortion will likely grow as the nation approaches an expected Supreme Court decision and Democrats push for more abortion funding through the federal government.
Jayapal, for example, received support from one of the most prominent pro-choice organizations -- NARAL -- after she proposed a "Medicare-for-all" program that would eliminate a law -- the Hyde Amendment -- which blocks direct federal funding for most abortions.
Many in the 2020 Democratic field have either pushed Hyde's repeal or advocated more government involvement in a health care system already plagued with concerns about the use of taxpayer money.
The party also saw politicians -- like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. -- push for legislative protections in case the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Democrats appeared divided on the issue with 60 percent favoring considerable limits on abortion, a Marist poll revealed in January. In that same poll, only 28 percent of Democrats said they thought abortion should be available at any point in the pregnancy.

Drain The Swamp Cartoons

AG Barr's critics, who claimed Trump 'obstruction,' would be 'guilty' by own standards: Ari Fleischer

Ari Fleischer

As Attorney General William Barr takes pointed criticism from Democrats, those who also claimed President Trump obstructed justice in the Mueller probe "would be guilty themselves" by that metric, Ari Fleischer said Friday.
"If the Democrats held themselves to the same standards they tried to hold the Trump administration to, they would be guilty of obstruction of justice themselves the way they're going after the attorney general," said Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, on "The Ingraham Angle."
Host Laura Ingraham played several clips of Democrats and media figures blasting Barr as the attorney general gave an exclusive interview to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.
"He acts more and more like the total mouthpiece of the president. It is more than disappointing," said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on CNN. On MSNBC, morning host Joe Scarborough remarked that someone could "slap an ex-KGB badge on the attorney general."
The criticisms come after Barr appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to look into the origins of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation into possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Fleischer praised the decision to commence the new investigation, and told Ingraham that Barr is "exactly what we need now - [and] to figure out what, if anything, was done improperly when they authorized all of these wiretaps and surveillance techniques to be used against Trump."
In Barr's interview with Hemmer, the attorney general said he was ready for potential criticism and attacks by Democrats when he took the job.
"Yes," Barr said. "I thought I was in a position where this kind of criticism really wouldn't bother me very much."
"The fact of the matter is, Bob Mueller did not look at the government's activities, he was looking at whether or not the Trump campaign had conspired with the Russians," Barr said.
Barr also called "laughable" an accusation by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that he had lied to Congress, and dismissed an attempt by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., to hold him in contempt.
"That's part of the usual ... political circus that's being played out. It doesn't surprise me," he said.
Fox News' Liam Quinn contributed to this report.

Louisiana governor breaks with Dems, indicates he'll sign 'heartbeat' legislation

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards reportedly signaled he would sign his state's "heartbeat" legislation -- effectively banning abortions after just weeks of pregnancy -- as his party faced questions over whether it should be more inclusive of pro-life voices.
“When I ran for governor, I said I was pro-life and so that’s something that’s consistent," he reportedly said when asked about the bill on Thursday.
The bill, which awaited a vote from the Louisiana House of Representatives, would make the state one of the strictest on abortion access -- following a slew of other states that passed restrictions in an apparent attempt to make the Supreme Court reconsider major precedent on the issue.
Pro-life advocates have heralded measures like "heartbeat" legislation while groups like Planned Parenthood have challenged them in a series of legal battles. Louisiana's bill could face a lawsuit from the same group -- the American Civil Liberties Union -- that sued Ohio over its own "heartbeat" legislation.
“My position hasn’t changed. In eight years in the Legislature, I was a pro-life legislator,” Edwards said. Edwards attributed his pro-life stance to his faith but it also appeared to hold personal significance. Nearly three decades ago, he and his wife decided to have his daughter, diagnosed as a baby with spina bifida, against the doctor's advice to abort.
During his monthly radio show, the governor seemed to acknowledge his break with Democrats, who have continually denounced state-level legislation like Louisiana's.
“I know that for many in the national party, on the national scene, that’s not a good fit. But I will tell you, here in Louisiana, I speak and meet with Democrats who are pro-life every single day," he said.
Democrats like Edwards were in a tough spot politically as the Supreme Court acquired an apparent conservative majority and members of their own party pushed more controversial forms of abortion.
In 2016, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton lost after a fiery confrontation with then-candidate Donald Trump who spotlighted her support for late-term abortion during a debate. It also appeared to prompt media questions as to whether the party should expand its tent to be more welcoming to pro-life voters.
“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez previously said.
According to a Marist poll from 2019, Democrats varied in their opinion on abortion restrictions. But a strong majority -- 60 percent -- said they supported limiting abortion to the first trimester. Another poll from May showed that overall, registered voters thought heartbeat bills were either "just right" or "too lenient." That contrasted with 45 percent who said they were "too restrictive."
Democrats for Life, which voiced support for "heartbeat" legislation, has challenged the party on this point in particular -- calling for things like more inclusive language from party leadership and a Democratic Pro-Life Political Action Committee.
Congressional Democrats have acknowledged that being pro-life and Democrat was possible but, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., clarified, the party was "strongly pro-choice."
Schumer, who blasted a "heartbeat" legislation passed on Friday in Missouri, has formed a unified front with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in vehemently opposing pro-life initiatives pushed by Trump and others.
Trump, whom pro-life leaders have praised, aroused Democratic fears in 2018 when he appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to a Court that seemed evenly divided along ideological lines on that issue. Kavanaugh could consider laws from Edwards' state and others if they reach the Supreme Court -- potentially ending protections established under Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Heading into the 2020 elections, Trump has tried to tie Democrats to late-term abortion. Democrats like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who pushed a bill allowing abortions up to the point of birth, have faced intense scrutiny over their support on the issue.
But as Democrats encountered accusations they supported "extreme" abortion proposals, Republicans did as well. The party appeared to wrestle with the issue after Alabama passed an abortion ban that excluded exceptions for rape and incest -- provisions that Ronna McDaniel, the party's chair, "personally" opposed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.