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U.S. offers $15M for info. to break up Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s finances

The Trump administration is offering a $15 million reward for anyone who can disrupt the finances of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
President Trump designated the military unit as a terrorist organization back in April, and said the IRGC is Iran’s primary source of directing its terrorist campaign.
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook announced the reward Wednesday after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Iran’s National Space Agency for helping develop ballistic missiles. The administration also wants information on entities assisting the IRGC and its illicit oil-for-money schemes.
“We are announcing a reward of up to $15 million for any person who helps us disrupt the financial operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds force,” stated Hook. “The IRGC has been running an illicit petroleum shipping network over the last several months — this network has moved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illicit oil.”
The U.S. special representative went on to say these steps are part of the Trump administration’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign to get Iran to negotiate a new deal.

FILE- In this Sept. 18, 2016 file photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)

AOC fires back after Rep. Steve King posts video of himself drinking water from sink at detention center

Idiot

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., fired back at Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Wednesday night, hours after he tweeted a video of himself drinking water from a sink attached to a toilet at a migrant detention center, calling the congresswoman “#FakeNews” for claiming migrants were drinking from the toilet.
“There is a genre of videos where GOP House members - who clearly didn’t read sworn testimony that detention sinks were broken- filming themselves drinking out of toilet sinks,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to King.
“They’re so anti-immigrant they risk pink eye to show off that they didn’t do the reading #CloseTheCamps,” she added.
Several hours earlier, King posted that he visited the same cell where Ocasio-Cortez had reported migrants were drinking from the toilet.
“I took a drink out of there,” he tweeted, referring to the sink above the toilet. “And actually pretty good!”
"No way was @AOC objectively honest in her #FakeNews spin about the border,” he wrote of the congresswoman’s assertion about subpar conditions. “Click bait for Snowflakes!"
King suggested the initial claim came from a "language barrier" that resulted in "misinformation" about facilities.
Ocasio-Cortez said that migrants at the detention centers were being forced to drink "out of toilets" hours out she toured one of the locations in July.
Border Patrol Chief Brian Hastings refuted her allegations, stating that migrants are given fresh drinking water.
Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report. 

Longtime GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner to retire from Congress after 40 years

Wisconsin GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner announced Wednesday he will retire from Congress when his term expires in January 2021, after 40 years in the House of Representatives.
Sensenbrenner, 76, is the second-most senior lawmaker in the legislative body.
"When I began my public service in 1968, I said I would know when it was time to step back. After careful consideration, I have determined at the completion of this term, my 21st term in Congress, it will be that time," said Sensenbrenner in a statement. Sensenbrenner had joined the Wisconsin state legislature in 1968, and was elected to Congress 10 years later.
Sensenbrenner said he would rather leave Wisconsin's solidly red 5th Congressional District on his own accord than wait for redistricting. "Being able to do this on my timetable rather than after a redistricting in 2022 will allow me to go out on a high note … This is just me feeling the time would be coming in the next few years, and I think this is the best time for me personally, and for both the Republican Party and for me politically," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., ranking member of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing with representatives from major tech companies in Washington. (Associated Press)

His announcement brought the total number of House Republicans set to retire up to 13. Four GOP senators also have said they won't run for reelection in 2020, while only two Democrats in the House and one in the Senate are set to retire.
More than two dozen Republicans retired ahead of the 2018 midterms, leading up to the "blue wave" that helped the Democrats retake the House.
As for a successor, Sensenbrenner said he planned to back the “the Republican ticket from top to bottom," the Journal Sentinel reported.
Sensenbrenner currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He holds a very conservative voting record, but he has managed to work with liberal Democrats on issues such as civil liberties.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke highly of Sensenbrenner in light of the news. "Jim has spent the last 50 years protecting our constitutional rights, ensuring the U.S. led the way in science and space, and fighting tirelessly for conservative principles. He is a statesman, a person of remarkable character, and his presence and wisdom will be sorely missed in Congress," Ryan, also of Wisconsin, said in a statement.
"From leading efforts to keep America safe after 9/11 to serving as a fiscal watchdog constantly looking out for taxpayers, Jim has been a stalwart public servant," said fellow Wisconsinite GOP Rep. Bryan Steil, as WISN reported.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Nunes files $9.9M suit against firm behind Steele dossier, saying it tried to obstruct Russia probe

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., filed a $9.9 million federal conspiracy lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that the opposition research firm behind the anti-Trump Steele dossier coordinated with another group to file several fraudulent and harassing ethics complaints intended to derail his investigation.
The complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia, which named Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson and the nonprofit Campaign for Accountability (CfA), said the "smear" tactics kicked into action shortly after Simpson "lied" in his closed-door testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in November 2017, as well as before the Senate Judiciary Committee in August 2017.
Fusion GPS and CfA's "racketeering activities," Nunes alleged, were "part of a joint and systematic effort to intimidate, harass, threaten, influence, interfere with, impede, and ultimately to derail" Republican investigators.
The lawsuit was the latest in a string of filings by Nunes this year, including a $250 million defamation complaint that named Twitter as a defendant and a $150 million complaint against the news organization McClatchy. Courts have not yet ruled on the merits of those complaints.
"I was often smeared," Nunes told Fox News' "Hannity" on Wednesday night. "And now, what we know is, there's a link between those who were doing the smearing and Fusion GPS."
Nunes added: "When we were investigating Fusion GPS, they were actively involved in working to smear me to obstruct justice, to derail our investigation -- and so, I'm gonna hold these guys accountable, and this is just one of many steps we're gonna continue to take."

(Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., sued Fusion GPS and its founder, alleging a RICO conspiracy. (AP, File))

In his latest lawsuit, Nunes noted that in October 2017, he authorized subpoenas to compel Simpson and his associates to testify before congressional investigators and provide related documents concerning Fusion GPS' "nefarious activities," including its role in creating the Steele dossier.
"The bank records produced by Fusion GPS revealed that the Clinton campaign, the DNC and Perkins Coie paid for Fusion GPS’ anti-Trump research," Nunes' complaint stated.
Nunes, then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was looking into the intelligence community's reliance on the unverified dossier, which the FBI had cited in a surveillance warrant to monitor former Trump aide Carter Page.
Simpson lied in his congressional testimony the next month, Nunes alleged, by claiming he did not meet with DOJ official Bruce Ohr until after the 2016 election. Ohr, however, testified that he met with Simpson in August 2016.
Additionally, Nunes said Simpson lied in August 2017 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fox News reported last year that when asked by the panel whether that work continued after the 2016 election, Simpson responded: “I had no client after the election.”
Then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, however, challenged that answer in a letter to committee colleague Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. “As we now know, that was extremely misleading, if not an outright lie,” he wrote.
Worried there would be criminal referrals arising from the apparent falsehoods, Nunes claimed, Fusion GPS sprang into action.
"Fearing a criminal referral for his false statements to the FBI and DOJ, for lying to Congress and the Senate, and for obstructing the House Intelligence Committee in its Russia investigation, the Defendants directly and aggressively retaliated against Plaintiff, employing the same or similar means and methods as Fusion GPS and Simpson have employed multiple times in the past to smear the opposition," Nunes' filing stated.
"In furtherance of their conspiracy, the Defendants, acting in concert and with others, filed fraudulent and retaliatory 'ethics' complaints against Plaintiff that were solely designed to harass and intimidate Plaintiff, to undermine his Russia investigation, and to protect Simpson, Fusion GPS and others from criminal referrals," Nunes alleged.
The complaint alleged that CfA, at Fusion GPS' direction, faxed a fraudulent complaint against Nunes to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in January 2018. According to the filing, which cited reporting by The Daily Caller, the CfA paid Fusion GPS over $140,000 in 2018 for unspecified "research."
Then, in March 2018, CfA was said to have faxed another ethics complaint, this time one that "falsely accused" Nunes of leaking to the media "private text messages between Senator Mark Warner and Adam Waldman, a lawyer connected to [British ex-spy Christopher] Steele, in which Senator Warner tried to arrange a meeting with Steele."
A third ethics complaint faxed that July alleged that Nunes had "violated federal law and House ethics rules by failing to include information on his personal financial disclosure forms and accepting an impermissible gift."

Glenn R. Simpson, co-founder of the research firm Fusion GPS, in November 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

That same day, the Swamp Accountability Project, run by political operative Liz Mair, also sought an investigation of Nunes. Nunes' complaint alleged that Fusion GPS "recruited additional bad actors" including Mair, but provided no evidence.
Mair was not named as a defendant in Wednesday's lawsuit. Nunes has named Mair in two other lawsuits this year.
Neither CfA nor Fusion GPS immediately responded to Fox News' requests for comment. Mair, reached by Fox News, declined comment.
At either CfA or Fusion GPS' direction, Nunes asserted, Democratic operative Michael Seeley requested emails under the California Public Records Act that Nunes' wife, an elementary school teacher, had received.
"Seeley published Elizabeth Nunes’ emails online and included the names and email addresses of numerous school administrators and teachers, resulting in extensive harassment of these innocent, hard-working citizens of Tulare County, including hateful accusations that they teach bigotry and racism," the complaint stated. "In fact, the school was so concerned about security problems resulting from this situation that it adopted enhanced security measures."
In 2017, Nunes was forced to step aside from the Russia probe after an ethics complaint alleged he had wrongfully disclosed classified materials. Nunes was cleared in December 2017.
Nunes' suit sought treble damages and attorney's fees.
"Fusion GPS, Simpson and Steele fraudulently developed the 'Steele Dossier' and disseminated it to U.S. Government officials and the press as if the salacious accusations were true," Nunes' complaint concluded. "Defendants’ corrupt acts of racketeering are part of their regular way of doing business. That way of doing business must end here and now."

Gov. Gavin Newsom Cartoons

White House pushes back after judge orders restoration of Playboy journalist's credentials

The White House said Tuesday it disagreed with a federal judge in Washington and ordered officials to reinstate Playboy journalist Brian Karem's credentials, which had been revoked following his altercation with former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, a Barack Obama appointee, marked the second time a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a reporter's pass. In November, a judge ordered CNN reporter Jim Acosta's credentials restored. The so-called hard pass allows reporters to easily obtain access to the White House grounds without having to separately apply for a press credential each time they seek entry.
"The First Amendment requires 'that individual newsmen not be arbitrarily excluded from sources of information,'" Contreras wrote in his opinion, citing federal case law. "His First Amendment interest depends on his ability to freely pursue 'journalistically productive conversations with White House officials.' Yet without his hard pass, he lacks access to pursue those conversations -- even as an eavesdropper."
In issuing a temporary restraining order and injunction against the White House, Contreras said that the White House's guidelines for appropriate behavior were insufficient and vague. Contreras' decision, although not yet a final ruling, signaled that he believed Karem ultimately would prevail.
“White House events appear to vary greatly in character,” the judge wrote, adding that "without any contextual guideposts, ‘professionalism,’ standing alone, remains too murky to provide fair notice here. ... "Karem has provided some evidence that White House press events are often freewheeling and that aggressive conduct has long been tolerated without punishment."
The judge clarified that "In granting Karem relief, the Court finds only that the White House likely did not provide the requisite guidance in this specific case — nothing more. And, as noted earlier, the Court does not reach Karem’s independent free speech claim."
Nevertheless, the judge concluded: "Karem has shown that even the temporary suspension of his pass inflicts irreparable harm on his First Amendment rights."
Gorka and Karem got into a shouting match that was captured on video July 11, after Karem described the participants in a White House meeting of conservative social media personalities as a "group of people that are eager for demonic possession."
After a back and forth, Gorka shouted at Karem, "You are threatening me now in the White House, in the Rose Garden. You are threatening me in the Rose Garden. You're a punk, you're not a journalist, you're a punk."
Karem then told Gorka to "get a job." At one point, Karem suggested they take their conversation "outside."
The crowd erupted into chants of "Gorka! Gorka!" Karem replied that Gorka should "go home."

"No doubt, Karem’s remark that he and Gorka could 'go outside and have a long conversation,' was an allusion to a physical altercation, but the videos make clear that it was meant as an irreverent, caustic joke and not as a true threat,” the judge wrote on Tuesday.
Following Tuesday's ruling, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the White House to be able to deter unprofessional behavior on the grounds of the Executive Mansion.
“We disagree with the decision of the district court to issue an injunction that essentially gives free rein to members of the press to engage in unprofessional, disruptive conduct at the White House," Grisham said. "Mr. Karem’s conduct, including threatening to escalate a verbal confrontation into a physical one to the point that a Secret Service agent intervened, clearly breached well-understood norms of professional conduct. The Press Secretary must have the ability to deter such unacceptable conduct."
White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) President Jonathan Karl, ABC News' chief White House correspondent, said: "The WHCA is gratified the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia acted to uphold the due process rights of one of our members. The WHCA will continue to advocate for the rights of our members and against actions by the government that would have a chilling effect on journalism protected by the First Amendment. As we have said repeatedly, we believe everyone should conduct themselves professionally at the White House."
Immediately after the episode, Grisham had condemned Karem for "insulting invited guests," threatening a physical altercation and not leaving when a White House staffer asked him to do so during the event.
But the White House did not suspend Karem's hard pass until several weeks after the episode, after providing him notice and an opportunity to object. During that period, Karem was allowed onto the White House grounds -- providing evidence, the judge said, that the White House could afford to wait to enforce its sanction against Karem until after proceedings in the case were concluded.
Karem, meanwhile, was celebratory, tweeting, "Free Speech and Due process win!"
Following that episode, the White House instituted new behavioral guidelines for White House guests requiring "professionalism," but Judge Contreras ruled that they were unclear.
“Though 'professionalism' has a well-known common meaning, it is inherently subjective and context dependent,” the judge wrote.
Fox News' Kelliane Jones, Brie Stimson and Meghan Welsh contributed to this report.

Eric McCormack backtracks, says he doesn't support 'blacklists' after calling to out Trump donors

"Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack is walking back his comments after he and his co-star Debra Messing were widely criticized after calling for Trump donors in Hollywood to be outed.
Last week, McCormack responded to a report about an upcoming fundraiser being held in Beverly Hills in honor of President Trump's reelection campaign by requesting a followup of all the attendees.
"Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event," he wrote, "so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't want to work with. Thx," McCormack tweeted.
On Tuesday, however, McCormack attempted to clarify his stance, telling his followers on Instagram that he doesn't support "blacklists."
"I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way," McCormack began. "I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest. I'd simply like to understand where Trump's major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record."
"I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential."
Messing agreed with the sentiment, adding "I couldn't have said it better."
The Emmy-winning performers from the NBC comedy were blasted on Tuesday by "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg.
“In this country, people can vote for who they want to -- that is one of the great rights of this country,” she said on Tuesday. “You don’t have to like it but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for -- we don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don’t print out lists.”
She went on to urge Messing and McCormack to reconsider their tweets and “remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone -- anyone to do it.”
In an apparent allusion to the McCarthy era, Goldberg said that “a lot of good people” had been accused of things and lost their “right to work.”
“Last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves,” Goldberg added.

Restaurant menu items named after 'The Wall' and 'Lock Her Up' spark controversy

A new restaurant in New Mexico has sparked controversy over menu items named after popular phrases used by President Trump.
Urban Taqueria, located in Albuquerque, is the talk of the town after some customers complained about the use of terms like “The Wall,” “The Immigrant” and “Lock Her Up” on its menu.
Critics say the terms are offensive to certain communities and perpetuate hate speech.
"The way things are right now. It's not good," customer Juan Hernandez told local TV station KOAT. "We need to have respect for others and have limits."
University of New Mexico professor Patricia Perea said “normalizing” the terms, which also include phrases like “Fake News,” is dangerous.
"It seems fun, it seems like you can make fun of this and maybe make it lighthearted, but you really can't, you're offending a whole community," Perea said. "It's normalizing the terms and potentially turning them into funny or humorous terms, and the more that you do that, the more likely people are to repeat them and perhaps forget the contexts in which they were said."
The restaurant’s owner Hanif Mohamed, who is an immigrant, said the terms on the menu are all in fun. If anything, he said, he hopes it sparks conversation.
"Ninety-nine percent of the people who walk in, more than 99 percent, don't seem to have an issue with it," Mohamed told the station. "The menu's not designed to insult people or hurt people, but it's just meant to keep the conversation going as to what's happening around us."
Not everyone, however, thinks the restaurant’s name choices for menu items are offensive.
"To me it's not offensive," said Christy Garcia. "I just think it's interesting that they decided to be so bold with the names."

California’s Newsom signs bill allowing citizen to refuse to help a police officer

Idiot

Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Democrat, on Tuesday signed a bill that no longer requires any "able-bodied person 18 years of age or older" in the state to help an officer who requested assistance during an arrest.
The Sacramento Bee reported that the old law, the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872, was common in the country’s early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the old law a “vestige of a bygone era." The law had been employed to help catch runaway slaves, the report said.
The old law made it a misdemeanor that carried a fine of up to $1,000 for refusing to help a police officer who requested assistance during an arrest.
The report said Newsom did not issue a statement after signing the bill.
The California State Sheriff’s Association said in a statement that it is “unconvinced that this statute should be repealed.”