Presumptuous Politics

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Biden-Ukraine Cartoons









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AP sources: Former Trump adviser John Bolton has a book deal

Go figure :-)

NEW YORK (AP) — Former national security adviser John Bolton has a book deal, The Associated Press has learned.
The hawkish Bolton departed in September because of numerous foreign policy disagreements with President Donald Trump. He reached a deal over the past few weeks with Simon & Schuster, according to three publishing officials with knowledge of negotiations. The officials were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Two of the officials said the deal was worth about $2 million. Bolton was represented by the Javelin literary agency, whose clients include former FBI Director James Comey and the anonymous Trump administration official whose book, “A Warning,” comes out Nov. 19.
The publishing officials did not know the title or release date. Simon & Schuster declined comment Saturday and Javelin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolton’s 2007 book, “Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad,” was published by the conservative Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions.
Bolton’s name has come up often recently during the House impeachment inquiry , which has focused on Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, the former vice president.
In a transcript of a closed-door interview released Friday, a former national security official described how Bolton had “immediately stiffened” as Ambassador Gordon Sondland “blurted out” that he had worked out a trade — Ukrainians’ probe for an Oval Office welcome for Ukraine’s new president — with Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney.
Fiona Hill said Bolton later told her that “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up” and asked her to relay that message to a White House lawyer.
Meanwhile, a letter from Bolton’s attorney to the top lawyer for the House alleges that Bolton was “part of many relevant meetings and conversations” pertaining to the House impeachment inquiry of Trump that are not yet public.
The attorney, Charles Cooper, suggests Bolton will appear before Congress only if a judge orders him to do so.
Appointed in April 2018, Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser and is known for advocating military action abroad, a viewpoint Trump has resisted. In a speech in late September to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, given after he left the administration, Bolton offered a far more aggressive approach to North Korea’s nuclear program than the one advocated by Trump, who has spoken warmly about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Every day that goes by makes North Korea a more dangerous country,” Bolton said. “You don’t like their behavior today, what do you think it will be when they have nuclear weapons that can be delivered to American cities?”
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Far left party offers helping hand to ruling Socialists

To an American this should be scary as hell!
MADRID (AP) — As Spain voted Sunday in the country’s fourth election in as many years, a leading leftist party pledged to help the incumbent Socialist party in the hope of staving off a possible right-wing coalition government that could include a far-right party.
Spain’s United We Can party leader Pablo Iglesias said he will offer a helping hand to the ruling Socialist party to form a stable leftist government.
Failure to reach agreement between the Socialists and United We Can, Spain’s fourth largest party in parliament, following the last election in April was one of the main reasons for the calling of Sunday’s vote, the fourth in as many years.
“We are going to offer a helping hand to the Socialist party. We think that combining the courage of United We Can and the experience of the Socialist party we can convert our country into a reference point for social policies,” Iglesias said Sunday.
“We are going to leave behind the reproaches,” he added.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who won the most votes in the last ballot in April but failed to whip up enough parliamentary support to form a government, voted in the morning.
Sánchez is tipped to win again but Spain may face another stalemate situation and months more without a stable government.
“I think it’s very important that we strengthen the democracy with our vote, encourage all citizens to vote and as of tomorrow we may have the stability to form a government and get Spain moving,” Sánchez said after casting his ballot. His party won 123 seats in the 350-seat lower house last time.
The four main parties contending centered their campaigns chiefly on ways to deal with Catalonia’s independence push and the feared surge of the far-right party Vox (Voice).
Julia Giobelina, 34-year-old web designer from Madrid, was angry at having to vote for the second time in less than seven months, but said she cast her vote at the Palacio de Valdés public school in central Madrid in the hope of stopping the rise of Vox.
“They are the new fascism,” Giobelina said. “We citizens need to stand against privatization of health care and other public services. Also, because I don’t know if my daughter will be transsexual or lesbian and because of our friends the immigrants, we need to vote against the far-right for them.”
Abstentions loom, with polls suggesting up to 35 percent of the electorate could stay away from the polling booths, up from 28 percent in April.
Voting stations opened at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) and are set to close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), with results expected within hours.
Spain, a country which returned to democracy after a near four-decade right wing dictatorship under late Gen. Francisco Franco, used to take pride in claiming no far-right group had seats in the national parliament, unlike the rest of Europe.
But that changed in the last election when Vox erupted onto the political scene by winning 24 seats on promises of taking a hard line on Catalonia and immigration.
The Socialists’ April victory was nonetheless seen by many as something of a respite for Europe where right-wing parties had gained much ground in countries such as France, Hungary, Italy and Poland.
But many polls predict Vox, headed by Santiago Abascal, may do even better this time and capitalize on the pro-Spain nationalist sentiment stirred by the Catalan conflict and in response to the caretaker Socialist government’s exhumation of Franco’s remains last month from his gargantuan mausoleum so that he could no longer be exalted by supporters in a public place.
Vox has already joined forces with the other two right-of-center parties to take over many city and regional governments and no one doubts the three would readily band together to oust Sánchez.
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Giuliani: Biden-Ukraine ties should have been investigated a year ago

FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2018 file photo, Rudy Giuliani, attorney for President Donald Trump, addresses a gathering during a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File )
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:30 PM PT — Saturday, November 9, 2019
Rudy Giuliani is saying there’s much to uncover in the business dealings between the Biden family and Ukraine.
During a Friday interview, Giuliani claimed Hunter and Joe Biden’s ties with Ukraine should have been investigated at least a year ago. He claimed the corruption had been present for some time, but was not brought to light by federal agencies like the FBI because the bureau was also involved in the corruption.
The president’s attorney went on to say as part of the president’s legal team, they found that three members of the Obama National Security Council had asked Ukrainian prosecutors to get dirt on the Trump campaign.

“What you’re going to find out is that there was a lot dirty information — some nasty and some of it just plain false — that the Ukrainians were getting at the bidding of the Obama administration,” stated Giuliani.
The attorney has previously claimed the Democrat impeachment inquiry was made to keep this alleged “pay for play” under wraps.
This comes after two Republican senators asked the Secretary of State to release all documents related to Hunter Biden’s work for Ukrainian energy company Burisma. They sought to determine if it may have influenced the Obama administration to end a corruption investigation.

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Republicans call Hunter Biden, whistleblower and others to publicly testify


OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:17 PM PT — Saturday, November 9, 2019
House Republicans are calling Hunter Biden to testify in the upcoming public impeachment hearings.
According to a witness list released on Saturday, Biden and his former Burisma business partner Devon Archer are among those the GOP wants to appear for open testimonies. Republicans also want the whistleblower to appear and reveal their identity in the public forum.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes released a letter with the list. It stated that he expects each of the witnesses to be called to “ensure Democrats treat the president with fairness, as promised by Speaker Pelosi.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, speaks to reporters after witnesses failed to appear under subpoena before House impeachment investigators following President Donald Trump’s orders not to cooperate with the probe, in Washington, Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is refusing the GOP’s request to call on Hunter Biden. On Saturday, the chairman said the impeachment inquiry will not be used to undertake investigations into the Bidens or the 2016 election.
He also said the committee is evaluating the GOP’s requests and will give consideration to witnesses within the scope of the impeachment inquiry, as voted on by the House. The other witnesses the GOP has requested to publicly testify include former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and former Fusion GPS contractor Nellie Ohr.
Later the same day, President Trump said some of his suggestions for the Republicans’ list of potential witnesses did not make the cut. He took to Twitter Saturday to share his recommendations.
He also mentioned both whistleblowers as possible witnesses he wanted on the list.
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Saturday, November 9, 2019

Crazy Adam Schiff Cartoons









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Nunes demands Schiff testify in private as part of House impeachment inquiry



The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has formally requested that the panel's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., testify in a closed-door setting as part of the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Fox News has obtained a letter written by committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who demanded that Schiff appear for a deposition in private before lawmakers.
"On November 6th, you announced the beginning of public hearings associated with the Democratic Party's partisan impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump," Nunes wrote Friday. "Based on the precedent and lack of jurisdiction, the House Intelligence Committee should not take the lead in conducting such hearings; however, by now the American people know your desire to see the duly-elected president removed from office outweighs your sense of responsibility to running a functioning intelligence oversight committee.
"Prior to the start of your public show trial next week, at least one additional closed-door deposition must take place," he continued. "Specifically, I request that you sit for a closed-door deposition before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees."
Nunes went on to note that in August 2019, Schiff and his staff "met with or talked to the whistleblower who raised an issue with President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky."
"Although you publicly claim nothing inappropriate was discussed, the three committees deserve to hear directly from you the substance and circumstances surrounding any discussions conducted with the whistleblower, and any instructions you issued regarding those discussions,"  Nunes wrote. "Given that you have reneged on your public commitment to let the committees interview the whistleblower directly, you are the only individual who can provide clarity as to these conversations."
He added: "As you know, the House Intelligence Committee has precedent for such an arrangement. During the Committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, sitting Members of Congress agreed to participate in closed-door depositions. Given your championing of such an arrangement two years ago, you should have no problem with you appearing before the three committees to discuss your interactions with the whistleblower."
Schiff maintains that he has not personally spoken with the anonymous whistleblower. However, it was revealed several weeks ago that the whistleblower had early contact with his office, essentially giving them a heads-up about the complaint concerning Trump's July 25 phone call with Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to release a full list of proposed witnesses for testimony in a public setting in the coming days.
Nunes’ and Republicans’ effort to devise a strategy going forward comes after the House approved rules for the impeachment inquiry process last week. While Republicans opposed the resolution and complained the rules were unfair, Democrats still gave GOP lawmakers the ability to subpoena witnesses with the concurrence of Democratic committee chairs. If the chair does not consent, the minority can appeal to the full committee.
This process still gives Democrats final say over witnesses. A GOP source told Fox News this week that it's unlikely Democrats would go along with the efforts to call Schiff -- who is essentially leading the impeachment probe.
The source told Fox News that Republicans want answers to questions like: “How many times did he [Schiff] meet with the whistleblower? What did they advise the whistleblower to do? How much was Schiff involved in this? Did he recommend the whistleblower give the complaint to the intelligence community inspector general, even though there was no intel component so that he could be involved?”
But GOP lawmakers for days had telegraphed that they were interested in making the attempt.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Schiff is the "first person" who should be brought in, along with his staff.
Last week, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga., publicly challenged Schiff to come before the judiciary panel.
“Come to the Judiciary Committee," Collins said after the passage of the impeachment rules resolution. "Be the first witness and take every question asked of you. Starting with your own involvement [with] the whistleblower.”
Schiff’s office last month said that the whistleblower had reached out to them before filing the complaint in mid-August, giving Democrats advance warning of the accusations that would lead them to launch the inquiry days later. The inspector general's complaint about Trump’s phone call with Zelensky flagged concerns about efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as military aid to the country was being withheld.
A transcript released by the White House shows Trump making that request, but he and his congressional allies deny, and plan to continue to deny, that military aid was clearly linked to the request, or that there was any "quid pro quo." Some witnesses who have appeared before House committees as part of the impeachment proceedings have challenged that assertion.
Meanwhile, Republicans are also hoping to call the whistleblower to testify, according to the source, who pointed to Schiff’s recent reversal on the issue.
Schiff in September had promised testimony from the whistleblower “very soon." But in recent weeks has suggested that testimony is unnecessary.
Meanwhile, Schiff announced Wednesday that his committee would hold the first open hearings of the impeachment inquiry next week, featuring current and former officials with knowledge of the Ukraine controversy.
“On Wednesday, November 13, 2019, we will hear from [U.S. charge d'affaires for Ukraine] William Taylor and [diplomat] George Kent,” Schiff announced. “On Friday, November 15, 2019, we will hear from [former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine] Marie Yovanovitch.
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Last victim of Mexico border killings to be laid to rest

 
A mourner drops a red rose into a freshly dug grave at the cemetery in Colonia Le Baron, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, during the burial service for Rhonita Miller and four of her young children who were murdered by drug cartel gunmen. The bodies of Miller and four of her children were taken in a convoy of pickup trucks and SUVS, on the same dirt-and-rock mountainous road where they were killed Monday, for burial in the community of Colonia Le Baron in Chihuahua state. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

COLONIA LEBARON, Mexico (AP) — Family and friends prepared to bury on Saturday the last victim of a cartel ambush that slaughtered nine American women and children from a community of U.S.-Mexican dual citizens in a corner of northern Mexico where having gangsters in their midst has long been an unavoidable fact of life.
Christina Langford Johnson jumped out of her vehicle and waved her hands to show she was no threat to the attackers and was shot twice in the heart, community members say. Her daughter Faith Marie Johnson, 7 months old, was found unharmed in her car seat.
Her burial ceremony, the third in as many days, culminates an outpouring of grief in the closely knit community with family ties in two Mexican states and across the border in many western U.S. states.
The shocking attack has many in the small farming town of La Mora, established in Sonora state by their Mormon ancestors decades ago, wondering whether they should stay or leave to flee the cartel threat.
On Friday, the bodies of Rhonita Miller and four of her children were brought from La Mora to Colonia LeBaron in neighboring Chihuahua state by a convoy of pickup trucks and SUVS that followed the same dirt-and-rock mountainous road where they were killed. Many residents of the two communities that lie a five-hour, bone-jarring drive apart are related. They are not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The three simple wooden coffins arrived at the cemetery about a mile east of Colonia LeBaron off a rural road flanked by cotton fields and were lowered into three graves under white tents set up to guard from the intermittent rain.
“Nita,” as she was affectionately known, was laid to rest in the middle grave with the remains of her 8-month-old twins, Titus and Tiana, in her arms. Twelve-year-old Howard Jr. and 10-year-old Kristal were buried in their own coffins on either side.
Kenny Miller, Rhonita Miller’s father-in-law, said she was “like an angel” and the children “little angels.”
Miller said that with the eyes of the world upon these communities, he hopes their deaths may not be in vain and can spotlight what he deems a nationwide concern with thousands of Mexicans mourning missing and dead loved ones amid record-setting homicide levels.
“We’ve got terrorists here,” he said.
“I would like this to be used for people who have no voice,” Miller said, “and I think ‘Nita’ would approve wholeheartedly.”
What had been a largely peaceful existence in a fertile valley ringed by rugged mountains and desert scrub about 70 miles (112 kilometers) from the border with Arizona became increasingly dangerous in recent years as the cartels exerted their power and battled each other in a region that is a drug smuggling hotbed.
But La Mora, a hamlet of about 300 people where residents raise cattle and cultivate pomegranates and other crops “will be forever changed” following the killings Monday as the women traveled with their children to visit relatives, a tearful David Langford told mourners at the funeral for his wife, Dawna Ray Langford, and their 11-year-old and 2-year-old sons.
“One of the dearest things to our lives is the safety of our family,” said Langford. “And I won’t feel safe. I haven’t for a few years here.”
On the other side of the mountains in Chihuahua, Colonia LeBaron has been largely peaceful since the 2009 killing of one of its members who was an anti-crime activist prompted Mexican authorities to establish a security base. But the police presence in La Mora was negligible until the women and children were killed and authorities sent a swarm of soldiers and state and federal police officers to the area.
How long they stay could be crucial to the community’s future, residents said.
The governments of Chihuahua and Sonora said in a statement Friday that an “important number” of security agents had been deployed to the state border region that the road traverses since the “lamentable” attack, resulting in arrests and seizures of weapons, drugs and stolen vehicles.
“We will not waver, I reiterate, not a single step backward,” Sonora state security commissioner Óscar Alberto Aparicio Avendaño was quoted as saying.
The motive in the killings still isn’t known, though Mexican authorities have suggested the victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time as competing cartels fought over turf and may have mistaken the SUVs the women and children were in for rivals who travel in similar vehicles. Residents of La Mora dispute the theory that the victims were not targeted.
Joe Darger, of Salt Lake City, said his daughter who lives in Utah but maintains a second home in La Mora won’t be spending more time in a place that had been part of her family’s life, at least for now.
“Until there’s answers, she’s not bringing her kids,” Darger said in La Mora after traveling there to attend the funerals.
The biggest concern for residents is finding out why the women and children were massacred. The answer will help them decide whether to stay or leave.
“I just think the innocence is gone,” Darger said. “And so unless people feel safe, they’re going to look for other places they can feel safe.”
He added: “It’s a matter of what do we do going forward? That’s the question.”
___
Associated Press Writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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Tom Steyer’s top aide resigns following bribery allegations

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, left, addresses an environmental justice forum. Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Orangeburg, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

The campaign manager for Tom Steyer has resigned, following news he was secretly attempting to bribe local politicians for votes. In a Friday statement released by his team, Pat Murphy’s resignation was made effective immediately.
This comes after the Associated Press reported Murphy was reaching out to politicians in Iowa and offering money in exchange for endorsing Steyer’s campaign. When asked about the allegations against his aide, the presidential candidate said no payments were given to Iowa officials.
“We haven’t given any money to anyone in Iowa, nor are we planning to,” stated Steyer. “There’s no way we would ever do that.”
Following an investigation into those claims, the campaign said the behavior was not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
“Our campaign policy is clear: that we will not engage in this kind of activity, or any kind of communication that could be perceived as improper,” stated campaign manager Heather Hargreaves. “Violation of this policy is not tolerated.”
The campaign’s statement went on to say Steyer and his team will continue building on his momentum in Iowa and across the country.
Murphy has since apologized for his alleged propositions. So far, no evidence has come forward proving these bribes.
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President Trump launches nationwide grassroots initiative for black voters

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at his Black Voices for Trump rally Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
President Trump is kicking off his nationwide campaign initiative to garner more black voters ahead of 2020. During his Friday speech in downtown Atlanta, the president announced his ‘Black Voices for Trump’ initiative.
A supporter of President Donald Trump waits for Trump to arrive for a Black Voices for Trump rally Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

President Trump claimed Democrats have taken advantage of the black vote, despite many African Americans continuing to struggle with poverty. He touted his administration’s efforts to lower unemployment rates among the nation’s black youth.
“African American youth unemployment…has now reached the lowest number ever recorded in the history of our country,” stated the president. “This was so important to me — we’re doing really well.

The president also took a swing at Democrats for their alleged attempts to censor religion.
“African American churches have always been lifted up and they’ve always been the conscience of our nation,” said President Trump. “Yet, Democrats now want to drive faith out of the public square and attack Christians.”
The Trump campaign reportedly chose the location because it’s an epicenter of black life, including the region’s fast growing population. The trip marks his second visit to Georgia this year.

A supporter of President Donald Trump holds a Trump campaign banner as he waits for Trump to arrive for Black Voices for Trump rally Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Journalist Explains Why Vance Was Escorted From WHCD First, and It Says a Lot About Trump

The law enforcement reaction to the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting is getting a lot of scrutiny.  One of the questions man...