Watchdog reveals how ex-Mueller agents' anti-Trump texts came to light

GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee press Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over political bias exhibited in texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Capitol Hill.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Robert Mueller were told in July that two FBI officials working on Mueller's Russia probe had exchanged a number of anti-Trump text messages throughout the 2016 campaign, according to the Justice Department's watchdog.

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed the information one day after Fox News obtained more than 375 of the messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The messages were published ahead of Rosenstein's Wednesday appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

Strzok, a former deputy to the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, was fired by Mueller and reassigned to the FBI’s human resources division after the exchanges with Page were discovered. Page was briefly on Mueller’s team, but has since returned to the FBI.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Horowitz said his office requested text messages from the government-issued phones of several FBI employees involved in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
Strzok played a key role in the email probe, changing former FBI Director James Comey’s early draft language about Clinton’s actions from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless" and conducting the FBI interview of Clinton over the July 4 weekend in 2016.
According to Horowitz, "politically-oriented" text messages between Strzok and Page were found in his office's initial search. That led to the watchdog requesting all messages between the two through the end of last November. Those messages were produced by the FBI on July 20 of this year and Mueller and Rosenstein were informed about them a week later, on July 27.
The following day, Horowitz's office requested additional messages between Strzok and Page between December 2016 and July 28. Those messages were received on Aug. 10.
In all, more than 10,000 messages between Page and Strzok were turned over to the Justice Department watchdog. They included discussions of how to "protect the country from that menace," referring to President Trump.
One of the most notable messages, from Aug. 15, 2016, came from Strzok.
"I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk," said Strzok, possibly referring to then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. "It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40."
The context of the message was unclear.
Another exchange, from April 2 of that year, appears to show efforts by Strzok and Page to conceal some of their conversations about Clinton during the height of the email investigation.
"So look, you say we text on that phone when we talk about Hillary because it can't be traced," Page wrote. "You were just venting, [because] you feel bad that you’re gone so much but that can’t be helped right now."

In YouTube video, Roy Moore bucks calls to concede in Alabama Senate race

Republican Roy Moore is still not conceding defeat in Alabama’s special election for a U.S. Senate seat -- 24 hours after Democrat Doug Jones claimed victory.

In a video posted to YouTube on Wednesday evening, Moore says his campaign is still waiting for the election results to be certified by the Alabama secretary of state.

Moore notes in the video that military and provisional ballots remained to be counted.
Ballots from overseas can continue to come in until noon next Tuesday, Secretary of State John Merrill said, according to AL.com.
Merrill said final results will be certified by the state canvassing board between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3, AL.com reported.
Election results showed that Jones defeated Moore by 49.9 percent to 48.4 percent.
In most of the remainder of the nearly five-minute-long video, Moore thanks supporters and then lists numerous ills that he believes are plaguing the country.
“Abor​t​ion, sodomy, and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he says.
“Even our political process,” he later notes, “has been affected with baseless and false allegations which have become more relevant than the issues which ​a​ffect our country.”
He later laments that the Alabama race was “tainted by over $50 million from outside groups who want to retain power and ​their ​corrupt ideology.
“No longer is ​this about ​​Republican or Democrat​ic​ control,” he adds. “​It has truly been said that there is not a dime's worth of difference between them. It is about a Washington establishment which will not listen to the cries of its citizenry​.”

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Kaepernick's visit to meet New York prison inmates irks correction officers

This Dec. 24, 2016 photo shows San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick talking during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams. Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017 alleging that he remains unsigned as a result of collusion by owners following his protests during the national anthem. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

The city allowed Colin Kaepernick to make a surprise visit to Rikers Island Tuesday to meet with inmates — enraging correction officers who feel the stunt will only endanger them.
The former San Francisco 49ers star spoke to groups of inmates during two 45 minute sessions at the jail’s George Motchan Detention Center Tuesday morning where he pontificated on social justice issues and talked about his decision to kneel during the national anthem, sparking nationwide outrage.
“That’s crazy to me to have a person like Colin Kaepernick in prison talking about police brutality,” said an officer who attended the event. “It was insulting for me to be there.”
“In the inmate’s eyes, we are the police when they’re locked up.”
The morning started off with Kaepernick attending breakfast in the warden’s office before heading over to the “Peace Center” where he conducted two 45 minutes sessions with prisoners clad in gray jumpsuits.
The first group included 14 inmates including six adults and eight adolescents.

'F TRUMP': Texts between ex-Mueller team members emerge, calling Trump 'loathsome human,' 'an idiot'

Text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in 2016 that were obtained by Fox News on Tuesday refer to then-candidate Donald Trump as a "loathsome human" and "an idiot."

More than 10,000 texts between Strzok and Page were being reviewed by the Justice Department after Strzok was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe after it was revealed that some of them contained anti-Trump content.

The messages were sent during the 2016 campaign and contain discussions about various candidates. On March 2, Strzok texted Page that someone "asked me who I’d vote for, guessed [Ohio Gov. John] Kasich."
"Seriously?! Would you not [vote] D[emocrat]?" Page responded.
"I don’t know," Strzok answered. "I suppose Hillary [Clinton]."
"I would [vote] D," Page affirmed.
Two days later, Page texted Strzok, "God, Trump is a loathsome human."
"Yet he many[sic] win," Strzok responded. "Good for Hillary."
Later the same day, Strzok texted Page, "Omg [Trump's] an idiot."
"He's awful," Page answered.
"America will get what the voting public deserves," said Strzok, to which Page responded. "That’s what I’m afraid of."
Later that same day, Strzok texted Page, "Ok I may vote for Trump."
"What?" answered Page. "Poor Kasich. He’s the only sensible man up there."
"He was pretty much calling for death for [NSA leaker] Edward Snowden," Strzok said. "I’m a single-issue voter. ;) Espionage Machine Party."
Strzok later told Page, "Exacty [sic] re Kasich. And he has ZERO appeal."
Twelve days later, after Trump took a commanding lead in the Republican delegate race with victories in key "Super Tuesday" primaries, Page texted Strzok, "I can not believe Donald Trump is likely to be an actual, serious candidate for president."
Four months later, Strzok and Page exchanged messages mocking Trump and his family at the Republican National Convention.
"Oooh, TURN IT ON, TURN IT ON!!! THE DO*CHEBAGS ARE ABOUT TO COME OUT," Strzok texted Page on July 19. "You can tell by the excitable clapping."
Later, Strzok reached out to Page again, saying, "Omg. You listening to npr? Apparently Melania’s speech had passages lifted from Michelle Obama’s…Unbelievable."
"NO WAY!" Page answered, adding "God, it's just a two-bit organization. I do so hope his disorganization comes to bite him hard in November."
On Aug. 6, Page texted Strzok a New York Times article about Muslim lawyer Khzir Khan, who became embroiled in a war of words with Trump after Khan spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
"Jesus. You should read this. And Trump should go f himself," Page wrote in a message attached to the article.
"God that’s a great article," Strzok answered. "Thanks for sharing. And F TRUMP."
Strzok, who was an FBI counterintelligence agent, was reassigned to the FBI’s human resources division after the discovery of the exchanges with Page, with whom he was having an affair. Page was briefly on Mueller’s team, but has since returned to the FBI.
House Intelligence Committee investigators have long regarded Strzok as a key figure in the chain of events that began when the bureau, in 2016, received the infamous anti-Trump "dossier" and launched a counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the election that ultimately came to encompass FISA surveillance of a Trump campaign associate.
Strzok briefed the committee on Dec. 5, 2016, sources said. But within months of that session House Intelligence Committee investigators were contacted by an informant suggesting that there was “documentary evidence” that Strzok was purportedly obstructing the House probe into the dossier.
Strzok also oversaw the bureau’s interviews with ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn – who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators in the Russia probe.
He also was present during the FBI’s July 2016 interview with Hillary Clinton at the close of the email investigation, shortly before then-FBI director James Comey called her actions "extremely careless" without recommending criminal charges.

Trump, Hillary Clinton and others congratulate Doug Jones on Alabama victory

President Donald Trump along with other politicians from both sides of the aisle reacted late Tuesday after Democratic Alabama Senate candidate Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in a special election.

Trump congratulated Jones in a tweet on his “hard fought victory” and said Republicans will "have another shot at the seat in a very short period of time.”

Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017

Hillary Clinton also took to Twitter to congratulate citizens of Alabama for electing a senator “who’ll make them proud.”
“Tonight, Alabama voters elected a senator who'll make them proud,” Clinton tweeted. ”And if Democrats can win in Alabama, we can -- and must -- compete everywhere. Onward!”

Tonight, Alabama voters elected a senator who'll make them proud.

And if Democrats can win in Alabama, we can -- and must -- compete everywhere.

Onward!

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 13, 2017

Clinton was joined in her enthusiasm by former Vice President Joe Biden, who thanked Alabama in a tweet. Democrats were surely emboldened after winning one of the state's Senate seats.

Doug Jones. Thank you, Alabama. You’ve elected a man of incredible integrity, grit, and character. A fighter for working class and middle class Alabamians. He is going to make you proud in the Senate.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 13, 2017

It was the first Democratic Senate victory in a quarter-century in the state and proved anew that party loyalty is anything but sure in the age of Trump. The Republican loss was a major embarrassment for the president and a fresh wound for the nation’s already divided GOP.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted that Jones is going to be an “outstanding senator” and lambasted Moore’s candidacy.
“Roy Moore was an awful candidate and never should have gotten to the senate. But make no mistake about it, just like Virginia, Democrats are energized, focused on the middle class and those struggling to get there, and things are looking better and better for 2018,” Schumer wrote.

Just in: @chuckschumer statement on ALSEN pic.twitter.com/jVVlN7RWt0

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 13, 2017

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, tweeted two words:  “Decency wins.”

Decency wins

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) December 13, 2017

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., congratulated Jones on being a great candidate and said that was the reason why he won over Moore.

We elected a Democrat in deep red Alabama tonight. Why? Because @GDouglasJones was a great candidate. We had the right message. We had the wind in our sails. And we fought our hearts out.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) December 13, 2017

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said that Jones’ win is a “victory for showing up, fighting to the end.”

Congrats, @GDouglasJones, on your win in Alabama! This is a victory for showing up, fighting to the end, and standing for what’s right.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 13, 2017

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Fox News projected that Jones received 49.5 percent of the vote, while Moore received 48.8 percent of the vote.

Alabama Senate election: Doug Jones wins in major upset, Roy Moore won't yet concede

Democrat Doug Jones has pulled off a major upset in Alabama by defeating Republican Roy Moore in Tuesday’s special election, becoming the first Democrat to win election to the Senate from the deeply conservative state in 25 years.

"We have come so far and the people of Alabama have spoken," Jones said during a victory speech in Birmingham late Tuesday. 

But in a late-night speech to supporters, Moore refused to concede. Moore told the crowd that when the “vote is this close…it’s not over.”
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Jones had 49.9 percent to Moore's 48.4 percent.
Moore said the campaign was looking into the state's "recount provision." Under Alabama law, a mandatory recount takes place if a candidate wins by a half percent or less.
“We also know that God is always in control,” he said.
Bill Armistead, his campaign chairman, floated a possible recount late Tuesday.
Other Republicans, though, already accepted the outcome. In a tweet, President Trump congratulated Jones on his “hard fought victory.”
“The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win,” Trump said. “The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!”
A Democrat winning the special election for the seat to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions was seen as just a remote possibility several months ago.

Doug Jones, an attorney best known for prosecuting two members of the KKK for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, initially wasn’t believed to have a realistic chance of winning the seat. Alabama hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in 25 years.  (AP)

But Jones, a Birmingham attorney famous for prosecuting the KKK, caught a break after Moore was overwhelmed in recent weeks with multiple allegations of past sexual misconduct. Moore denied the accusations throughout the race.
Moore, the former chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, has faced multiple allegations he pursued romantic relationships with teenage girls while he was in his thirties -- accusations that have dramatically shaken up the race. He has denied the claims.
The Fox News Voter Analysis, a new polling technique Fox News is testing to improve coverage, indicated 51 percent of voters on Tuesday believed the accusations against Moore.
The analysis also showed that 59 percent of voters thought Jones has strong moral character, while 57 percent said Moore doesn’t.
The dramatic Democratic win cuts the GOP’s Senate majority from 52 to 51, further dimming Republican hopes of enacting major legislation backed by President Trump. Jones likely won't be seated in Congress until January.

Because he is filling the rest of Sessions' term, Jones will not serve a full six year Senate term. The seat will be up for re-election again in 2020.

Roy Moore, a favorite of religious conservative voters with a long, colorful political history that has both fueled and complicated his rise in Alabama.  (AP)

Earlier in the day, Trump, who endorsed Moore even as other top Republicans in Washington called on the nominee to drop out of the race, on Tuesday reiterated his support by arguing Moore would vote for his agenda in Congress.
“The people of Alabama will do the right thing... Roy Moore will always vote with us,” the president tweeted.
Trump painted Jones as a liberal “puppet” of Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
“Doug Jones is Pro-Abortion, weak on Crime, Military and Illegal Immigration, Bad for Gun Owners and Veterans and against the WALL,” Trump tweeted.
Trump won 62 percent of Alabama’s vote in the 2016 presidential race.
Most of the attention in the race, though, centered on Moore. A favorite of religious conservative voters, he has a colorful political history that has both fueled and complicated his rise in Alabama.
He first got national attention in the 1990s as a county judge when he hung a wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of his courtroom.
Benefiting from his popularity after the episode, Moore then ran and won a race for chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court in 2000. But he was ousted after refusing to remove a 5,280-pound granite Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building.
He resurrected his political career in 2012, getting elected chief justice again. But his tenure was short-lived once more: In 2016, Moore was suspended as chief justice after he directed probate judges not to issue marriage certificates to gay couples.
After Sessions’ resignation, Luther Strange, the state’s former attorney general, was temporarily appointed to the seat in April before a special election could take place. Strange was appointed by then-Gov. Robert Bentley, who later resigned in the cloud of a scandal.
Despite being endorsed by Trump and enjoying the support of a well-funded super PAC connected to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Strange went on to lose a runoff to Moore in September.
Last month, though, Moore was hit with multiple allegations that he initiated sexual encounters with teenagers when he was a young attorney in the 1970s.
McConnell called on Moore to drop out of the race and explored options for either removing Moore from the ballot or backing a write-in alternative. He also suggested Moore would face a Senate Ethics Committee investigation had he won.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had said the Senate could take the extraordinary step of voting to remove Moore if he had won.
Alabama’s senior Republican senator, Richard Shelby, said he didn’t vote for Moore and instead wrote in the name of another Republican.
Moore, though, never backed down amid the accusations, holding multiple rallies with Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, in recent weeks.
“I’m not talking about the accusers today,” Moore said after arriving at his polling location in Gallant, Alabama, on Tuesday. “I’m talking about this race... the people will answer the allegations this evening with the vote.”

DOJ Cartoons

CNN ridiculed for accusing Trump of bullying ‘dumbest man on television’ Don Lemon

CNN has accused President Trump of bullying Don Lemon in a tweet that called the polarizing anchor the “dumbest man on television.”

Trump slammed The New York Times on Monday morning over what he called a “false” story claiming he watches up to eight hours of television a day – while taking yet another swipe at CNN and MSNBC. The Times article detailed Trump’s “hour-by-hour battle for self-preservation,” describing how he sometimes “hate-watches” CNN’s Lemon.

Another false story, this time in the Failing @nytimes, that I watch 4-8 hours of television a day - Wrong! Also, I seldom, if ever, watch CNN or MSNBC, both of which I consider Fake News. I never watch Don Lemon, who I once called the “dumbest man on television!” Bad Reporting.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2017

“Another false story, this time in the Failing @nytimes, that I watch 4-8 hours of television a day - Wrong! Also, I seldom, if ever, watch CNN or MSNBC, both of which I consider Fake News. I never watch Don Lemon, who I once called the “dumbest man on television!” Bad Reporting,” Trump tweeted on Monday morning.
CNN quickly issued a statement, accusing Trump of bullying the 51-year-old anchor.
“In a world where bullies torment kids on social media to devastating effect on a regular basis with insults and name calling, it is sad to see our president engaging in the very same behavior himself. Leaders should lead by example,” CNN said.
Former CNN political analyst Jeff Greenfield isn’t a fan of CNN’s statement and mocked his old network.
“Unless Don Lemon is a LOT younger than he appears to be, this is a tone-deaf overreach. From what I've seen, Lemon--unlike bullied kids whose school officials ignore the issue--is more than capable of standing up for himself. This almost infantilizes him,” he tweeted.

CNN just compared themselves to a crying kid in a car and they think that's the high road.

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 11, 2017

Fox News contributor Stephen Miller joked, “CNN just compared themselves to a crying kid in a car and they think that's the high road.”
President Trump has an ongoing feud with CNN, which has essentially implemented an anti-Trump programming strategy. As a result, the president often refers to CNN as “fake news” and the network has launched an advertising campaign in an attempt to shake that moniker with a “Facts First” initiative.

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Bias Bash: CNN's Don Lemon under fire

CNN had to issue an embarrassing correction on Friday when the Washington Post debunked the network's report claiming the Trump campaign had early, secret access to hacked DNC emails from WikiLeaks. The network on Friday inaccurately trumpeted that Congressional investigators obtained a mysterious 2016 email that was sent to Trump and other top aides, including Donald Trump Jr., which contained information on how to get a sneak peek at hacked information that WikiLeaks had acquired. The email, as CNN reported, offered a “decryption key” to access the files – but the network botched the date on the email, rendering the entire report irrelevant.
In addition, CNN on Monday gently backpedaled a report from earlier this year that bashed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for failing to disclose meetings he had with Russian officials when he applied for his security clearance – but it turns out he wasn’t required to.

Wife of demoted DOJ official worked for firm behind anti-Trump dossier

A senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official’s wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election.

Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. HPSCI staff confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.

Fusion GPS has attracted scrutiny because Republican lawmakers have spent the better part of this year investigating whether the dossier, which was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, served as the basis for the Justice Department and the FBI to obtain FISA surveillance last year on a Trump campaign adviser named Carter Page.

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Top DOJ official demoted after contact with dossier authors

“The House Intelligence Committee,” Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Fox News in a statement on Monday, “is looking into all facets of the connections between the Department of Justice and Fusion GPS, including Mr. Ohr.”
Until Dec. 6, when Fox News began making inquiries about him, Bruce Ohr held two titles at DOJ. He was, and remains, director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force; but his other job was far more senior. Mr. Ohr held the rank of associate deputy attorney general, a post that gave him an office four doors down from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The day before Fox News reported that Mr. Ohr held his secret meetings last year with the founder of Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson, and with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the dossier, the Justice Department stripped Ohr of his deputy title and ousted him from his fourth floor office at the building that DOJ insiders call “Main Justice.”
The Department of Justice has provided no public explanation for Ohr’s demotion. Officials inside the Department have told Fox News his wearing of two hats was “unusual,” but also confirm Ohr had withheld his contacts with the Fusion GPS men from colleagues at the DOJ.

Bruce G. Ohr was demoted at the DOJ for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump 'dossier.'  (AP)

Former FBI Director James Comey has described the dossier as a compendium of “salacious and unverified” allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump and his associates, including Page, a foreign policy adviser. The dossier was provided to the FBI in July 2016, shortly before then-candidate Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination. As Comey later testified, it was in that same month that the FBI began a counterintelligence probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
The disclosure by Fox News that Bruce Ohr met with Simpson and Steele last year expanded the reach of the dossier’s creators from the FBI into the top echelons of the Justice Department. Initial investigation suggested that Steele, a longtime FBI informant whose contacts with Mr. Ohr are said to date back a decade, might have played the central role in putting Simpson together with the associate deputy attorney general. Now, the revelation that Mrs. Ohr worked for Simpson calls that account into question.
A review of open source materials shows Mrs. Ohr was described as a Russia expert at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank, when she worked there, briefly, a decade ago. The Center’s website said her project focused on the experiences of Russian farmers during Stalin’s collectivization program and following the invasion of Russia by Nazi forces in 1941. She has also reviewed a number of books about twentieth century Russia, including Reconstructing the State: Personal Networks and Elite Identity in Soviet Russia (2000), by Gerald Easter, a political scientist at Boston College, and Bertrand M. Patenaude’s The Big Show in Bololand: The American Relief Expedition to Soviet Russia in the Famine of 1921 (2002).
Contacted by Fox News late Monday, DOJ officials declined to comment.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, declined to comment on the original disclosure about Mr. Ohr’s secret meetings, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mrs. Ohr.
While Nunes has issued numerous subpoenas to DOJ and FBI relating to the dossier, and has threatened contempt-of-Congress citations against Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray for what congressional Republicans have termed “stonewalling” by the two agencies, Schiff has mostly objected to the demands for documents and witnesses, casting the entire dossier probe as innately political. “I think there's a hope that if they can impeach Christopher Steele, and they can impeach the FBI and DOJ, maybe they can impeach the whole Russia investigation,” Schiff told MSNBC in September.

Why Port Authority attack proves Islamist terror is a threat to our homeland

Today’s terror attack in New York City is another reminder that the threats we face from Islamist terrorists are real and can bring serious harm to our homeland.

Thanks to American leadership and a new strategy on the battlefield, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was able to declare that ISIS has been defeated in Iraq. While this is welcome news, crushing the so-called ‘caliphate’ in the Middle East, allows foreign fighters and sympathizers of ISIS and Al Qaeda to scatter.

They are returning to their home countries, looking for different ways to keep their hateful ideology alive and creating new dangers in other parts of the world. This has brought a new wave of terror attacks to the West.
European cities once known for their culture and history, are becoming well known for deadly attacks. They include London, Brussels, Paris, Nice, Barcelona and Berlin. And the bombing at the Port Authority this morning is already the second attack in New York in under two months.

As Americans, we cannot forget that we are in this fight together. Terrorists do not check our political affiliations before they carry out an attack.

Islamist extremists are clearly answering the call of Sheik Adnani to kill Westerners using whatever means necessary wherever they are. Since our enemies our constantly adjusting their tactics, we must remain agile in defense of our nation.
To defeat these threats, we need to work with tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter to take down radical propaganda that preaches hate and recruits new members to the terrorist cause. The advancement of technology has brought great benefits, but is has also been a powerful tool for our adversaries. The internet been a constant lifeline, allowing them to effectively plot and communicate at lightning speed.
We must also bolster the security of our airports with the most advanced screening technology available. Even though many of the attacks in the last year have been vehicular homicides, our aviation sector is still the “crown jewel” of targets.
Lastly, the U.S. must continue to lead an international alliance dedicated to using all of its economic, intelligence, military, and other resources to dry up funding for terrorists and destroy them on the battlefield.
As Americans, we cannot forget that we are in this fight together. Terrorists do not check our political affiliations before they carry out an attack. We will have political differences on many issues, but our commitment to keeping our homeland safe and secure should be a national priority for everyone.
We cannot allow the cowardly acts of terrorists to shake our will or dent our morale. With sound policies and innovative approaches to homeland security and by staying united and maintaining our resolve, we will defeat this evil enemy once and for all.
Republican Michael McCaul, represents Texas' 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves as chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

FBI's McCabe 'has an Ohr problem,' will not testify on Tuesday, source says

Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who was reportedly scheduled to testify behind closed doors in front of the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, will instead meet next week due to a "scheduling error," Department of Justice officials told Fox News.

McCabe’s testimony was likely to, at least in part, focus on Peter Strzok’s role in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Strzok is a former deputy to the assistant director at the FBI who was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's staff after Mueller learned Strzok had exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague.
House investigators previously told Fox News they have long regarded Strzok as a key figure in the chain of events when the bureau, in 2016, received the infamous anti-Trump “dossier,” which launched a counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian meddling in the election.
“This was a routine scheduling error after the dates were switched on an internal email that we are happy to provide the committee,” a Justice Department official told Fox News. “The FBI regrets the error, and we look forward to making both witnesses (the alleged FBI handler for Christopher Steele and McCabe) available prior to the Christmas recess."

Bruce Ohr Ohr was recently demoted from one of his two senior posts, Fox News has learned.  (AP)

Steele is a former British spy who reportedly compiled a dossier of allegations about President Trump’s ties to Russia. He is
Fox News was told by those familiar with the matter that the intelligence committee is suspicious of the purported scheduling error. One source said they believe the schedule issue arose after Fox News' report Monday night on Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr.
Ohr was recently demoted from one of his two senior posts. Fox News reported that Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, worked through last fall for Fusion GPS, which was behind the anti-Trump dossier.
The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects.

Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe will meet with the House Intelligence Committee next week.  (Reuters)

“McCabe has an Ohr problem,” one Congressional source said.
The supposition is that Justice Department officials realized McCabe would face questions about Ohr and he is not prepared to respond.
The committee is prepared to subpoena all Justice Department documents and records related to the scheduling debacle, the source said. The committee is also prepared to subpoena McCabe to compel his testimony later this week.
Some Capitol Hill sources have expressed reservations that McCabe could retire before various Congressional investigators get to him.

Liberal Fake News Cartoons

'Stain on America!' Trump denounces 'Fake News Media' after string of major reporting errors exposed

President Trump on Sunday slammed “the Fake News Media,” which he called “out of control,” after a string of major errors in reporting on his presidency emerged over the past week.

“Very little discussion of all the purposely false and defamatory stories put out this week by the Fake News Media,” he tweeted. “They are out of control - correct reporting means nothing to them.”

The president continued, “Major lies written, then forced to be withdrawn after they are exposed...a stain on America!”
Trump’s comments came after a Washington Post reporter tweeted a misleading photo about the crowd size at Friday’s rally in Pensacola, Fla., during which Trump took aim at ABC News’ Brian Ross and CNN.
In a now-deleted tweet, the Post’s Dave Weigel posted a photo of a half-empty arena to mock Trump for saying the rally was “packed to the rafters.”
But that photo was not taken while Trump was speaking. Trump tweeted photos showing the arena when it was full.
“.@daveweigel @washingtonpost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in,” he tweeted. “Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!”
Weigel tweeted, “Sure thing: I apologize,” saying he deleted the photo after another reporter informed him he had “gotten it wrong.”
“It was a bad tweet on my personal account, not a story for Washington Post. I deleted it after like 20 minutes. Very fair to call me out,” Weigel said in another tweet.
Trump later called for Weigel to be fired.
Earlier at the Friday rally itself, Trump slammed ABC News’ Brian Ross.
“They took this fraudster from ABC -- they suspended him for a month,” he said. “They should have fired him for what he wrote.”
Ross was suspended for four weeks without pay after he reported that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had been directed by Trump -- when he was a candidate for president -- to make contact with the Russians. ABC News later corrected the report to note that the order to Flynn came when Trump was already president-elect.
Trump also said Friday that CNN had apologized “just a little while ago” for a reporting error.
“They apologized! Oh thank you, CNN. Thank you so much. You should have been apologizing for the last two years,” he said.
CNN had to correct a story that suggested the Trump campaign, including Donald Trump Jr., had been tipped off early about hacked DNC emails from WikiLeaks when it later emerged that the alert was about material already publicly available.
CNN responded, “CNN's initial reporting of the date on an email sent to members of the Trump campaign about Wikileaks documents, which was confirmed by two sources to CNN, was incorrect. We have updated our story to include the correct date, and present the proper context for the timing of email.”
No disciplinary action will be taken in the matter, a CNN official said in a tweet.
On Saturday, Trump accused CNN of “a vicious and purposeful mistake.”

Touring Mississippi civil rights museum, Trump honors those 'who sacrificed so much'

President Trump attended the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on Saturday, telling visitors the venue honors “the brave men and women who sacrificed so much” for freedom.

“We are here to honor the fight to end slavery … to join the right to vote and to gain birth-right equality.”

“We are here to honor the fight to end slavery … to join the right to vote and to gain birth-right equality,” Trump said in brief, subdued speech. 

Trump’s planned visit to the museum and the adjoining Mississippi history museum in Jackson sparked days of controversy -- including protests and boycotts from civil right leaders like Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and others who have raised concerns about the president’s comment and actions toward women, African-Americans and others.

"After President Trump departs, we encourage all Mississippians and Americans to visit this historic civil rights museum.”

- Joint statement by Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

“President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum,” Lewis said in a joint statement with fellow Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. “After President Trump departs, we encourage all Mississippians and Americans to visit this historic civil rights museum.”
The lawmakers said Trump’s remarks about women, the disabled, immigrants and National Football League players “disrespect” the efforts of past Mississippi civil right leaders including Fannie Lou Hamer.
The White House earlier this week said it was disappointed that Lewis and others wouldn’t join the president at the museum to honor “the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices in our history.”
The president tweeted after touring the museum and speaking: "It was my great honor to celebrate the opening of two extraordinary museums ... . We pay solemn tribute to our heroes of the past & dedicate ourselves to building a future of freedom, equality, justice & peace."
Trump was joined by Housing Secretary Ben Carson, civil rights movement activist Myrlie Evers, and Gov. Phil Bryant, Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Gregg Harper -- all Mississippi Republicans.
According to the White House, the civil rights museum has eight interactive galleries that highlight the struggle for freedom and shares stories about the Mississippi movement that changed the nation. It “aims to promote greater understanding of the systematic oppression of black Mississippians and their fight for equality that transformed the state and nation,” the White House said.

Pro-Trump students in MAGA hats booted from 'safe space' campus coffee shop

A viral video shows a group of conservative Fordham University students in New York City being kicked out of a campus coffeehouse after being told their pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” hats violated the shop’s “safe space” policy.

"Fox & Friends" aired on Sunday a portion of the video, which shows the group being told, “I don’t want people like you supporting this club.”

The video was shot Thursday at Fordham’s student-run Rodrigue’s Coffee House.
“No one here wants people like you supporting our club,” a Rod’s student volunteer employee is heard saying. “I’m giving you 5 minutes.”
She goes on to say, “You are threatening the integrity of our club. This is a community standard. You are wearing hats that completely violate safe space policy. You have to take if off or you have to go.”
Fordham junior Aaron Spring, 20, says he just wanted a cup of coffee.
“I didn’t make any noise,” he said, according to "Fox & Friends." “I wasn’t rude. I didn’t curse at anybody. I was just sitting enjoying a cup of coffee with friends.”
The video was first shown by Campus Reform. It has been viewed more than 67,000 times as of Sunday.
The website reported that Spring and his pals were given a handout titled “Rodrigue’s Coffee Shop has a safer space policy,” prohibiting racism, sexism and homophobia and urging patrons to be mindful of the ways in which their words and actions can impact others.
A Fordham spokesman told Fox News in a statement Sunday that there is no such policy on campus.
“There is no University safe space policy, nor one that excludes any members of the Fordham community from any public spaces on the basis of their political views,” spokesman Bob Howe said.
He said Fordham is a community that values diverse opinions, and in which students should disagree with one another in a civil fashion.
Howe said Fordham is investigating the incident.

Jerry Brown: Trump doesn't fear 'the wrath of God'

California Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday President Trump's apparent lack of fear "of the wrath of God" explains his denial of climate change.
"I don't think — President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility," Brown told CBS' "60 Minutes."
"And, this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed," he continued, referring to climate scientists who believe global warming is due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Brown, who is currently battling some of the worst wildfires in his state's history, said nature is not "a political game."

The governor, however, called on Trump to re-evaluate his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, which he announced in June.
"The truth of the case is that there's too much carbon being emitted, that heat-trapping gasses are building up, the planet is warming and all hell is breaking loose," he said. "So I'd say to Mr. Trump, take a deeper look. Now is not the time to undo what every country in the world is committed to."

Chelsea Handler not funny Cartoons

Which one is Chelsea??

Chelsea Handler retweet of Sarah Sanders parody sparks outrage

Chelsea Handler has drawn criticism for retweeting a video that mocks White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  (Reuters)

Comedian Chelsea Handler is coming under fire for tweeting a vulgar video that mocks White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' weight and physical appearance.

The video – a promotion for Handler’s Netflix series – is a fake step-by-step makeup tutorial, featuring comedy writer Fortune Feimster as Sanders.

Each step of the fake tutorial is accompanied by crude jokes that ridicule – among other things – Sanders’ face, Trump and Republicans.
“Right now my skin is dry, just like Puerto Rico right before that one rainy day they had,” she says before applying moisturizer to her face.

Get the "Sarah Huckabee Sanders" look @fortunefunny. New @chelseashow Friday. pic.twitter.com/O8y1l2RxZe

— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) December 7, 2017

“My face is a big, fat biscuit!” she says as she uses the lotion.
Feimster compares her makeup foundation to the foundation of America: “It’s Republican, it’s strong, and it’s white.”

Feimster also mocks Sanders' physical appearance by insinuating that she resembles a man.
“I used to not know what foundation was, but our great president was kind enough to take me to a Sephora and he said to the employee, ‘Hey, you see that fellow over here? Make him a woman,” she says.
Not everyone was amused with the video. Many took to Twitter to criticize Handler’s attack of Sanders.
One Twitter user wrote: “Keep it up and everyone will despise you. You are obviously a very unhappy person. Maybe as a modern feminist you should act like a lady for a change.”

Another wrote: “Glad to see how much of a strong feminist you are, by promoting positive body image of other females.”
Despite the backlash, Handler was unfazed by the criticism, replying, “This woman deserves to be taken down. She is pure evil.”