Democrat 'welcomes' VP Pence to Philadelphia with one-finger salute

A Philadelphia legislator stirred controversy for a social media post of him flipping off Vice President Mike Pence.  (Facebook)

A Pennsylvania state lawmaker posted a mocking “welcome” to Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday, accompanied by a stiff middle-finger salute.
The post by state Rep. Brian Sims, a Democrat from Philadelphia, came as Pence was in town for a fundraising event for the Republican Governors Association, PhillyVoice reported. The event drew scores of protesters.
Sims, 39, who is Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator, apparently saw an opportunity to please his base of supporters.
“OFFICIAL WELCOME: @MikePenceVP let me be the first to officially welcome you to the City of Brotherly Love and to my District!” Sims’ Facebook and Twitter post read. “We’re a City of soaring diversity. We believe in the power of all people: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, & Immigrant. So…get bent, then get out!”
Social media reactions to Sims’ post fell along partisan lines, with some applauding his audacity and others criticizing what they saw as a lack of respect for the vice president, Philadelphia's FOX 29 reported.
“Thank you. More of this please. Anger is required for change,” one user wrote.
Another found it “disturbing that a publicly elected Representative finds this type of social media content appropriate.”
It also appeared to extend a trend on the political left of embracing vulgarity and profanity, exemplified by recent remarks about the Trump administration from comedian Samantha Bee and actor Robert De Niro.
Despite public backlash, Sims has not deleted the post. As of Wednesday evening it had received more than 5,000 retweets and 25,000 likes.
Sims has reputation for taking on Internet trolls.
Last year, when a Facebook user identified as “David,” posted something offensive on Sims’ page, Sims called David’s grandmother to tell her what her grandson had done.
“David, I can’t tell if you’re just a really dumb little boy or an angry bigot but I know for sure that you shouldn’t have posted your grandmother’s telephone number on your Facebook page,” Sims replied on the post. “She and I just had a very disappointing chat about you.”
The stunt earned Sims accolades.  

DOJ employee among those heckling DHS boss Nielsen, report says

Allison Hrabar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who attended the protest against Nielsen over the controversial border law enforcement, was revealed to be a paralegal specialist at the DOJ.  (Twitter)

One of the socialist protesters who accosted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday at a Mexican restaurant has been exposed as a Department of Justice employee.
Allison Hrabar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who attended the protest against Nielsen over the controversial border law enforcement, was revealed to be a paralegal specialist at the DOJ, the Washington Examiner reported.
“It feels really good to confront people who are actually responsible, which is what we have a unique opportunity to do in D.C.,” the DOJ worker told the outlet.

“It feels really good to confront people who are actually responsible, which is what we have a unique opportunity to do in D.C."

Nielsen had to face an angry group of socialist protesters who repeatedly shouted “Shame!” as she attended a work dinner at a swanky Mexican restaurant in the nation's capital.
VIDEO SHOWS DHS BOSS KIRSTJEN NIELSEN BEING HECKLED, HARASSED AT DC RESTAURANT

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen seen dining Tuesday evening while the security guards are keeping the protesters away.  (Facebook)

“If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace,” another protester was heard yelling at the protest.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people that come here seeking asylum in the United States?” another one shouted.

“If you see these people in public, you should remind them that they shouldn’t have peace.”
- Allison Hrabar, DOJ paralegal specialist

Hrabar wasn’t bothered by her association with the DOJ, citing her protected First Amendment rights to protest anyone outside her work hours. She went on to encourage people to confront officials in public places.
“If you see these people in public, you should remind them that they shouldn’t have peace,” she said. “We aren’t the only ones who can do this. Anyone who sees Kirstjen Nielsen at dinner, anyone who sees anyone who works at DHS and ICE at dinner can confront them like this, and that’s what we hope this will inspire people to do.”
But according to the Daily Caller, Hrabar has made a habit of using social media to send political messages during her work hours, including celebrating the protest.
“Keeping families together in jail is not an acceptable solution,” she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
In another tweet, she reportedly wrote: “No one who has ever made their living terrorizing immigrants deserves peace. If you see one in a restaurant, at a movie, or in your neighborhood, remind them of that.”
Her Twitter account has since been locked and made private.

Trump to propose merging Labor, Education departments, report says

The Trump administration is set to propose merging the Labor Department with the Education Department, according to reports.  (REUTERS, File)

The Trump administration will propose merging the Labor Department with the Education Department as part of a larger effort to reorganize the federal government, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.
The formal announcement is planned for Thursday morning, but the Journal reports that any planned reorganization must be approved by Congress.
The reported proposal is a revival of long-held conservative ambitions dating back at least two decades. In the 1990s, Republican lawmakers proposed merging the Education and Labor departments with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The new agency would have been dubbed the Department of Education and Employment, but such plans never got off the ground.
According to the Journal, the Education Department is one of the smallest agencies of the federal government, with approximately 3,900 employees. The paper reports that its workforce has shrunk by 10 percent as the result of a hiring freeze instituted by President Trump soon after he took office.
The department was one of three government agencies Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry promised to eliminate during the 2012 campaign. The proposal was overshadowed when Perry, now the secretary of energy, forgot the name of one of the agencies during a televised debate.
The Labor Department has a reported 15,000 employees and has a variety of responsibilities, including compiling employment statistics and enforcing federal wage laws.

Immigration Cartoons

Backlash against border policy grows, but furor could help Trump in midterms

In the blink of an eye, the uproar over immigration has become a major midterm election issue.
And that's precisely the way President Trump wants it.
With some prominent Republicans and conservative media outlets slamming the president's policy of separating migrant families at the border, you might have thought the White House would be looking to quickly defuse the controversy.
That's not happening.
In fact, Politico reports that Stephen Miller and other top administration officials are planning a further crackdown on legal and legal immigration, with the goal, according to a Republican close to the White House, being "to arm Trump with enough data and statistics by early September to show voters that he fulfilled his immigration promises — even without a border wall or any other congressional measure."
The GOP plan had been to run on tax cuts and a booming economy. But the president has apparently decided that he needs to motivate his base voters to show up in what is shaping up as a tough election.
As Corey Lewandowski, who works for Mike Pence's PAC, told The New York Times: "People don't turn out to say thank you. If you want to get people motivated, you've got to give them a reason to vote. Saying 'build the wall and stop illegals from coming in and killing American citizens' gives them an important issue."
And the president stuck to his guns yesterday, saying that the problem is migrants who bring their kids to the border but that Congress can resolve the issue.
Obviously, pounding away at illegal immigration—from the day he came down the Trump Tower escalator—worked well for the president in the last campaign.
But just as obviously, the child separation issue makes the overall issue risky this time around, beyond the impact on the Hispanic vote. You can just imagine the 30-second ads, complete with audio now that ProPublica has put out the sounds of crying children being taken from their parents.
That's not likely to play well with suburban moms. And that's why some Republican lawmakers, including Ted Cruz, are speaking out against the practice. (Trump yesterday rejected Cruz’s bill to hire more immigration judges as a way of keeping detained families together.) GOP congressman Fred Upton said that "it's time for this ugly and inhumane practice to end," according to the Washington Post.
The press is aflame over this issue, which is drawing almost wall-to-wall coverage on cable news. White House reporters hammered Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday as she insisted the administration had no choice in the matter and was merely following the law. (A bunch of Democrats are urging her to resign.)
And many on the right are offering harsh criticism. Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, a Trump loyalist, said that family separation could become "the Republicans' new Katrina." A Wall Street Journal editorial decried "The GOP's Immigration Meltdown," saying "restrictionists may cost Republicans their majorities in Congress."
But other conservatives, including Fox’s Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, are backing the president’s “zero tolerance” approach and saying the media aren’t devoting enough attention to crime and other problems created by some illegal immigrants.
Trump says he hates migrant kids being separated from parents but has no choice. (The media point out that's not true, but it's also true that conditions in the much-criticized warehousing facilities date to the Obama administration.) The president's wife says the administration must govern with "heart."
But while 66 percent in a Quinnipiac poll say they oppose the family separation policy, 55 percent of Republicans are backing Trump's stance. That's why an approach that is poison to a good chunk of the political and media world could be a bracing tonic for the president's supporters in the midterms.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author "Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press and the War Over the Truth." Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.

Video shows DHS boss Kirstjen Nielsen being heckled, harassed at DC restaurant

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Jan. 16, 2018.  (Associated Press)

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was accosted by an angry socialist mob and forced out of a Mexican restaurant in Washington on Tuesday evening amid backlash over the federal government's “zero-tolerance” stand at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The video, posted by the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, shows a group of protesters harassing Nielsen at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a restaurant near the White House.
“Shame!,” one protester shouts at Nielsen.
“If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace,” another yells.

“Kirstjen Nielsen, you’re a villain! Lock her up!”

“Kirstjen Nielsen, you’re a villain! Lock her up!” a third says.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people that come here seeking asylum in the United States?” another person is heard yelling. “We call on you to end family separation and abolish ICE.”
Another protester had a problem with Nielsen’s choice of where to dine.
“In a Mexican restaurant, of all places!,” the heckler shouts. “The f-----g gall!”

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen seen dining Tuesday evening while the security guards are keeping the protesters away.  (Facebook)

The protesters also played an audio clip of crying children at the facilities after being reportedly taken away from their parents who attempted to cross the border illegally.
“How does that make you feel?” one socialist activist asks. “Do you hear the babies crying?”
A separate video captures Nielsen eventually leaving the restaurant. Some protesters are seen speaking with police officers, another video shows.
The group defended its actions Tuesday, saying “We will not stand by and let Secretary Nielsen dine in peace, while she is directing her employees to tear little girls away from their mothers and crying boys away from their fathers at our border.”
“Secretary Nielsen and everyone else who has carried out these brutal and cold-blooded orders to rip apart families should never be allowed to eat and drink in public again. These barbarous acts must end and those at the helm must be held accountable. While Secretary Nielsen’s dinner may have been ruined, it is nothing compared to the horrors she has inflicted on innocent families,” the statement posted on Facebook added.
DHS press secretary Tyler Q. Houlton said Nielsen was having “a work dinner” at the time and faced protesters who “share her concern with our current immigration laws that have created a crisis on our southern border.”
“[Secretary Nielsen] encourages all – including this group – who want to see an immigration system that works, contributes to our economy, protects our security, & reflects our values reach out to Members & seek their support to close immigration loopholes that made our system a mess,” Houlton continued.
“The Secretary has been working with Members of Congress for months in search of a solution and she will continue to do so this week.”

“The Secretary has been working with Members of Congress for months in search of a solution and she will continue to do so this week.”
- Tyler Q. Houlton, press secretary, Department of Homeland Security

The Trump administration has been facing a backlash over the rollout of the “zero-tolerance” policy that led to at least 2,000 young children being separated from their parents after they crossed the border illegally.
Top Republicans in Congress are scrambling to come up with a legislative solution to the controversy. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News that a solution could be coming in a "matter of days."

Immigration tensions boil over as Dems accost Trump, intern curses at president

Tensions over illegal immigration and family separations at the border boiled over on Capitol Hill Tuesday night, as President Trump was met with profanity and heckling, blue-faced Democrats on his way to a meeting with House Republicans.
First, as President Trump's entourage made its way to House Speaker Paul Ryan's office, a congressional intern yelled, "Mr. President, F--k you!" across the Capitol Rotunda.
It was unclear whether Trump heard the remark. The incident occured after visiting hours.
Then, several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) gathered outside Trump's meeting with senior Republican officials. When Trump emerged, the representatives heckled him until some were blue in the face, holding signs and screaming.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, center, and other Democratic lawmakers shouted at Trump.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

TRUMP HUDDLES WITH HOUSE GOP AS OUTRAGE OVER BORDER SEPARATIONS ESCALATES
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., the chair of the CHC, called the separation of children from their families at the border the "worst thing" she has ever seen in her career.
"This is an unusual commander-in-chief ... it appears to me he doesn’t care about the consequences," Grisham said. "He uses incredibly offensive language to defend his policies."
Grisham defended her colleagues' decision to shout at the president and stage a dramatic protest as he left the meeting with Republican officials.

Trump met with top GOP leaders to talk immigration on Capitol Hill Tuesday night -- and got a wild reception.  (AP)

"This is a very unique set of circumstances, and it requires a unique set of extraordinary efforts," she said.
The outward hostility by members of Congress to a sitting president was highly unusual, and drew comparisons to Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who made international headlines by interrupting former President Barack Obama in 2009 and shouting, "You lie."
But Grisham told Fox News the treatment of Trump was different, because the policies at the border are particularly "inhumane."
Two congressmen -- Juan Vargas, D-Calif., and Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla. -- also engaged in a verbal altercation in the hallway outside Trump's meeting.

"This is a very unique set of circumstances, and it requires a unique set of extraordinary efforts."

Then, during his discussions with House GOP members, Trump made a dismissive remark concerning Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who recently lost a key primary in a race that became a referendum on his repeated, harsh criticisms of the president.
Two sources in the meeting room told The Associated Press that Trump joked: "I want to congratulate Mark on a great race."
A senior House Republican who is a Trump supporter told Fox News that the president's comment was "unnecessary" and "poor form." Another senior GOP lawmaker called it a "low blow."
Another GOP member told Fox News the room got "pretty quiet" after the remark and some attendees booed in a low tone of voice.
Despite the brouhaha, top Republicans said there had been progress on a legislative solution to the separation of illegal immigrant children from their parents at the border.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News that a solution could be coming in a "matter of days."
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Samuel Chamberlain and Anne Ball contributed to this eport.
Gregg Re is an editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @gregg_re.

FBI may have modified witness reports, misled DOJ watchdog with 'false information,' GOP Rep says

The FBI may have "edited and changed" key witness reports in the Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations, a top House Republican charged in a hearing into FBI and Justice Department misconduct Tuesday.
Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C, also raised the possibility that the FBI misled the DOJ watchdog in an attempt to hide the identities of FBI employees who were caught sending anti-Trump messages.
The House Judiciary and Oversight committees were questioning Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz over his bombshell report into FBI and DOJ misconduct during the Hillary Clinton email probe.
"The other thing that I would ask you to look into, there is growing evidence that 302s were edited and changed,” Meadows told Horowitz. “Those 302s, it is suggested that they were changed to either prosecute or not prosecute individuals. And that is very troubling.”
OTHER HEARING DRAMA: DEM REP WARNS OF GOP PLOT TO OUST DEPUTY AG ROSENSTEIN 'ON FRIDAY'
So-called "302s" are reports on witness interviews compiled by federal investigators. Horowitz said later he has additional information suggesting that the witness reports were changed after-the-fact in both the Clinton and Russia probes -- a particularly alarming possibility given the IG report's findings of bias in those investigations.
Horowitz suggested that the IG is reviewing information concerning modified 302s, saying his office intended to "follow up" on the matter.
In a dramatic moment, Meadows then directly asked Horowitz whether two anonymous FBI employees identified as making anti-Trump statements in the IG's report were named Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer.
Horowitz refused to confirm the employees' identities, which the FBI has declined to publicly reveal, citing the supposed sensitivity of their counterintelligence matters.
But Meadows suggested that justification may have been a sham.

"If that’s the reason the FBI is giving, they’re giving you false information."

“They don’t work in counterintelligence," Meadows said. "If that’s the reason the FBI is giving, they’re giving you false information, because they work for the [FBI] general counsel."
SEVEN KEY TAKEWAYS FROM DOJ IG REPORT ON CLINTON PROBE MISCONDUCT
In the IG report released last Thursday, the two unnamed anti-Trump FBI employees reacted with shock and dismay at Trump's election.
“I am numb," one wrote on Election Day. “Viva le resistance,” the lawyer wrote later, in response to what he would do now that Trump had won.
Gregg Re is an editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @gregg_re.

Mexico's America Cartoons

Cal Thomas: No bias in IG report? People are more likely to believe pigs can fly

Inspector general found Comey 'insubordinate' in Clinton probe, while a Strzok text recovered last month, suggests the agent may have acted for political reasons much later than initially believed; Catherine Herridge goes in-depth for 'Special Report.'
Would you consider a jihadist biased against Jews? Could a member of a white supremacist group be accused of bias against non-whites?
The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and FBI Director Christopher Wray claim the 500-plus-page report found no “documented” evidence that political bias at the FBI directly influenced the findings in the Clinton investigation or the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute the former secretary of state. People in “flyover country” are more likely to believe pigs can fly than they are to accept that political bias did not expose a clear intent to damage presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Why does one need a document to prove bias? If the anti-Trump political beliefs of FBI employees, which are documented in text messages, did not influence their work then why is Director Wray ordering all of his employees to undergo training, including, reports CNN, “instruction ‘on what went wrong so these mistakes will never be repeated.’”?
Members of the media might also benefit from ethics training since the IG report found multiple incidents of journalists doing favors for FBI agents, presumably in return for information.
Huffpost writes, “Other instant messages showed FBI employees referring to Trump as ‘Drumpf,’ calling Trump supporters ‘retarded’ and ‘lazy POS’ … joking about Trump’s election signaling the fall of the Republic, and writing ‘Viva le resistance.’” How can anyone claim that people with such strong political views could approach their work objectively? If perception is reality, then a connection between bias and behavior is reality for average people, who include most citizens outside the Beltway.

Among the things people hate about Washington is that no matter how many higher-ups are alleged to have broken laws and violated ethics codes, few are held accountable.

“The damage caused by (the agents’) actions ... goes to the heart of the FBI’s reputation for neutral fact-finding and political independence,” says the report. This seems to suggest that the behavior of certain agents was not neutral and that the agents did not display political independence. Again, how could the agents’ political views be harmful if those views did not impact their work?
Another of many disturbing findings by the IG was that President Obama and 12 high officials in his administration exchanged unsecured emails with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, including times when she was overseas and presumably more vulnerable to hacks. Some of those emails, Horowitz says, contained classified information. President Obama claimed during a 2015 interview with CBS News that he learned Clinton was using an unsecured server when he read about it in the media. The IG report revealed this was not the case.
Numerous people, some unnamed, come in for strong criticism in the Horowitz report. Former FBI Director James Comey is cited for effectively taking matters into his own hands and becoming his own authority in public statements about Hillary Clinton’s emails. A Wall Street Journal editorial said of Comey: “The unavoidable conclusion is that Mr. Comey’s FBI became a law unto itself, accountable to no one but the former director’s self-righteous conscience. His refusal to follow proper guidelines interfered with a presidential election campaign in a way that has caused millions of Americans in both parties to justifiably cry foul.”
Among the things people hate about Washington is that no matter how many higher-ups are alleged to have broken laws and violated ethics codes, few are held accountable. The fix was in on Hillary Clinton even before she was interviewed with two of her lawyers present, which the IG report says violated accepted practices.
Horowitz and Wray are now testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While Democrats will categorize the IG report as nothing, Republicans must burrow in and get even more facts than the disturbing, even disgusting ones he has already uncovered. The Justice Department should then hold accountable those people who broke the law and the rules.
Cal Thomas is America's most widely syndicated op-ed columnist. His latest book is "What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America". Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribune.com.

Ex-CIA engineer accused of leaking hacking docs to WikiLeaks charged in massive 'Vault 7' security breach

Joshua Schulte allegedly disclosed thousands of top-secret files outlining the extent of the CIA’s cyberwarfare capabilities.

The ex-CIA software engineer suspected of leaking a massive, highly secret trove of U.S. hacking tools and source code to WikiLeaks has been charged in federal court with a series of Espionage Act violations.
Joshua Schulte, 29, allegedly disclosed thousands of top-secret files outlining the extent of the CIA’s cyberwarfare capabilities in an unprecedented breach that triggered an intensive investigation even before WikiLeaks published the information in March 2017.
In March and June 2016, Schulte modified a computer run by the U.S. Intelligence Agency to “delet[e] records of his activities” and “den[y] others access to the system,” prosecutors charge in a superseding indictment unveiled Monday.
The former CIA engineer was accused formally in the indictment of lying to federal investigators, illegally gathering and transmitting national security information, theft of government property, and other offenses.
“As alleged, Schulte utterly betrayed this nation and downright violated his victims,” assistant New York FBI field director William F. Sweeney, Jr., said in a statement. “As an employee of the CIA, Schulte took an oath to protect this country, but he blatantly endangered it by the transmission of Classified Information.”
Schulte was charged last year with knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography, and those charges are also listed in the latest federal grand jury indictment.
WIKILEAKS RELEASES THE ‘ENTIRE HACKING CAPACITY OF THE CIA’
Prosecutors signposted the new charges weeks ago, even as his defense team accuses the U.S. of scapegoating.
“As the evidence is flushed out, it will become clear that Mr. Schulte is hardly the villain the government makes him out to be,” Sabrina P. Shroff, Schulte’s public defender, said in a statement Monday.
In a strange twist, while he was still working with the CIA, Schulte reportedly tweeted that WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning should be killed for her disclosures.
“Kill the prick,” he reportedly said on Twitter in response to a story about Manning.
Last March, WikiLeaks touted its stunning 8,000-plus page disclosure as the full hacking capacity of the CIA, saying it was “the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.”
The 8,761 documents and files — released as ”Vault 7 Part 1,” and titled “Year Zero” — were obtained from an “isolated, high-security network” at the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence in Langley, Va., WikiLeaks claimed.
Prosecutors charge that Schulte committed the crimes in Virginia, where the CIA is headquartered.

West Point grad who posed with 'Communism will win' in cap discharged

Spenser Rapone is seen in an undated photo making a fist and holding a cap with a sign inside that reads, "Communism will win."  (Twitter)

The West Point graduate, who last year posed in a picture holding a cap that had “Communism will win” written inside, is officially out of the U.S. Army with an other-than-honorable discharge.

Spenser Rapone rocked the military community last year after his social media posts were revealed, showing him wearing a Che Guevara shirt underneath his military uniform.

He is no longer part of the U.S. military after top brass at Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division accepted his resignation Monday after an earlier warning for “conduct unbecoming of an officer.” He’s leaving the military with an other-than-honorable discharge.
Army officials condemned the cadet last year and opened an investigation into his social media activity. “Second Lieutenant Rapone’s actions in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army,” an Army statement read.

Spenser Rapone is seen in an undated photo wearing a Che Guevara shirt underneath his U.S. Military Academy uniform.  (Twitter)

His open advocacy of communism attracted the criticism from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio who then urged the U.S. military to dismiss Rapone for supporting the country’s enemies.
The now-former cadet said the probe found him advocating for socialist revolution online and disparaging high-ranking officers and U.S. officials. The Army said it took “appropriate action” in dealing with the situation.
But Rapone remains unabashed, posting a picture on Monday showing him the middle finger at a sign at the entrance to Fort Drum, captioned with “One final salute.”

One final salute #FTA pic.twitter.com/JdyOYnEejJ

— Rudi (Dutschke) Can’t Fail (@punkproletarian) June 18, 2018

He also remains committed to the far-left causes, saying he considers himself “a revolutionary socialist” and urged others to join him in his revolution,
“I would encourage all soldiers who have a conscience to lay down their arms and join me and so many others who are willing to stop serving the agents of imperialism and join us in a revolutionary movement,” he said.
Rubio cheered the departure of Rapone. “While in uniform, Spenser Rapone advocated for communism and political violence, and expressed support and sympathy for enemies of the United States,” the Senator said on Monday. “I’m glad to see that they have given him an ‘other-than-honorable’ discharge.”

“While in uniform, Spenser Rapone advocated for communism and political violence, and expressed support and sympathy for enemies of the United States. I’m glad to see that they have given him an ‘other-than-honorable’ discharge.”

- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Military experts say it’s rare for an officer out of West Point to receive an other-than-honorable discharge. Greg Rinckey, an attorney specializing in military law, claimed that this opens an opportunity for the military to seek money back from Rapone for the education he received as he didn’t fulfil the five-year service obligation for all the graduates.
“I knew there could be repercussions,” said Rapone, who’s becoming a prominent far-left advocate and will be speaking at a conference for socialism next month. “Of course my military career is dead in the water. On the other hand, many people reached out and showed me support. There are a lot of veterans both active duty and not that feel like I do.”

Sessions rebukes critics who compare border situation to Nazi Germany: 'Fundamentally, we're enforcing the law'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions forcefully rebuked critics who fault the Trump administration for the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border, saying that the Obama administration's policies are partially to blame.
Speaking to Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" Monday night, Sessions said illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the U.S.
"We have watched what happened with the Obama policies, and over years, we went from 15,000 illegal entries to 75,000 -- this is a huge loophole in our system that's attracting more and more people, as more and more people understand that, under previous policies, if they enter the country unlawfully, that nothing will happen," Sessions said.
The attorney general denied that children are being abused or kept in inhumane conditions, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services spent approximately a billion dollars last year taking care of children caught crossing the border.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Obama administration bears some responsibility for child separations on the border.  (AP)

"We are taking care of these children; they are not being abused," Sessions added. "We've had a big surge of families bringing children or some adults bringing children with them."
In response to critics who have compared immigrant detention centers to Nazi Germany, Sessions said "we need to be rational and thoughtful" about the situation.
"In Nazi Germany, they were keeping the Jews from leaving the country," Sessions said, drawing a contrast that was criticized on Twitter as being tone deaf.
Asked whether children are being separated as part of an intentional deterrence policy to discourage illegal immigration, Sessions suggested fewer border crossings could be a positive result of the administration's zero-tolerance stance.
"Fundamentally, we are enforcing the law," Sessions said. "Hopefully people will get the message ... and not break across the border unlawfully."
Sessions had touted the possible deterrent effect of separating children in announcing the administration's new zero-tolerance policy, saying adults should not bring children across the border from Mexico.
Concerning complaints from top House GOP members that the DOJ and FBI have been slow to produce documents concerning political bias in their investigations, Sessions also said that "we have a responsibility to respond to Congress" and vowed to be responsive to their subpoenas.
DHS HEAD CALLS ON CONGRESS TO ACT, SAYS BORDER SEPARATIONS ARE 'NOT NEW'
Earlier Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas announced a plan to introduce comprehensive "emergency legislation" designed to end unnecessary separations of illegal immigrant children from their parents.
The bill, an answer to President Trump's call for a congressional solution to the situation, would double the number of immigration judges to 750 and mandate that illegal immigrant families be kept together, unless there has been "aggravated criminal conduct" or threat of harm to the children, according to Cruz's office.
Cruz's bill would also authorize new temporary shelters for immigrant families, and provide for expedited resolution of asylum claims within 14 days.
On Monday, all 49 Senate Democrats announced their support for the Keep Families Together Act. That bill has a different, even higher standard for separating kids at the border, and calls for an accountability report on asylum claims.
It does not contain an equivalent to Cruz's provisions to accelerate the asylum application process or to deploy more judges.
SEN. TED CRUZ ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION TO KEEPING FAMILIES TOGETHER AT THE BORDER
Under current law, adults can be separated from their families as soon as criminal proceedings against them are commenced.
The Trump administration's new "zero-tolerance" policy had led to an increase in these prosecutions.
But the administration has consistently said that the so-called Flores consent decree -- crafted during former President Bill Clinton's administration -- is what prohibits them from keeping parents and children together during these prosecutions, by limiting how long children can remain in federal custody.

Filthy Mouth Kathy Griffin Cartoons

Michael Goodwin: FBI chief proves Washington has a vendetta against Trump

As FBI director Christopher Wray started giving his response to the blistering report on the Hillary Clinton investigation, I hoped he would accept the findings as proof the agency lost its way and must be shaken to its foundation. By the time he finished talking, I felt ­naive for daring to hope.
Wray’s performance was worse than disappointing. It was infuriating proof that it will take more than one election to change the corrupt culture of Washington.
Wray replaced the ousted James Comey, whose conduct in the Clinton probe was shredded by Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Investigators demonstrated with new details that the self-right­eous Comey was insubordinate and duplicitous, and even used private e-mail for government business while he investigated Clinton over her private, ­unsecured server. Talk about arrogance.
The report ends forever the illusion that Comey was a noble public servant. He served only himself and is now so toxic to both parties that it’s unlikely he will ever get another government job. Hallelujah.
But the FBI didn’t stink only from the head. The report paints an agency run amok, with numerous examples of serious misconduct by leaders, agents and ­lawyers.
We learned of more outrageous texts from Peter Strzok, the top agent who worked on both the Clinton and Russia investigations. In one, Strzok promised his lover, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, that “We’ll stop” Donald Trump from becoming president.
Horowitz found another unidentified FBI employee who, in a message to a colleague, echoed Clinton’s “deplorables” slur by calling Trump supporters “all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing ­nothing.”
Yet another one sent “heads up” e-mails to Clinton campaign boss John Podesta and lobbied to get his kid a job on the campaign. The report also found numerous agents having improper media contacts, with some accepting gifts.
The mystery of leaks is a mystery no more. The FBI was a giant faucet.
Except to Christopher Wray, who acted as if the disturbing findings were just another day at the office. While saying the report shows “we’ve got some work to do,” he stressed its limited scope.
“It’s focused on a specific set of events back in 2016, and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events,” he said. “Nothing in the report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole, or the FBI as an institution.”

Kathy Griffin unleashes profanity-laced tirade at Melania Trump: 'F--- you, Melanie'

First lady Melania Trump was attacked on Twitter Sunday by comedian Kathy Griffin, who famously posed with a fake severed head of President Trump, over immigration policies. (AP)

Liberal comedian Kathy Griffin, who famously posed with a fake severed head of President Trump, took a vicious new swing at the first lady over the immigration controversy on Sunday.
The first lady had weighed in earlier in the day. “Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families & hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform. She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws but also a country that governs w/heart,” her office told Fox News.
Griffin then tweeted: “F--- you, Melanie. You know damn well your husband can end this immediately...you feckless complicit piece of s---.”
The first lady's office did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Alluding to a May tweet from Trump in which he missspelled his wife’s name -- as well as Samantha Bee’s slam of Ivanka Trump as a “feckless c---” on her show in May -- Griffin was referring to news of family members who have been separated by federal authorities while illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the United States.
The tweet is already receiving backlash online: “Kathy Griffin is hate filled and pathetic,” one user tweeted, saying the comic was one reason “why the left can’t be taken seriously.”
Griffin drew public backlash after she posed with a bloodied mask of Trump’s face in May 2017. After the gory photo went viral, Griffin said sorry but later took back her apology. Following the photos, CNN cut Griffin from hosting its New Year’s Eve show alongside co-anchor Anderson Cooper, who squashed their friendship.

White House looks to contain damage as Laura Bush joins critics of family separations

The Trump administration sought to distance itself Sunday from the controversial policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border amid condemnation from some prominent Republican voices -- including former first lady Laura Bush.
“Nobody likes” breaking up families and “seeing babies ripped from their mothers’ arms,” Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, said during her weekend media blitz.
Conway also denied Trump was using the policy as leverage to force Democrats into negotiating immigration reform that also includes one of the president's key campaign promises – the border wall.
Speculation about an elaborate strategy was fueled after Trump tweeted Saturday a call for Congress to work on a new immigration bill.
“Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change!” he wrote.

“Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change!”

The president previously pointed at Democrats for the existence of the “horrible law” and urged them to support its repeal.
“Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there [sic] parents once they cross the Border into the U.S.” he tweeted last month.

Former first lady Laura Bush has come out against the Trump administration's policy of "zero-tolerance" to parents entering the U.S. illegally with their children.  (Associated Press)

Over the weekend, Conway echoed the president, saying Democrats should begin working to get “real immigration reform” passed. She didn’t reveal if Trump was willing to stop the family separation policy, saying only that “the president is ready to get meaningful immigration reform across the board.”
The administration continues to face heavy criticism for enforcing the law, which has led to more than 2,000 children being separated from families who tried to enter the U.S. illegally in just the six weeks since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the “zero-tolerance” approach.
The latest critics include former first lady Laura Bush, wife of former President George W. Bush, who deemed the policy as “cruel” and “immoral.”
“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote in an op-ed article for the Washington Post.
“Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso,” she continued. “These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history.”
Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director, also criticized the policy, saying it’s not “the Christian way” or “the American way,” though he hoped that the president would eventually end the policy.
“The President can reverse it and I hope he does,” Scaramucci tweeted.
He reiterated his feelings to Fox 11 in Los Angeles over the weekend, saying that he didn’t think it was a “humane” policy -- but claimed the problem lies on both sides.
"People should sit down and have an honest conversation with the president and say, 'This doesn't reflect well on us,’” he said. "'We have to fix this problem.'”
The policy even sparked a rare public statement from first lady Melania Trump, who generally stays out of her husband’s presidential affairs.
According to her spokeswoman, Melania Trump believes “we need to be a country that follows all laws,” but also one “that governs with heart.”
“Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform,” the spokeswoman added.
Amid the criticism, Kirstjen Nielsen, head of the Department of Homeland Security, slammed the media on Sunday, tweeting “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.”
“This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry,” she added.

NJ governor sees guns, not shooter's early prison release, as the problem

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy responded to Sunday's deadly shooting at a Trenton arts festival by calling for new controls on guns. But a suspect’s gang membership -- and early release from prison after Murphy took office -- may have been bigger factors in an incident that left one person dead and 22 wounded.
Meanwhile, Murphy -- a first-term Democrat in his first elected office -- supports shorter sentences for offenders and cuts in prisoner rehabilitation programs.
The suspect, identified as Tahaji Wells, 33, opened fire before 3 a.m. at the Art All Night festival in New Jersey's capital city, in what appears to have been a gang-related dispute. Wells was reportedly killed by police, and 17 of the 22 people injured reportedly suffered gunshot wounds.
A second suspect, identified as Amir Armstrong, 23, remained hospitalized in stable condition and was facing a weapons charge, while a third suspect was in critical condition.
Less than 24 hours after the gunfire, Murphy -- a former Goldman Sachs banker who served as President Barack Obama's ambassador to Germany -- began calling for gun control without addressing the other circumstances involved in the crime.
"It's yet another reminder of the senseless gun violence, even having signed six stringent gun laws last week," Murphy said at a news conference Sunday following a service at Trenton's Galilee Baptist Church.
During the service, he said he "and many others around this state are committed to ending this scourge of gun violence” and urged the Congress to take action on guns "as a national matter.”
On Twitter, the governor also said the immediate aftermath is the time to speak about possible gun control.
“These are not inappropriate times to talk about gun policy," he wrote. "These are the most important times to talk about gun policy.”

“These are not inappropriate times to talk about gun policy. These are the most important times to talk about gun policy.”

But it turns out that Wells had been released from prison in February, despite receiving an 18-year state prison sentence in 2004 on an aggravated manslaughter conviction in the shooting death of a 22-year-old man, NJ.com reported.

June 13 , 2018: Gov. Phil Murphy, center, signs several gun safety bills at the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex Atrium in Trenton, N.J.. The half-dozen new gun control laws tighten the state’s already strict statutes.  (Associated Press)

And in 2010, while still in prison, Wells was sentenced to six additional years after pleading guilty to a second-degree racketeering charge. He reportedly helped a gang leader run the group from inside prison.
So despite two lengthy sentences that should have left Wells serving time behind bars into the 2020s, he was back on the streets and able to commit Sunday's crime.
Murphy has decried the sentencing and incarceration of people throughout his campaign and time in office as part of his criminal justice reform agenda, which includes a review of sentencing laws in the state.
The governor’s efforts weren’t just promises, as earlier this year he resurrected the Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission created in 2009, which never actually held any meetings due to former state Gov. Chris Christie’s reluctance to appoint any members.
“We can and must do better,” Murphy said in a statement announcing the restart of the commission. “A Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission can undertake the important review of our sentencing laws and recommend reforms necessary to ensure a stronger, fairer and more just state.”

Phil Murphy, who became New Jersey's governor in January, speaks at a campaign rally in Newark in 2017.  (Reuters)

Another key promise of Murphy was to “expand re-entry services, so that the people coming out of prison have the support they need to return to productive lives” – a measure that should have supposedly prevented Wells’ shooting spree.
Yet, Murphy slashed all the money from a prisoner reentry program that was created by his fellow Democratic Party colleagues, NJ.com reported. The program provided training and helped former prisoners to find jobs and claimed it reduced recidivism rates.

Anthony Scaramucci Cartoons