Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Susan Rice requested to unmask names of Trump transition officials, sources say

Multiple sources tell Fox News that Susan Rice, former national security adviser under then-President Barack Obama, requested to unmask the names of Trump transition officials caught up in surveillance.
The unmasked names, of people associated with Donald Trump, were then sent to all those at the National Security Council, some at the Defense Department, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan – essentially, the officials at the top, including former Rice deputy Ben Rhodes.
The names were part of incidental electronic surveillance of candidate and President-elect Trump and people close to him, including family members, for up to a year before he took office.
It was not clear how Rice knew to ask for the names to be unmasked, but the question was being posed by the sources late Monday.
"What I know is this ... If the intelligence community professionals decide that there’s some value, national security, foreign policy or otherwise in unmasking someone, they will grant those requests," former Obama State Department spokeswoman and Fox News contributor Marie Harf told Fox News' Martha MacCallum on "The First 100 Days. "And we have seen no evidence ... that there was partisan political notice behind this and we can’t say that unless there’s actual evidence to back that up."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, asked about the revelations at Monday’s briefing, declined to comment specifically on what role Rice may have played or officials’ motives.
“I’m not going to comment on this any further until [congressional] committees have come to a conclusion,” he said, while contrasting the media’s alleged “lack” of interest in these revelations with the intense coverage of suspected Trump-Russia links.
When names of Americans are incidentally collected, they are supposed to be masked, meaning the name or names are redacted from reports – whether it is international or domestic collection, unless it is an issue of national security, crime or if their security is threatened in any way. There are loopholes and ways to unmask through backchannels, but Americans are supposed to be protected from incidental collection. Sources told Fox News that in this case, they were not.
This comes in the wake of Evelyn Farkas’ television interview last month in which the former Obama deputy secretary of defense said in part: “I was urging my former colleagues and, frankly speaking, the people on the Hill – it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can, before President Obama leaves the administration.”
Meanwhile, Fox News also is told that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes knew about unmasking and leaking back in January, well before President Trump’s tweet in March alleging wiretapping.
Nunes has faced criticism from Democrats for viewing pertinent documents on White House grounds and announcing their contents to the press. But sources said “the intelligence agencies slow-rolled Nunes. He could have seen the logs at other places besides the White House SCIF [secure facility], but it had already been a few weeks. So he went to the White House because he could protect his sources and he could get to the logs.”
As the Obama administration left office, it also approved new rules that gave the NSA much broader powers by relaxing the rules about sharing intercepted personal communications and the ability to share those with 16 other intelligence agencies.
Rice is no stranger to controversy. As the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, she appeared on several Sunday news shows to defend the adminstration's later debunked claim that the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on a U.S. consulate in Libya was triggered by an Internet video.
Rice also told ABC News in 2014 that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "served the United States with honor and distinction" and that he "wasn't simply a hostage; he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield."
Bergdahl is currently facing court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for allegedly walking off his post in Afghanistan.

Gun rights activists are on a political roll with four recent wins

Second Amendment advocates are on a bit of a political roll recently, with four major victories in just one week.
House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled an anti-gun healthcare proposal from consideration; the governor of North Dakota signed a bill letting residents carry a firearm without a permit; New Mexico lawmakers defeated a gun registry bill and the Supreme Court ruled for a defendant whom a gun rights group had supported.
“It gives us a lot of hope,” Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, said to Fox News. “We just spent the past eight years on the defensive. Now we are playing offensive ball.”
In Washington, House Speaker Ryan, under pressure from the Freedom Caucus, withdrew the GOP healthcare bill, often referred to as “ObamaCare Lite.” Many in Congress opposed the plan, including the Gun Owners of America (GAO). The GOA had requested three changes in the bill: that insurance companies be prohibited from discriminating against gun owners; that doctors not create a de facto gun registry by entering patients’ gun information into a federal database; and that agencies not be able to troll Medicaid and federal health databases in order to send names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) “gun ban” list.
In North Dakota, the governor signed a GOA-backed bill to make the state the 14^th in the country to allow residents to carry a firearm with a permit.
In New Mexico, a committee of the state legislature rejected a Michael Bloomberg-endorsed proposal for universal background checks. New Mexico's sheriffs opposed the bill, which would have registered virtually every gun sale in the state -- and banned virtually every private transfer of weapons that did not first get permission from the government.
The biggest victory came from the Supreme Court, which decided in favor of a man whose lawyers argued that there had been a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, which protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. His lawyers argued that the Fourth Amendment protected their client not just during an arrest but after an indictment and arraignment. The Supreme Court, in a 6-2 opinion, agreed with the position of the GOA, which had filed amicus brief with the high court.
Gun owners may soon have more reasons to celebrate. The House voted to repeal a gun ban for veterans, and the bill’s prospects in the Senate appear good.
“It’s very encouraging,” Pratt said to Fox News. “People are very optimistic.”
“Certainly gun owners are encouraged by what is coming up.”

Monday, April 3, 2017

ObamaCare Dead In The Water Cartoons

After golf with Trump, Paul says 'very optimistic' about ObamaCare repeal

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a top conservative critic of House Republicans’ failed plan to replace ObamaCare, concluded his golf outing Sunday with President Trump by saying party members are “getting closer” on a compromise repeal plan and that he remains “very optimistic.”
The president’s invitation for Paul to play at Trump National Golf Club is a sign that he is trying again to negotiate with congressional conservatives who failed to back the originial ObamaCare overhaul plan, after weeks of attacking them.
“We had a great day with the president,” Paul said after playing with Trump and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney at the northern Virgina club. “We did talk about some health care reform. I think the sides are getting closer and closer together. And I remain very optimistic that we will get an ObamaCare repeal.”
Paul, an eye doctor and Tea Party favorite, has his own ObamaCare replacement plan, which he argues goes further than the Republican House leadership plan to fully repeal and replace the 2010 health care law, under which consumers are facing rising costs and fewer policy options.
White House official Stephanie Grisham said earlier Sunday that the threesome would discussing several issues at the club but that health care would be “a big topic.”
Mulvaney is a founding member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, which led the opposition to the Republican overhaul plan that failed last month in the GOP-controlled House.
Trump has been critical of the Freedom Caucus and the majority of its roughly 35 members who were influential in stopping a vote on House overhaul plan.
Trump warned caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., in a closed-door Capitol Hill meeting about not supporting the overhaul plan, saying, “Oh Mark, I'm coming after you.”
And in just the past few days, the president and the White House have singled out the Freedom Caucus and specific members for their non-support -- including Michigan GOP Rep. Justin Amash and South Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Sanford, who is sponsoring the House version of Paul’s overhaul plan.
On Thursday, Trump tweeted: “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”
Also that day, The Post and Courier newspaper in South Carolina reported that Trump dared Sanford to vote against the overhaul bill.
Sanford said that Mulvaney told him: "The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped that you voted ‘no’ on this bill so he could run (a primary challenger) against you in 2018."
On Saturday, White House social media Director Dan Scavino Jr. tweeted: “Donald Trump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.”
Trump in recent days has also expressed a desire to revisit repealing and replacing ObamaCare, one of his major campaign promises.
“Talks on Repealing and Replacing ObamaCare are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck,” he tweeted Sunday before the golf outing.
Trump invited Meadows and Texas GOP Sen. Mike Lee, another influential Capitol Hill conservative, to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago the weekend before the scrapped House vote in an effort to win their support.

Trump ready to address North Korea nuclear program with or without China

President Trump has said the United States is ready to act alone against North Korea’s nuclear program if China does not take a tougher stance, just days before he hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida.
Trump made the comments in a Financial Times interview posted Sunday on the newspaper’s website.
“We will talk about North Korea," Trump said. "And China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't. And if they do that will be very good for China, and if they don't it won't be good for anyone."
Trump added that the United States could "totally" handle the situation in North Korea without China's help. While China provides diplomatic and economic support to its neighbor, it claims that its influence over Kim Jong Un's government is limited.
However, Trump also made clear again that he won’t reveal his foreign policy strategy through the news media.
"I'm not going to tell you (my plan). You know, I am not the United States of the past where we tell you where we are going to hit in the Middle East," he said.
Still, Trump attempted to make clear he’s not an isolationist opposed to alliances.
“I do believe in alliances,” he said in the interview. “I believe in relationships. And I believe in partnerships. But alliances have not always worked out very well for us.”
The relationship between the United States and China has been uncertain since Trump's election.
During his campaign he accused China of unfair trade practices and threatened to raise import taxes on Chinese goods and declare Beijing a currency manipulator, though it is unclear whether Trump will follow through with either threat.
Trump told the newspaper that he doesn't "want to talk about tariffs yet, perhaps the next time we meet."
Trump's ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, also offered tough talk on China, saying on ABC's "This Week" that the U.S. is pressing China to take a firmer stand regarding North Korea's nuclear program.
U.N. resolutions have failed so far to deter North Korea from conducting nuclear and missile tests. Last year, the North conducted two nuclear tests and two dozen tests of ballistic missiles.
"They need to show us how concerned they are," Haley said. "They need to put pressure on North Korea. The only country that can stop North Korea is China, and they know that."
Asked what the U.S. would do if China doesn't cooperate, Haley said: "China has to cooperate."
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, however, said he doubted that Beijing will cooperate.
"I've been working on the North Korea problem since 1994," Carter said on ABC. "And we have consistently asked Chinese leaders ... because they uniquely have the historical and the economic relationship with North Korea to make a difference.
"They haven't used that influence, and so it's hard for me to be optimistic with that," he said.

Trump senior adviser Kushner travels to Iraq, White House aide says

President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is in Iraq and is traveling with the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, a White House aide confirmed to Fox News Sunday.
Kushner was invited by Dunford to travel with him to the Middle East.
Other details about the trip have not been released. A senior administration official told the Associated Press that Kushner wanted to see the Iraq situation for himself and show support to Baghdad.
Kushner's West Wing portfolio is robust. He has been deeply involved with presidential staffing and has played the role of shadow diplomat, advising on relations with the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.
Last week he launched a task force meant to modernize government using lessons drawn from the private sector.
And though Kushner had no previous diplomatic or government experience, Trump also tasked him with trying to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"If you can't produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can," Trump told Kushner at a gala a few days before his inauguration.
His visit marked an early foray for the Trump administration into the situation in Iraq and came just two weeks after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he was assured by the president the U.S. will accelerate its support for his country's struggle against the Islamic State.
Al-Abadi met with Trump and Kushner in Washington last month and said he had the impression that the Trump administration would take a more aggressive approach, although he did not say what that might entail.

McConnell vows Gorsuch will be confirmed this week, Schumer predicts he won't get 60 votes

The Senate's top Republican and Democrat were split on Sunday over the possibility of Judge Neil Gorsuch being confirmed to the Supreme Court ahead of a scheduled Senate vote this week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed on "Fox News Sunday" that "we’re going to get Judge Gorsuch confirmed this week."
Gorsuch, President Trump’s pick to fill the high court seat of conservative Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, will almost certainly have enough votes to pass the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, but will struggle to get 60 votes for final confirmation by Friday.
Should Democrats attempt a filibuster, McConnell was expected to seek a change in Senate rules allowing a simple majority to confirm the nomination.
On Sunday, McConnell did not tip his hand over whether he would use the so-called "nuclear option," telling "Fox News Sunday," "We’ll know through the course of the week ... It’s in the hands of Democrats."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Gorsuch would not pass the 60-vote benchmark and argued that Trump should huddle with Democrats and Republicans to "try to come up with a mainstream nominee."
"Look, when a nominee doesn't get 60 votes, you shouldn't change the rules, you should change the nominee," said Schumer.
Later Sunday, two Democratic senators split over whether to support Gorsuch. Joe Donnelly of Indiana said he would vote in favor of Gorsuch's confirmation while Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced he would not back the federal appeals court judge based in Denver.
Donnelly became the third Democrat to break with the party as Republicans line up behind President Donald Trump's choice for the high court.
With 52 Republican senators, eight votes from Democrats or the Senate's two independents would be needed to advance the nomination and prevent a filibuster. So far, only Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — all representing states Trump won in November and all up for re-election next year — have said they will vote to confirm Gorsuch.
Tester represents a state won by Trump and faces re-election, too, but he said Gorsuch did not directly answer questions when the two met or during the confirmation hearing. Tester said he based his decision on the judge's past cases, noting that he found troubling Gorsuch's record on privacy and that he believes Gorsuch places corporations over people.
Donnelly called Gorsuch, 49, "a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers."

Sunday, April 2, 2017

LGBTQ Activists Cartoons

LGBTQ activists held "dance party" protest outside Ivanka Trump's D.C. home

Soros