Russian envoy says relations with US in crisis, retaliation likely

The unified show of condemnation is a response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K.; the Kremlin denies. Correspondent Kevin Corke reports from the White House.
The Russian ambassador to the United Nations said Monday that relations between Moscow and Washington had deteriorated to the point of crisis after the U.S. and other western nations expelled dozens of Russia diplomats they accused of being spies.
Vassily Nebenzia spoke briefly to reporters outside a diplomatic luncheon in New York hours after President Trump ordered 60 Russian diplomats out of the U.S. and closed down the Russian consulate in Seattle. When one reporter asked whether U.S.-Russia relations were in crisis, Nebenzia said: "It’s been [in crisis for] some time already. Didn’t you notice?"
Nebenzia declined to speculate about potential retaliation from the Kremlin, but did tell reporters that "diplomacy supposes that there is a response when such things happen."
When pressed to elaborate, Nebenzia said: "Normally [there's] a mirror-like response, but wait for what Moscow will say."
Nebenzia declined to name the expelled diplomats, citing their privacy. When asked what their duties were, the ambassador said they were "doing the same as what I was doing, dealing with the U.N.
As he got into his car, Nebenzia added: "Ask [U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.] Nikki [Haley] or the State Department or somebody else."
Moments earlier, Haley told reporters that the expulsions were in response to "unacceptable" Russian espionage activity in the U.S.
"We take no joy in having to do this, but we’re not going to roll over and let them get away with this the way they have," Haley said.
All told, at least 22 countries have ousted more than 137 Russians. That number includes 23 kicked out earlier this month by the U.K. in response to a March 4 nerve agent attack targeting Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for the U.K., and his daughter, Yulia, on British soil. The two remain in critical condition and unconscious. The U.S., France and Germany have agreed it's highly likely Russia was responsible. Russia has denied responsibility, while accusing Britain of leading a global charge against it without proof.

California to sue Trump admin over citizenship question in 2020 census

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra

California on Monday promised to sue the Trump administration over its decision to ask the 2020 census respondents if they are citizens of the United States.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the suit against the administration late Monday on Twitter, saying the measure would be unlawful.
“Filing suit against @realdonaldtrump's Administration over decision to add #citizenship question on #2020Census. Including the question is not just a bad idea — it is illegal,” Becerra wrote.
The Commerce Department said in a statement that the citizenship question would be added in response to a request by the Justice Department made in December. The statement said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross "has determined that reinstatement of a citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census questionnaire is necessary to provide complete and accurate census block level data."
Democrats have criticized the administration’s announcement, saying the inclusion of such a question amounts to an effort to intimidate immigrant communities and siphon money and electoral power away from them.
In a San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece published Monday, Becerra and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla wrote that the inclusion of a citizenship question would be "illegal" and "an extraordinary attempt by the Trump administration to hijack the 2020 census for political purposes."
"California, with its large immigrant communities, would be disproportionately harmed by depressed participation in the 2020 census," they wrote. "An undercount would threaten at least one of California’s seats in the House of Representatives (and, by extension, an elector in the electoral college.)"
According to the Commerce Department, "almost every decennial census" between 1820 and 1950 "asked a question on citizenship in some form." The department also said the citizenship question would be "the same as the one that is asked on the yearly American Community Survey (ACS)." The ACS is sent to a much smaller percentage of American homes than the actual census.
The decennial census count is required by the Constitution and its results are used to determine federal spending, as well as the number of congressional seats allocated to each state for the next decade and the number of electoral votes available from each state.

American who escaped Al Qaeda captivity says FBI, under Mueller and Comey, betrayed him

After he escaped from Al Qaeda in Syria, American photojournalist Matt Schrier investigated his own kidnapping and uncovered what he describes as a pattern of "betrayal" by FBI agents handling his case.
Schrier is now asking hard questions of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who now leads the special counsel Russia probe, and former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Trump in May 2017.
"Not every FBI agent is bad.  Some are very good people," Schrier told Fox News. "But the ones that are bad need to be weeded out. And the ones who let them be bad, and who turn their head, need to be exposed."
In an exclusive cable interview that first aired Monday on "The Story" with Martha MacCallum, Schrier went in depth, sharing emails, financial records and formal letters of complaint, which backed up allegations that after he was taken hostage in 2012, the FBI monitored his accounts as Al Qaeda terrorists used his money to buy at least a dozen computers and tablets.
While he was tortured and held by al Nusra, the brutal Al Qaeda franchise in Syria, Schrier claimed the FBI put intelligence gathering ahead of his personal security, hoping to track the computers and tablets to learn more about Al Qaeda recruits and future plots. After his harrowing escape, Schrier started demanding answers from the FBI, which at the time of his kidnapping was led by Mueller.

Photojournalist Matt Schrier, seen before his abduction in 2012.

Since his return to the U.S. in mid-2013, Schrier shared documents with Fox News and explained, "I faxed-- I emailed them, probably between my mother and my father and me, between 50 and 100 complaints."
Comey took over from Mueller in September 2013, and Schrier said the stonewalling continued. "I was emailing him questions. I was forwarding him all these emails. I was demanding answers from him," Schrier said. "And I never got anything back."
Schrier said he has been unable to obtain credit cards or open new bank accounts because Al Qaeda stole his identity and passwords. Unable to get a lease for an apartment, Schrier said his FBI case manager suggested he temporarily live in a New York City homeless shelter.
"I just got clean clothes without bed bugs. I don't want to go through a situation where I have to deal with lice and bed bugs again. Like, no thank you."
The publisher for Comey's upcoming book, A Higher Loyalty, did not immediately respond to Fox News' questions. The Office of the Special Counsel referred Fox News to the FBI. The FBI did not dispute Schrier's account. An FBI spokesperson said the bureau could neither respond to specific questions nor make the agent assigned to Schrier's case available for an interview.
"The FBI's investigation into the kidnapping of Matthew Schrier remains open, therefore, we are not able to discuss investigative details surrounding this case. The FBI works closely with our federal partners not only to ensure that the U.S. Government does all that it can to safely recover Americans taken hostage overseas but to also assist victims who have been defrauded or further abused by a hostage-taker," the spokesperson said.

Schrier said the stonewalling continued after James Comey, seen here, took over the FBI.  (AP, File)

A leading group that helps American hostages and their families, Hostage US, confirmed 2012 and 2013 represented a dark period.
"By the U.S. government's own admission, there were many problems relating to their engagement with families around this time, mixed messages from different parts of government," Hostage US CEO Rachel Briggs told Fox News. "President Obama ordered a review of the U.S. government's handling of hostages' cases in late 2014, which... led to a range of policy and procedural changes. The review came about largely because families themselves were vocal in their criticisms, and they should take the credit for the changes they brought about."
Briggs cited a new Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell -- a cross-government unit focused on hostage cases, as well as a Hostage Response Group at the National Security Council.
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Schrier's story began in 2012 when, as a freelance photographer, he traveled to Syria, one of the most dangerous places on the planet for journalists to operate. Schrier said he wanted to witness history.
"I love military history and I'm not really the type who wants to photograph handshakes. So I thought it would be a great experience witnessing history, photographing history, bringing it back," Schrier explained.

Robert Mueller, seen here, served as FBI director at the time Schrier was kidnapped.  (AP, File)

On New Year's Eve of 2012, instead of crossing back into Turkey, Schrier was kidnapped by the Al Qaeda franchise known as al Nusra. "ISIS pushed them out, but at that time, they were number one," Schrier said. "They were the guys you did not want to be held by."
Schrier spent the next seven months held in six prisons across Syria where he was routinely tortured and starved. "They caught me trying to escape a month and six days in, so they put a tire around my knees and they lock it in place by sliding a bar in the crook between the tire and your knee -- the back of your knees. And they flip you over so your feet are in the air and you're handcuffed... And they take a cable... about as thick as nightstick, and they whack your feet."
Six weeks after his disappearance, records reviewed by Fox News showed 10 computers were purchased using his accounts, after Schrier said his Al Qaeda kidnappers threatened him. "They sat me down in the office in a circle with the emir, three Canadians and another guy. And they put a piece of paper in front of me and said, basically, 'Write down all the passwords for every account you have, from Facebook to your credit cards to your bank accounts, we want your social security number.'"
At least two tablets were shipped to a Canadian address. Fox News called phone numbers listed under the name and address but there was no response. A February 2017 email reviewed by Fox News from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police suggested a criminal case was being built, but there was no public evidence charges were pursued.
By February 2013, Schrier said the terrorists had everything to steal his identity. "They bought laptops, they bought tablets, they bought boots, you know, things to fight with. They practically rebuilt a Mercedes with parts. I mean, all sorts of stuff... They bought a Kama Sutra guide. They bought sunglasses, cologne."
At the same time, Schrier claimed the FBI was monitoring the transactions, and the bureau's point person for his family, agent Lindsey Perotti, misled his mother. Six months into his captivity, the FBI agent wrote Schrier's mother, "Everything at this point seems to indicate he is the one using his phone, credit card, and bank account." Despite working as a freelance war photographer, Schrier had not posted any new work.
"I'd been kept in the dark for extremely long periods of times, I'm infested with bedbugs," Schrier said. "Yet, according to the FBI, I'm speaking to people on my cellphone, I'm buying laptops and cologne and boots and sunglasses, maybe going into Turkey once in a while to get away from things, you know, just like all jihadis do, you know. 'Cause Southern Turkey's like the Hamptons, you know?"

Matt Schrier, left, in Azaz, Syria.

Schrier, from New York, hid the fact he was Jewish from his captors because he said it meant certain death.
Two intelligence officers, one current, the other former, told Fox News that Schrier's theory -- that the FBI was tracking Al Qaeda's online activity with his accounts, as well as the computer purchases -- suggested it was part of a larger operation.
"So they're monitoring my financial records straight off the bat. They're letting them steal this money. Why are they letting them steal the money, what's the angle? Well, what are they buying? They're buying laptops and tablets. If they intercept them, they do their little spy thing and then they deliver them right into the hands of Al Qaeda and they create, basically, a dream come true for the intelligence community, a way to infiltrate the enemy like never before, without them even knowing it," Schrier said.
He claimed the FBI's priority was running an intelligence operation and not an investigation to secure his release. Pressed by Fox News to back up the serious allegation, Schrier said, "Beyond a reasonable doubt, I have all the evidence, I have made one attempt after another to have this investigated so that the people responsible can be held accountable, nobody will return my calls, nobody will investigate this, despite all the evidence."
Halfway through his captivity, by April 2013, there was a conversation between FBI agent Perotti and a government official familiar with the case.
"He's like, 'Do you think that he joined them? Like, what's going on?' She's like, 'No, no, no. We're pretty sure he didn't join 'em based on his financial records.' Boom, she slipped. She admitted she was monitoring my financial records as of early April," Schrier said.
A government official backed up the account to Fox News.

Schrier said "bad" FBI agents "need to be weeded out. And the ones who let them be bad, and who turn their head, need to be exposed."

Nearly five years after a harrowing escape, Schrier documented his story in a new book, "The Dawn Prayer."
The 39-year-old Schrier said he remained angry at how the FBI handled his case. "You know, what I needed help with was reestablishing a life for myself, which means a new social security number and rebuilding my credit."
Schrier emphasized that he still couldn't get a credit card though he was able eventuallly to recover more than $16,000 in stolen funds through PayPal and Citibank, but it took months. "You have the Witness Protection Program, you give new social security numbers to murderers and pimps and drug dealers. I'm a witness too and I didn't do any of that stuff. 'No -- can't help you.'"
After he returned, Schrier described a debrief for the FBI and CIA. The CIA had no comment for Fox News.
"I gave them more information than probably 50 informants could've given 'em. And that's when I went from feeling like, 'All right, I don't deserve anything,' to, 'You know what, yeah, yeah I deserve some things. I deserve a new social security number, I deserve decent health care, I deserve to be treated with respect.' I didn't ask for anything. I gave them Skype names, I gave them more than anyone in my situation has ever given them. I can say that definitively. And what I got in return was lies, betrayal, nothing," Schrier said.
An FBI spokesperson added, "The FBI offers assistance to victims to aid them in rebuilding their lives. We continue to work with our interagency and international law enforcement partners to gather intelligence as well as assess the possibility of bringing charges against those who victimized Mr. Schrier."

Anti-Gun Cartoons

'I Went Through Hell': Former FBI Agent Says Andrew McCabe 'Targeted', 'Slandered' Her

A former FBI counterterrorism agent reacted to an op-ed written by recently-fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
"Not in my worst nightmares did I dream my FBI career would end this way," McCabe entitled his Washington Post piece published Friday.
Robyn Gritz, who said she served 16 years with the bureau fighting terrorism, told "Fox & Friends" that she celebrated McCabe's dismissal and that it brought back memories of how he allegedly mistreated her.
Gritz said that she began working with McCabe in 2005 until she ultimately resigned several years later.
She said McCabe retaliated against her for filing a harassment claim against one of her supervisors.
Gritz said that, while working as a "detailee" to the CIA, her boss began "scrutinizing [her] work and asking questions" about her purportedly being "fragile" after her divorce.
"He made some discriminatory comments about why I was traveling and such," Gritz said of her boss at the time, who was not McCabe.
When she heard that the boss was making similar comments to a black coworker, Gritz said she decided to file a complaint against him.
Gritz said when she filed the suit, McCabe signed off on an internal investigation against her, adding that "he know that I was either filing or going to file the [case]."
"I went through hell for a year and a half," she said. "Andy made sure I couldn't get out of the division."
Gritz said that McCabe additionally made "nasty, false" comments about her in a meeting -- "lying," she said. "which is why he just got fired."
She said she was at a restaurant when news of McCabe's dismissal this month reached her, and that she verbally reacted with joy.
Gritz added that dozens of former FBI coworkers called her to celebrate McCabe "being held accountable."

Gun maker Remington files for bankruptcy

Founded in 1816, Remington is America's oldest gun maker.

Firearms manufacturer Remington Outdoor Company has filed for bankruptcy protection in the face of falling sales and lawsuits stemming from the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night.
According to the Journal, Remington announced that it would file for Chapter 11 last month but the actual filing was delayed after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. that killed 17 people.
The paper reported that Remington officials plan to hand over the reins to its creditors in exchange for writing off most of the company's debt. Cerberus Capital Management LP bought Remington for $118 million in 2007, assuming $252 million in debt in the process.
Cerberus later formed a holding company called the Freedom Group Inc., consisting of Remington and other firearms manufacturers -- including Bushmaster, which Cerberus had purchased in 2006.
WEAPON MAKERS FLEE LIBERAL TOWNS AND HEAD TO GUN-FRIENDLY STATES
The Journal reported that the gun industry is facing low demand and high stock after Donald Trump's unexpected election to the presidency in 2016. According to the paper, firearms manufacturers boosted output in the run-up to the election, expecting that a Hillary Clinton victory would lead to a boost in sales ahead of tighter gun laws.
In 2016, families of the Sandy Hook victims filed a wrongful-death suit against Remington, claiming that it had negligently marketed "military-style" weapons to younger demographics -- namely, 20-year-old Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza.
A trial judge dismissed the initial lawsuit, but the plaintiffs appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court, which is considering the matter.
Katie-Mesner Hage, an attorney with Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, which represents Sandy Hook families in their lawsuit against the gun manufacturer said in a statement that “We do not expect this filing to affect the families’ case in any material way.”
Founded in 1816, Remington is America's oldest gun maker.

Bolton responds after Tim Kaine questions security clearance over Russia gun video

Incoming national security adviser John Bolton defended himself Sunday after a Democratic senator questioned whether he would be able to obtain the necessary security clearance over a video speech Bolton gave to a Russian pro-gun rights group in 2013.
On Saturday, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., tweeted out a National Public Radio report about the group Bolton spoke to, known as The Right To Bear Arms. The NPR report described one of the group's founders, Alexander Torshin, as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who served as the deputy speaker of Russia's parliament for more than 10 years.
"Can John Bolton even get a security clearance?" Kaine asked rhetorically. "Ties to Russian allies of Vladimir Putin?"
On Sunday, a spokesman for Bolton responded: "The Ambassador [Bolton] was asked by former [National Rifle Association] president Dave Keene to record a video for presentation to the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council. The Ambassador has never heard of The Right to Bear Arms until recent news coverage of the group."
According to the NPR report, Bolton was named to the NRA's international affairs subcommittee in 2011.
Kaine addressed his tweet in an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning.
"Russia is the chief nation-state adversary of the United States, these kinds of contacts raise real questions in my mind about whether he could get a full security clearance or not," Kaine said. "We've already lost one national security adviser, Michael Flynn, because he was lying about contacts with foreign governments and had to be let go.
"I think, even though the Senate doesn't get a vote to confirm the national security adviser, I have many, many questions not only about John Bolton's philosophy, but about these contacts with Russia and potentially other governments."

Stormy Daniels claims she was threatened to stay silent about alleged Trump affair

Adult film star Stormy Daniels claimed she agreed to keep quiet about her alleged affair with President Trump after she received a chilling threat in a parking lot and worried that her infant daughter would be harmed, according to a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she was threatened by a man who approached her in Las Vegas after she sold her story about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump during the American Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe.
“I was in a parking lot going to a fitness class with my infant daughter and a guy walked up on me and said to me, ‘Leave Trump alone. Forget the story,’” she said. “And he leaned round and looked at my daughter and said, ‘That’s a beautiful little girl. It would be a shame if something happened to her mom.’”
She added, “I was concerned for my family and their safety.”
Trump has strongly denied the claims.
InTouch magazine initially bought her story for $15,000 but opted to kill it after Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, threatened to sue the publication.
In the CBS News interview, Daniels claimed the tryst with Trump took place one night during the three-round golf competition at the Edgewood Tahoe golf resort in July. If true, Trump would have been married a little more than a year to Melania. Their son, Barron, would have been four months old.
Daniels said her interaction with the president of the United States started after he showed her a picture of himself on the cover of a magazine. After a flirtatious exchange, she told him someone should “spank” him with that magazine. And then she said she did.
“He turned around and pulled his pants down a little -- you know, had underwear on and stuff, and I just gave him a couple swats,” she claimed. “From that moment on, he was a completely different person.”
Daniels claimed Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter. Daniels also said when she broached the topic of Trump’s marriage, he brushed it aside.
“He said, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, you know, don’t worry about that. We don’t even – we have separate rooms and stuff,’” Daniels told host Anderson Cooper, in an interview that was taped more than two weeks ago.
She claimed she and Trump had dinner in his hotel room followed by unprotected sex. Daniels, then 27, said she was not attracted to Trump who was 33 years older than she was at the time. She also claimed that Trump offered to get her on his NBC show “The Apprentice.”
The relationship between Daniels and Trump was not contained to a single evening. She claimed that they stayed in touch and that he invited her to a Trump Vodka launch party in California as well as to Trump Tower in Manhattan.
“This was not a secret,” she said, adding that when Trump called her she would often put him on speakerphone so others could hear the conversation.
About a year after their first meeting, Trump allegedly summoned her to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss a possible appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice.” When she arrived, she claimed he was watching “Shark Week.”
“He made me sit and watch an entire documentary about shark attacks,” she said, adding that he allegedly wanted to have sex again but she said no.
Daniels said Trump called her about a month later and told her she did not get the TV gig.
Last week, records were released that showed Daniels passed a 2011 polygraph test in which she claimed she had unprotected sex with Trump in 2006. The news came on the heels of former Playboy model Karen McDougal suing to be released from a 2016 agreement requiring her to keep quiet about an alleged dalliance with Trump with similar details.
There had been some concern Daniel's credibility might be in question if she said she spent the night with Trump when he was seen somewhere else - or with someone else - at the tournament.
While Trump returned Sunday from his Mar-a-Lago resort to the White House, the first lady opted to stay in Florida with their son on a pre-scheduled spring break, the White House said.