Mueller's indictments of 12 Russians could have waited, former US diplomat says

John Negroponte served in several high-level positions under five presidents.  (Fox Business)

A former high-level diplomat from President George W. Bush’s administration said Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller could have waited until after next week’s Trump-Putin summit before announcing indictments against 12 Russian military intelligence officers.
“It could have just as well waited until the president had left Europe,” John Negroponte, a former deputy secretary of state, told journalist Krystal Ball in an interview that will appear online Monday. Ball co-hosts the program “Rising,” on Hill.TV.
Negroponte, who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and is a former director of national intelligence, added that he believes the Trump-Putin summit should proceed, regardless of the indictments.
"If it's been scheduled, it's important that these two heads of state meet,” Negroponte told Ball, according to the Hill. “Russia is a permanent member of the [U.N.] Security Council, it's a nuclear weapons state, it has global reach -- whether it's in the Middle East, or in the Korean Peninsula, or elsewhere -- and I think it behooves us to have that kind of dialogue.”

"If it's been scheduled, it's important that these two heads of state meet. Russia is a permanent member of the [U.N.] Security Council, it's a nuclear weapons state, it has global reach ... and I think it behooves us to have that kind of dialogue.”
- John Negroponte, former U.S. diplomat

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Friday that Mueller had charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with crimes related to the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
Rosenstein said Trump was briefed about the indictments earlier in the week and was “fully aware” of them before the announcement, Business Insider reported.
The presidents of the U.S. and Russia are scheduled to meet Monday in Helsinki, Finland. Trump has faced pressure from lawmakers in both parties to raise the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election during the meeting with Putin.
Others, in wake of the indictments, have urged Trump to simply cancel the meeting.
“Cancel the Putin meeting. Now,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted Friday.
Trump told reporters Friday morning that he planned to address election meddling with Putin, but he believed the Mueller investigation was a “witch hunt.”
“I think that we're being hurt very badly by the — I would call it the witch hunt,” Trump said during a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May, the Washington Post reported.
Trump then addressed the meddling issue.
“I know you'll ask, 'Will we be talking about meddling?’ And I will absolutely bring that up,” the president said, according to the Post. “There won't be a Perry Mason here, I don't think, but you never know what happens, right? But I will absolutely, firmly ask the question.”

Democrat's 'Purple Heart' remark at Strzok hearing spurs veterans to plan protest march

SMIRKY

 

 

 

 

Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (IDIOT)

Some veterans in Tennessee say they're planning a protest march following a congressman's comment this week that embattled FBI official Peter Strzok deserved a Purple Heart for enduring a House panel's grilling over allegations of bias against President Donald Trump.
Sean Higgins, an Air Force veteran from Memphis, is leading the upcoming march, the Tennessean reported. Higgins told the paper that many constituents of Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen are “pissed as hell” after Cohen said Strzok deserved the military award.
“How do you compare someone getting wounded in combat to someone getting in trouble for message he sent? How can Cohen claim (Strzok) get a Purple Heart for that?” Higgins said.
The Purple Heart typically is awarded to members of the U.S. military who are wounded in combat or given posthumously to those killed in combat.

“How do you compare someone getting wounded in combat to someone getting in trouble for message he sent?"
- Sean Higgins, U.S. Air Force veteran

Cohen, 69, defended Strzok, who was being questioned Thursday on Capitol Hill over a series of anti-Trump text messages he sent to his former co-worker and lover, Lisa Page, while investigating Russian election meddling and Hillary Clinton’s email server.
"If I could give you a Purple Heart, I would," Cohen told Strzok, accusing his GOP counterparts of attempting to undermine Strzok and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Higgins said that 30 veterans have so far committed to marching, including Army veteran Darien Price of Memphis, who told the paper he was “blown away” by Cohen’s statement.

“It is disrespectful to those alive who wear the Purple Heart but especially to families who lost loved ones to who fought for this country."
- Darien Price, Army veteran

“It is disrespectful to those alive who wear the Purple Heart but especially to families who lost loved ones to who fought for this country," said Price, who was denied his Purple Heart until Cohen's office stepped in. "Truly saddening.”
Retired Staff Sgt. Johnny "Joey" Jones, a Marine Corps veteran who received a Purple Heart after losing both of his legs and suffering other permanent injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Afghanistan, told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that Cohen's remarks were "disgraceful."
Following public outcry, Cohen backpedaled on his remarks during a joint hearing Friday.
“I regret mentioning the Purple Heart medal at yesterday’s hearing,” Cohen said. “My intent was to speak metaphorically to make a broader point about attacks against the FBI and Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into a Russian attack on our country.
“I have nothing but the highest respect for members of the armed forces, especially those who have been awarded Purple Hearts, as well as the hard working men and women at the FBI. We are safe because of their service and sacrifice," he said.
Higgins, a former VA hospital employee in Memphis, told the Tennessean he had previously tried working with Cohen for years in attempts to improve the hospital’s conditions before publicly blowing the whistle.
Higgins, who had been reporting problems in the VA since he was hired in 2007, was fired from his position for the third time in June 2017, and is appealing the firing, WREG-TV in Memphis reported. He appealed his first two firings and was hired back each time.
The march, which is also in protest of the VA hospital's treatment of veterans, has not been given a date.

'Cal 3' backer urges court to dismiss lawsuit opposing California break-up plan

The sponsor of the "Cal 3" initiative to split California into three states asked the state's Supreme Court on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit calling for the proposal to be pulled from the November ballot.
Tim Draper, a venture capitalist who spent more than $1.7 million supporting the initiative, told the court in a letter that there’s not enough time to properly consider the legal challenge to his effort.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper is the sponsor of the "Cal 3" initiative.  (Fox Business)

He said he wasn't properly served with the lawsuit, giving him less time to respond.
"I have been given just a day or two to respond to a complex, multi-faceted attack on my Constitutional right to initiative," Draper wrote. "This Court's long history of jealously guarding the exercise of initiative power should not be cavalierly disregarded now, especially on such a truncated timetable."
OPPONENTS OF PROPOSED CALIFORNIA BREAKUP SUE TO PULL IT OFF BALLOT 
The Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group, filed the lawsuit Monday, arguing that Draper's plan exceeds the scope of an initiative because it would drastically alter California's government and constitutional framework.
“The dislocation and the disruption that would be caused by something as great as this just can’t be understated,” said Carlyle Hall, a lawyer working on the lawsuit. “This will not make things better.”

“The dislocation and the disruption that would be caused by something as great as this just can’t be understated. This will not make things better.”
- Carlyle Hall, lawyer, Planning and Conservation League

The initiative could harm the environment if California’s strong environmental protections are scrapped and replaced with something weaker, which could happen if the state were split, Hall said.
Draper argued the "Cal 3" measure doesn't go beyond what can be accomplished in an initiative. If passed by voters, it would be only the first step toward dividing the state, he said.
The Cal 3 initiative would break the state into Northern California, California and Southern California.
Passing at the ballot box is just the first hurdle.
The measure then directs the governor to ask the U.S. Congress for the ultimate approval — likely a tall order.
If Congress were to give a green light, it would then be up the state's Legislature to determine exactly how the split would happen, including how the state's debts would be divided.
Each of the three states would determine their own governance structure.
Supporters of dividing California argue the nation's most populous state has become ungovernable because of its size, wealth disparities and geographic diversity.
CALIFORNIA 'THREE STATES' PLAN OK'D FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT
Meanwhile, Michael Salerno, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, described the proposal as having profound ramifications if approved.
“It would not surprise me if the court took this off the ballot,” he said.
Although California as it exists today is heavily Democratic, the newly proposed Southern California might not be. Democrats have only a slim registration advantage over Republicans in that region.

Rosenstein target of impeachment filing being prepared by House conservatives: report

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is the target of an impeachment effort being undertaken by conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a report.
U.S. Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, both members of the House Freedom Caucus, are said to be leading the effort and could submit an impeachment filing in the next few days, Politico reported Friday.
Rosenstein has been clashing with some House Republicans for months over requests for Department of Justice documents, the Washington Examiner reported. The deputy AG oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the White House ordered that more members of Congress receive access to classified information about an FBI informant linked to the Russia probe, despite objections from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.
It was Rosenstein who named Mueller to lead the Trump-Russia probe after Rosenstein’s boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the investigation because of Sessions’ own role in the Trump campaign.
Politico’s story on the possible impeachment filing against Rosenstein came on the same day that Rosenstein announced Mueller’s 12 indictments against Russian military intelligence officials on charges linked to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Speculation that President Donald Trump might fire Rosenstein increased in April, after FBI agents conducted raids at the office and home of Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal attorney, the Hill reported.

Europe Immigration Cartoons

Trump says immigration into Europe has 'changed the fabric' of the continent

President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Europe’s immigration policy, claiming it has “changed the fabric” of the continent in a negative way.
“I think you are losing your culture. Look around. You go through certain areas that didn’t exist 10 or 15 years ago,” the president said in an interview with the Sun.
“I think what has happened to Europe is a shame,” he added. “Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame.”
TRUMP SLAMS MAY OVER ‘VERY UNFORTUNATE’ BREXIT PLAN, SAYS ‘IT WILL PROBABLY KILL’ US TRADE DEAL
Trump pointed toward his own Scottish and German roots, saying “I have a great love for the countries of Europe,” but noting that immigration has taken a toll.
“I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way,” Trump said. “So I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad.”

"I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way."
- President Donald Trump

The Trump administration has taken a hardline view on immigration, touting its war on sanctuary cities that provide cover for illegal immigrants in the country and has ramped up the efforts to enforce existing immigration laws to secure the U.S. -Mexico border.
The White House recently won a court battle at the Supreme Court allowing to bar citizens from several mostly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
Trump told the newspaper that most British people actually support his stance on immigration. “I think they like me in the U.K.,” he said. “I think they agree with me on immigration.”

Neckties may be next to face a ban in California, if mayor's proposal gains traction

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris proposed this week to ban neckties from the workplace, citing a health study that suggested the fashion accessory restricts blood flow to the brain.  (City of Lancaster)

California has long been a place where the government has tried to influence the quality of life by enacting a ban on this, or a mandatory adoption of that.
Now a mayor in Southern California says he wants to ban neckties from the workplace, claiming the fashion accessory restricts blood flow to the brain.
R. Rex Parris, mayor of Lancaster, said he conceived the idea after reading a science blog that claimed neckties restrict 7.5 percent of blood to the brain, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I spend a lot of hours every week on an elliptical or a bike just to increase blood flow to my brain, and it turns out every morning when I put on a tie I’m diminishing it,” Parris said.
The mayor’s proposal comes as the necktie’s presence in corporate America is waning. In 2015 a New York City Human Rights Commission said compelling men to wear ties is akin to demanding that women wear skirts because of their gender.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate in America today to make anyone do something that is now known to be detrimental to your health. Especially if it’s based on gender,” Parris said.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate in America today to make anyone do something that is now known to be detrimental to your health. Especially if it’s based on gender.”
- R. Rex Parris, mayor of Lancaster, Calif.

But a ban on dress codes, especially for private businesses, would likely run into legal problems. Michael Colantuono, a municipal lawyer, said the move would be unprecedented.
Parris ran the idea by the city attorney at a City Council meeting Tuesday, the Orange County Register reported. In order to approve the measure the city would be required to prove ties are detrimental to public health.
“I’m aware I’m going out on a ledge, but I live my life on ledges,” Parris said. “We’re interested in going in a positive direction until we’re stopped.”
But Parris, an established litigator for more than 30 years, said he hasn’t stopped wearing ties completely just yet.

Kavanaugh's baseball debts: Why the nominee's opponents are striking out

Stormy Daniels has been arrested, but I digress.
The Peter Strzok hearing degenerated into a circus, but never mind.
President Trump claimed that NATO allies have agreed to boost defense spending, only to be contradicted by France's president and called a liar by MSNBC anchors. But put that to the side.
The really big story is that Brett Kavanaugh loves baseball.
Loves it so much, in fact, that he blew a whole bunch of money on Washington Nationals tickets and went into debt.
When I first heard that The Washington Post had reported this, I figured it was a few paragraphs in the middle of a profile piece. But no, it's the lead.
The Supreme Court nominee "incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets," the paper said.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said explained that Kavanaugh "built up the debt by buying Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and a 'handful' of friends," plus home improvements. He ran up debts in 2016 between $60,000 and $200,000 on three credit cards and a loan. Shah said some of the debts were also for home improvements.
But the debts were either completely or almost completely paid off last year, as "Kavanaugh's friends reimbursed him for their share of the baseball tickets," according to Shah.
Big deal, right?
Now the paper reported this as a straightforward review of his financial disclosure forms without touting it as some kind of scandal. Still, it's drawing plenty of ridicule online.
For one thing, it makes Kavanaugh seem more like an average American who was living a bit beyond his means. And he's a big baseball fan. Which you have to be to have season tickets to the Nats, who keep choking late in the season.
For another, if Kavanaugh had joined a big law firm, he could afford all the Nationals, Redskins, Wizards and Capitals tickets he wants. But he's been in public service for the last two decades and living on a judge's salary for the last 12 years.
The Atlantic asks how Kavanaugh paid off the debts so quickly, and that seems like a fair question—though the answer may be far from nefarious.

So by and large, the story feels a big whiff.
A better piece in the same paper, in my view, leads off with Kavanaugh regularly having a beer and burger at a joint called the Chevy Chase Lounge, but never telling the bartender what he does for a living. One neighbor, a Democrat, says they talked about "baseball and Springsteen," not politics.
Kavanaugh's wife is a village manager within Chevy Chase, a job that pays $66,000, who also doesn't mention what her husband does. At Georgetown Prep he listed himself as treasurer of the "Keg City Club—100 Kegs or Bust." He coaches girls' basketball at the local Catholic school, Blessed Sacrament, and even attends other coaches' basketball games.

This down-to-earth portrait is a sharp contrast to the ridiculous NARAL comment attacking him as "some frat boy named Brett."
The media are filled with stories about Kavanaugh's past writings and rulings on abortion, presidential power, impeachment, health care and other issues. But something has struck me in the past 48 hours.
Having lived through various firestorms over nomination battles—from Robert Bork to John Tower, from Clarence Thomas to Harriet Miers—this doesn't feel like it is rising to that level.
There is emotional intensity, to be sure, given the enormous stakes and the virtual certainty that Kavanaugh's confirmation would significantly shift the high court to the right.
But I've seen the Kavanaugh story slip down the lineup on many MSNBC opinion shows, and that seems to me to reflect a grudging recognition that he is extremely likely to be confirmed. There will be plenty of sound and fury, but given the supportive comments of Susan Collins and Joe Manchin, the Republicans look like they'll get to 50 votes.
If the opposition is down to stories about baseball debt, they're going to strike out.
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.