Trey Gowdy: Brennan, Clapper and Comey know full well dossier was used in the intelligence assessment

Former congressman Trey Gowdy talked to Maria Bartiromo Sunday and discussed the infamous Christopher Steele Dossier, what it is and why it is important find the extent of its use.
"I mean people use the word dossier and how such an official sound to it. I mean let's just call it for what it is. It's a series of rank hearsay compilations put together by an FBI source who was later defrocked. Paid for by the Democrat National Committee then oh by the way Christopher Steele hated Donald Trump too so that we can call it a dossier. It sounds official," Gowdy said on "Sunday Morning Futures."
"It's really something the National Enquirer would blush if they printed so we know that it was used four times by the United States government."
Attorney General William Barr told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer in the interview aired Friday that one portion of the investigation into the Russia probe's orgins, which he has tapped U.S. Attorney John Durham to lead, would cover the time period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, saying “some very strange developments” took place during that time.
Barr specifically was referring to the early January 2017 briefing intelligence officials gave then-president-elect Trump at Trump Tower, and “the leaking of information subsequent to that meeting.” At that meeting, Trump was briefed by intelligence and law enforcement officials on Russian election meddling -- and was also informed by former FBI Director James Comey about the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier which included salacious allegations against him. Details which were later leaked to the press.
The former House Oversight Committee chairman and House Judiciary Committee member accused the Obama-era intelligence officials of not being upfront when it comes to the dossier's use.
"What we're trying to figure out is whether or not it was used a fifth time and the intelligence assessment and you got Brennan, Clapper and Comey all three who know full well whether or not it was used in the intelligence assessment but... they're giving you different versions, right," Gowdy said.
"So there is information that exist in December of 2016 and I hope anyone who has access to it... Senator Burr, Durbin, whoever is open minded. Go look at that. And I think it will help you understand whether or not that dossier, that unverified hearsay, was used... five times or just four times by the United States government is pretty bad. If it was just four times it's really bad, if it was five."
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Liam Quinn contributed to this report.

Illegal Alien Cartoons

Illegal immigrant charged with killing 12 elderly women in Texas

This undated booking photo provided by the Dallas County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office shows Billy Chemirmir. Chemirmir, previously arrested in the death of an 81-year-old woman, has been charged with killing several other elderly women whose jewelry and other valuables he stole, authorities said Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Dallas County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

An illegal immigrant from Kenya is facing murder chargers in connection with the killings of a dozen women in Texas.
46-year-old Billy Chemirmir has been indicted on several counts of capital murder in the deaths of elderly women between the ages of 76 and 94. He has been in jail since March 2018 for allegedly killing an 81-year-old woman in Dallas.
Chemirmir was arrested after police linked him to the attempted murder of a 91-year-old woman, who told police he stole her jewelry. Authorities retrieved his license plate number and were able to trace him to his apartment complex. While at his apartment, they witnessed him throw away a jewelry box, which contained the address of a deceased victim.
Police said the suspect posed as a health care worker before forcing his way into the victims’ homes. They are now investigating more than 700 other elderly deaths for any possible links.

U.S. Diplomats warn airliners of new threats from flying over Persian Gulf

In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo released by the U.S. Navy, Lt. Nicholas Miller. U.S. diplomats warned that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf faced a risk of being “misidentified” amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman, U.S. Navy via AP)

The U.S. issues a warning for airlines who flying over the Persian Gulf.
In a statement Saturday, U.S. diplomats claimed commercial airlines will be at an increased risk while flying over the Persian sea, adding American planes may be misidentified, and possibly attacked by the Iranian military.
This comes amid rising tensions with Iran, after the White House sent warships and bombers to the region in response to recent escalation.
The Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain has also issued similar warnings to its citizens against traveling to Iraq and Iran.
In an announcement Saturday, the country’s foreign ministry urged all citizens to leave both countries, due to the “unstable situation in the region, and recent escalations and threats against security and stability.”
This move comes after Washington, D.C. withdrew all non-emergency personnel from sites in Iraq earlier this week. On Saturday, the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the country is in a “full intelligence war with the U.S.”
Both the United States and the Netherlands have also suspended military operations in Iraq.

Mayor AOC? New York newspaper floats idea of congresswoman succeeding de Blasio

If New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio succeeds in his just-announced quest to win the White House in 2020, that would leave a vacancy in the tough job of leading America’s largest city.
One local newspaper thinks it has spotted the perfect candidate to succeed de Blasio: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a recent editorial, the New York Sun argues that the freshman Democratic congresswoman from the Bronx (whose 14th Congressional District also represents part of Queens) might find the House of Representatives an unpleasant place if the GOP recaptures the chamber in 2020 – and would perhaps appreciate a chance to come home from Washington.
In a Republican-controlled House, the Sun argues, Ocasio-Cortez would be “faced with the interminable drudgery of being without seniority and in a minority.”
Running for mayor of New York, however, might “look attractive to the young firebrand with a ... quick wit and taste for the limelight,” the Sun wrote.
The Sun’s suggestion comes just as de Blasio – now in his second term – is facing much ridicule over his presidential aspirations, with 76 percent of city residents saying he should not run, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
But the Sun ends its editorial with a bit of intrigue.
A suggested mayoral run by AOC might fail, the newspaper suggests, if local Republicans “were to discover a high-spirited millennial with Republican principles to take her on.”
Does the Sun have a particular Republican in mind? The editorial doesn’t say.

Progressive caucus co-chair calls for 'strong primary challenges' against anti-abortion Dems

Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Anti-abortion Democrats could face dwindling resources and primary challenges as abortion becomes a more prominent issue heading into the 2020 elections.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., indicated as much on Friday when she told reporters "you can't say you're a Democrat ... if you're against abortion." Jayapal, who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), reportedly called for "strong primary challenges" against candidates who weren't as bold on that issue.
“I understand that the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is funded by — we are a membership organization — it's funded by our members," she said, referring to the organization, which funds Democratic candidates around the country.
"And I understand that the DCCC is often going to try to protect the incumbent,” she added. "But I do think we have to look at all of these issues and think about what it means to be a Democrat.”
While it's unclear how much her views represented those of the committee leadership, she seemed to highlight growing tension over the issue in her party.
Her comments came as Democrats' position on abortion came under greater scrutiny in the lead-up to 2020. While pro-life Democrats have opposed abortion legislation in prior years, 2019 is reinvigorating debate on the issue and force the party to more explicitly defend its position on the issue. That included support late-term abortion, likely the most controversial abortion procedure in the nation.
The party also spotlighted the issue as Republican legislatures have passed highly restrictive pro-life legislation that Democrats blasted as "extreme." When Alabama passed a bill on Wednesday banning nearly all abortions, it served as a reminder that Democrats could soon face an end to longstanding protections with an apparently conservative Supreme Court.
While some Democratic leaders have OK'ed being pro-life and Democratic, they've also indicated that position would fly in the face of the party's core principles.
That interparty tension caught more attention after Louisiana's Democratic governor signaled on Thursday that he would support his state's "heartbeat" legislation -- one of the more restrictive pro-life proposals that Democrats have decried as attacks on women's rights.
That tension on abortion will likely grow as the nation approaches an expected Supreme Court decision and Democrats push for more abortion funding through the federal government.
Jayapal, for example, received support from one of the most prominent pro-choice organizations -- NARAL -- after she proposed a "Medicare-for-all" program that would eliminate a law -- the Hyde Amendment -- which blocks direct federal funding for most abortions.
Many in the 2020 Democratic field have either pushed Hyde's repeal or advocated more government involvement in a health care system already plagued with concerns about the use of taxpayer money.
The party also saw politicians -- like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. -- push for legislative protections in case the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Democrats appeared divided on the issue with 60 percent favoring considerable limits on abortion, a Marist poll revealed in January. In that same poll, only 28 percent of Democrats said they thought abortion should be available at any point in the pregnancy.

Drain The Swamp Cartoons

AG Barr's critics, who claimed Trump 'obstruction,' would be 'guilty' by own standards: Ari Fleischer

Ari Fleischer

As Attorney General William Barr takes pointed criticism from Democrats, those who also claimed President Trump obstructed justice in the Mueller probe "would be guilty themselves" by that metric, Ari Fleischer said Friday.
"If the Democrats held themselves to the same standards they tried to hold the Trump administration to, they would be guilty of obstruction of justice themselves the way they're going after the attorney general," said Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, on "The Ingraham Angle."
Host Laura Ingraham played several clips of Democrats and media figures blasting Barr as the attorney general gave an exclusive interview to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.
"He acts more and more like the total mouthpiece of the president. It is more than disappointing," said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on CNN. On MSNBC, morning host Joe Scarborough remarked that someone could "slap an ex-KGB badge on the attorney general."
The criticisms come after Barr appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to look into the origins of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation into possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Fleischer praised the decision to commence the new investigation, and told Ingraham that Barr is "exactly what we need now - [and] to figure out what, if anything, was done improperly when they authorized all of these wiretaps and surveillance techniques to be used against Trump."
In Barr's interview with Hemmer, the attorney general said he was ready for potential criticism and attacks by Democrats when he took the job.
"Yes," Barr said. "I thought I was in a position where this kind of criticism really wouldn't bother me very much."
"The fact of the matter is, Bob Mueller did not look at the government's activities, he was looking at whether or not the Trump campaign had conspired with the Russians," Barr said.
Barr also called "laughable" an accusation by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that he had lied to Congress, and dismissed an attempt by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., to hold him in contempt.
"That's part of the usual ... political circus that's being played out. It doesn't surprise me," he said.
Fox News' Liam Quinn contributed to this report.