Bernie Sanders: US policy in Mideast can't be 'pro-Israel, pro-Israel, pro-Israel'

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East cannot be “pro-Israel.”

The Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, who is Jewish and has lived in Israel in the past, made the remark Friday on the "Pod Save America" podcast.

“Our policy cannot just be pro-Israel, pro-Israel, pro-Israel,” Sanders said. “It has got to be pro-region, working with all of the people, all of the countries in that area.”

“Our policy cannot just be pro-Israel, pro-Israel, pro-Israel. It has got to be pro-region, working with all of the people, all of the countries in that area.”

— U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

BERNIE BOOSTS OMAR AS DEMS’ ISRAEL RIFT DEEPENS
The independent from Vermont said he fervently believes that “the people of Israel have absolutely the right to live in peace, independence, and security. End of discussion,” but added he has an issue with the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has run the country in recent years, the Washington Examiner reported.
“I think what has happened is in recent years under Netanyahu, you have an extreme right-wing government with many racist tendencies,” Sanders said, blaming the prime minister for worsening tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Sanders also criticized President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the holy city of Jerusalem, something he believes put peace negotiations with Palestinians at risk.
In May, the Trump administration officially opened the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, in a historic move cheered by Israelis but met with mass protests from Palestinians that turned deadly in the lead-up to the ceremony. Clashes at the border had left dozens of Palestinians dead and hundreds wounded by the time the ceremony ended. But Israel's prime minister praised the Israeli security forces for protecting the Gaza-Israel border, as U.S. officials held out hope that the prospect of peace remained in reach.
If he becomes president, Sanders said, he’d consider using the billions in aid the U.S. sends to Israel each year as leverage to force Netanyahu to change his actions, adding that Palestinians deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, the Examiner reported.
Netanyahu became the longest-serving Israeli prime minister this month, having held office for more than 13 years, according to The Guardian. He needs to win an election in September and survive three corruption cases against him in order to remain in office.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Roger Stone's trial may feature clip from 'The Godfather: Part II': report

Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife, Nydia Stone, leaves federal court in Washington, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. (Associated Press)

Prosecutors are reportedly requesting to show a four-minute clip from the 1974 film “The Godfather: Part II” during former Trump adviser Roger Stone’s trial on obstruction and perjury charges, according to new court filings.
"Start practicing your Pantagele [sic]," Stone texted radio host Randy Credico, regarding his potential Capitol Hill testimony about his alleged communications with Stone and WikiLeaks, according to Politico.
In the movie, character Frank Pentangeli (played by Michael V. Gazzo) lies to Congress, claiming he doesn’t know anything about the Corleone crime family when Michael Corleone shows up in the courtroom.
“The relevant scene is important context for understanding Stone’s references — including what Stone intended to communicate to the witness and how Stone would have understood the witness’s likely understanding of those messages,” prosecutors reportedly wrote.
In an April 2018 text, Stone threatened to take Credico's pet dog away from him, the indictment says, according to Politico.
Stone in January told CNN his texts to Credico were “light-hearted.”
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is set to start in Washington, D.C., in November.

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AOC and Pelosi to meet, address House Dem infighting between far left, moderates

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet Friday with far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in an effort to stop the recent infighting between the Democratic Party's progressive and moderate blocs in the lower chamber of Congress.
The progressives have leveled almost constant criticism at the moderates, accusing them of helping the Trump administration, whether directly or indirectly. The moderates, in turn, have accused the far left of pushing for abrupt change that could place the party's current House majority at risk.
Pelosi, 79, a Californian who has served in the House for more than 30 years, told USA Today on Thursday that she’s “looking forward to” meeting with Ocasio-Cortez to air out the differences.
The 29-year-old freshman congresswoman from New York, meanwhile, tried to downplay their meeting.
“It’s nothing too climactic,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Just trying to make sure we have an open line of communication and get on the same page.”
The schism began with Ocasio-Cortez’s vote against a $4.6 billion border funding – aimed at improving the conditions of migrants – that the majority of her party approved.
Other freshman Democrats joined her in voting against, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.
The vote clearly irked Pelosi, who then told the New York Times that “these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” adding “They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

“... these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world ... They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The comments further infuriated Ocasio-Cortez, who suggested that Pelosi is purposely targeting the progressive freshman group – dubbed “the Squad” – that is made up of women of color. The New York Democrat later had to do damage control and say Pelosi is “absolutely not” racist.
The official House Democratic Caucus Twitter account, meanwhile, slammed Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, who criticized Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, for her votes on issues to do with the migrant crisis at the border.
“Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?” the now-deleted tweet read. “Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice.”
“She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue,” it added. “Keep Her Name Out Of Your Mouth.”
The meeting between Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez also comes as the House will have to vote on a resolution to raise the debt limit until July 31, 2021.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pressured the House to approve the resolution -- otherwise, the government may go over its borrowing limit since lawmakers will be leaving for the August recess.
According to the Wall Street Journal, while progressives didn’t come out against the resolution, Ocasio-Cortez went to Twitter to raise concerns about the deal.
“Notice how whenever we pursue large spending increases + tax cuts for corporations, contractors & the connected, it’s treated as business as usual,” she said.
“But the moment we consider investing similar in working class people (ex tuition-free college) they cry out it’s ‘unrealistic.’”

AOC supports the 'decolonization process' of Puerto Rico following governor's resignation

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., expressed support for the  "decolonization process" of Puerto Rico following the announced resignation of its embattled governor, Ricardo Rosselló.
In an Instagram livestream on Thursday night, Ocasio-Cortez took questions from her followers. The first asked how she felt about what's happening in Puerto Rico.
"First of all, I am so incredibly proud of everyone in Puerto Rico right now demanding accountability from their government," Ocasio-Cortez began.  "They were so relentlessly creative in their protest that they were able to get the governor to finally resign as well as some of his cabinet members."
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, then suggested the island's independence from the United States.
"I'm really proud of everyone that's out there, but of course there's a lot of work to be done," Ocasio-Cortez continued. "This is just the beginning of a decolonization process, a process of self-determination where the people of Puerto Rico begin to start taking their own self-governance into their own hands."
She added, "So I'm really excited about the protest, I'm excited, I'm encouraged to hear about Ricardo Rosselló's resignation, but it's also just a first step. We have a long way to go."
Thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets after online chats from Rosselló and other top officials that mocked women, gays, political opponents, and victims of Hurricane Maria were leaked. Rosselló's administration is also being investigated for alleged corruption by Puerto Rico's Department of Justice.

Trump says Dems 'created this phony crime' with obstruction claims, in 'Hannity' interview

President Trump lashed out at Democrats following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony on Capitol Hill, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday night the Democrats "created this phony crime" by accusing him of obstruction of justice.
"I didn't do it. They create a phony crime," Trump said during a live interview on "Hannity." "And then, they say, 'he obstructed.' They said there was no collusion but 'he obstructed,' and there has never been anything like this ever in this country."
When asked by lawmakers whether or not the findings of the nearly two-year-long Russia investigation truly exonerated the president, Mueller testified before two House committees on Wednesday afternoon, answering, "No."
Trump reiterated his desire to "investigate the investigators" over the origins of the Russia probe and said Attorney General William Barr would be "looking into it."
For his part, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said after the hearings: "Today was a watershed day in telling the facts to the American people. With those facts, we can proceed, and we face a time of great danger."
"This should never happen to another president of the United States again," Trump said. "This is an absolute catastrophe for our country. This was a fake witch hunt."
During his testimony, Mueller denied Trump's assertions that the investigation was a "witch hunt" and insinuated that the Trump campaign welcomed Russian aid to help them win the 2016 election.
Still, the former special prosecutor reiterated what was laid out in his report, saying, "we did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.”
"This was treason. This was high crimes. This was everything as bad a definition you want to come up with," Trump said of the investigation.

Now they tell us: Story says Mueller was hands off, short on stamina

Maybe we now know the real reason that Bob Mueller was so reluctant to testify.
With even liberal commentators conceding that Mueller was a shaky witness during two House hearings, questions are swirling about his mental acuity and his ability to handle the job of special counsel.
Let me say at the outset that I have great respect for Mueller as a decorated Vietnam War veteran and an FBI director so widely admired that Barack Obama asked the George W. Bush appointee to serve a second term.
Let me also say that the hearings shouldn’t be graded only on optics, although they were, like most hearings, designed as political theater. But even on substance, Mueller offered almost nothing that was new, and for all the media hype, that was very much by design.
Still, Mueller’s struggles on the Hill were a real head-scratcher, especially for those who have worked with him.
The New York Times reported on the front page yesterday that, as the prosecutor in charge of a two-year investigation of President Trump and Russian interference, he was not the Mueller of old:
“Soon after the special counsel’s office opened in 2017, some aides noticed that Robert S. Mueller III kept noticeably shorter hours than he had as F.B.I. director, when he showed up at the bureau daily at 6 a.m. and often worked nights.
He seemed to cede substantial responsibility to his top deputies, including Aaron Zebley, who managed day-to-day operations and often reported on the investigation’s progress up the chain in the Justice Department. As negotiations with President Trump’s lawyers about interviewing him dragged on, for example, Mr. Mueller took part less and less, according to people familiar with how the office worked.
That hands-off style was on display on Wednesday when Mr. Mueller testified for about seven hours before two House committees. Once famous for his laserlike focus, Mr. Mueller, who will turn 75 next month, seemed hesitant about the facts in his own 448-page report. He struggled at one point to come up with the word ‘conspiracy.’”
Mueller, who asked for questions to be repeated more than a dozen times, even botched one about which president appointed him as a top prosecutor in 1986.
So if Times reporters (and presumably other reporters) knew that Mueller was a hands-off leader with dwindling stamina who increasingly relied on his deputies, how did that remain such a closely guarded secret?
I don’t want to cast aspersions on journalists who have doggedly covered the investigation, but the temptation not to jeopardize their access, and the possibility of future leaks, must have been considerable. Now that Mueller is no longer special counsel, and his shortcomings were so glaringly on public display, it’s “safe” to publish the story.
David Axelrod, who knows him from his time in the Obama White House, tweeted: “This is delicate to say, but Mueller, whom I deeply respect, has not publicly testified before Congress in at least six years. And he does not appear as sharp as he was then.”
Now I don’t think it’s fair to expect Mueller to know every detail of a sprawling investigation or every sentence in the report. He was under tremendous pressure not to get anything wrong, and self-imposed pressure not to break any new ground.
And I don’t think it’s fair for commentators to speculate or insinuate that he might have some kind of medical condition.
But in describing his “painful” testimony, the Times said Mueller’s “halting delivery stood out all the more given his towering reputation for a command of facts and physical stamina — the stuff of lore among his former aides and colleagues. Nonetheless, he was unmistakably shaky.”
And the paper reported that calendars show one of the top prosecutors, Andrew Weissman, met infrequently with Mueller, except for a daily 5 p.m. staff meeting. But the calendars say his aide Zebley was the team leader at these meetings 111 times.
As for the fallout, the Washington Post’s Dan Balz said Mueller was supposed to be the Democrats’ savior but the hearings “probably shattered those illusions once and for all. If Democrats hope to end the Trump presidency, they will have to do so by defeating him at the ballot box in November 2020.”
Some liberals, such as pro-impeachment Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, were candid about what happened. He said the hearings were “a disaster. Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it.”
But some MSNBC opinion hosts seized on a few words here or there, as if Mueller hadn’t said in his report four months ago that the report didn’t “exonerate” Trump.
When Mueller told House Intel chairman Adam Schiff that knowingly accepting foreign help in a presidential campaign is “a crime in certain circumstances,” that’s hardly the same as saying the Trump team was guilty of such a crime, which his report did not find.
Another sound bite popular at MSNBC was this brief exchange with Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who said the reason "you did not indict Donald Trump is because of the OLC opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?”
“That is correct,” Mueller said.
Despite the fact that Mueller started the second hearing by saying he had to “correct” something—“We did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime”—some at the cable network seemed to place more weight on the first answer.
What the bobbled response also showed was a witness who was not quite up to the task, something we’re now learning was an open secret in at least some Washington circles.

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