AG William Barr on the Russia investigation: 'There's something far more troubling here'

The Russia investigation into President Trump's 2016 campaign was "one of the greatest travesties in American history," Attorney General William Barr said Thursday during an appearance on "The Ingraham Angle."
Barr said he has seen troubling signs from U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing probe into the origins of the two-year probe, which resulted in no allegations of wrongdoing against the president.
"My own view is that the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness," Barr told host Laura Ingraham. "There was something far more troubling here. We're going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted."
Trump "has every right to be frustrated" by the investigation, Barr added.
"What happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history -- without any basis," Barr said. "They started this investigation of his campaign. And even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign. A whole pattern of events while he was president ... to sabotage the presidency ... or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency."
Barr appointed Durham to review the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the origins of the Russia probe, through Trump’s Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration.
During Thursday's show Barr also addressed what he described as abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), saying he believed "safeguards" would "enable us to go forward with this important tool."
" I think it's very sad and the people who abused FISA have a lot to answer for," he said, "because this was an important tool to protect the American people.
"They abused it. They undercut public confidence in FISA but also the FBI is an institution and we have to rebuild that."
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz last year said the FBI made repeated errors and misrepresentations before the FISA Court in an effort to obtain the warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The court later found those warrants “lacked probable cause.”
Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mark Levin reveals the questions he'd like the coronavirus task force to answer

"Life, Liberty & Levin" host Mark Levin told Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night that he had a series of questions "that have been concerning me" for Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force.
"They tell you to hunker down. How long are we supposed to hunker down until?" asked Levin, who made clear that he was not questioning the sincerity of Fauci and Birx's efforts to fight the virus.
"What happens after we are done hunkering down?" Levin went on. "Doesn't that mean millions of people never had the virus because they successfully hunkered down? Doesn't that mean millions of people will be highly susceptible to getting it again or getting it the first time? They are not developing an immunity.
"Tens of millions of Americans, as a result of this mitigation that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx are focused on, will not have developed any immunity to this."
Levin then directly addressed Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), questioning why he has been telling the public that coronavirus could be "seasonal."
"Don't you really mean mitigation today eliminates the herd immunity necessary for this society to kill the virus broadly once and for all?" the conservative radio host asked. "Isn't this why you say, 'In the future don't shake hands?' Aren't you really saying, 'In the future, don't touch surfaces, doorknobs, tabletops,' because you know that shaking hands is fine if both people have had the virus, but if somebody has it and somebody doesn't, that virus will be obviously traveling along?"
Levin added that the mitigation strategy doesn't account for the economic impact the virus is having, telling host Sean Hannity that the widespread assumption among politicians and medical experts is that the business community cannot "walk and chew gum at the same time."
"Why aren't you issuing guidelines to states and localities that help them [stay open]? There [are] thousands of small businesses, medium-sized businesses ... who can mitigate and remain open," he said.
Levin claimed that there will be great damage done to the U.S. as a whole if both medical experts and governors with strict restrictions watch as "ten [to] 25 percent unemployment" creeps up in their states.
"Are you tracking the number of people who might have lived but for the directive against so-called elective surgery? Individuals with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.? What are the numbers of suicides so far in February and March that have occurred? We have no idea," the former Reagan Justice Department official added.
"How many people who had the coronavirus are living today because they used hydroxychloroquine? Are they tracking that? They have been very ambiguous about this, I think it's a perfectly good question."
Turning to Birx's much-publicized infection modeling, Levin said he wanted to ask the former Army physician if she has been using the same model from the beginning of the contagion.
"You've said in the course of 20 days that 1.5 to 2.1 million people could have died without mitigation," he said. "A week ago you said 100,000 to 240,000. Now around 60,000. There's something wrong with the model, not just the data. And you say this is due to mitigation, that's one of the reasons that has come down significantly. Maybe so."
However, Levin noted that Trump and his task force are not responsible for restricting commerce beyond issuing social distancing recommendations, including the avoidance of gatherings of more than ten people.
"To be clear," Levin said, "President Trump hasn't shut a single business, the governors did."
Earlier this week, Levin slammed Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, whose strict stay-at-home order led to a 19-year-old woman getting a ticket for more than $200 while taking a "Sunday Drive" near her home.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday later had the citation dropped, filing a memo that stated the ticket "didn't serve the interests of justice," according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
On "Hannity," Levin also addressed so-called "Maduro Republicans & Democrats" in Congress who are utilizing deficit spending in order to help out-of-work Americans.
"Can you name one country, today or in the past, that has grown and created jobs through massive deficit spending?" he asked. "I can name 20 that haven't. Cut it out, get the people back to work, open up these states, these businesses can walk and chew gum at the same time, that's it!"

Sanders says he wouldn't 'drop dead' if Trump guaranteed health care for all amid coronavirus pandemic

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday that he wouldn't "drop dead" if President Trump guaranteed health care to all amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanders took a shot at Trump during an interview on MSNBC (fake news) and said Trump has "no ideology."
"You never know what's true," he said. "You never know what's real or not."
The coronavirus outbreak has forced governments around the world to take drastic actions to protect their citizens from a highly contagious and deadly disease and also try to ward off financial ruin.
States across the U.S. have ordered residents to stay inside their homes and only leave when absolutely necessary. Trump previously signed the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package as a lifeline to businesses and families and Congress is considering another massive bill.
"You're hearing it first right here," Sanders told host Chris Hayes. "He may not call it Medicare for All. I would not drop dead if in one form or another Donald Trump got up and said, 'you know we're in a terrible crisis, people can't afford their health care bills I think we should guarantee health care to all people.'"
More than 16 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past three weeks and that number will likely continue to rise until these orders are lifted. When that will happen seems to be anybody's guess. Attorney General William Barr recently mentioned May 1 as a possible date.
Sanders had previously touted his own policy to give health care to all Americans in need.
“Medicare for All” was his signature proposal he wanted to replace job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services.
Sanders recently suspended his campaign against Joe Biden after an insurmountable losing streak at the polls.
He said he wants to work with Joe Biden but the former vice president needs an agenda to respond to the pandemic. Sanders also described Biden as a good politician with "very smart" people surrounding him.
Biden showcased new proposals on Thursday to lower Medicare eligibility to age 60 and forgive student loan debt for low-income and middle-class families.
"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I'm proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis," Biden said in a release.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Where's Joe Biden Cartoons

Kansas GOP leads overturn of Dem governor’s limits on church, funeral attendance

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly addresses reporters March 17, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (Associated Press)

A Republican-led panel of Kansas legislative leaders on Wednesday overturned an executive order by the state’s Democrat governor that called for attendance limits on church services and funerals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
GOP members of the state’s Legislative Coordinating Council, composed of House and Senate leaders, asserted that first-term Gov. Laura Kelly had overstepped her authority by issuing the order, so they blocked it in a 5-2 vote along party lines.
“It appears to be out of line, extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation, of our fundamental rights,” Senate president Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita, told the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Kelly had announced Tuesday that church services and funerals would no longer be exempted from a state order limiting gatherings to 10 people, the newspaper reported.
In addition to the lawmakers’ vote, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued a memo Wednesday, advising police in Kansas not to enforce Kelly’s order, arguing that while the order contained what appeared to be sound public health advice it also seemed a violation of rights guaranteed under the state’s Constitution.
“Because no Kansan should be threatened with fine or imprisonment, arrested or prosecuted for performing or attending church or other religious services, law enforcement officers are advised to ... avoid engaging in criminal enforcement of its limitations on religious facilities, services or activities,” Schmidt wrote in the memo, according to the Capital-Journal.
At an afternoon news conference, Kelly denounced the lawmakers’ action as “shockingly irresponsible” and said it would likely cost some Kansans their lives. She said her legal counsel would examine the possibility of a court challenge, the Wichita Eagle reported.
“There are real life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today,” Kelly said, according to the Eagle.

Kelly also spoke out against Schmidt for issuing the memo to police.

“I was so deeply troubled to learn that our attorney general has decided to launch a bizarre, confusing and overtly political attack at such a moment of tragedy and that Republican legislative leaders have chosen to follow suit with a shockingly irresponsible decision that will put every Kansas life at risk,” Kelly said, according to the Capital-Journal.
Schmist responded to Kelly's remarks in a statement.
"I am confident Kansans of faith can be trusted to follow ... important advice without their government threatening criminal sanctions for disobedience," he wrote.

"I am confident Kansans of faith can be trusted to follow ... important advice without their government threatening criminal sanctions for disobedience." 
— Derek Schmidt, Kansas attorney general

The actions by the governor and lawmakers came as confirmed coronavirus cases in the state surpassed the 1,000 mark and deaths increased to 38, the Eagle reported.
At least three clusters of infections in the state have been traced to church gatherings and health officials fear Easter services this coming Sunday could cause even more infections, the Eagle reported.
Governors in 44 states have called for limits on church gatherings similar to what Kelly called for, according to the Capital-Journal.

Barr disappointed by partisan attacks leveled at President Trump, says media on a 'jihad' against hydroxychloroquine

Attorney General William Barr told "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday that he was disappointed over the partisan attacks leveled against President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic and blasted reporters for waging a "jihad" to discredit the effectiveness of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
"It's very disappointing because I think the president went out at the beginning of [the coronavirus pandemic] and really was statesmanlike, trying to bring people together, working with all the governors," Barr said. "Keeping his patience as he as he got these snarky, gotcha questions from the White House media pool and the stridency of the partisan attacks on him has gotten higher and higher."
Barr's criticism toward the media sharpened when he addressed the coverage of hydroxychloroquine and its possible role in the fight against the coronavirus.  He said before the president mentioned the drug, the media was fair in its coverage but as soon as Trump mentioned it, "the media has been on a jihad to discredit the drug," Barr said. "It's quite strange."
Host Laura Ingraham asked Barr about the possibility of extending the shutdown and its impact on the country.  Barr said a depression would make the health care system "weaker."
"We cannot keep for a long period of time our economy shut down just on the public health thing. It means less cancer. Cancer researchers or at home. A lot of the disease reaches researchers who will save lives in the future. That's being held in abeyance," Barr said. "The money that goes into these institutions, whether philanthropic sources or government sources, is going to be reduced. We will have a weaker health care system if we go into a deep depression. So it just measured it in lives. The cure cannot be worse than the disease."
The attorney general lamented the loss of family businesses during the shutdown, saying after the 30-day period the U.S. needs "find a way" to allow businesses to adapt.
"But when you think of everything else, generations of families who have built up businesses for generations in this country and recent immigrants who have built up businesses, snuffed out.  Small businesses that may not be able to come back," Barr said. "If this goes on too long. So we have to find after the 30-day period, we have to find a way of allowing businesses to adapt to this situation and figure out how they can best get started."

Stock futures rise on hopes of pandemic peaking

U.S. equity futures are pointing to a higher open on Thursday on optimism that the coronavirus pandemic may be peaking.
The major futures indexes are indicating a gain of  0.4 percent.
One item of economic data that could dictate the trading direction would be the weekly jobless claim number being released Thursday morning.
5.25 million Americans are expected to have filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week according to economists surveyed by Refinitiv. That’s on top of the 9.955 million claims filed in the prior two-week period. And note the huge range for claims: 2.5 million to 9.295 million.
Recent upward swings in markets have dwarfed declines amid signs that deaths and infections may be nearing a peak or plateau in some of the world’s hardest-hit areas.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, raised hopes when he said the White House is working on plans to eventually reopen the country. President Trump later said it “will be sooner rather than later.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	23433.57	+779.71	+3.44%
SP500	S&P 500	2749.98	+90.57	+3.41%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	8090.903095	+203.64	+2.58%

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 3.4 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 3.4 percent and the Nasdaq added 2.6 percent.
In Asia on Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.1 percent after the central bank governor said the economy faces “extremely high” uncertainty over the likely impact of the pandemic.
But elsewhere in Asia, markets were mostly higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.4 percent and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.4 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE added 1.3 percent, Germany's DAX rose 1.3 percent and France's CAC gained 0.9 percent.
And a meeting of oil producers planned for Thursday has raised hopes energy companies might get some relief in the form of production cuts to help support crude prices amid collapsing demand.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1.15 to $26.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange early Thursday. It gained $1.46, or 6.2 percent, to settle at $25.09 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering some of its 9.4 percent slide from the day before.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose $1.02 to $33.92 per barrel. It gained 97 cents, or 3 percent, to $32.84 a barrel in London.
Nearly 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed around the world, with more than 432,000 of them in the United States. More than 88,000 people have died from the virus, while nearly 330,000 have recovered, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Pence vows US will ask WHO 'tough questions' over how 'they could have been so wrong' about coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence told "Hannity" Wednesday night that the U.S. will ask "tough questions" of the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic after the global health agency's director warned President Trump and other world leaders against "politicizing" the outbreak.
"This is a president who believes in accountability, and the American taxpayers provide tens of millions of dollars to the World Health Organization," Pence said. "And as the president said yesterday, I suspect we will continue to do that, but that doesn't mean that at the right time in the future we aren't going to ask the tough questions about how the World Health Organization could have been so wrong.
"Literally at the time President Trump stood up the coronavirus task force in January and suspended all travel from China, just days before that, the World Health Organization was continuing to diminish the threat of the coronavirus and its impact in China," Pence added. "We'll get to the answers of that and we'll create accountability, just like the American people would want us to do."
Trump has accused the WHO of being "very China-centric" and claimed they "really blew it" in their initial response to the pandemic. On Tuesday, Trump initially told reporters that the U.S. was "going to put a hold on the money sent to the WHO," but walked back that statement when questioned, saying only that he was “going to look into” cutting off funding to the agency.
In response, WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Wednesday: "“If you don’t want many more body bags you refrain from politicizing it – please quarantine politicizing COVID."
Pence also addressed the progress of the outbreak in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana, saying that the number of new cases showed "evidence of the beginning of a stabilization, which is a great credit to the people of all [those] states."
However, the vice president added that "we need every American to continue to do their part" to observe the federal government's coronavirus guidelines, saying such action "will hasten the day that we put the coronavirus in the past. But it's going to take all of us to do it, and the good news is ... all evidence suggests that the American people are doing just that. They know our future is in our hands, and as we put the president's coronavirus guidelines into practice, we'll get there ... [and] we will continue to save lives and we will reach that day much sooner than people thought in the beginning of this outbreak."