Saturday, August 12, 2017
Trump riles conservative media allies with Alabama Senate primary pick
In between ratcheting up the rhetoric on North
Korea and taunting Mitch McConnell – all while on vacation at his New
Jersey golf club – President Trump did something else unusual this week:
He endorsed the establishment pick in Alabama's upcoming Senate GOP
primary.
The president is now facing a
backlash from his usual conservative media allies for stepping into the
race in favor of incumbent Sen. Luther Strange.
Some are irked that Trump sided with the
mild-mannered Strange over Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative with a
penchant for provocative comments who has been endorsed by Ann Coulter,
Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity.“I love him, but that was completely idiotic,” Coulter complained to Breitbart News this week about the president's endorsement.
Trump unexpectedly tweeted his support Tuesday for Strange, who has the emphatic backing of Senate Majority Leader McConnell. The endorsement is significant because the top candidates have been portraying themselves as loyal advocates for the president in a state where Trump remains widely popular.
Strange, the state’s former attorney general who was once a lobbyist, was appointed to the seat in April after then-Sen. Jeff Sessions joined the Trump administration. Trump's endorsement was all the stranger – so to speak – considering he backed McConnell's pick even as he chastised the Senate GOP leader for not getting a health care bill passed.
“What has Trump gotten from McConnell?” Coulter asked after the endorsement. “But he’s still sucking up to establishment Republicans.”
Levin, the syndicated conservative radio host who is sympathetic to Trump, vented on Facebook about “Trump's pathetic endorsement of Luther Strange, McConnell's RINO puppet, screwing conservatives in Alabama and across the nation.”
While Strange has established a conservative voting record, his critics have painted him as someone too close to the GOP establishment.
Erick Erickson, the conservative radio host who has been critical of Trump in the past, argued the president was given bad political advice, saying: “This is not how the president drains the swamp.”
“Strange is a pillar of the establishment status quo and will not rock Mitch McConnell’s boat,” Erickson wrote for The Resurgent website. “In fact, Strange is one of McConnell’s oar hands in the boat.”
ERICK ERICKSON: MR. TRUMP, THIS IS HOW YOU DRAIN THE SWAMP?!
The primary to fill the seat once held by now-Attorney General Sessions is set for Tuesday. A runoff will be held Sept. 26 if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, which seems likely in the crowded field.
Trump weighed into the race with a single tweet on Tuesday evening.
“Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama,” Trump tweeted. “He has my complete and total endorsement!”
TRUMP ENDORSES STRANGE IN ALABAMA’S GOP SENATE PRIMARY
Still reeling from Trump’s endorsement of Strange, Brooks on Friday released a new ad, which his campaign called a “direct address to President Trump.”
“McConnell and Strange are weak,” Brooks says. “But, together, we can be strong. Mr. President, isn’t it time we tell McConnell and Strange, ‘you're fired’?”
Meanwhile, Strange is running television ads touting the president’s endorsement -- while seemingly reminding people of Brooks' past Trump criticism.
“Others attack our president,” Strange says in the ad. “I’m fighting with him to drain the swamp and repeal ObamaCare.”
Strange said in a Thursday statement he was "deeply honored and humbled" to get the president's endorsement.
During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Brooks supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, something that has been used to paint him as insufficiently pro-Trump. The McConnell-backed Senate Leadership Fund has been spending millions running television ads of Brooks’ past critical comments about Trump to try to drive a wedge between him and the president’s supporters.
But the race isn’t just between Strange and Brooks: the other major candidate in the race, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, is also fighting for a place in the likely runoff. Recent polling in Alabama has shown Moore, who is enthusiastically supported by some Christian conservatives, leading both Strange and Brooks.
Moore, who traditionally rides a horse to the polls on election day, is beloved by his supporters in Alabama after being removed twice from his position on Alabama’s Supreme Court. Such loyalty could be beneficial in a special election where turnout is likely to be low.
In 2003, Moore refused to remove a bust of the Ten Commandments from the state’s judicial building despite orders from a federal court. In 2016, he was removed the bench for ordering Alabama judges to defy federal court orders on gay marriage.
He, too, has been endorsed by national figures: Moore’s campaign announced Thursday the endorsement of Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson. Earlier this week, actor Chuck Norris announced his support for Moore.
National Guard on standby for ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Virginia
Hundreds of white nationalists – and those who
oppose them -- were expected for a “Unite the Right” rally in
Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday after a federal judge’s ruling
Friday cleared the way for the event.
The judge’s ruling sparked a
pre-rally march Friday night on the University of Virginia campus,
resulting in clashes between marchers, protesters and police.
The unrest prompted Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a
Democrat, to place National Guard members on standby, and encourage
Virginians to stay away from Saturday’s event.“Men and women from state and local agencies will be in Charlottesville [on Saturday] to keep the public safe,” McAuliffe said in a statement, “and their job will be made easier if Virginians, no matter how well-meaning, elect to stay away from the areas where this rally will take place.”
On Friday night, marchers holding tiki torches and chanting “White lives matter!” in front of a statue of university founder Thomas Jefferson were confronted by protesters, the Washington Post reported.
After fights broke out, police dispersed the crowd, claiming it was an unlawful assembly, Richmond’s WTRV-TV reported.
Saturday’s event is scheduled for Emancipation Park after U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit that right-wing blogger and rally organizer Jason Kessler filed against the city of Charlottesville.
Kessler wants to protest Charlottesville’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park. He sued the city over free speech violations after the officials ordered the rally moved from Emancipation Park to a larger venue because of safety concerns.
In a statement, the city said it would honor the judge’s decision. Kessler is being represented in his case by the Rutherford Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
In phone call, Trump and Xi discuss a nuke-less Korean Peninsula
A Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons is a
goal both Washington and Beijing are interested in pursuing, U.S.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a
phone conversation Friday.
That portion of their phone call
was confirmed early Saturday in a White House statement and in a report
on Chinese state television.
During the conversation, Xi also requested that the
U.S. and North Korea both tone down their recent rhetoric and avoid
actions that could worsen tensions between the two nations, Chinese
Central Television said.“At present, the relevant parties must maintain restraint and avoid words and deeds that would exacerbate the tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Xi was quoted as saying.
“At present, the relevant parties must maintain restraint and avoid words and deeds that would exacerbate the tension on the Korean Peninsula.”The White House confirmed early Saturday that Trump and Xi spoke Friday.
“The leaders affirmed that the recent adoption of a new United Nations Security Council resolution regarding North Korea was an important and necessary step toward achieving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the White House statement said. “President Trump and President Xi agreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behavior.
“The Presidents also reiterated their mutual commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
The statement added that Trump was looking forward to meeting with Xi in China later this year.
The trip, announced in April, was recently confirmed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who met in Manila with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Trump has urged China to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program, which North Korea says is nearing the capability of targeting the United States.
China is the North’s biggest economic partner and source of aid, but says it alone can’t compel Pyongyang to end its nuclear and missile programs.
Trump also spoke with Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo, reassuring him that U.S. military forces stand ready to ensure the safety and security of the U.S. territory, a White House statement said.
Japan’s leader makes pledge
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Saturday to do “everything, to the best of my ability,” to protect his nation’s people as tensions escalate over North Korea’s plans to send missiles over Japan toward Guam.
Abe made the comments while visiting his father’s tomb in his ancestral hometown of Nagato, in western Japan.
On Friday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said it was deploying four surface-to-air Patriot interceptors in western Japan to respond to a possible risk of fragments falling from missiles.
The ministry did not confirm whether newly appointed Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has already issued an order to shoot down incoming missiles.
Trump on Friday issued fresh threats of swift and forceful retaliation against nuclear North Korea, declaring the U.S. military “locked and loaded” and warning that the communist country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, would “regret it fast” if he takes any action against U.S. territories or allies.
Ex-Fox News host O’Reilly debuts ‘No Spin News’ webcast
Bill O'Reilly poses on the set of his show "The O'Reilly Factor" in New York March 17, 2015. |
The 30-minute show, which debuted on Wednesday, featured the ousted Fox News personality analyzing the war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and his take on the FBI raid on the home of former Trump aide Paul Manafort.
“North Korea has been a pain in the butt for decades,” O’Reilly said. As for Trump, he said, “He’s not going to take any guff from North Korea, but he’s not going to do anything unilaterally.”
O’Reilly was fired from Fox News in April after 20 years following allegations of sexual harassment. He called the claims unfounded, but he had previously paid some $13 million to settle lawsuits.
Since then, O’Reilly has been producing daily podcasts on his website, for which members pay a yearly fee of $49.95 for full access to his material and the chance to ask questions and submit comments.
His “The O’Reilly Factor” show on Fox News was the most-watched prime-time cable news show on U.S. television, averaging some 4 million viewers a night.
Poll: Roy Moore Increasing Lead for Alabama Senate Seat
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore smiles before announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Montgomery, Ala. |
OAN Newsroom
A new poll shows an increasingly wide gap in the primary race for Alabama’s Senate seat.The survey from the Trafalgar Group shows former State Chief Justice Roy Moore has 35% support.
Luther Strange — who was appointed to fill the seat left by Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this year — has 23% of the vote.
He also has the support of President Trump but other Republican leaders are split on their support.
Congressman Mo Brooks rounds out the top three with 20%.
This is the largest lead in a poll for Moore, as previous data has shown just a single digit lead for him.
Could Republican Infighting Send the ‘Ayatollah of Alabama’ to the Senate?
Alabama
Republicans are holding a primary election next week to choose their
replacement candidate in the Senate for Jeff Sessions. Until recently,
the widespread expectation was that in the outcome of the three-horse
race between appointed incumbent Luther Strange, U.S. Representative Mo
Brooks, and suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, either
Strange or Brooks would survive this round of voting to make it to the
September 26 runoff election. The survivor would defeat Moore, then roll
over whatever paper candidate the Democrats proffered in the general.
Moore’s universal name ID and dedicated conservative Evangelical
following seemed certain to guarantee him a spot in the September 26
runoff, though the heavy spending of Strange and Brooks opened the
possibility that they’d squeeze Moore, who has never been much of a
fundraiser, into third place. After all, the last time Moore ran for a
nonjudicial position, in the 2010 governor’s race, he finished a very disappointing fourth in the primary.
But
now, the dynamics of the primary are beginning to resemble one of those
murder-suicide scenarios where two candidates damage each other so much
that a third eclipses both of them. Strange and Brooks have been going
after each other with claw hammers from the get-go, with the former
benefiting from massive spending by national party groups controlled by his colleague Mitch McConnell, and the latter accusing
his appointed rival of being a puppet of the hated Washington
Establishment. Both campaigns have largely ignored Roy Moore. Other than
posturing over who’s the truest conservative of them all, there aren’t
many actual issues dividing the three candidates.
A new robo-poll
of Alabama Republicans shows Moore holding a comfortable lead over his
rivals with 30 percent, to 22 percent for Strange and 19 percent for
Brooks. That’s not particularly new; Moore has led most of the polls in
this race. What’s new is that the judge’s approval ratios are vastly
better than those of the two main combatants in the race: Moore is at
53/34; Strange is at 35/50; and Brooks is at 31/43. The nastiness
between Strange and Brooks could get even worse down the stretch, as a
wealthy Brooks backer invests in ads
accusing Strange of a corrupt deal with disgraced former governor Robert
Bentley to secure his appointment (Strange was attorney general at the
time, and was supposedly investigating Bentley for the personal and
financial irregularities that eventually forced him to resign).
Suddenly,
it’s not so hard to envision Moore winning the runoff, as embittered
supporters of the major candidate who finishes third stay home or
gravitate to the judge.
If
Moore does win the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, Alabama
opinion-leaders will have to take a good look at themselves and decide
whether they really want to be represented at the highest levels of
government for six long years by a grim theocrat who was removed from his chief justice position once for insisting on displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom, and then suspended
years later because he refused to accept the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision legalizing same-sex marriage. The man known as the “Ayatollah
of Alabama” isn’t likely to burnish the reputation of his state as a
sane and safe place to do business.
Indeed,
a Moore nomination could even create the possibility of something even
more unimaginable than his election: a viable Democratic candidacy in
the general election scheduled for December 12. Unfortunately, Democrats
have their own unusual problem this year: In all the polls, the
consensus Democratic Establishment candidate, former U.S. Attorney Doug
Jones, is badly trailing
an unknown African-American businessman from Mobile with the fortunate
name of Robert Kennedy Jr. It looks like Jones will at best need a
runoff to gain the nomination, if, er, RFK — with no campaign staff,
treasury, or so far, platform — doesn’t win outright.
Yes, it could be a wild ride for Alabama this year.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Gregg Jarrett: Mueller has shrewdly 'stacked the deck' against Trump
Cheating in a game of cards can
involve “stacking the deck” –arranging the cards in a way that
advantages yourself while ensuring your opponent loses.
It appears that this is the way special counsel Robert Mueller has approached his investigation. Consider the evidence.
Mueller chose, of all places, the venue of
Washington, D.C., to convene a grand jury to examine evidence in the
Russia-Trump investigation. It would be difficult to find a group of
people more hostile to Trump than in the nation’s capital. The
president garnered a scant four percent of the vote there, compared to
Hillary Clinton’s 93 percent. There was already a grand jury convened in Virginia looking into the related Michael Flynn matter and Mueller could have easily presented his case there. But no, that would run the risk of being potentially fair to the president since the jurors there are more apt to be politically bi-partisan. So, from the outset, Mueller dealt himself a high ace on his way to a royal flush.
His next card, a king, is the grand jury process itself. Over time, this 5th Amendment principle has devolved into a one-sided farce, favoring only the prosecution. Defense attorneys are not allowed inside what has become a secret “star chambe,r, permitting no adverse party to challenge the truth and credibility of witnesses through the test of cross-examination. It gets worse.
There are no enforceable rules of evidence during grand jury proceedings, which means that otherwise inadmissible hearsay or double-hearsay is perfectly acceptable. Unauthenticated documents are copacetic. Prosecutors are free to present only incriminating evidence, to the exclusion of exculpatory evidence. All too often grand jurors simply rubber-stamp a prosecutor’s instructions. Thus, the old saying, “you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.”
With no meaningful limits on abusive tactics, the entire system is anathema to fairness. A grand jury is to justice what military music is to music. It bears no resemblance. My apologies to John Philip Sousa, but you get the point. This is precisely why grand juries, which were once in vogue everywhere, have now been banished in all nations except the United States and Liberia.
Mueller’s queen card is the Obama-appointed judge likely overseeing the D.C. grand jury. Under local court rules, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is the one who presides over decisions on grand jury subpoenas, witness testimony, any executive privilege and possible 5th Amendment assertions. In the past, she worked closely with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and one of Mueller’s top staff lawyers, Andrew Weissman.
Indeed, Howell and Weissman co-authored a scholarly law article that explored obstruction of justice… which just happens to be part of what Mueller is reportedly investigating in the Russia-Trump case. Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast uncovered this nugget. A conflict of interest? Surely. But don’t expect a judicial recusal anytime soon, even though Judge Howell teaches ethics at American University’s law school.
Dealing himself a jack, Mueller has chosen to hire for his staff an unconscionable number of lawyers of the liberal persuasion. Out of 14 lawyers retained thus far, eight have donated to Democrats while none appear to have contributed a nickel to Republicans. Several of Mueller’s lawyers gave generously to “Hillary for America,”, while another actually represented the Clinton Foundation. The special counsel could have selected a more balanced team devoid of partisan ties, but he deliberately chose not to do so.
Finally, Mueller is holding a precious ten card in the very man who hired him, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General who authored the infamous memo advising President Trump to fire FBI Director James Comey. In any obstruction case arising therefrom, Rosenstein would be a prosecutor, investigator and witness all rolled into one. Despite his glaring conflict of interest, Rosenstein has made no move to step aside. Which means he is unlikely to fire Mueller for his own similar conflict of interest.
As explained in previous columns, Mueller’s close relationship to the key witness, James Comey, creates a disqualifying conflict of interest specifically forbidden by the special counsel law itself (28 CFR 600.7 and 45.2), not to mention the Code of Professional Responsibility which governs the conduct of lawyers. Their record as longtime friends, allies and partners is well-documented and indisputable.
It is inconceivable that Mueller could be completely impartial in judging the credibility of his friend versus the president who fired his friend in deciding whether to pursue a charge of obstruction. Even scrupulously honest people can be influenced in ways they do not recognize themselves. This is exactly why there are legal and ethical rules that demand recusal based on prior relationships. Even the appearance of a conflict is sufficient for recusal. But Mueller remains on the job.
And so, the deck has been shrewdly stacked against President Trump. Robert Mueller has dealt from the bottom of the deck. There is a lot at stake on the table.
The only good hand the president may have requires a trump card called innocence. Does he have it?
There is no bluffing in this game.
Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News Anchor and former defense attorney.
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