Obama administration undermined anti-Hezbollah task force to help secure Iran nuke deal, report says

The Obama administration gave a free pass to Hezbollah’s drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations — some of which were unfolding inside the U.S. — to help ensure the Iran nuclear deal would stay on track, according to a bombshell exposé in Politico Sunday.

An elaborate campaign led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, known as Project Cassandra, reportedly targeted the Lebanese militant group’s criminal activities. But by tossing a string of roadblocks holding back the project, Obama administration officials helped allow the 35-year-old anti-Israel criminal enterprise to evolve into a major global security threat bankrolling terrorist and military operations, the report added.

“This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision,” David Asher, who helped establish Project Cassandra as a Defense Department illicit finance analyst in 2008, told Politico. “They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down.”
When Project Cassandra leaders, who were working out of a DEA’s Counter facility in Chantilly, Virginia, sought an OK for some significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests and financial sanctions, Justice and Treasury Department officials delayed, hindered or rejected their requests, according to Politico.
The red tape halted Project Cassandra’s efforts to curtail top Hezbollah operatives, including one of the world’s biggest cocaine traffickers who was also supplying conventional and chemical weapons used by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad against his own citizens. That operative's code name: the “Ghost.”
Former Obama administration officials told Politico anonymously that their decisions were guided by improving relations with Iran, stalling its nuclear weapons program and freeing four Americans prisoners held by the country. They also denied they “derailed” actions against Hezbollah out of politics.
“There has been a consistent pattern of actions taken against Hezbollah, both through tough sanctions and law enforcement actions before and after the Iran deal,” Kevin Lewis who worked at both the White House and Justice Department during the Obama administration, responded.
Asher said the closer the U.S. got to finalizing the Iran nuclear deal, the more difficult it was to conduct Hezbollah investigations. After President Obama announced the deal in January 2016, Project Cassandra officials were transferred to other assignments.
“The closer we got to the [Iran deal], the more these activities went away,” Asher 49, who speaks fluent Japanese and earned his Ph.D. in international relations from Oxford University, told Politico. “So much of the capability, whether it was special operations, whether it was law enforcement, whether it was [Treasury] designations — even the capacity, the personnel assigned to this mission — it was assiduously drained, almost to the last drop, by the end of the Obama administration.”
Hezbollah was formed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in 1982 to fight Israel’s invasion of Beirut. Under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah, who took over in 1992 after his predecessor, Abbas Mussawi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, the group moved from seeking to implement an Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon to focusing on fighting Israel and integration into Lebanon’s sectarian-based politics.
Nasrallah, now 57, has played a key role in ending a feud among Shiites, focusing attention toward fighting Israel and later expanding the group’s regional reach.

Democrat Predator Cartoons

Keeping 'Dreamers' would cost taxpayers $26B over next 10 years, feds say

Carlos Esteban and other supporters of the DREAM Act and DACA demonstrate outside the White House in Washington, Sept. 5, 2017. 

Allowing 2 million illegal immigrant “Dreamers” to remain in the U.S. would cost taxpayers $25.9 billion over the next decade, the Congresssional Budget Office says in a report released Friday.

Dreamers are the prospective beneficiaries of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year to provide a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.

They would include those who've participated in DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), received temporary protected status, or have fulfilled certain educational requirements.

S. 1615, Dream Act of 2017 https://t.co/ice9hOQyld

— CBO Cost Estimates (@USCBOcostest) December 15, 2017

Under the bill, immigrants who benefited from DACA would be eligible for Medicaid, food stamps, education funding, and various other programs, provided that the applicants meet certain requirements.
Of the 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., some 3.25 million would be eligible for the DREAM Act. However, the report estimates that only 2 million would apply, 1.6 million of whom would earn legal status over the next 10 years. A remaining 1 million would become citizens with that same time period, which would allow them to sponsor relatives, the report states.
The CBO estimates that the bill would increase budget deficits by $25.9 billion over the 2018-2027 period while increasing net revenues by $0.9 billion.

H.R. 3440, Dream Act of 2017 https://t.co/3Iy4xlOmth

— CBO Cost Estimates (@USCBOcostest) December 15, 2017

DACA, originally implemented in 2012 under the Obama administration via executive order, allowed individuals who entered or the United States illegally as minors to receive a two-year period of deferred action and elligibility for a work permit.
By 2017 approximately 800,000 individuals – or Dreamers – were taking advantage of DACA. The Trump administration announced its intention to ax DACA earlier this year.

Hallmark Christmas movies under fire for spreading 'Caucasian cheer'

The Hallmark Channel is a throwback to an age when Hollywood produced family-friendly films and love stories that did not involve leather and whips.

Click here for a free subscription to Todd's newsletter: a must-read for Conservatives! 

The network has earned millions of loyal fans for broadcasting movies that promote the virtues of faith and family -- stories that tug at your heartstrings.
“We are a place you can go and feel good,” Bill Abbott, the chief executive of Crown Media, told the Washington Post.

Would Slate be just as indignant about the ethnic casting habits of BET or Univision or the LGBT-friendly Bravo television network?

“We intentionally branded ourselves as the happy place. Abbott said. “Hallmark’s tagline is ‘the heart of TV.’”
And viewership has skyrocketed since President Trump promised to make America great again – making Hallmark one of the most-watched cable television networks in the nation.
For the sake of full disclosure, I’m a fan of “When Calls The Heart,” produced by my good friend, Brian Bird. It’s a great place to escape from the unhinged rantings of Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon.
But it turns out not everyone is a fan of Hallmark. Click here to watch my Fox Radio commentary on this issue.
Slate published a scathing review of the network -- complaining about its around-the-clock Christmas movies.
"They brim with white heterosexuals who exclusively, emphatically, and endlessly bellow “Merry Christmas” to every lumberjack and labradoodle they pass. They’re centered on beauty-pageant heroines and strong-jawed heroes with white-nationalist haircuts," the Slate writer declared.
There were complaints about the lack of gay people and feminists and Muslims in Hallmark Channel's movies.
Slate also whined about what it called the network's "42 hours of sugary, sexist, preposterously plotted, plot hole–festooned, belligerently traditional, ecstatically Caucasian cheer."
It’s true that most of the stars in Hallmark’s Christmas movies have a fair complexion – but to say it’s a holiday white-out would be inaccurate.
Would Slate be just as indignant about the ethnic casting habits of BET or Univision or the LGBT-friendly Bravo television network?
"The Christmas-down-your-throat bombast, holly-jolly sexism, the characters’ zaniness and unyielding impulsiveness—it’s all very Trumpian behavior," the Slate writer said.
I say better that than the run-of-the mill pornographic debauchery that normally spews out of Hollywood.
Fortunately, for the folks over at Slate there is a perfect solution to their television viewing dilemma – just change the channel.
As for me and my house, we’re going to put an extra log on the fire, pour a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy a very Hallmark Christmas.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.” Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

Australian man accused of brokering North Korea missile sales

Australian police have arrested a Sydney man accused of acting as an agent for North Korea by allegedly attempting to broker sales for Pyongyang including components used in ballistic missiles.

"This case is like nothing we have ever seen on Australia soil," Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters Sunday morning. "This is black market 101."

The suspect has been identified as a 59-year-old naturalized Australian citizen who was born in South Korea. He was arrested Saturday and charged over two transactions that were unsuccessful.

Video

South Korea prepares for Olympics amid threats from North

"But we estimate that if these trades were successful, we're talking tens of millions of dollars," Gaughan said.
Police allege the man was generating tens of millions of dollars for the Pyongyang regime by arranging the sale of missiles, components and expertise from North Korea to other international entities, and was trying to arrange the transfer of coal from the country to Indonesia and Vietnam.
"This man was acting as a loyal agent for North Korea who believed he was acting to serve some higher patriotic purpose," Gaughan said. "I think at the end of the day he would sell whatever he could to make money back for the North Korean government."

Video

Tillerson walks back comments about talks with North Korea

Gaughan added that there was no evidence any weapons or components passed through Australia and said the governments of Indonesia and Vietnam -- or authorities in those countries -- were not involved.

"We’re alleging all the activity occurred offshore," Gaughan said.
The suspect is the first person charged under Australia's Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence. However, Gaughan said the investigation was ongoing and more charges were expected.
Police started investigating the man after a tip-off from another international agency on another matter, Gaughan said, adding that the man's activities also involved commodities including oil and gemstones.
Despite international sanctions, cash-strapped North Korea last month test-fired its most powerful missile that may be able to target the U.S. mainland.

NBC paid off producer who accused Chris Matthews of harassment, report says

Chris Matthews, pictured here in April, has hosted MSNBC's 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' since 1997.

NBC paid thousands of dollars to an assistant producer on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" nearly two decades ago after she brought a sexual harassment complaint against the longtime host, The Daily Caller reported Saturday.

The website, citing two sources, reported that NBC paid the woman $40,000 to settle her claim against Matthews in 1999. An NBC spokesperson told The Daily Caller the network paid a smaller, unspecified amount as part of a severance package.

The woman complained to executives that Matthews, now 71, had made inappropriate comments to her and made inappropriate jokes about her to others.
An MSNBC spokesman told The Daily Caller that Matthews had been slapped with a formal reprimand at the time the woman made her complaint. The website reported that the network decided that the complaints were "inappropriate and juvenile," but were not intended as propositions.
Matthews has hosted "Hardball" on MSNBC since 1997. He also hosted the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show" between 2002 and 2013 and has authored eight books, most recently a biography of Robert Kennedy.

The Christmas Tax Man Cartoons

Maria Bartiromo: Why tax reform matters so much

Tax reform: The key issues that could derail the bill

Both House and Senate lawmakers are working to make a deal on tax reform. Here is a look at the key issues, from health care to child credit tax relief, that could derail its passage

I’m not in the habit of giving stock tips or making market calls. I’ve never claimed to be an investment strategist. But after spending years reporting on business and finance, I was convinced on the night of Nov. 8, 2016, that the conventional market wisdom was way off target.
As the night wore on and equity traders began to grasp that Donald Trump would become president, stock markets around the world started selling off. In the U.S., trading in S&P 500 futures would eventually be halted after a 5% decline. After midnight, Paul Krugman of the New York Times opined: “If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.”
I didn’t see it that way. For years I’d been hearing anguished people at companies large and small bemoan the growing federal burden of taxes and regulations. Now the U.S. would have a president who intended to reduce this hardship and prioritize economic growth.
When I sat down around 10:30 on election night for a Fox News panel discussion, Dow futures were down about 700 points. Markets like certainty; it was understandable that some investors were selling. Mr. Trump seemed to present more uncertainty than Hillary Clinton, who was essentially promising a continuation of the Obama administration. Mr. Trump’s talk about ripping up the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example, created big unknowns and potentially significant risks.
Keep reading Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo's column in the Wall Street Journal.

Maria Bartiromo joined FOX Business Network (FBN) as Global Markets Editor in January 2014.  She is the anchor ofOpening Bell with Maria Bartiromo on FBN (weekdays from 9-11 AM/ET) and Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo (Sundays at 10 AM/ET) on FOX News Channel (FNC).