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The Democratic chairs of three House committees subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday for documents related to Ukraine that they say pertain to the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees initially requested a laundry list of documents on Sept. 9 and sent a follow-up letter on Monday. "Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the House's impeachment inquiry," wrote Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Foreign Affairs chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.; and Oversight chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-pompeo-ukraine-impeachment Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
Despite President Trump's accomplishments, Democrats only focused on taking him down.
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MSNBC's Matthews on whistleblower complaint: Dems don't need more hearings, 'they've got him'9/26/2019
As he read the contents of the whistleblower complaint, MSNBC's Chris Matthews declared Thursday that Democrats have the evidence they need to impeach President Trump.
The complaint alleged that Trump used the "power of his office to solicit interference" from a foreign country in the 2020 election -- and that White House officials subsequently tried to "lock down" records of that phone call. "He sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader, to take action to help the president's 2020 reelection bid. There it is, that line. He did what he's been accused of doing. It's impeachable," said Matthews, reading from the complaint, along with fellow MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. "It's a moment, and Democrats, if they've got brains, and any political savvy– will grab this moment. No more hearings, no more subpoenas, no more contempt citations... they've got him." The rough transcript of the July call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was released a day earlier by the White House. It confirmed that Trump sought an investigation from Ukraine into the Biden family, though it did not show the president explicitly leveraging U.S. aid as had initially been suggested in some media reports. But the whistleblower complaint, released by the Democrat-led House Intelligence Committee ahead of testimony from Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, goes further, though it is not a first-hand account of the call. The whistleblower, who remains anonymous, says in the complaint that White House officials who heard the call were "deeply disturbed" by it, and that White House lawyers discussed how to handle the call "because of the likelihood, in the officials' retelling, that they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain." "In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple U.S. officials that senior White House officials had intervened to 'lock down' all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced -- as is customary -- by the White House Situation Room," the complaint says. https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-matthews-whistleblower-complaint-impeachment-dems-got-him
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A defiant President Trump said during a press conference in New York Wednesday that he wants "full transparency" not only over the "so-called whistleblower" allegations leveled against him, but also "from Joe Biden and his son Hunter on the millions of dollars that have been quickly and easily taken out of Ukraine and China." Trump additionally demanded "transparency from Democrats who went to Ukraine and attempted to force the new president ... to do things that they wanted under the form of political threat. They threatened him if he didn't do things -- now that's what they're accusing me of, but I didn't do it." The aggressive move signaled that the White House would seek to turn the tables against Democrats who have initiated an impeachment inquiry, following the whistleblower's complaint that Trump had improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden. Zelensky, speaking across from Trump just an hour earlier, told reporters he did not feel "pushed" at all in his conversations with the president. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-holds-presser-amid-explosive-transcript-release-dems-impeachment-push Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
The White House on Wednesday released a transcript of President Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showing he sought a review of Biden family dealings in the country — but the document does not show Trump explicitly leveraging military aid as part of a quid pro quo, as Democrats have suggested in pressing forward with impeachment. The document, declassified by Trump a day earlier, indicates that the call – which Trump made from the White House residence -- took place July 25 from 9:03 a.m. to 9:33 a.m. A notation on the memo says it does not represent a "verbatim transcript" but is based on "notes and recollections" of those listening and memorializing the call. It is still presented in transcript form. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-call-transcript-shows-trump-sought-biden-probe-but-made-no-mention-of-us-aid Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
WH to release document showing intel community watchdog found whistleblower had 'political bias'9/24/2019 A senior Trump administration official told Fox News late Tuesday that the administration will release a document showing the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower who leveled an explosive accusation against President Trump concerning his talks with Ukraine had “political bias” in favor of “a rival candidate” of the president. The official did not identify the name of the rival candidate. Separately, a senior administration official told Fox News the White House is working as quickly as it can to release to Congress the whistleblower complaint involving President Trump's conversations with the leader of Ukraine, as long as it's legally possible. The news came just hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry by alleging that the administration was hiding the complaint. The senior administration official told Fox News that the White House had nothing to hide, that there has been no wrongdoing, and that the White House's general position has been that it will make everything possible available to Congress or the public regarding Trump's conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint to the intelligence community's inspector general. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry-whistleblower-complaint-release-congress-white-house Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the formalization of an impeachment inquiry into President Trump Tuesday evening, saying "the president must be held accountable" for his "betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections." The speaker effectively endorsed the process, which to some degree has already been underway, after facing fresh pressure from inside the caucus to act. The move could help Democrats' disputed arguments in court that impeachment proceedings were in fact in progress, which could entitle Congress to obtain additional documents. Invoking the "darkest days of the American Revolution," Pelosi called on lawmakers to honor their constitutional oath to protect the country "from all enemies, foreign and domestic." Pelosi specifically charged that the administration had violated the law by not turning over a whistleblower complaint concerning Trump's July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Citing testimony that the director of national intelligence was blocking the release of that complaint, she said: "This is a violation of law. The law is unequivocal." Please click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-expected-to-announce-formal-impeachment-inquiry-against-trump-at-5-pm-et Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is challenging President Trump in the Republican primaries, proclaimed Monday that the president committed treason through his controversial phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- adding that the punishment for treason is death. The statement drew a swift rebuke from the Trump campaign. “The media’s affliction with Trump Derangement Syndrome has driven them into an actual discussion of the proposed execution of the President of the United States,” communications director Tim Murtaugh told Fox News. “In severe cases of TDS such as this, immediate consultation with a physician is recommended.” Weld was responding to claims that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden -- the son of former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden -- and threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine as leverage. Trump has denied wrongdoing. “Talk about pressuring a foreign country to interfere with and control a U.S. election, it couldn’t be clearer. And that’s not just undermining democratic institutions, that is treason," Weld said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "It’s treason pure and simple. And the penalty for treason under the U.S. Code is death. That’s the only penalty.” Weld then referred to impeachment as a possible alternative to a criminal case, stating, “The penalty under the Constitution is removal from office, and that might look like a pretty good alternative to the president if he could work out a plea deal.” Weld’s mention of the death penalty later ignited a conversation about the “legal framework” of the claim. Weld again said, “The only penalty for treason is death, it’s spelled out in the statute.” While the U.S. Code does list the death penalty as a punishment for treason, Weld’s claim that it is the only penalty is false. Treason is covered by 18. U.S. Code § 2381, which says that a person guilty of treason “shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” When Fox News asked Weld’s campaign about this, they did not immediately respond. Weld's comments came during a joint television appearance with the two other longshot Republicans challenging Trump in next year's primary: former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh. They have joined together to protest the canceling of GOP presidential primaries in some states in 2020. Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
MÉRIDA, Mexico – The Nobel Prize Committee is just weeks away from announcing its 2019 recipient, months after it surfaced that multiple people nominated President Trump for the esteemed prize. “I believe that much more can and should happen. So far, superficial messages have been sent to the world but real progress, one doesn’t see it,” said former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, who won the award in 2016 for orchestrating a historic peace agreement with the country’s violent revel group, known as FARC, following decades of conflict. “We need to see more complete progress.” Please click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/world/donald-trump-nobel-peace-prize-changes-laureates Please click on the "Heart" below to recommend the discussion.
Ukraine foreign minister defends Trump's call with Zelenskiy: 'I think there was no pressure'9/21/2019 A top Ukrainian official on Saturday defended President Trump's July phone call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during which Trump reportedly urged authorities in Kiev to investigate dealings in the Eastern European county by the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
“I know what the conversation was about and I think there was no pressure,” Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko told the Hromadske media outlet. "There was talk, conversations are different, leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist. This conversation was long, friendly, and it touched on many questions, sometimes requiring serious answers." Zelenskiy's office has not commented on the allegations. Trump and Zelenskiy are expected to meet in person at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-trump-zelensky-biden The controversy over President Trump’s mysterious call with a foreign leader that prompted a whistleblower complaint ratcheted up Friday afternoon as a new report said it involved Trump asking the president of Ukraine numerous times in a single phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.
Meanwhile, after Trump called the whistleblower a partisan and dismissed the allegation as “another political hack job,” Democrats in Congress accused the president of trying to intimidate whistleblowers and demanded the administration hand over the complaint and a transcript of the call, while 2020 hopefuls renewed calls for impeachment. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-details-emerge-on-trump-ukraine-call-as-dems-clash-with-white-house-on-complaint
President Trump is visiting the Otay Mesa border wall site over a year after his original March 2018 trip to review prototypes for his most well-known campaign promise.
Trump blitzes into California for major $15M fundraising push, irritating celebrities, activists9/17/2019 President Trump sent liberal California activists into a tizzy on Tuesday, as he executed a lunch-dinner-breakfast-lunch fundraising blitz expected to scoop up $15 million from wealthy Republicans in the state in the span of just two days.
A firestorm among Hollywood elites erupted last month as soon as Trump's Emmy-week visit to the Golden State was announced, with "Will and Grace" star Debra Messing suggesting that anyone attending the fundraising events should be named and shamed publicly. That prompted Trump to call Messing a failed actress dabbling in racism and McCarthyism. The president's undeterred push westward came a day after he headlined a fiery rally in New Mexico, long a reliably liberal state that the Trump campaign has hoped to turn red in 2020. Trump has been looking to find the next Wisconsin or Michigan — states that Democrats generally have won in presidential elections but that could surprise under certain conditions, as they did in 2016. Also on the Trump team's shortlist in the new strategy: Nevada, New Hampshire and Minnesota. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-california-fundraising-push-celebrities-activists Kavanaugh 'must be impeached,' top Dems say, as new uncorroborated allegation surfaces Top 2020 Democratic contenders Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Julian Castro announced on Sunday that Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh "must be impeached," after a new, uncorroborated and disputed allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh surfaced in a weekend New York Times piece.
The revitalized, longshot push to get Kavanaugh removed from the high court comes as Democrats' apparent effort to impeach President Trump has largely stalled. Trump, for his part, suggested Sunday that Kavanaugh should sue for defamation. The Times piece by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, adapted from their forthcoming book, asserted that a Kavanaugh classmate, Clinton-connected nonprofit CEO Max Stier, "saw Mr. Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student." Click the link for the whole article https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kavanaugh-must-be-impeached-harris-says-as-new-uncorroborated-allegation-surfaces US attorney recommends proceeding with charges against McCabe, as DOJ rejects last-ditch appeal9/12/2019 U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu has recommended moving forward with charges against Andrew McCabe, Fox News has learned, as the Justice Department rejects a last-ditch appeal from the former top FBI official and current CNN contributor.
McCabe -- the former deputy and acting director of the FBI -- appealed the decision of the U.S. attorney for Washington all the way up to Jeffrey Rosen, the deputy attorney general, but he rejected that request, according to a person familiar with the situation. The potential charges relate to DOJ inspector general findings against him regarding misleading statements concerning a Hillary Clinton-related investigation. Click the link to read the whole article. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-attorney-recommends-proceeding-with-charges-against-mccabe-as-doj-rejects-last-ditch-appeal Supreme Court allows Trump asylum restrictions to take effect, ending 9th Circuit injunctions9/11/2019 In a major win for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an order late Wednesday ending all injunctions that had blocked the White House's ban on asylum for anyone trying to enter the U.S. by traveling through a third country, such as Mexico, without seeking protection there.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – long a liberal bastion that has been aggressively reshaped into a more moderate court by the Trump administration – handed the White House a partial victory in the case on Monday by ending the nationwide injunction. But the 9th Circuit kept the injunction alive within the territorial boundaries of the circuit, which encompasses California, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Idaho, Guam, Oregon and Washington. The Supreme Court's order was not a final ruling on the policy's merits but does allow the policy to take effect nationwide, including in the 9th Circuit, while the case makes its way through the lower courts. Click the link to read the whole article https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-green-lights-trumps-immigration-asylum-ban Andy Puzder: August jobs report showed a strong economy — and that's very bad for Democrats9/8/2019 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/andy-puzder-august-jobs-strong-economy
The new jobs report is in and the verdict is clear — no one should believe a single word the Democrats say about the economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of people employed in August increased by a very impressive 590,000, pushing total employment to a record-high of nearly 157.9 million. The percentage of the population that was employed rose to 60.9 percent, the highest percentage since December 2008. As a result, despite over 570,000 people joining the labor force, the unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent, near a 50-year low. Unemployment among African Americans and Hispanics also hit all-time lows last month, proving that the ongoing economic boom is still creating unprecedented opportunity for all U.S. workers. PRIVATE SECTOR HIRING REBOUNDS IN AUGUST WITH 195,000 JOBS ADDED Average hourly earnings increased at a healthy clip as well, growing by 3.2 percent since last August. It was the 13th month in a row that wages increased by at least 3 percent year over year. That’s tremendous news for American workers. Prior to this streak, wages last increased at least 3 percent in April of 2009. Wage increases were better for workers than managers. While the hourly wage increased 2 percent for managers, it increased an impressive 3.5 percent for workers. For workers earning the average hourly rate ($23.59) and working 40 hours per week, that meant a raise of nearly $1,650 for the year. And, that’s before the impact of reduced individual tax rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which saved the average U.S. worker approximately $1,400 in federal income taxes in 2018. With more money in their pockets, consumers are spending. Keep in mind, consumer spending accounted for 68 percent of U.S. GDP in 2018. The imminent recession that Democrats keep predicting requires two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. With more people working, making more money, and taking home more of what they earn, it’s no surprise that in the second quarter of this year consumer spending increased 4.7 percent, the biggest quarterly increase since 2014 and the second biggest since 2003. Consumer spending surged again in July, a preliminary indication of third quarter economic strength. Those are great results in any context, but the magnitude and durability of this economic expansion is especially remarkable in light of the gloomy economic consensus that existed before President Trump took office — during what even Obama economist Larry Summers referred to as "the age of secular stagnation." Just before the 2016 presidential election, when President Obama’s economic defeatism was still the order of the day, the Congressional Budget Office 10-year economic projections predicted the economy would add about 2 million new jobs from the end of 2016 through the end of 2019. Thanks to the shift to a common-sense, pro-growth agenda, however, we’ve actually gained an impressive 6.1 million new jobs since end of 2016 — more than 2 million in just the last 12 months, including 130,000 new jobs in August. How have we emerged from the age of secular stagnation? The Trump administration made it easier for businesses to hire and invest by slashing hundreds of job-killing regulations that had stifled entrepreneurial-ism and by reducing corporate taxes to a level that encourages businesses to invest in America creating more jobs, more competition for employees, increased wages and broad based prosperity. Regrettably, there are some who still refuse to give President Trump the credit he deserves for rebuilding our economic engine. Many point to the current trade war with China as slowing business investment. This may be slowing what would otherwise be more impressive economic growth, but slower growth is still growth and far different than recession. The President is taking a stand against China’s unfair and criminal trade practices that other presidents should have taken 30 years ago. He is acting for American’s future as opposed to political gain today. He deserves our support. Nonetheless, the fact that his opponents are critical of his actions is no surprise. Since his very first day in office, the Democrat-media complex has made it their mission to discredit President Trump in anticipation of the next presidential election — even when that meant actively rooting for a recession. In recent weeks, the mainstream media have been making daily predictions of economic catastrophe, with a telling focus on whether it will occur in time for the election. Just days ahead of the August jobs report, CNBC published an article digesting "a list of recession signals that are flashing red." A few weeks earlier, The New York Times published an entire article speculating about "how the recession of 2020 could happen," despite acknowledging that we “may well avoid one for the foreseeable future." Sadly for Democrats and the media, the August jobs report offered confirmation that the U.S. economy is not going to cooperate with their political strategy. Whichever far-left extremist the Democrats nominate to run in 2020 will have to contend with the daunting prospect of running against an incumbent president who can justifiably claim credit for an economy that put real dollars in voters wallets — as they head to the polls. |
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