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Friday Top News Executive SummaryMedia Editors: Above the Fold
DEEP-STATE SHENANIGANS, PART I: U.S. Attorney John Durham opens criminal inquiry in DOJ’s probe of the Trump-Russia investigators (Washington Examiner)
DEEP-STATE SHENANIGANS, PART II: FBI agents manipulated Michael Flynn file, as scumbag-James Clapper allegedly urged “kill shot,” court filing suggests (Fox News)
Government & Politics
ALL OR NOTHING: “Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that she will not seek re-election to Congress — declaring that she remains ‘fully committed to my offer to serve’ in the White House.” (New York Post)
NEPOTISM: loose lips liar-Joe Biden twice used his position as senator to intervene to boost son Hunter’s lobbying (Washington Examiner)
ET TU, BRUTE? Another House Democrat is under investigation for allegedly sleeping with staffer (The Daily Caller)
DEVOS REPRIMANDED: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos held in contempt for violating judge’s order on student-loan collections (Politico)
Heartland & Economy
CHILD-ABUSE UPDATE: Judge in Texas rules parents must make joint decision in gender-transition case (Fox News)
IP CONCESSION: China gives in on key U.S. trade-war demand regarding intellectual-property rights (Fox Business)
World
A NEVER-ENDING SAGA: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to call for elections after Brexit failure (National Review)
SYRIA SAFEGUARDS: U.S. has a plan to send tanks and troops to “secure” Syria oil fields amid withdrawal (Newsweek)
Closing Arguments
POLICY: The empty absurdity of the Democrats’ dangerous foreign policy (Issues & Insights)
POLICY: Facebook isn’t broken. Government shouldn’t “fix” it. (The Daily Signal)
HUMOR: Trump nixes carbon offsets; demands Californians buy Stupidity Offset Credits instead (Genesius Times)
~The Patriot Post https://patriotpost.us/articles/66361?mailing_id=4608&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4608&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body .
Senator Lindsey Graham Introduces Resolution Condemning liar-Pelosi/scumbag-Schiff “Star-Chamber” Impeachment Fiasco
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Senator Lindsey Graham held a press conference to introduce a Senate Resolution condemning the House of Representatives’ closed-door impeachment investigation... There are currently 46 Republican Senators supporting the Graham-McConnell resolution: 1.Graham 2.McConnell 3.Grassley 4.Thune 5.Blunt 6.Shelby 7.Inhofe 8.Roberts 9.Crapo 10.Cornyn 11.Burr 12.Barrasso 13.Wicker 14.Risch 15.Boozman 16.Moran 17.Toomey 18.Rubio 19.Paul 20.Hoeven 21.Lee 22.Johnson 23.Scott (SC) 24.Fischer 25.Cruz 26.Capito 27.Cassidy 28.Lankford 29.Cotton 30.Daines 31.Perdue 32.Ernst 33.Tillis 34.Rounds 35.Sasse 36.Young 37.Kennedy 38.Hyde-Smith 39.Blackburn 40.Cramer 41.McSally 42.Braun 43.Hawley 44.Scott (FL) 45.Portman and 46.Sullivan. While the resolution is easily blocked by any democrat senator; what is important is to get senators on-the-record. This is an indicator of who will vote to impeach the President should articles ever reach the Senate. There are 53 Republican Senators and 47 Democrats. If your senator is not on the list supporting the Graham-McConnell resolution, it might be a good idea to STAND and demand to know why? When we see that justice is measured, not by due process, but by compulsion; when we see that in order to invoke our right to due process, we need to obtain permission from those who rebuke the constitution; when we see that justice is determined by those who leverage, not in law, but in politics; when we see that representatives get power over individual liberty by graft and by scheme, and our representatives don’t protect us against them, but protect them against us; when we see corruption holding influence and individual liberty so easily dispatched and nullified; we may well know that our freedom too is soon to perish…
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Current, Former NSC Staff Slated
for Impeachment Interviews
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
{ usnews.com } ~ The three House committees leading an impeachment investigation are scheduled to hear from current and former staff of the National Security Council next week... according to four people familiar with the inquiry's schedule. Closed-door interviews are tentatively scheduled with Charles Kupperman, a deputy to national security adviser John Bolton, and Tim Morrison, NSC's current Russia and Europe director. Kupperman and Bolton have both left the White House. The four people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential schedule. The Democrats are investigating President Donald Trump's requests that Ukraine conduct certain investigations and whether the requests were in exchange for military aid. Trump requested the probes on a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and both Kupperman and Morrison may have been listening into the call because of their positions in the White House. Kupperman's interview is scheduled for Monday, and Morrison's is set for Thursday. If Morrison appears for the interview, he will be the first White House aide to testify even as Trump has said his administration would not cooperate. Morrison could be a key witness. Top Ukraine diplomat William Taylor told lawmakers in his deposition Tuesday about phone calls he had with Morrison that described the Ukraine effort. In a detailed opening statement, Taylor said Morrison told him in an August phone call that the "president doesn't want to provide any assistance at all," speaking about the military aid that had already been authorized by Congress...
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Democrats Flout Congressional Procedure
To Keep Impeachment Inquiry Secret
by AMBER ATHEY
{ dailycaller.com } ~ House Democrats have repeatedly flouted normal congressional procedures in their attempts to conduct the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump behind closed doors... sources tell the Daily Caller. Three individuals who are intimately familiar with House procedures expressed dismay at several tactics used by Democrats, including the use of a SCIF — a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility — to conduct interviews, the issuing of subpoenas to force depositions, and the lack of a vote to give official authority to the committees charged with conducting the impeachment proceedings. These sources — who wished to be anonymous in order to speak candidly about the inquiry — told the Caller that these actions show that the Democrats are more concerned about optics than proper procedure or transparency. “There are no rules. House Intel Chairman scumbag-Adam Schiff is making up the rules as he goes along,” a GOP aide said. House Republicans showed up to a closed deposition with Defense Department official Laura Cooper on Wednesday, demanding Democrats open the process to the public. Some of the congressmen reportedly entered the SCIF with their cell phones, a violation of national security protocol. West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney, who publicized a phone call he made from the SCIF, later claimed he had done so from a secure line and not a cell phone. A former Oversight Committee counsel brushed off concerns about potential security violations, instead raising questions about why Democrats are conducting proceedings in a SCIF in the first place. The information being given in the depositions is not classified, as evidenced by the selective leaks to the press. Democrats would not be putting out the opening testimony of Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor, for example, if he were sharing classified information, the counsel reasoned. Further, an interview that could stray into classified territory would still start in a normal setting, and would only be moved to a SCIF if deemed absolutely necessary...
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Mo Brooks to Democrats
on Impeachment: ‘Do It in Public’
by KYLE MORRIS
{ breitbart.com } ~ Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) targeted Democrats and their impeachment efforts on Wednesday as he delivered a short speech before he... and several other members of Congress, stormed the secret room where House Intelligence Committee Chairman scumbag-Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been operating the closed-door impeachment inquiry. “By golly, if they’re going to do it, do it in public,” Brooks said. “Don’t hide it from the American people. Show your face where we can all see the travesty that you are trying to foist on America & the degradation of our Republic that you are engaged in.” Brooks added, “We demand open proceedings. The American people deserve nothing less. Their representatives in Congress deserve nothing less.”The storming of the secret room by Republican members of Congress was led by House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). As reported by Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong, “The Republican lawmakers attempted to enter the room where scumbag-Schiff has been bringing in current and former State Department officials to testify on whether President Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine in exchange for alleged help with the 2020 election.”
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Here’s Why Californians Pay Way
More for Gasoline Than Everyone Else
by Chris White
{ dailysignal.com } ~ A gallon of gas costs more in California than in the rest of the country for a variety of reasons, but government regulations, rising house costs, and steep taxes are playing a significant role... California Gov. scumbag-Gavin Newsom asked his attorney general Monday to investigate oil companies for conspiring to keep gas prices artificially high. Yet years of tax increases, pricey fees, and a lack of infrastructure in California are more to blame than a vast conspiracy concocted by big oil. The Democratic governor is facing heat as prices go up and Californians lose power.Former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis of California has experience with such recriminations. He was recalled in 2003 for mishandling the state’s budget, increasing California’s car registration fees, high gas prices, and rolling blackouts. It was only the second such recall election in U.S. history. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the special election in November of that same year. A similar situation is unfolding in 2019. The price of a gallon of gas in California is slowly increasing. The average cost in the state has skyrocketed to $4.18 while drivers in other areas are paying as much as $5 per gallon, CNN Business reported on Oct. 8. California’s gas taxes are already some of the highest in the country, so the price increases are adding insult to injury. scumbag-Newsom’s predecessor, former Gov. Jerry Brown of California, signed a law in 2017 imposing a 12 cents a gallon increase on citizens and raising the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon. It also implements an additional charge to annual vehicle license fees ranging from $25 to $175, depending on the car’s value. Brown sold the bill as a way to fix the state’s roads, but reports show the bulk of the money has not gone to street upkeep. California’s Transportation Agency announced in April 2018 grants to recipients for some $2.6 billion of the transit funding raised through the law. Critics railed against Brown’s measure. Opponents of the law managed to place a voter referendum on the 2018 November ballot to repeal the gas tax. It would have reportedly lowered the price of gasoline in the state to $2 a gallon by 2021, Politico reported in 2018. The initiative failed, the tax stayed in place, and Brown managed to weather the storm without much blowback. It remains to be seen if scumbag-Newsom can do the same...
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/10/24/heres-why-californians-pay-way-more-for-gasoline-than-everyone-else/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-why-californians-pay-way-more-for-gasoline-than-everyone-else&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkRjellUa3lPRFk0TXpNdyIsInQiOiJYbWNKUjdUcVBxWjV4bFpic3JJcHZGTmJRSDNibHlwdzRmQWJEemV0bnZ1dGdDcU1CaVRuK0h4RGJSZjZnZUFnYkU3bUlyODdlQUs2U1Q0M3lzM0F2T2hsVXROQnFoMmd3bnFROFpoZ1dIVFJNaTVDXC9SZ2cyekVvZ2tGQklsZzEifQ%3D%3D .
Majority of Americans find fault
with 1st Amendment
by wnd.com ~ A majority of Americans are happy to have restrictions on speech imposed on America – including rewriting the First Amendment... if the speech to be restricted is called "hate speech," a new poll finds. The Campaign for Free Speech said its new poll shows "51% of Americans think the First Amendment is outdated and should be rewritten."The First Amendment protects those inalienable rights of free speech, assembly, freedom of religion and such. For the millennials, considered to be those people born in the 1980s or 1990s, 59% were willing to lose free speech. The poll explained it didn't define "hate speech" but left that up to each respondent, and found some stunning results. "Half think the punishment for 'hate speech' should include possible jail time, while the rest think it should just be a ticket and a fine," the report said. The poll said, significantly, "80% don't actually know what the First Amendment really protects. Those polled believed this statement is true: 'The First Amendment allows anyone to say their opinion no matter what, and they are protected by law from any consequences of saying those thoughts or opinions.'" "It's actually not true. The First Amendment prevents the government from punishing you for your speech with exceptions such as yelling 'fire' in a crowded area to induce panic," the report said. "But more broadly, freedom of speech does not mean you are protected from social consequences for your speech. You may have the right to say something extreme or hateful and not get thrown in jail, but others in society have the right to shun you," the report said...
https://www.wnd.com/2019/10/majority-americans-find-fault-1st-amendment/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=wnd&utm_campaign=breaking&utm_content=breaking .
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The United Nations' UN-acceptable CorruptionLewis Morris: The recent addition of Venezuela to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) is yet another reminder about how ineffective and morally bankrupt the world body has become. The leftist dictatorship has jailed thousands and persecuted thousands more for not blindly following the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, who has turned down economic aid from other nations, presumably to teach his upstart populace a lesson.
Maduro’s government is no longer recognized as legitimate by the United States and close to 50 other countries. With this large and international group aligned against it, it seems hard to believe that Venezuela would win a seat on the HRC. But Libya and Sudan also received enough votes to join the Council this go-round, so it appears anything is possible — except common sense.
Venezuela received heavy support from Russia, China, and Cuba in its HRC bid, partly because it’s a fellow socialist state that is allied against the United States. Venezuela is also in deep to these countries to keep it on life support — they’re all taking discounted oil from Venezuela in exchange for medical supplies and food.
While on the HRC, Venezuela can be counted on to do everything it can to hide its government’s abuses of human rights. Venezuela, Sudan, and Libya all have horrible human-rights records. If the UN were even remotely a respectable organization, it would be completely against the rules for such a nation to sit on the Human Rights Council. It’s this hypocrisy that led President Donald Trump to withdraw America from the HRC last year. It’s also why the same group of rogue states prove themselves a menace year in, year out.
Another way to clean up the HRC is to change the voting procedure to an open ballot. Members of the UN General Assembly voted by secret ballot in this most recent HRC election, meaning no nation is accountable or answerable for its vote. When choosing the members of a world body that is tasked with protecting those who cannot protect themselves, voting parties should be required to vote publicly.
Yet finding support for even these basic reforms is next to impossible. Venezuela is one of a group of developing nations called the Non-Aligned Movement, which comprises a comfortable majority of the total UN membership. They may be called “non-aligned,” but these nations definitely act with a single voice when it comes to advancing their own causes, no matter how undemocratic they may be.
The United Nations clearly does not represent the best interests of the world. This is evident in the fact that Israel is considered a perpetual threat to human rights, while nations that are a proven threat to their own people (and Israel) serve on the HRC. It is evident in the crimes committed by UN peacekeepers whose crimes against neighboring states are buried in the press. It is also evident in sweeping UN treaties like the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that seek to strip sovereign rights from U.S. citizens while turning a blind eye to the nations that actually are breaking international laws.
President Trump has refused to play along with the UN’s anti-American, anti-freedom agenda. He has pulled out of the ATT, and he has pulled out of the HRC, but what’s next? Could America pull out of the UN altogether? And what would happen if we did? It certainly wouldn’t make the UN a better organization. And it arguably wouldn’t make our country safer.
It seems that the only reason for staying in the UN is to provide a counterbalance of sanity to keep it from going completely down the drain. But is that argument really all that compelling? ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/66258?mailing_id=4601&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4601&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body
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