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Thursday Top News Executive SummaryMedia Editors: Above the Fold
LACKLUSTER DEBATE: A dull debate Wednesday night helps the front-runners (National Review)
NO OTHER AVENUE: Embattled UAW President Gary Jones resigns after GM sues rival over union bribery (MarketWatch)
Government & Politics
NOTHING TO SEE HERE… Ukraine widens criminal investigation into loose lips liar-Biden-connected Burisma (The Daily Wire)
SPEAKING OF CORRUPTION: DNA test of love child confirms Hunter Biden cheated on his dead brother’s widow (PJ Media)
SOLIDARITY: U.S. House passes Hong Kong rights bills; Trump is expected to sign (Reuters)
National Security
FEDS TOO SLOW TO RESPOND: Senate report: U.S. taxpayers have unwittingly funded China’s economy and military for decades (The Daily Wire)
TIP OF THE ICEBERG: DOJ inspector general finds “numerous issues” with FBI management of secret sources (Washington Examiner)
Culture
RAINBOW MAFIA: Illinois school district gives transgender students unrestricted access to bathrooms (The Daily Signal)
MIND-BOGGLING: Children are being locked away, alone and terrified, in schools across Illinois. Often, it’s against the law. (Chicago Tribune)
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: Jussie Smollett files suit against Chicago for “malicious prosecution” (National Review)
Closing Arguments
POLICY: A pro-growth alternative to the Left’s tax-hike agenda (The Daily Signal)
POLICY: Setting the record straight on the value of U.S. military aid to Ukraine (The Daily Signal)
“HUMOR”: Poll: Majority want impeachment hearings to continue as long as possible so Congress will be too busy to meddle with our lives (The Babylon Bee)
~The Patriot Post https://patriotpost.us/articles/66923?mailing_id=4677&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4677&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body .
Day Five Impeachment Hearings
Fiona Hill and David Holmes
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Today begins day five of the House impeachment hearings. Testimony today will include Fiona Hill, President Trump’s top adviser on Russia; and David Holmes, a very sketchy State Department fellow... whose wife, Stephanie Holmes, also works at the State Dept; holding a previous assignment with former Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovitch. The foreign service office is one big internecine anti-MAGA network of mutually aligned career interests, and hard-core political operatives. The fiasco starts at 9:00am EDT.
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Ken Starr: Witnesses Haven’t Accused
Trump of Breaking the Law
by Paul Crookston
{ freebeacon.com } ~ Former independent counsel Ken Starr said Tuesday that the impeachment hearings have yet to produce any compelling testimony from witnesses accusing President Donald Trump of any unlawful acts... Starr, who conducted the investigation that led to President scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton's impeachment, said that impeaching Trump based on the evidence offered in the opening days of the hearing would be an "extravagant" move. "What we hear is ‘improper,'" Starr said about witnesses' testimony so far. "I've never heard the suggestion ‘unlawful.' I think again the president's judgment is being called into question—whether this is wise or not, but not a crime." Starr criticized House Intelligence Committee chairman scumbag/liar-Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) for acting as a prosecutor rather than an evenhanded leader of his committee. "The chairman has chosen to be chief prosecutor," Starr said. "He long ago left the idea of being the fair and balanced chair of the committee, and he uses terms such as bribery and extortion. But we're not hearing that from the witnesses." Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked Starr about ranking Republican Devin Nunes's (Calif.) approach at the hearings. "What he's driving at is there really is no crime," Starr replied. "This is in the nature, as we've been saying, of an oversight hearing. Do we like the president's style? Was it an appropriate thing for him to do? And reasonable people can say he should not have done that. Perfectly reasonable conclusion. But the idea that this is an impeachable offense is to me quite extreme, it's extravagant." Starr said congressional Democrats were wielding their impeachment power as a political weapon...
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scumbag/liar-Schiff’s Star Witness Turns On Democrats – He Just Tore Down scumbag/liar-Adam’s Impeachment Foundation
By Jon Brenner
{ gopdailybrief.com } ~ We are watching the left’s impeachment case against Trump unravel at the seams—just look!... From day one, what have we been hearing from scumbag/liar-Schiff and his Democrats? That President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his rival by withholding aid. It’s what they call a “quid-pro-quo.” Or bribery. Or whatever phrase they cook up today. The problem? The transcript of the call shows Trump never pressured them. And the Left’s own star witness just dropped a bombshell with one quick statement. Democrats accidentally undermined their own case against President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning when one of their star witnesses, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, confirmed Ukraine felt no pressure from the administration… Goldman: “Did you ever hear from any Ukrainians, either in the United States or Ukraine about any pressure that they felt to do these investigations that President Trump demanded?” Vindman: “Not that I can recall.” Wait a minute, what? Goldman asked Vindman if the Ukrainians ever felt pressure from Trump over his request for an investigation? Vindman clearly says… drum roll please “Not that I can recall.” That is fancy lawyer talk for “no.” Not once did anyone from Ukraine tell Vindman—a “star” anti-Trump witness—that they felt pressure from President Trump. Um… without pressure, there can be no quid-pro-quo or bribery, or whatever they want to say...
https://gopdailybrief.com/star-witness-schiff-impeachment-turns/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pjnewsletter .
U.S. Deploys Additional Troops
to Middle East to Counter Iran
by Adam Kredo
{ freebeacon.com } ~ The Trump administration informed Congress on Tuesday that it has deployed 3,000 additional troops to the Middle East to help combat the growing threat posed by Iran... The troop deployment comes as Iran and its regional terror proxies wage attacks on Israel and U.S. interests in the region. Tehran also has attacked oil infrastructure, including in Saudi Arabia, where the American forces will be stationed. "United States Armed Forces have been deployed to the Middle East to protect United States interests and enhance force protection in the region against hostile action by Iran and its proxy forces," President Donald Trump informed Congress in a letter. "Iran has continued to threaten the security of the region, including by attacking oil and natural gas facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on September 14, 2019. To assure our partners, deter further Iranian provocative behavior, and bolster regional defensive capabilities, additional United States Armed Forces have been ordered to deploy to the Middle East." A portion of the American forces have already arrived in Saudi Arabia, and the rest will arrive in the coming weeks, according to the White House. Radar and missile systems also have been deployed to help address the threat of Iranian attacks on oil interests. "Additional forces ordered to deploy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia include radar and missile systems to improve defenses against air and missile threats in the region, an air expeditionary wing to support the operation of United States fighter aircraft from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and two fighter squadrons," the president wrote. "The first of these additional forces have arrived in Saudi Arabia, and the remaining forces will arrive in the coming weeks. With these additional forces, the total number of United States Armed Forces personnel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be approximately 3,000. These personnel will remain deployed as long as their presence is required to fulfill the missions described above."
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23 killed as Israel strikes
over 20 Iranian, Syrian regime targets
By ANNA AHRONHEIM and IDAN ZONSHINE
{ jpost.com } ~ Israel warned Iran from carrying out further attacks against the Jewish State after Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a wave of retaliatory air strikes against dozens of military targets... belonging to the Iranian Quds Force (IRGC) and the Syrian army on Tuesday night in Syria. IDF Spokesperson Brig.Gen. Hidai Zilberman told reporters on Wednesday the tens of targets struck in Damascus, west of Damascus and the Syrian Golan Heights overnight belonging both to the regime of Bashar al-Assad and Quds Force were carried out within minutes and were all located within 80 kilometers of Israel’s border. While the launchers which fired the rockets on Tuesday morning were not struck, some 20 other targets struck included advanced air defense systems not the Russian-made S-300 missile defense batteries, surface-to-air missiles, reconnaissance sites and warehouses, the National Defense Building at the Damascus International Airport which houses the Quds Force headquarters and other military positions. Images released by ImageSat International showed that the two top floors of the National Defense Building, known as the Glass House, was where according to reports Quds Force’s Intelligence unit operated. But following the strike “the site looks abandoned,” the report stated. “We will not let Iran entrench in Syria,” Zilberman said, adding that the IDF “is prepared to respond harshly to further attacks if necessary. We will not accept an Iranian force near our borders and will continue to work against it.” According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 23 people, including 16 non-Syrians who are most likely Iranians, were killed in the Israeli airstrikes. The senior Israel defense official acknowledged that there were injuries and a number of Iranian fatalities. Numerous others were injured, including a young woman who was wounded by shrapnel that hit the suburb of Qudsaya, west of Damascus. Local Syrian media reported that two residential buildings were also struck from shrapnel from a Syrian air defense missile fired towards Israeli jets, sending one family including two children to hospital...
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Attorney General Barr: Democrats Work
To Undermine Executive Branch
by oann.com ~ According to Attorney General William Barr, far-left lawmakers are waging a partisan war against President Trump... While speaking at the Federalist Society in D.C. on Monday, Barr said Democrat Party officials are working to undermine the rule of law and the executive branch. “Immediately after President Trump won election, opponents inaugurated what they called the resistance,” explained the U.S. attorney general Barr went on to say Democrats are obstructing the work of the U.S. government, while at the same time accusing President Trump of doing just that. He called on Democrats to work together with the president to move America forward. “What it means is that instead of viewing themselves as the loyal opposition as opposing parties have done in this country for over 200 years, they essentially see themselves as engaged in a war to cripple, by any means necessary, a duly elected government,” he stated. Barr pointed out the Democrat push for impeachment and other investigations into President Trump are designed to incapacitate and harass the executive branch.
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scumbag/liar-nObama staffers left behind
hateful notes to Trump aides, White
House press secretary claims
by theblaze.com ~ White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham revealed this week that when President Donald Trump took office, his aides found hateful notes left behind by President Barack scumbag/liar-nObama's staffers... Speaking to WHKT-AM at the White House on Tuesday, Grisham — whose first role in the Trump administration was press secretary for First Lady Melania Trump — said, "We came into the White House — I'll tell you something, every office was filled with scumbag/liar-nObama books. And we had notes left behind that said, 'You will fail,' 'You aren't going to make it.' And in the press office, there was a big note taped to a door that said, 'You will fail.'" Former scumbag/liar-nObama administration alums were quick to accuse Grisham of lying, including scumbag/liar-nObama's former Ambassador to the U.N., liar-Susan Rice. But The Daily Mail's David Martosko reported that he spoke with "four former Trump officials who were there on day one," who "all confirm" Grisham's claims. One former Trump aide told Martosko, "It was a mess that first week. Yeah, there were mean notes left in odd places. One in a deputy press secretary's office, one inside a desk drawer in upper press, another on a bathroom mirror. They were all about how we were doomed for failure." "They were trolling us from the moment we got there," another former Trump staffer recalled to Martosko. "It was definitely just ridiculous. We were trying to find the bathroom, and we get these notes saying, 'You will fail,' and 'You're not going to make it.'" Grisham's predecessor and former press secretary for First Lady Michelle scumbag/liar-nObama, Joanna Rosholm, took to Twitter to share the kind letter she had purportedly left behind for Grisham...
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