Thurs/Med AM ~ thefrontpagecover

[Rudy Tirre]

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TheFrontPageCover

~ Featuring ~

The scumbag/liar-Schiff-Schumer Tag Team

Nate Jackson  

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Thursday Top News Executive Summary

Media Editors:  Above the Fold

PARTISAN IMPEACHMENT: Despite zero Republican support and two Democrat defections, House impeaches Trump for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress (NBC News)

QUID PRO QUO: Some House Democrats push liar-Pelosi to withhold impeachment articles so that Mitch McConnell will yield to their trial stipulations (The Boston Globe)

Government & Politics

“A DECISION I STRUGGLED WITH GREATLY”: Mark Meadows to leave Congress at end of term (Fox News)

DOUBLE-JEOPARDY VIOLATION: New York judge tosses state fraud case against Paul Manafort (NBC News)

LEGAL WRANGLING: Fifth Circuit declares individual mandate unconstitutional, punts on whether rest of Affordable Care Act must fall (The Volokh Conspiracy)

TIP OF THE ICEBERG? Michael Horowitz examining past FISA applications to determine if FBI’s “basic errors” are systemic (National Review)

“MINISTERIAL EXCEPTION”: Supreme Court will hear two obscure but important religious liberty cases (Washington Examiner)

COINCIDING WITH SLIPPING POLL NUMBERS:  Elizabeth dinky/liar-Warren scales back “Medicare of All” plan on 2020 campaign trail (The Washington Times)

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? UN peacekeepers fathered, then abandoned, hundreds of children in Haiti (The Washington Post)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: Seven ways to reform the obviously corrupt FISA surveillance system (The Federalist)

POLICY: Refocusing higher education on career outcomes (Manhattan Institute)

HUMOR: Speaker of the House liar-Nancy Pelosi is threatening to withhold the Articles of Impeachment from the Senate until she gets something that will incriminate her political enemy, Donald Trump (Genesius Times)  

~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/67494?mailing_id=4755&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4755&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body     

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Mark Meadows to leave Congress at end of term

By Ronn Blitzer

{ foxnews.com } ~ Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., will not seek re-election, he confirmed in a statement Thursday. The four-term congressman said that he will be retiring at the end of his term... “This was a decision I struggled with greatly. These last 8 years, I have been so blessed to serve the people of NC-11 and help give a voice to millions of Americans who feel Washington, D.C. has forgotten them,” he said. The staunch supporter of President Trump touted the accomplishments he has seen the administration achieve. "Since serving alongside President Trump, I have been a witness to historic economic prosperity, unemployment levels I only dreamed of when I took office, tax and regulatory reforms that are putting the American worker first, our Israeli embassy moved to Jerusalem, and trade deals that were once thought impossible," he said. "I have seen our law enforcement and first responders receive the support they deserve and our military once again put on a path to maintain its superiority." Meadows went on to say that his work with Trump and the administration "is only beginning," and he is "fully committed to staying in the fight with him and his team." Politico Playbook reported earlier that Meadows said he has no specific role lined up at this time, but he may look to work for Trump's campaign or perhaps in the administration. Prior to the House's Wednesday vote to impeach the president on allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Meadows spoke in support of Trump, chastising Democrats for failing to conduct a fair process. "Once again, Washington, D.C. and the Democrats will be disconnected from what the American people actually want." In his retirement announcement, Meadows vowed to keep working on behalf of the American people. "I’ve always said Congress is a temporary job, but the fight to return Washington, D.C. to its rightful owner, We The People, has only just begun," he said. Hope he changes his mind. We need him.  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mark-meadows-to-leave-congress-at-end-of-term  

VIDEO:  https://video.foxnews.com/v/6117026207001#sp=show-clips

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Cunning Lawfare Maneuver – House Will 

Withhold Submission of Articles from Senate

by sundance

{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~  Seemingly overlooked by most, when the House voted on the ‘rules of impeachment’ they removed the traditional appointment of House Managers to a later date... Normally the House Managers would be appointed at the same time as the impeachment vote; however, by withholding the appointment House Democrats are indicating they will not immediately send articles of impeachment to the senate but will rather hold the articles as support for pending court cases toward their judicial authority. A cunning Lawfare ploy. As interested observers will note the House never voted to authorize the full judicial impeachment process; instead they voted to approve an inquiry into whether an impeachment should take place. By not voting to authorize articles of impeachment the House never gained ‘judicial enforcement authority‘. The absence of judicial authority is now working its way through the courts in various cases. It appears the absence of appointing House impeachment managers; and the decision to withhold sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate; is now a specific design. As the process appears to be unfolding, the Lawfare contracted lawyers representing the House: chief legal counsel Douglas Letter, Barry Berke, Norm Eisen and Daniel Goldman will now argue before the courts that all of the constitutionally contended material is required as evidence for a pending judicial proceeding, a trial in the Senate...

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/18/cunning-lawfare-maneuver-house-will-withhold-submission-of-articles-from-senate/  

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Hubris – liar-Nancy Pelosi Declares: “the senate 

rules are unfair” – “when rules become 

fair we will send articles”

by sundance

{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ The entire House effort to impeach President Donald Trump has been a one-sided partisan effort; built upon a foundation of manipulation of process and dismissal of the minority rights throughout... After the House voted along party lines, and in an act of stunning hubris, Speaker liar-Pelosi now declares she will withhold the articles of impeachment until the Senate makes rules that she determines will be “fair” to the prosecution. She has no idea what fairness is.  https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/18/hubris-nancy-pelosi-declares-the-senate-rules-are-unfair-when-rules-become-fair-we-will-send-articles/  

VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1AWCrhw1E&feature=emb_title

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Important Questioning – Senator 

James Lankford Questions IG Horowitz

by sundance

{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Senator James Lankford (R-OK) had an important round of questions for inspector general Michael Horowitz today.  Lankford notes the consequences to the FISA process writ large, and the FISA court specifically... as an outcome of the intentional abuses by FBI and DOJ officials. Senator Lankford also draws attention to some very specific parts of the IG report surrounding the 2016 involvement of the State Department and the activity of Bruce Ohr. Additionally, Senator Lankford focuses on page #188 where activity of Christopher Steele after the election is outlined; this is very important. If Chris Steele wrote the dossier based on information from his Russian “sub-source”, then why is Christopher Steele trying to get that same sub-source to validate his dossier *after* the election when it has already been used by the DOJ/FBI to gain a FISA warrant?  https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/18/important-questioning-senator-james-lankford-questions-ig-horowitz/

VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpnvhShF2g&feature=emb_title

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Boris Johnson's Victory Heralds a 

Golden Era in US-UK Relations

by Con Coughlin

{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ Boris Johnson has only been back in Downing Street a few days following his stunning victory in Britain's general election, but there are already early signs that his premiership will preside over a dramatic revival in transatlantic relations... not seen since the heyday of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. First and foremost, the British prime minister has made it abundantly clear that his first priority will be to break the Brexit deadlock that has effectively paralysed British politics, and the country's ability to make its voice heard on the international stage, at the earliest possible opportunity, thus opening the way for a trade deal with Washington. As a start, Mr Johnson has committed his new government to fulfil its election pledge to complete Britain's withdrawal from the European Union by the end of January. Furthermore, he will enshrine in law his promise that the complicated trade negotiations that are due to take place next year to finalise Britain's future trading relationship with the EU bloc will be completed by the end of 2020. Critics of Mr Johnson's ambitious programme to free Britain from the EU's shackles and negotiate a new network of global trade deals have argued that completing the process of establishing a new trading framework with the EU will take much longer than a year, especially in view of the EU's notoriously slow approach to completing such transactions. The critics point out, for example, that the Canada-EU trade deal took seven years to negotiate and was 22 years in the making. By enshrining Britain's ultimate departure date in law, Mr Johnson has effectively silenced those critics, as well as sending a clear declaration of intent to Brussels that Britain aims to complete the withdrawal process by the end of next year, with or without a deal. The fact, moreover, that Mr Johnson now enjoys a comfortable majority of 80 seats in the newly-constituted House of Commons means that he will no longer be subjected to procedural legislative obstructions from die-hard Remainers, as was very much in evidence during the death throes of the last parliament...

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15310/boris-johnson-us-uk-relations  

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California Blocks Release of Spending Records

by Yuichiro Kakutani 

{ freebeacon.com } ~ California is the only state in the country that has refused to reveal public spending records to a government watchdog, prompting threats of legal action... OpenTheBooks.com, a nonprofit dedicated to government transparency, said the Golden State is the lone holdout since it began sending public record inquiries to state governments in 2013. Governments in 49 states have complied with requests for itemized accounts of taxpayer funds sent to vendors and public sector employees. California's state government, however, has so far failed to provide the details of the 49 million individual payments it makes each year using taxpayer dollars, saying it is unable to track and document its activities. "Their excuse is that they can't locate the records—that their system doesn't allow the controller after she makes the payment to track the payment," OpenTheBooks.com founder Adam Andrzejewski told the Washington Free Beacon. "We are preparing to sue the State of California and force them to open their books." The office of the California state controller Betty Yee did not respond to requests for comment. OpenTheBooks.com has previously sued state governments to disclose the details of their spending, targeting both sides of the aisle from heavily Republican Wyoming to Democrat stronghold Illinois. The group has now set its sights on a legal battle in California to force the state to comply with its open record laws. "They're just raising a massive red flag because, obviously, they're hiding everything," Andrzejewski said. Yee has made fiscal stewardship a centerpiece of her tenure as the state controller. She claimed that the state identified $4.35 billion in waste, abuse, and mismanagement since she assumed office in 2015. Andrzejewski said such public pronouncements pale in comparison to how much money is spent each year by America's most populous state. "The state spent about $1.5 trillion during this time," he said. "Does anyone except Betty Yee really believe that 99.97 percent of all state spending is proper? The controller is not even looking for waste."...   https://freebeacon.com/issues/california-blocks-release-of-spending-records/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=2477b768dc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_18_08_32_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-2477b768dc-45611665   

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The scumbag/liar-Schiff-Schumer Tag Team

Nate Jackson:  As the Democrats’ Impeachment Express barrels ahead toward the cliff, scumbag/liar-Adam Schiff and Chuck scumbag-Schumer have weighed in on the beginnings and the likely end of the trip.

A quick refresher: The FBI used the Hillary Clinton-funded “dossier,” fabricated by Christopher Steele, to obtain dubious FISA warrants under false pretenses to surveil Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. In 2018, then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes laid all this out in a memo. scumbag/liar-Schiff, who was the ranking Democrat at the time, rebutted Nunes with a dishonest rewrite of history. According to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Nunes was right.

That brings us to scumbag/liar-Schiff’s transparent and pathetic attempts to save face. He declared this week:

[The FBI was] right to seek a FISA on Carter Page. And there wasn’t some deep-state conspiracy. There was no spying on the Trump campaign. There was no effort to — based on political bias — open the investigation. It was properly predicated. But there were, nonetheless, serious abuses of FISA which were not apparent two years ago, but which have become apparent now, with 170 witnesses interviewed and two million documents reviewed by the IG. And I am glad that the IG made the recommendations that he has made, and the FBI is going to follow them. But that wasn’t apparent to us two years ago. But the most significant things, I think, are that corrective steps will be taken, in terms of the FISA process, and that the IG debunked these claims by the president, by Mr. Nunes and others, of this deep-state conspiracy, this improper investigation.

What a load of bunk. Even the Trump-deranged Washington Post grudgingly admitted that Nunes was right and scumbag/liar-Schiff was wrong, so it takes a lot of gall for scumbag/liar-Schiff to stick to his story.

scumbag/liar-Schiff wasn’t done. He claimed, “I’m certainly willing to admit that the inspector general found serious abuses of FISA that I was unaware of. Had I known of them … yes, I would have called out the FBI at the same time.” Nunes told scumbag/liar-Schiff about those abuses nearly two years ago. Instead of “calling out” the FBI, scumbag/liar-Schiff directed his fire at Nunes.

That’s because scumbag/liar-Schiff and every other Democrat in the swamp has been fixated on one thing since Nov. 9, 2016: impeaching Trump.

Veteran journalist Brit Hume was incredulous. “[scumbag/liar-Schiff] says he didn’t know about that?” Hume marveled. “What utter nonsense. One of the most striking things about this IG report … is how closely it mirrors what the Devin Nunes investigation … found and what he said about the FISA abuses, and so on — to which this very same scumnag/liar-Adam Schiff issued a report and rebuttal, which disputed the Nunes findings — findings now confirmed by the IG report. And now he claims he didn’t know about those things. Of course he knew about them; he wrote a rebuttal to them. And the rebuttal was full of falsehoods.”

And don’t forget it was after all that when scumbag/liar-Schiff colluded with the whistleblower to set up Trump for impeachment 2.0.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck scumbag-Schumer is about to take the reins on behalf of Democrats, as soon as House Democrats inevitably vote this week to impeach. But it is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republicans who will be calling the shots in the upper chamber.

scumbag-Schumer is already challenging McConnell over procedure and witnesses. “It seems to me that no good case has been made for witnesses,” scumbag-Schumer said.

Oops — that was back in 1999 during scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Now scumbag-Schumer is demanding witnesses.

“To engage a trial without the facts coming out is to engage in a coverup,” he declared Monday. “To conduct a trial without the facts is saying, ‘We’re afraid. We have something to hide.’ To conduct a trial without relevant witnesses who haven’t been heard from, to just rehash the evidence presented in the House, just doesn’t make any sense. If Leader McConnell doesn’t hold a full and fair trial, the American people will rightly ask, ‘What are you, Leader McConnell, and what is President Trump hiding?’”

The New York Democrat tried his darnedest to explain the distinction by saying “children would be watching” in 1999 and didn’t need to hear Monica Lewinsky’s testimony. “It’s a totally different situation [now],” he insisted. “There’s no analogy.”

Sure thing, scumbag-Chuck. To be clear, scumbag-Schumer’s strategy now is to have the Republican Senate deny witnesses like John Bolton so he can bang the “they have something to hide” drum. Then again, with Bolton, scumbag-Schumer might be careful what he wishes for.

Democrats have been calling for McConnell to “recuse himself” because he won’t be impartial. News flash: That would also immediately disqualify every Senate Democrat currently or previously running for president.

Just keep in mind that, from start to finish, from scumbag/liar-Schiff to scumbag-Schumer, the Democrats’ impeachment charade has been full of lies and fabrications, driven by an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. No facts, witnesses, or reports will change that.

We’ll just leave you with this headline from The Daily Wire: “Impeachment Support Collapses With Public As Trump Approval Ties Record High.”   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67422?mailing_id=4742&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4742&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body