Thursday PM ~ thefrontpagecover

TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~ 
worthless-Ilhan Omar Protected — for Now — Against Accusations of Campaign 
Finance Law Violations
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U.S. Confirms Cash Offer 
to Tanker Captains to Seize Iranian Vessels
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by Adam Kredo and Stephanie Merrick 
freebeacon.com } ~ The United States offered millions in cash to tanker captains of Iranian vessels in a bid to seize Iranian ships... the State Department confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon.  The Financial Times on Wednesday reported   that the Indian captain of an Iranian tanker suspected of shipping oil to Syria was offered several millions of dollars by Brian Hook, the U.S. representative for Iran and senior policy adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  The State Department was offering the money to sail the ship to "a country that would impound the vessel on behalf of the U.S." A State Department spokesperson confirmed to the Free Beacon that details in the Financial Times article were accurate.  The offer was made in a bid to disrupt illicit Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps activities, according to the spokesperson."The IRGC-QF is directing near monthly shipments of Iranian petroleum products—each worth tens of millions of dollars—to Syria and elsewhere to fund terrorist and militant activity across the Middle East," the spokesperson told the Free Beacon. The department conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains and shipping companies warning them of the consequences of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions and providing support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the spokesperson, who added that companies and individuals found to be working with designated persons or entities could be subject to sanctions themselves...
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Islamist-inspired Terrorism Returns to Yemen
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by Con Coughlin
gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ As if war-torn Yemen did not have enough violence to contend with at present, the recent spate of terror attacks in its southern port points to the return of Islamist terror groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL... which are still plying their deadly trade in the country. In the latest wave of terror attacks last month, a suicide bombing in Aden has claimed the lives of three members of Yemen's security forces while, in a separate attack, a senior Yemeni security official survived a roadside bomb attack against his convoy in the centre of the city. Initially Yemeni security officials said the attack had been carried out by al-Qaeda, which has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks in government-controlled territory in the south of the country. In early August, for example, an al-Qaeda attack on a military base claimed the lives of 19 Yemeni soldiers. In what is, however, a graphic illustration of the ease with which rival Islamist terror groups are now able to operate in this lawless country, it was ISIL, not al-Qaeda, that eventually claimed responsibility for last weekend's attacks. Al-Qaeda and ISIL have become fierce rivals in recent years, with ISIL the more recent manifestation of militant Islam that was responsible for establishing the so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria. ISIL claims it is a more extreme alternative to al-Qaeda, the original iteration of Islamist-inspired terrorism. Both organisations have a history of taking advantage of the chaos created in failed Muslim states to establish bases from which they can plot attacks against the West and its allies. After the recent setbacks they have suffered -- al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and ISIL in Iraq and Syria -- it is logical that they should turn to Yemen to establish a new foothold...  https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14818/islamist-terrorism-yemen   
CAP President Slams 
commie-Bernie’s Healthcare Plan
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by Andrew Stiles 
freebeacon.com } ~ Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden and the rest of the corporate-backed, neoliberal establishment wing of the Democratic Party have made no secret... of their trepidation at the prospect of commie-Bernie Sanders winning the party's nomination for president. Tanden, who served as scumbag/liar-Hillary Clinton's policy director during her failed 2008 presidential  commie-Sanders national press secretary Briahna Joy Gray chimed in to explain differences between commie-Sanders's version of Medicare for All and those offered by other candidates. Tanden responded by trashing the commie-Sanders plan as a massive tax increase that isn't popular among Democratic voters or the general public.  "Every plan has a cost," Tanden wrote on Twitter. "One pays for it in taxes or premiums or copays. Yours has a 4% tax on everyone making $29,000 or more. Medicare for America doesn't tax the middle class. You're right, people have a choice. The choice of Dems/public is to allow people to keep private plans."campaign, sometimes makes a token effort to appear neutral. For example, she recently appeared to express passive-aggressive support for the various Democratic proposals to achieve universal healthcare. Medicare for America is the Democratic establishment's watered-down alternative to commie-Sanders's plan, which would eliminate the private health insurance industry within four years...   https://freebeacon.com/blog/bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=bad2277816-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_04_08_15_COPY_236&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-bad2277816-45611665   
Media Mostly Ignores Gov. 
scumbag-Newsom’s Awful New Bill
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By S.Noble
independentsentinel.com } ~ Communistic Democratic Gov. scumbag-Gavin Newsom of California signed a bill today that’s a direct slap in the face of law enforcement... California is very corrupt, hopelessly so. The bill says it’s okay for able-bodied people over 18-years of age to refuse to assist a police officer if he requests it during an arrest. That sends a terrible message to the youth. You know what, police needn’t help them either. And if there is a call to the governor’s mansion, they should take their time getting there. The Sacramento Bee reported that the old law, the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872, was common in the country’s early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the old law a “vestige of a bygone era.” The law was employed to help catch runaway slaves, the report  said. Oh right, it’s racist to help officers, many of whom are Black and Hispanic. That’s nice. California Senate Bill 192 strikes down the nearly 150-year-old piece of legislation requiring that “able-bodied person 18 years of age or older” aid such officers or they could be charged with a misdemeanor, according to The Sacramento Bee. Persons charged with failing to aid a responding officer were also subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000, The Bee reported in February. The Democratic sponsor for the bill, state Sen. Bob Hertzberg of Los Angeles, referred to the original California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872 as a “vestige of a bygone era” that creates “an untenable moral dilemma” for citizens. A moral dilemma to help an officer in distress or in need?... Just think Californians you voted for these scumbag.
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Michigan Gov. Orders 
‘All-out Ban’ on Flavored Vapes
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by Nic Rowan 
freebeacon.com } ~ Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) on Wednesday made her state the first to institute an "all-out ban" on the sale of flavored vapes... citing a public health crisis.  "This is the emergency authority that I have as governor," Whitmer said on MSNBC's  Morning Joe. "I'm going to work with the legislature to ensure that we've got it written into statute, but we can't wait on Washington, DC. We have to take action right now."  Whitmer began considering the ban after the United States surgeon general declared in 2018 that there is a nationwide epidemic  related to vaping, especially among young people. Whitmer added that earlier this week, her chief medical officer said there is a "public health crisis" in Michigan because of vaping.  "Eighty-one percent of our young kids who start vaping start with a flavoring product, and that's why it's so important we ban this flavored product," Whitmer said. "They market it like it's a healthy alternative that's glamorous, and in fact, our kids are inhaling nicotine, which is addictive, formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals and metal particles, and they're ending up in the hospital."  Whitmer said that she hopes the Michigan ban will be the first in a nationwide sweep of action against vapes." It would be great if, at the federal level, we know there was a surgeon general warning on all vape products, that they were treated like tobacco, taxed like tobacco," she said. "But none of that is happening, and that's why it's on the states to take action. And as governor, I'm going to do it unilaterally until I can get the legislature to adopt a statute and write it into law."...  https://freebeacon.com/politics/michigan-gov-orders-all-out-ban-on-flavored-vapes/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=bad2277816-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_04_08_15_COPY_236&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-bad2277816-45611665  
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worthless-Ilhan Omar Protected — for Now — Against Accusations of Campaign Finance Law Violations

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Rep. worthless-Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is accused of improperly using political campaign funds to reimburse her alleged lover for travel expenses, doesn’t need to worry for now about a complaint filed against her with the Federal Election Commission. Vacancies on the FEC make it impossible for the commission to take any action.

The FEC, where I served as a commissioner over a decade ago, is supposed to act as a government watchdog against election law violations. But unless it has four members, the watchdog is effectively muzzled and chained, helpless to act. Right now there are three members and three vacancies on the commission.

That’s good news for worthless-Omar, who refused Wednesday to answer questions about the allegations filed against her this week by a nonprofit group called the National Legal and Policy Center, which describes itself as “a charitable and educational organization” that seeks to “foster and promote ethics in government and public life.”

Asked by a reporter in Minneapolis why she is refusing to answer questions, worthless-Omar said: “Because they’re stupid questions.” Later in the day the married congresswoman told reporters: “I will just say I have no interest in commenting on anything that you are about to ask about my personal life, so you can chase me all you want.”

The FEC will send worthless-Omar a copy of the complaint filed against her and she will have 15 days to send a response. But the question of whether to open an investigation of the congresswoman — who has been accused by President Trump and others of anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish state of Israel — will have to wait until there are four confirmed FEC commissioners. No one knows when that will happen.

With at least four members, the FEC could levy a fine against worthless-Omar if it finds she committed a civil violation of campaign finance law. The commission has the power to determine the amount of such a fine, based on whatever commissioners believe is appropriate.

The complaint filed with the FEC against worthless-Omar alleges that her election campaign paid a consultant — Tim Mynett and his E. Street Group, LLC — $230,000 for fundraising consulting, digital communications, Internet advertising and travel expenses.

However, in a divorce case filed by Tim Mynett’s wife, Beth Mynett, she alleges that her husband told her “he was romantically involved with” worthless-Omar — a claim worthless-Omar denies.

Beth Mynett’s divorce complaint alleges that her husband’s “recent travel and long work hours now appear to be more related to his affair with Rep. worthless-Omar than with his actual work commitments.”

The complaint filed with the FEC points out that the payment of Tim Mynett’s travel expenses started the same month that Mynett reportedly told his wife he was having an extramarital affair with worthless-Omar.

Thus, according to the complaint filed with the FEC, the travel expenses for Tim Mynett made with funds collected as political campaign contributions “may have been unrelated, or only partially related, to worthless-Omar’s campaign” and instead may have been “so that Rep. worthless-Omar would have the benefit of Mynett’s romantic companionship.”

If that is the case, then payments by worthless-Omar to Tim Mynett were “personal in nature” and not related to the campaign, according to the complaint.

If these allegations are true, worthless-Omar may have run afoul of a federal law — specifically, 52 U.S.C. §30114. This law bars the use of campaign funds “to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.”

Examples of what is prohibited for funding with campaign donations include such items as a personal mortgage, clothing purchases, non-campaign-related car expenses, and vacations and other non-campaign-related trips.

In other words, if Mynett’s travel expense were unrelated to his actual work for the campaign but in furtherance of an affair with worthless-Omar, those would be personal expenses. Campaign funds couldn’t be used to pay them.

worthless-Omar’s attorneys have dismissed the complaint filed with the FEC as a “political ploy.” But until the FEC gets another commissioner, neither this complaint nor any others will be investigated by the commission to see if there is actually any substance — and any credibility — to the allegations being made.

So while the complaint against worthless-Omar is making headlines — both because of the nature of the allegations and her prominence as one of four far-left Democratic freshman congresswomen known as the “Squad” — all political candidates are getting a free pass on any complaints filed against them with the FEC as long as the commission has three vacancies.

The resignation of Commissioner Matt Petersen (who replaced me) from the FEC earlier this month left the commission in its current state of paralysis, with three vacancies.

The six FEC commissioners are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. There is a long tradition that whenever a seat held by the political party not in control of the White House opens up, the president asks the leader of that political party in the Senate for his choice to fill the seat.

There are currently two empty Republicans seats and one empty Democratic seat on the commission.

The names of FEC nominees are sent to the Senate in pairs — one Republican and one Democrat.

President Trump nominated a Texas lawyer, Trey Trainor, in 2017 to fill an open Republican seat. But there has been no public report that Senate Minority Leader Chuck scumbag-Schumer, D-N.Y., has given Trump a nominee for the Democratic seat that has been empty since 2017.

Without a quorum — four commissioners on the six-member FEC — the commission can’t hold meetings, initiate audits, vote on enforcement matters, issue advisory opinions, or engage in rulemaking.

As a result, as the 2020 presidential election cycle heats up, the FEC remains unable to carry out the most important duties it was created to perform.

The FEC regulates all of the contributions and expenditures of federal candidates for the presidency and Congress. When it has at least four members, the commission is empowered to go after candidates, political parties, political action committees and others who violate the law, imposing civil penalties consisting of fines.

The vast majority of campaign finance violations are civil matters because they are usually inadvertent violations of the law. The Federal Election Campaign Act is byzantine in its complexity and often ambiguous. Even the commissioners sometime disagree on the proper interpretation and application of the law.

The U.S. Justice Department retains jurisdiction over criminal campaign finance violations, which are “knowing and willful” violations of the law. However, criminal prosecutions are very rare.

As an example, missing the deadline for filing a required campaign finance report on contributions received by a candidate is a civil violation, while knowingly spending campaign funds on personal expenses unrelated to a campaign would be a criminal violation.

That’s why former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., went to jail in 2013. He pleaded guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign funds on everything from personal travel and restaurant expenses to a Rolex watch, fur coats for his wife, and memorabilia from Bruce Lee, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix, along with mounted elk heads for his office.

Right now the ball is in Sen. scumbag-Schumer’s court to nominate a Democratic FEC commissioner, and for the Senate to then confirm a Democrat and a Republican to the commission. Until that happens, worthless-Ilhan Omar has nothing to worry about from the FEC.  

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/65208?mailing_id=4507&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4507&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

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