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Goooood Morning EZ
They think THAT'S what's breaking legs???... I have a bridge I'll sell them.
Morning TH
Mexico bows to Pres. Trump on 'containment' of illegal aliens
By Chriss Street
Sweet...awesome news...finally a President pushing for measures that help...AMERICAN Citizens...glad AMLO has seen the light.
Mexico bowed to President Trump's border security demands by agreeing to set up a Central American illegal alien “containment” belt 2,200 miles south of San Diego.
Mexico’s socialist President Andrés Manuel López-Obrador, known as “AMLO,” trumpeted after his huge July victory that he sympathized with migrants suffering from “hunger and poverty.” He promised to slash funds dedicated to border control and claimed that he would stand up to any of President Trump’s bullying tactics.
A recent Rasmussen Reports national poll revealed that a survey high of 35 percent of ‘Likely U.S. Voters’ believe immigration to be the most urgent issue for Congress to address. But AMLO must have been confident that President Trump’s hands were tied by the “Russiagate” investigation. He probably assumed Democrats would either squeeze Trump out of office or continue to emasculate his ability to take major retaliatory actions.
But after Trump was exonerated by the Special Counsel, AMLO quickly dispatched his Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez-Cordero to meet with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen in Miami on March 27.
Secretary Sanchez offered a Mexican Federal Police and military "containment" belt across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of the country and very close to the southern border with Guatemala. When asked about the breakthrough with Mexico, Secretary Nielsen said: “It’s going to be a big change.”
The U.S. Border Patrol's ‘Southwest Border Apprehensions’ report for the month of February 2019 showed that 672,000 aliens were apprehended between ports of entry on the southwest border, up about 85 percent from the prior year.
But the Trump administration’s sensitivity to illegal immigration is especially high with a “caravan” of 2,500 Central American and Cuban migrants is heading up southern Mexico now and the “Mother of all Caravans” forming in Honduras with 20,000 migrants.
Nielsen emphasized to Sánchez that the Border Patrol under President Trump deported at least 76,000 migrants to their countries of origin in February, and expects to deport about 90,000 this month and will remove 900,000 illegal aliens by year end.
Secretary Sánchez trumpeted the launch of a new era of Mexican security cooperation:
"We are going to locate our migration installations, of Federal Police and civil protection, harmoniously and with collaboration among all the federal government agencies in such a way that we have containment in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.”
President Trump hit Twitter on March 28 with new threats of U.S.-Mexico border closure:
See he reads my posts...LOL
“Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country.” He added, “They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing.”
The usually bombastic President López-Obrador sought to calmly reassure the Trump administration that Mexico is now committed to a “very respectful relationship” with the United States to stop immigrant smuggling. He added: “We are going to do everything we can to help. We don’t in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government.”
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/mexico_bows_to_pres_trump_on_containment_of_illegal_aliens.html#ixzz5jYfagg8j
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Empire's ratings tank as Jussie Smollett promises to return to show
By Ethel C. Fenig
I haven't seen an episode yet and have no plans to...me thinks the Mullet is still in for legal troubles...he's done...toast...what a punk...tweets in the link
After Jussie Smollett walked on Tuesday, the Empire writers optimistically tweeted:
Smollett himself reflected that optimism, stating, "Now I'd like nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life."
Not so fast. The responses to the Empire Writers tweets were mixed, with some glad at what they perceived as Smollett's vindication and others who wanted to work the incident into the show, while others decided to walk away from it.
Walk away, tune out is what happened. According to CBS in Chicago:
Wednesday night’s episode of his show ‘Empire’ received the lowest ratings in the show’s history, according to TV Line.
With about 3.9 million viewers, ‘Empire’ took a substantial hit, dropping to the lowest number of viewers in the history of the series, according to widely-reported TV ratings.
Oh.
FOX, the show’s home network, hasn’t said whether ‘Empire’ will be renewed for another season, and the show’s producers haven’t said whether Smollett would still be on the show if filming continues for a sixth season.
Oh again.
In the aftermath of this truly bizarre incident there will be many more ohs — and more reactions — as more facts of all involved are revealed.
Stay tuned. Or not.
Image screen shot via YouTube.
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/emempireems_ratings_tank_as_jussie_smollett_promises_to_return_to_show.html#ixzz5jYe0U9wY
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Morning Fuzzy...Damn That Rap Music
Good Morning Gman...hopefully soon on the shovels
Morning Larry...I was pressed for time before I left so sorry I missed you...Good Morning.
I was in such a hurry I forgot the Cake I baked for Robbie on his last day...
Damn That Rap Music
Going to be a great day here...63 on the way to 80...but cooler for the weekend.
Hopefully I'll get to hear clips...morning Bull....TGIF
Headed to work...Robbies last day there...will miss him but he is on to bigger and better things.
If he makes it as the Dem Candidate Mr T will have a field day with him grilling him over Hunters financial Companies deals with China and a few other Countries...one deal with China was closed while on Air Force Two with dad...
Biden apologizes for 'white man's culture'
By Rick Moran
Former vice president Joe Biden went in full pander mode on Tuesday night, telling his audience he regretted the impact of "white man's culture" and said it must change.
Biden made the remarks while apologizing for his role in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing in 1991, where Anita Hill accused the justice of sexual harassment.
Fox News:
The former vice president and potential 2020 Democratic candidate said Hill, who is black, should not have been forced to face a panel of "a bunch of white guys" about her sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas.
"To this day I regret I couldn't come up with a way to give her the kind of hearing she deserved," he said Tuesday night, echoing comments he delivered last fall amid debates about sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation process. "I wish I could have done something."
Social media exploded at that comment, with several commentators pointing out that Biden was the chairman of the committee at the time:
Hill's allegations were believed by some, but when several other female staffers for Thomas stepped forward saying he never laid a hand on them or harassed them, the matter was left hanging, and Thomas was confirmed.
Biden blamed "white culture" for violence against women:
Biden called on Americans to "change the culture" that dates back centuries and allows pervasive violence against women. "It's an English jurisprudential culture, a white man's culture. It's got to change," he said.
The former vice president also repeatedly denounced violence against women during his remarks, which spanned more than a half-hour. It's a topic he knows well. As a senator from Delaware, he introduced the Violence Against Women Act in 1990.
"No man has a right to lay a hand on a woman, no matter what she's wearing, she does, who she is, unless it's in self-defense. Never," he said Tuesday.
This is one of the silliest things Biden has ever said. White man's culture "allows" pervasive violence against women? First of all, what the hell is "white culture" anyway? If Biden means our English judicial system, what exactly does he want to change? Trial by jury? Should a defendant be guilty until proven innocent?
Few cultures "allow" violence against women, and "white culture" isn't one of them. Biden is right that it's never appropriate to hit a woman for any reason, just as it's inappropriate for a woman to hit a man — a far more common occurrence than most groups advocating to stop violence against women ever acknowledge.
But what makes Biden's apology for white culture so ridiculous is his call for "change" — as if culture changes because of an election or demonstration, or by "heightening awareness." "Culture" is always changing, the result of tens of millions of individual decisions made by human beings in their daily lives. To believe that this process can be controlled simply by announcing change is worse than delusional; it's nuts.
No doubt, Biden impressed the racialists who hate whites as much as white supremacists hate blacks. But he may have damaged his standing with white working-class voters who have no intention of apologizing to anyone about anything, much less "white culture." Biden is the Democrats' "Great White Hope" to win those voters back in Midwest battleground states like Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
He's certainly not helping his cause any.
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/biden_apologizes_for_white_mans_culture.html#ixzz5jUz417FH
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Much of the drugs comes right through check points...closing the border would put a lot of pressure on Mexico...Just my thoughts
Back in green
Aphria Inc. (APHA)
9.3 ^ 0.1 (1.09%)
LOL True Dat
Ocasio-Cortez erupts in unhinged rant after criticism of her Green New Deal
By Thomas Lifson
Life in the public spotlight is uncomfortable for anyone, all the more so for the young and immature who are subject to relentless criticism by ideological opponents. Add in absolute moral certainty and a limited command of facts and ideas, and the result is lashing out in fury with arguments that hold no water.
Yesterday, during a committee meeting of House Financial Services Committee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's utopian and impossibly expensive Green New deal was criticized by Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and herself was not pleased. She responded with an arm-flailing angry response that proved she has no idea of the difference between pollution by toxic substances and the phony "pollution" that it is claimed CO2 constitutes, despite the fact that it is the very basis of our life cycle. Somebody needs to tell her we are a "carbon-based life form"...and then clear out to avoid damage when her head explodes:
The video is under two minutes long and worth watching to get an accurate sense of the limits of her mind and the appeal of such simple-minded demagoguery to a substantial constutency.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a gifted demagogue who is persuasive to those who are unable to think critically, which makes her dangerous, especially given the miseducation of her generation and her base. And she is especially dangerous to anyone paying attention and in possession of a general store of knowledge an informed citizen and voter would be expected to have (a group that excludes many Democrats).
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/ocasiocortez_erupts_in_unhinged_rant_after_criticism_of_her_green_new_deal.html#ixzz5jUHeRoHL
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Can't wait for that...LOL
Things should hit the fan for the FIdiots once the report is released to the public
One can only hope...
Bottom line you little Schitt...you point blank LIED to the America Public over a long period of time....you have no credibility and should step down.
That's Chicago baby...the system that brought us Obummer
Facing an FBI and DoJ investigation of Smollett case, Kim Foxx is panicking and changing her story
By Thomas Lifson
The fate of the higher-ups who pulled the strings to get Jussie Smollett off the hook is now in the hands of a dummy who is panicking.
The venerable political machine that runs the most corrupt big city in America, the very city whose gave us the presidency of Barack Obama, is erupting in a political civil war over a case that has riveted the attention of the public. What makes this story a beacon of hope for reform-minded populists is that the fate of the rascals is now in the hands of an incompetent public official who has outraged the public with obvious corruption of justice, and who is now panicking and making huge mistakes because the walls are starting to close in on her.
President Trump this morning confirmed an earlier report by ABC Chicago and promised that the FBI and DoJ will review the Smollett case;
For people who have spent the last few days in the dark side of the moon, prosecution of Jussie Smollett for falsely reporting a fake hate crime that he personally staged with the help of two associates (who have confessed and who are on surveillance tape purchasing the items used in the fake attack) was dropped by the state’s attorney’s office of Cook County and the record expunged with evidence in the case sealed.
As Judge Andrew Napolitano noted on Fox, expunging the records means that Smollett can truthfully testify under oath that he was never arrested, despite the fact that the entire world knows that he was. The obvious stupidity is not lost on anyone. Least of all the producers of Empire, who now have no legal grounds for temrnating his contract.
Kim Foxx probably would not be the state’s attorney for Cook County without the financial support of George Soros. The $330,000 he personally contributed to her super PAC for her primary election was followed by another $75,000 after she defeated the incumbent, in the wake of public outrage over suppression of police video of the shooting of Laclan McDonald. Mr. Soros may have wanted a dummy in the office to assure that instructions would be obeyed, but Foxx now has dug herself a hole and doesn’t understand the need to stop digging. She is changing her story – always a mistake because it proves she was lying, an absolute no-no for a prosecutor.
Now Foxx is claiming that sealing the court files was an accident:
Foxx also had claimed that she had recused herself, but evidently did not bother with the paperwork necessary for such a recusal. Now that an FBI and DoJ investigation is in prospect she and her underlings are scrambling to explain away the lie: Megan Crepeau of the Chicago Tribune explains the mess Foxx has created for herself:
Illinois law allows for a state’s attorney to “file a petition to recuse himself or herself from a cause or proceeding for any other reason he or she deems appropriate.” If the petition is granted, the law calls for the judge to appoint a special prosecutor either through the attorney general’s office, another county prosecutor’s office or a private attorney.
But Foxx, who stepped away from the Smollett case before charges were ever filed, didn’t file a recusal petition or remove her office from the investigation. Instead, she handed the responsibility for the case to her first assistant, Joseph Magats, a 29-year veteran of the office.
After questions arose this week whether she had followed state law, Foxx’s office appeared to back off whether she ever officially recused herself in the first place.
While the term “recusal “ was used when it was announced she was stepping away from the Smollett case, a Foxx spokeswoman said, “it was a colloquial use of the term rather than in its legal sense.”
“The state’s attorney did not formally recuse herself or the office based on any actual conflict of interest,” Tandra Simonton said in a statement. “As a result, she did not have to seek the appointment of a special prosecutor under (state law).”
An internal memo sent on Feb. 13 by Foxx's chief ethics officer, April Perry, however, did not describe the move as colloquial at all. Instead, Perry sent a two-sentence email informing staff that Foxx "is recused" from the Smollett investigation. It did not say why.
Foxx has now made the entire Chicago Police Department, from the superintendent on down, her avowed enemy, out to retaliate, because she has made their job impossible from now on. Does anyone think that the operations of Foxx’s office has been above reproach, and there is nothing for them to find? And nothing for them to turn over to the FBI as it investigates? Keep in mind that the CPD has been working closely with Foxx's office for years, and often has been frustrated with low bail, delcination of prosecution, and other moves she has led.
Foxx also is antagonizing the public by posing as an expert and telling the public that they are too dumb to understand the technicalities of her work. Speaking to reporters for Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ, she said:
I think the confusion for people who don't understand the intricacies of the justice system, who don't understand alternative prosecution or diversion or alternate outcomes outside of prison or lengthy probation, it's a hard thing for people to process.
She made the false claim that the treatment of Smollett is customary:
But every single day on cases that law enforcement partners work diligently on, there are people who get similar arrangements, people who get diversion, people who get sentences that are probably not what some people would want. Every single day.
Unfortunately for her, Fox News obtained a copy of an internal memo in which staffers were franticly asked to come up with examples that could back up her reckless and false assertion:
An internal email from the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx,obtained by Fox News on Wednesday, asked assistant state's attorneys to dig for any examples to bolster Foxx’s claim that the dropped charges in the Jussie Smollett case weren’t as uncommon or shocking as they seemed.
The email read in part, “We are looking for examples of cases, felony preferable, where we, in (exercising) our discretion, have entered into verbal agreements with defense attorneys to dismiss charges against an offender if certain conditions were met...”
The email added, “Nobody is in trouble, we are just looking for further examples of how we, as prosecutors, use our discretion in a way that restores the victim…”
It was not clear who sent it, and exactly when it was sent.
Here is a copy of the memo:
via Fox News
District Attorneys are in an uproar over the case: Fox News reports:
The National District Attorneys Association, which claims to represent roughly 2,700 prosecutors’ offices around the country, heavily criticized Foxx in a statement to Fox News.
“First, when a chief prosecutor recuses him or herself, the recusal must apply to the entire office, not just the elected or appointed prosecutor. This is consistent with best practices for prosecutors’ offices around the country,” the statement began.
It added, “Second, prosecutors should not take advice from politically connected friends of the accused. Each case should be approached with the goal of justice for victims while protecting the rights of the defendant. Third, when a prosecutor seeks to resolve a case through diversion or some other alternative to prosecution, it should be done so with an acknowledgement of culpability on the part of the defendant. A case with the consequential effects of Mr. Smollett’s should not be resolved without a finding of guilt or innocence.”
The statement concluded: “Fourth, expunging Mr. Smollett’s record at this immediate stage is counter to transparency. Law enforcement will now not be able to acknowledge that Mr. Smollett was indicted and charged with these horrible crimes and the full record of what occurred will be forever hidden from public view. Finally, we believe strongly that hate crimes should be prosecuted vigorously but the burden of proof should not be artificially increased due to the misguided decisions of others.”
So Kim Foxx, with many enemies, a changing story, and an FBI investigation pending with the local cops anxious to help pin misdeeds – preferably with criminal penalties attached – on her, now faces some serious problems. We still don’t know why her office pulled the sudden switcheroo on Smollett, but there is plenty of reason to suspect that Tina Tchen, a former “assistant to the president” and chief of staff for Michelle Obama, had something to do with it.
(hat tip: Conservative Tree House)
I’ve never met Foxx, so I can’t make an informed prediction, but I have to suspect that when she is panicked, and starts to realize she is in deep, deep trouble, she might respond positively to the offer of a deal in return for implicating the higher-ups who induced her to make the Great Switcheroo.
I hope so, at least.
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/facing_an_fbi_and_doj_investigation_of_smollett_case_kim_foxx_is_panicking_and_changing_her_story.html#ixzz5jTpvklOP
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
So far APHA down...Hmmmm
Fingers crossed it's Fuzzy.
Our team here that pools for it was just glad it wasn't another NE coast win and was probably a farmer that won...
LOL ...Murphy working strong in your area...
Sounds great...Gorgeous week coming up for us as well...
At least you didn't have to gather it and MAIL it in...LOL
Not nearly as bad as in the UK...what a frikkin nightmare there
Morning sir...how's your weather??
Thanks AOC...we appreciate you looking out for us...LMAO
Well at least got the part with Lily right...
Glad for the excellent check up
Walk with Lily??...hope your snow is gone now...
Thought you and the board would be interested in that.
Just amazing
The real story behind Brian Kolfage and 20 million private dollars for the wall
By Eric Peters
A couple of weeks ago, the liberal blog BuzzFeed "broke" a "story" about President Trump supposedly ordering his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress on his behalf, citing an unnamed "source" within the Robert Mueller investigation.
But the "news" was so fake that Mueller's office publicly disavowed it almost immediately after it appeared.
And re-appeared...practically everywhere.
Other media outlets picked up the BuzzFeed "story" — creating the false impression of smoke where there was no fire.
This has become the modus operandi of what Rush Limbaugh perceptively calls the drive-by media. Picture a Model A Ford full of Al Capone's hit men screeching around the corner, raking their enemy's hideout with machine gun fire.
A similar fact-free fusillade has been directed at Iraqi war veteran and triple amputee Brian Kolfage, the man who dared to try to fund The Wall — and is doing so.
The story began when Kolfage created a GoFundMe page back in mid-December of 2018 called We The People Will Build The Wall. His concept was to get the American people to voluntarily finance what Congress seems congenitally unable to: a southern border wall, to get a handle not just on the immigration problem, but also the equally serious problems of no-good-niks and cartel drugs flooding across the border.
It's something President Trump promised to deliver — but which the private contributions of ordinary citizens may ultimately pay for, at least partially.
Initially, Kolfage's concept was to transfer whatever came in directly to the federal government. He probably never imagined that within two weeks, millions of people would have donated almost $20 million to the cause.
This is a measure of the depth of grassroots support for building the wall — and, possibly, the trigger for the fake news fusillade claiming he'd been forced to refund all of it for some (sotto voce) unspecified violation of GoFundMe's terms of service. The obvious implication is that Kolfage had done something shady, that he was perhaps pocketing the proceeds, and that GoFundMe had stepped in to save the day.
"People donated money to a GoFundMe page to build a wall on the southern border, and now they're getting refunds," ululated one TV teleprompter queen.
"Now GoFundMe is refunding all that money," said another, in his best Serious Voice. "And he has to start again."
Literally dozens if not scores of others were just the same. But these stories — like BuzzFeed's piece about Cohen — have proved to be as accurate as the Hitler Diaries. In fact, Kolfage was not forced to return any contributor's money. The fact is, he had set up his page so that refunds would issue automatically in the event that the target — $1 billion — was not met by the original GoFundMe deadline.
When it wasn't, the refunds.
Those who sent in a contribution would have it returned after 90 days — if they didn't request a refund.
That is a very different thing from Kolfage being forced to return the money — or being ordered to do so by GoFundMe. It's just one of several critical parts of the story that was not reported. Another is that the vast majority have not so requested.
Here's the real story:
After the fake news fusillade, Kolfage — with GoFundMe's cooperation — reorganized his effort as a 501(c)(4) called WeBuildTheWall, with an advisory board that includes the president's former campaign adviser Steve Bannon, retired brigadier general Rob Spalding, and former Reagan administration official and congressman Tom Tancredo.
They and other heavy hitters in the public policy arena were brought on board to deal with the unexpected success of the project — which raised so much money, so fast, that actual construction of the wall became a real possibility. It was urgently necessary to begin the process of hiring contractors, arranging permits, and working with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to identify where to start work.
None of that got "covered," either.
Once WeBuildTheWall was up and running, people who had contributed to the original project were asked whether they'd like their contributions to transfer over.
It turns out more than two thirds of the people who originally contributed to "We The People Will Build The Wall" have opted in to WeBuildTheWall, which has raised almost $22 million so far over the course of the past two months. That sum includes about $15 million of the original contributions. They are still diligently reaching the other donors to get them to opt in as well and inform them of the campaign's progress. Currently, of those contacted, 94% are choosing to opt in, which is amazing.
Kolfage wasn't forced to return a penny of it. Most of the people explicitly rejected the refund offer that came along with their original donation.
GoFundMe hasn't blackballed Kolfage. It is actively helping him to undo the damage unfairly done to him by lazy, irresponsible, or simply malicious media organs.
None of the stories about this business got it right — and that kind of unanimity rarely happens by accident.
The good news, if you support the wall, is that at the rate donations are pouring in, it won't be necessary for Congress to authorize the funds — or for the president, who has openly blessed the work of WeBuildTheWall, to resort to exigencies.
The wall may get built despite Congress — and probably for less. Certainly sooner.
Eric Peters is a former editorial writer and columnist for The Washington Times who has written for numerous print and online media, including The Detroit News, Chicago Tribune, Investor's Business Daily, and National Review. His weekly automotive columns are published by Creators Syndicate.
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/the_real_story_behind_brian_kolfage_and_20_million_private_dollars_for_the_wall.html#ixzz5jT5hBqZ9
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
Prosecutor Who Dropped Smollett Charges Was Given $400K By George Soros
OAN Newsroom
It's in the video in the link
UPDATED 1:44 PM PT — Wednesday, March 27, 2019
We’re now learning that the prosecutor who dropped all charges against actor Jussie Smollett received a massive donation from leftist billionaire George Soros.
One America’s Pearson Sharp has more.
https://www.oann.com/prosecutor-who-dropped-smollett-charges-was-given-400k-by-george-soros/
Closing in on the weekend...woot woot
Morning Larry...pretty nice day on tap here in Austin
OAN EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Andy Biggs Talks Trump Exoneration & Wall Construction On Ariz. Border
OAN Newsroom
The interview is in the link...pretty interesting
UPDATED 1:27 PM PT — Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Arizona GOP Congressman Andy Biggs spoke to One America’s Patrick Hussion, following the conclusion of the Mueller investigation. Biggs said this might just be the highest point of the Trump administration to date.
https://www.oann.com/oan-exclusive-rep-andy-biggs-talks-trump-exoneration-wall-construction-on-ariz-border/
Russian Military Team Arrived In Caracas: Venezuela Military Attache
March 28, 2019
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Members of the Russian military have arrived in Venezuela but will not take part in military operations, Venezuela’s military attache in Moscow was cited as saying by Interfax news agency on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry subsequently said Russia had sent a team of specialists to Venezuela discuss military cooperation at the request of the government in Caracas.
U.S. President Donald Trump called on Russia on Wednesday to pull troops out of Venezuela and said “all options” were open to make that happen. Two Russian air force planes landed outside Caracas on Saturday carrying nearly 100 Russian troops, according to media reports. Russia had until now declined to comment on the reports.
“The presence of Russian servicemen in Venezuela is linked to the discussion of cooperation in the military-technical sphere,” Jose Rafael Torrealba Perez said, according to Interfax.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at her weekly news briefing on Thursday that “Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone, unlike citizens (officials) in Washington.”
“Russian specialists have arrived in Venezuela in line with the provisions of a bilateral inter-government agreement on military-technical cooperation. No one canceled this document,” she said.
In Venezuela’s recent political crisis, Russia and China have backed President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States and most other Western countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido. In January, Guaido invoked the constitution to assume Venezuela’s interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
https://www.oann.com/russian-troops-arrived-in-venezuela-ifax-cites-attache/
President Trump makes news in first interview since Mueller Report on Sean Hannity’s FNC show
By Peter Barry Chowka
On Wednesday, March 27, Sean Hannity devoted three-quarters – 45 minutes – of his prime-time Fox News channel program which was commercial-free to an exclusive telephone interview with President Donald Trump. It was the president’s first interview since the completion of the Mueller Report and its delivery to the Department of Justice last Friday.
The major points arising from the interview included:
President Trump vowing to release the FISA documents
When President Trump mentioned Jeanine Pirro, who has been absent from her top-rated Fox News channel Saturday evening program for the past two weeks, Sean Hannity made news by confirming that she would be back on her show Justice with Judge Jeanine next Saturday, March 30 at 9 PM ET/PT. In response to comments Pirro made about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on March 9, Fox News criticized and distanced itself from Pirro and she has not appeared on the channel since then.
Below is a transcript of the highlights of the interview – approximately 30% of the total – between Hannity and the president, with minor editing by the author from a “rushed transcript” provided by Fox News Media Relations.
Video of part 1 of the interview can be watched here.
Video of part 2 of the interview can be watched here.
HANNITY, Fox News Channel Wednesday March 27, 2019 Live 9:15-10 PM EDT
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. Joining us now exclusively on the phone, is the president of United States.
Mr. President, thank you for taking time for being with us tonight.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): Well, thank you, Sean, very much. It's an honor.
HANNITY: I appreciate you being here.
You really have not had an opportunity to react, to respond to the Mueller report, the A.G.'s letter, that summarized the report that exonerated you. No collusion after all these years, as you have been claiming. He left the decision as it relates to obstruction to the attorney general and deputy attorney general. They quickly said, no, that does not rise to the level.
And I wanted to get your reaction.
TRUMP: Well, we are very happy about it. It's gone on for a long time, almost since the beginning of my term, and you know, if you look at it, we've done so much despite that. But it was a cloud. It was a cloud that most people didn't believe, fortunately.
They spent more than $30 million, hundreds of interviews of people, in some cases very innocent people that were put through the ringer. Millions of document pages, millions and millions of document pages, and after that, there was no collusion, there was no obstruction. It was such a ridiculous thing that happened.
On the other hand, you know, you look at, how did this start? How did it start? You had dirty cops. You had people that are about FBI folks.
I know so many. They are incredible people. But at the top, they were not clean, to put it mildly. And what they did to our country was a terrible, terrible thing.
HANNITY: Mr. President, we talked a lot on this program about the FISA abuse scandal. And this is what we know, that in August of 2016, we know Bruce Ohr warned everybody at the DOJ and the FBI that Christopher Steele hated you, that Hillary Clinton paid for the dossier, that it was not verified. But still in October, and then three renewal application warrants approved, they were told by the Grassley-Graham memo, the bulk of information came from that phony dossier. Andrew McCabe said, no dossier, no FISA warrant.
There were Russian lies disseminated to the American people before the election, but it also violated the rights of Carter Page and gave a backdoor into your campaign for spying, which I know the media made fun of at the time, when you said it happened.
TRUMP: Well, when I said there could be somebody spying on my campaign, a lot of things happened. It was like – it went wild out there. They couldn’t believe that I could say such a thing.
And as it turned out, that was small potatoes compared to what went on. When you look at what happened, and when it happened, and the money that was spent, the millions and millions on the phony dossier, and then they used the dossier to start things, and there was no truth whatsoever. It was a fraud and paid for by Hillary Clinton and paid for by the Democrats and the DNC. It's hard to believe.
If you wrote this as a novel, no one would buy it. It would be a failure because it will be too unbelievable. Nobody would believe it’s possible, the things that went on.
And we’re getting to the bottom of it, and it's got to be – I mean, you can never allow this to happen to another president. This can never, ever happen to a president again, Sean. That was a disgrace and an embarrassment our country, that they were allowed to get away with this. Hopefully, they won't get away with it.
HANNITY: Do you now feel vindicated? Was there anything that the attorney general's report – I know you have called for obviously the whole Mueller memo to be released, did anything surprise you? And what about the people that were collateral damage in all of this?
TRUMP: Well, people were hurt so badly, so badly. Their lives have been ruined and over – you know, over something that should have never taken place, an investigation that should have never happened. There was no crime, as you know.
You’re only allowed to do this legally if there is a crime. There was no crime. They've all admitted it. Comey, who is a terrible guy, Comey and McCabe and Strzok and Page, the lover, Page, and all of these people, they've admitted in testimony that there was no crime. So they'd started an investigation based on no crime.
I will say this, our new attorney general, Bill Barr, is a great gentleman. I’ve heard about him for years. He's a great man. Had he been there initially, this all would not have happened because what has gone on there is just a disgrace to our country. . .
The “insurance policy” – just in case Hillary Clinton lost, they wanted an insurance policy against me. And what we were playing out until just recently was the insurance policy. They wanted to do a subversion. It was treason. It was really treason.
If the Republican Party had done this to the Democrats, if we had done this to President Obama, you'd have 100 people in jail right now and it would be treason. It would be considered treason and they’d be in jail for the rest of their lives. . .
But I will say this, I said, you know, let's get back on, let's not think about the past, let's think about the future.
But now, I think thinking about the past is just OK because we can never let this happen again in our country or to another president. I’m not talking about me. I’m talking into the future. We can never allow this treasonous – these treasonous acts to happen to another president.
This was an attempted takeover of our government, of our country, an illegal takeover. If it were the other way around, where I was doing it to President Obama or a Democrat, it would be virtually the maximum sentence that you can find no matter where you look in whatever legal book. . .
Screen shot from Hannity, Fox News Channel March 27, 2019
HANNITY: Mr. President, you have the ability to release the FISA applications. There was the original applications, the three subsequent renewal applications. We are told, Andrew McCabe said, no dossier, no FISA warrant. That was a backdoor to your campaign before the election.
The dossier also was leaked to The Washington Post, parts of it, and Isikoff and David Corn, to the American people, and, of course, never verified.
Do you have plans to release those FISA applications, Gang of Eight information, the 302s of Bruce Ohr and others, and the five buckets are [sic] John Solomon and Sara Carter, as they call it?
TRUMP: I do, I have plans to declassify and release. I have plans to absolutely release. But I have some very talented people working for me, lawyers. And they really didn't want me to do it early on.
Devin Nunes, by the way, and [Mark] Meadows, you look at Jim Jordan, and all of the people, they worked so hard. And a lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. I’m glad I didn't do it. We got a great result without having to do it but we will.
One of the reasons that my lawyers didn't want me to do it is they said, if I do it, they [my opponents] will call it a form of obstruction, so they will say, oh, you released these documents so we would make all of this information transparent. You know, and politics you always hear “transparency.” It would make it transparent. And then they call it obstruction, knowing the people we are dealing with.
So, frankly, I thought it would be better if we held it to the end. No, but at the right time, we will be absolutely releasing it. I did the right thing by not doing it so far. . .
HANNITY: I want to ask you about substantive issues. A couple of big things happened in immigration and health care this week.
The last two, we know that [James] Clapper lied under oath. I believe the statute of limitations, though, has passed. In the case of [John] Brennan, we know that there was surveillance, unmasking, leaking raw intelligence, an increase of 350 percent of unmasking.
Samantha Powers, who was working for the U.N., asking for 300 cases unmasked. She denies it.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: But in that particular case of Brennan and Clapper, and Brennan in particular, multiple times accused you of treason.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: Your reaction?
TRUMP: Well, I think Brennan is a sick person. I think there's something wrong for him. And I watch – for him to come out of the CIA and act that way was so disrespectful to the country and to the CIA and to the position he held.
And he was not considered good at what he did. He was never a respected guy. Tough guy but not a respected guy. But he lied to Congress.
And the other night before the report came out, he predicted horrible things. Things he said were horrible. Then today, I guess he said something – I didn't see it but I heard he said, well, I must have bad sources or bad information.
I mean, this is a man who really is either sick or there is some other problem. But the way he spoke – and as you know, Clapper lied, and perhaps the statute of limitations ran out on that one but it didn't run out on Comey, it didn't run out on Brennan or Strzok or Page or McCabe. I mean, McCabe – his wife got hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was running the FBI and running all sorts of cases, and his wife got hundreds of thousands of dollars from essentially the Clintons, from the Clintons’ closest friend. Then he ruled so favorably.
I mean, he tried to say he was not involved, I don't think too many people believe that, I did not believe that. But she got all those good rulings. It's really a scandalous situation. It is so badly that it reflects it so horribly, a guy like Ohr with his wife, Nellie Ohr, and GPS Fusion.
She wrote the report, and she goes, gives it to her husband who is at the DOJ, and then he goes and brings it to the FBI, and she's getting paid for doing it. It's incredible.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: The things that happened are incredible, and very, very bad for our country. . .
HANNITY: Let me ask you, many presidents have promised Israel that they would move the capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. You made a tough position, you got that done. I have known the prime minister of Israel personally for well over 20 years, like I have known you for well over 20 years. I’ve always viewed Prime Minister Netanyahu as a Churchillian figure with moral clarity, that few people had on the world stage, standing alone often.
And I saw that you – I thought it was a very big announcement about the Golan Heights being Israel's territory. As you see the rise of anti-Semitism, not just – we have members of Congress that have said horrible things, but in Europe, and elsewhere, and the dangers of that small country, radical Islam, I just wanted to get your reaction to the importance of Israel as our close ally.
TRUMP: Well, you don't have to go to other countries when you see what is going on in this country – yesterday, I was very honored to do the Golan Heights. That was something that was promised by many, many presidents over many, many years, and I got it done.
Then you look at also Jerusalem, moving the embassy to Jerusalem. For years, many presidents for many decades campaigned on it. They were going to do it and they never did it because frankly, it was much tougher to do than people whatever ever understand. It was very tough.
I understand why they ultimately didn't do it, they didn't get it done, but I got it done. Not only did I get it done, I got the embassy built for a fraction, a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost of what it was supposed to cost. And now, as you know, the embassy is open. It’s not just designated, it's open in Jerusalem.
So, look, I’m very proud of what we have done for Israel. I’m very proud of my relationship with Israel, and what is going on with the Democrats, and with Jewish people and the Democrats and Israel is shocking to me. You know, I grew up in a world where people really and Democrats, they loved Israel.
And now, I’m looking at a world where many Democrats seem to hate Israel. They seem to despise Israel. It is a tremendous surprise to me. What's going on with Israel and the Democrat Party is absolutely horrific. Terrible. . .
HANNITY: Mr. President, thank you so much for your time tonight. We appreciate you staying so long and answering so many questions. We appreciate it.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, Sean.
Peter Barry Chowka writes about politics, media, popular culture, and health care for American Thinker and other publications. Peter's new website is http://peter.media. Follow him on Twitter at @pchowka.
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/president_trump_makes_news_in_first_interview_since_mueller_report_on_sean_hannitys_fnc_show.html#ixzz5jSqEPpJN
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Good Luck at the Doc...
Morning Larry...47 on the way to 79 today...sunshine as well...well soon anyway...LOL