Robison and Huckabee Talk Trump and the Dangers of Big Government

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James Robison: Do you find it difficult as a faith leader to comprehend how people can actually support a platform and candidate that tells them they can’t make it without dependence upon the federal government? And along with that plank also to have the plank that we have the right to take an innocent unborn life? And then to even cheer on a Supreme Court that not only doesn’t give safety to that child but totally casts aside the law of the people in our state insisting that an abortion clinic have proper care for a woman should complications arise so that they could save her life?

Mike Huckabee: I thought we came to a low point in liberalism in 2012 when the Democratic Party put out their little booklet and cartoon called The Life of Julia. It basically showed how from cradle to grave the government was there to hold your hand, lead your steps and without whom you would be absolutely incapable of ever functioning as a human being. You wouldn’t be able to put food on your table or a roof over your head. You couldn’t retire. You couldn’t even have a job. It was the most unbelievable assertion of the power of the government and the weakness of the individual.

I think our founders would be appalled if they ever saw that story, The Life of Julia, because it was the antithesis of what they created with people who were self-governing, self-respecting, and individually responsible for their future, and the government’s only role was to give them some level of protection so they would be freed to pursue happiness. The government was not there to provide happiness. Not ever.

Republicans still believe that we are individuals and if members of my family are poorly educated it doesn’t mean that I have to accept that as my lot in my life. I may have to work a lot harder than someone else, but I have the opportunity to go get an education and it also means I am not stuck where I started.

To hear people on the left tell it, there’s no choice. I find that the Orwellian language that is invoked by the left is stunning. A great example of that is when it comes to the issue of abortion. They don’t ever talk about abortion and taking the life of an unborn child. They talk about “women’s health.” There is nothing healthy about an abortion. It’s an invasive surgical procedure in which one person will absolutely certainly die and the mother will risk life in the process of this surgical procedure.

The government has chosen to treat this differently than a tooth extraction because with a tooth extraction there are very strict requirements on the equipment that has to be present, the training of the medical personnel who are there to preside over those moments.

In an abortion clinic, one of our amazing things is we have thrown out any kind of equality in providing safety for that woman who was having an abortion. Even if you thought it was a great idea, you should think at least that it’s an idea that deserves to be protected by the highest levels of science, but that hasn’t been done. That’s because abortion is not about health. It’s about taking a life. It’s a business. It’s about money. It’s about control.

Robison: You told me long ago that you thought Donald Trump, surprising as it seems, would be teachable. As blustery and full of braggadocio — untactful and even more than ungracious, unkind and really incorrectly so — despite all that you still saw he would be approachable and teachable. How important do you think it is for him to get people to the table of reason, and do you reconfirm that you think he is willing to listen and learn?

Huckabee: I knew him before the campaign when I was in New York every week for Fox. He was a guest on my show, I visited with him in his office on several occasions and I had already gotten to know him. I had gotten to know him as a person who is very much like native-born Israelis. A native-born Israeli is called a “Sabra;” if you ever hear that term it means someone who was born there. They didn’t immigrate there. “Sabra” is like a cactus, that’s kind of a picture of a lot of Israelis. It means prickly on the outside but very tender on the inside. I think that what people don’t understand is that Donald Trump is like a Sabra. Prickly on the outside. There is a bluster, bravado about him that’s part of his brand, part of his way of dealing with people.

He wants to go in the room and take charge, determine what the parameters are. As a business person he’s the kind of guy who goes in the room and says, “Here’s what I want” and it’s bold, audacious, and in some cases it’s ridiculous, but he knows he’s just set the terms of the debate and he’ll be counter offered and probably by the time the counter offer gets to the point of acceptance, he’s now where he really wanted to be when he walked in the room in the first place.

He’s not going to get everything he asked for, but when he walked in and boldly put his stake in the ground, everybody thought, “I can’t believe he asked for that.” Then as things finally got to a point of agreement, I’m sure he walked out of the room and said, “Terrific! I got exactly what I wanted.” That’s a good negotiating tactic and a lot of people haven’t been able to separate that.

Robison: I said quite forcefully that he must hear and heed wisdom. Even leaders in the Old Testament who didn’t have the character strengths that you can see in Mr. Trump, when they heard and heeded the counsel of Joseph, Daniel, the major and minor prophets, then the people and the nation were blessed. I think if he will hear and heed wise counsel, he can actually lead and motivate us in the right direction. If he does not, then I think we just continue on the course toward the loss of freedom and tragic consequences.

Anything else you’d like to say to our readers from your heart to theirs?

Huckabee: People need to realize the next president will not be a perfect person. But the next president will lead this country and make decisions that will affect us for generations. They will likely pick three, maybe four of the Supreme Court justices who will have in their hands whether or not we have a Second Amendment, whether or not we protect religious liberty. And if that’s not important to people, either go vote for Hillary or sit it out.

With Hillary we’re probably going to lose the Second Amendment and major portions of the First. With Trump I think we are protected in both of those.

I think this is the most important point I’ll make today: There is a huge difference between politics and theology. I’ve operated in the universe of theology through church and denominational service. And I’ve been for the past 26 years involved in the political arena. In theology we can be very pure; we have to be pure in fact. It’s all about the purity of doctrine and the orthodoxy of our faith, what we believe, why we believe it and what the authority of it is. Is it an objective authority of God’s Word, or is it the subjective authority of how we feel?

Politics is about the art (it is not a science, it’s an art) of being able to persuade people toward a common goal and recognizing that it’s the art of the doable, not the art of the ideal. You’re never going to be able to make politics a pure form of science in which people do intuitively, automatically what they ought to do. You’re going to have to take it in degrees. Accept it in stages and incrementally. You’re going to have to be patient enough to go into the process knowing you’re going to lose some battles and you’re going to win some battles, but if you’re only in it to win and you’re going to quit the first time you lose, you best not get into it at all because you’ll be wasting your efforts.

Robison: Thank you for your time. This entire conversation has been meaningful to me and those last statements you made are pure wisdom. A lot of the things I’ve shared with the complexities of this election is the absolute irrefutable fact that God has always used imperfect people to accomplish his perfect will. He always has and always will. The real bottom line concerning that is whether or not that imperfect person will hear and heed wise counsel. That’s the key.

(For more from the author of “Robison and Huckabee Talk Trump and the Dangers of Big Government” please click HERE)

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#JesusChangesEverything: Hundreds of Thousands Set to Gather in DC Today for Together 2016

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There’s just one day left before hundreds of thousands meet for Together 2016 on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

The thought-child of Nick Hall and the PULSE Movement, Together 2016 hopes to be a catalyst in our culture and our nation. “Our generation is the most cause-driven in history,” the event’s website reads. “But our causes are pulling us apart. Even religion doesn’t unite. We believe only Jesus can bring us together. July 16, 2016, is the day our generation will meet on the National Mall to come together around Jesus in unified prayer, worship, and a call for catalytic change.”

Speakers and artists at the event include Hillsong United, Francis Chan, Crowder, Ravi Zacharias, Casting Crowns, Louie Giglio and many more.

#JesusChangesEverything

As resetting a computer helps restore the system, Together 2016 is praying for there to be a “reset” of our culture. With division running rampant in our society, Together 2016 says, “It’s time to come together around Jesus.”

Jesus directly challenged a culture of division. He prayed we would be one — one family, one body. And He told us to love our enemies. Everyone loves their friends; it’s when we love those who aren’t like us that the world takes note. It’s time to come together around Jesus in a counter-cultural moment of unity and love for each other.

What Can You Do?

Join the event. Together 2016 hopes to have over a million Christians standing for Jesus tomorrow. Visit reset2016.com to let them know that you’re coming.

Pray. As the event’s website says, “When we pray, God moves. Together 2016 won’t happen without all of us joining in extraordinary prayer, to lift a unified sound.” Pray that the Lord will use this event to change a generation.

(For more from the author of “#JesusChangesEverything: Hundreds of Thousands Set to Gather in DC Today for Together 2016” please click HERE)

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White House Addresses Decision Not to Support Cops With Blue Light Display

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Though the Obama White House has been illuminated to show support for other causes, most notably the legalization of gay marriage, numerous critics pointed out the mansion received no such treatment following the recent mass shooting that left five Dallas police officers dead.

Reports indicate the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association sent a request to the administration to shine blue light on the White House as a memorial to the officers killed and injured, though the effort was not successful.

“Actions speak louder than scripted words,” FLEOA president Jon Adler wrote in a statement, “and the honorable act of displaying law enforcement’s ‘Thin Blue Line’ at the White House would demonstrate the President’s sincere commitment to our fallen heroes and their families.”

In response to a question asked by a reporter on Wednesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest reportedly confirmed turning the White House blue is “not something we plan to do at this point.”

Further explaining the decision to limit its public display of support for the law enforcement community, the administration described President Barack Obama’s actions thus far as sufficient.

“The president has chosen to acknowledge this loss and pay tribute to these heroes in a variety of other ways,” the White House statement asserted, “including: ordering flags lowered to half staff, traveling to Dallas to speak at the memorial service and spending a substantial amount of time after the service visiting with the families of those who were lost.”

Earnest confirmed Obama was slated to host a White House meeting on Wednesday “that will include law enforcement officials” in addition to “activists, academics, civil rights leaders, local political leaders from across the country.” (For more from the author of “White House Addresses Decision Not to Support Cops With Blue Light Display” please click HERE)

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FBI Confirms Agents Were Ordered to Keep Silent About Clinton’s Emails

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Five months after the FBI was first asked whether its agents investigating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails were being prevented from speaking publicly about the case, the FBI has now admitted officially that that is indeed the case.

Fox News reports that a July 1 letter sent by the FBI to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, confirmed that agents had been required to sign a “Case Briefing Acknowledgement.” The document says that disclosing information about the case is “strictly prohibited” without prior approval.

Grassley had first asked the FBI about any attempt to muzzle agents back in February, but did not receive a reply until early this month.

The FBI letter said the purpose of the agreement was twofold: “to maintain an official record of all persons knowledgeable of this highly unusual investigation, and to remind individuals of their obligations to protect classified and sensitive information.” The letter said “no one refused to sign” or “raised any questions or concerns.”

Fox News quoted a recently retired FBI agent as saying that such a step was used only in “the most sensitive of sensitive cases,” and can have a “chilling effect” on agents, who know that the edict not to talk “comes from the very top and that there has to be a tight lid on the case.”

In a July 6 letter to FBI Director James Comey in which Grassley asked a wide range of questions about the FBI investigation, he touched upon the FBI’s order limiting the ability of agents to speak about the case. In light of several “inconsistencies” in the case that the senator listed, he said he found it “even more troubling that the FBI tried to gag its agents with a non-disclosure agreement on this matter, in violation of whistleblower protection statutes.”

“In your July 1st reply to my February 4th letter, you indicated that agents working on this case were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that failed to exempt protected whistleblowing,” Grassley wrote. “Only after I wrote to you did you advise your FBI agents that they are still free to speak with Congress regarding waste, fraud, and abuse.” (For more from the author of “FBI Confirms Agents Were Ordered to Keep Silent About Clinton’s Emails” please click HERE)

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OUCH: Remember When Pence Slammed Trump’s Muslim Ban?

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…Gov. Mike Pence [is] Donald Trump’s selection for his vice presidential running-mate. But the two haven’t always been on the same side of things politically. With the news comes our “well, that’s awkward” post.

It wasn’t so long ago that Pence forcefully denounced Trump’s suggested Muslim ban calling it “offensive and unconstitutional.”

Hard to forget that one.

But that’s not all – the two have strong disagreements about trade. Try reconciling Pence’s free trade support with Trump’s ardent protectionist “fair trade” stance.

Even more, while Trump consistently reminds America that he was against the war in Iraq, Pence has consistently supported it.

I’m sure the family meals in Indianapolis the past few days have assuaged all that, though. (For more from the author of “OUCH: Remember When Pence Slammed Trump’s Muslim Ban?” please click HERE)

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‘No American Should Be Forced to Participate in Abortion,’ Says Pastor Following Pro-Life Vote

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Seated in the House gallery, one man watched the vote on the Conscience Protection Act with all the intensity of a general going into war.

On July 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill, which intended to protect the rights of health care providers, churches, and other groups that object to participating in abortion.

Jim Garlow, father of eight children and pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, California, sat with his wife and a dozen congregants who prayed and discussed events unfolding on the House floor. While others visit the nation’s capital city for summer vacation, this team came with purpose.

Nearly two years ago, Garlow was thrust into a battle with the state of California when his church objected to a new state mandate involving abortion. Since then, he has found that pro-choice bias in state and federal government is no casual affair.

“They are ruthless,” Garlow says.

Yet his church refuses to bow to the state. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, its lawsuit against California is ongoing.

In an interview with Bound4LIFE—a faith-based, pro-life organization—following the vote, Garlow discusses how he testified before Congress, his personal connection to life issues, and the covert strategy he sees at work in politics today.

Bound4LIFE: What recent events in California led your church to file a lawsuit against the state to defend your pro-life convictions?

Garlow: On August 22, 2014, some nameless, faceless bureaucrat at the Department of Managed Health Care in Sacramento made a decision by fiat: that every insurance provider in the state of California had to include elective abortion in our plans.

I found out about that decision 60 days later. An attorney who assists us at Skyline Church said, ‘You’re now covering abortions in your insurance.’ I said, ‘There’s no way.’ ‘No, you are.’ ‘Surely not—we would’ve been notified or something! We would’ve seen this in the media?’ I asked our team to follow-up about it and that attorney was right. We were being forced to pay for abortions, and in fact everyone in California is.

We began to ask what we could do—what is our legal recourse? There were many conference calls. We appealed directly to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services at the time. She stalled our inquiry forever and did nothing. HHS would not enforce the law as written, which protects our rights.

A number of churches, hospitals, as well as Christian universities, both evangelical and Catholic, filed a complaint against the federal government. On June 22, a federal agency dismissed that coalition complaint. Our church filed a separate lawsuit against the state of California in a federal court, which is currently ongoing.

Bound4LIFE: Are there specific policies already enacted that protect medical professionals—or any citizens—who do not want to be involved in abortion?

Garlow: If you’re an OB-GYN doctor or a nurse, and you refuse to perform an abortion, there are several federal statutes that protect you. The Hyde Amendment is the most well-known, prohibiting federal funding of abortion. There’s the Church Amendments—not named for “church,” like a congregation; it refers to Frank Church, former senator from Idaho.

There’s also the Coats-Snowe Amendment, named for Dan Coats and Olympia Snowe. They are two people on opposite sides of the abortion issue, but they agreed that people should not be coerced to be involved in abortion.

But the Weldon Amendment, named after Congressman Dave Weldon who is a medical doctor, is the most relevant. The Obama administration has twisted the Weldon Amendment in such a way that, if any medical professional objected to providing abortions, they can be fired with no right to litigation.

It’s bizarre. When the law is violated, people always have the right to sue—but now none of these people could. On top of that, churches are also coerced to cover abortions.

I testified this past Friday before the Energy and Commerce Committee—their subcommittee on Health, chaired by Congressman Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania. I flew home, preached in San Diego, then flew back here Monday to speak to congressional staff about this issue—60 key people influencing their bosses, who are members of Congress.

We’ve been in meetings one after another with congressmen, specifically bringing up the Conscience Protection Act and how it helps correct these issues. I also have a new book called ‘Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Issues;’ a team from Skyline Church came as volunteers and hand-delivered copies to all 535 members of Congress. They believe the message is that important.

Bound4LIFE: Now the vote just ended on this bill, how does it correct the issue of government discrimination against medical providers and churches like yours?

Garlow: We had a victory moments ago, when the Conscience Protection Act passed by a bipartisan majority vote of 245-182 in the U.S. House. Our team was seated in the House gallery praying. Now it will proceed to the U.S. Senate, where it will hopefully be voted on this fall.

This week, I’ve been sitting with attorneys who’ve been using all this legalese—some of which I did not follow, quite frankly. Let me approach the specifics in layman’s terms. This bill tightens the screws down on these amendments already enacted. It gets rid of this notion that you cannot sue if you’re coerced into providing an abortion. That’s the quick and easy way of understanding it.

This bill would take out the language where they twisted the Weldon Amendment to mean something different. The Obama administration released a statement last night saying the president would most certainly veto this bill if it arrives at his desk because it would ‘limit women’s health care.’

They are completely ignoring the reality of the shift. When they push for certain policies, the left at first says, ‘Let us do this—you’ve just got to tolerate it.’ Then next they say, ‘You’ve got to affirm it.’ And finally they say, ‘No, you’ve got to participate in this activity.’ In this case, they want us to participate in the killing.

They attempt these three levels every time: toleration, affirmation, participation. They are ruthless. They have no respect for the First Amendment rights of the Constitution.

Bound4LIFE: For someone who does not hold pro-life convictions, why should they support this bill?

Garlow: Tonight, we had three Democratic members join the majority in voting for this bill. Now the Democratic Party, according to its platform, is unashamedly pro-choice—I would call it pro-abortion, to be honest.

Many leaders mentioned earlier who wrote these amendments, such as Senator Frank Church, were Democrats who said that a person’s conscience should not be violated. There’s been a fair amount of bipartisan support for conscience rights, because this policy is not fundamentally about the issue of abortion.

Rather, it addresses: Is the First Amendment going to be respected? That question is on two levels. On one level, there are those of us who uphold the sanctity of life based on biblical reasons—we can point to chapter and verse, as well as church doctrine.

On a second level, there are atheists who object to abortion and they don’t have to give a theological reason for that. It’s a matter of conscience for them, period. No one should be forced to do something they find offensive.

This was emphasized strongly in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee forum. Two of us testifying were pastors, while two others were conscientious objectors whose stand for life was not tied to theological reasons. No American should be forced to participate in abortion.

Bound4LIFE: You noted your role as a pastor. Sometimes speaking of the value of every life seems distant or political to people. How does Skyline Church live out your pro-life beliefs?

Garlow: It concerns me that we live in a culture where people wonder, ‘Why should we care about a pro-life position?’ How ludicrous is that! The average person uses the word ‘abortion’ with far too much ease. When I was in front of the congressional committee, I said, ‘Let’s call it what it is: Abortion is dismembering a human being, ripping them to shreds. Innocent blood is flowing in the streets of our cities.’

At Skyline Church, we are activists. We hold accountable those in public life. We also adopt babies—I’ve adopted four myself. One of my adopted children is an adult now, who has adopted children. My wife passed away a number of years ago and I remarried, then I had stepchildren; one of my stepchildren is adopted.

My daughter-in-law, whom I claim as my own, runs an adoption ministry. So she’s standing for life full time on the frontlines. Some of our congregation goes out to abortion centers for the purpose of praying and reaching out in compassion. When I pastored in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I was heavily involved on that important front.

Bound4LIFE: You mention Texas, which was at the center of a recent Supreme Court decision seen as a setback for the pro-life movement. Do you have hope as a pro-life pastor?

Garlow: I do have hope. The pro-life movement is very encouraging to me as a pastor. How we’re seeing the next generation take a stand against abortion is thrilling.

I have a cautious optimism, built on whether this nation has a critical mass of people who are willing to repent of sin, hold leaders accountable, and refuse to tolerate the kind of actions we’ve seen going on. We have tough battles here, but they are winnable to the extent that we will follow the word of God. (For more from the author of “‘No American Should Be Forced to Participate in Abortion,’ Says Pastor Following Pro-Life Vote” please click HERE)

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Republicans Accuse Democrats of ‘Privately’ Obstructing Probe of Fetal Tissue Market

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Republicans on a special House panel investigating the sale and transfer of body parts and other tissue from aborted babies are accusing Democrats of stonewalling efforts to present Congress with an accurate picture.

Democrats, they say, are encouraging abortion clinics and for-profit companies not to comply with congressional subpoenas and other requests for documents, making it difficult to complete their investigation.

“The minority privately attempted to obstruct the panel’s fact-finding mission,” Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said of her Democrat counterparts during a press conference Thursday on a 94-page interim update on the panel’s progress.

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., a panel member, said the abortion industry “has been less than cooperative, and I think we have to ask ourselves why,” adding:

If they’re proud of this industry, if there’s nothing to hide, if they think this is moral and meets the laws of America, open up. Give us the documents we asked for.

The Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives was established last October following a series of undercover videos created by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress. Those hidden-camera videos, released last summer, depicted officials at Planned Parenthood affiliates discussing the amounts they could charge in selling organs and other body parts from aborted babies.
Profiting from the sale of fetal tissue is against federal law.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America has denied those allegations, and state investigations so far have cleared the nation’s largest abortion provider of any wrongdoing.

But since then, the abortion industry has faced a new wave of allegations surrounding the fetal tissue market, which, according to federal law, is supposed to operate on a nonprofit, donation-based model.

On Thursday, Blackburn and other Republicans leading the House select panel issued the scathing interim report raising legal and ethical questions about the abortion industry. The report suggests that, motivated by a need for revenue, abortion clinics and middleman procurement companies engaged in regulatory shortcuts that violate federal law and regulations.

Middleman procurement companies are businesses that work with abortion clinics to obtain body parts and other tissue from aborted babies and provide them to universities, institutions, or other organizations for research.

Blackburn said:

We have uncovered evidence that some abortion providers have altered abortion procedures in a manner that substitutes what is best for the patient with a financial benefit for both the abortion clinic and the procurement organization. The motive for profit sullies the integrity of our nation’s celebrated history of voluntary organ donation.

Federal law prohibits doctors from altering the abortion procedure to obtain tissue. Federal law also prohibits profiting from the sale of fetal tissue.

However, it is legal to provide payment and accept payment to cover reasonable costs for “transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.”

The select panel’s ranking member, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., called the GOP members’ allegations in the report false, and said the panel should be disbanded.

“Never before have I witnessed such a disconnect between allegations and the facts,” Schakowsky said in a prepared statement. “Their interim report, which Democrats learned about through a press advisory, proves that this panel needs to be disbanded now, before more lives are put at risk.”

By requesting the names of specific doctors, researchers, and clinic employees, Schakowsky and other Democrats say, Republicans are endangering their lives. They point to the attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.

In May, Democrats issued their own update on the panel’s progress, calling Republican allegations of noncompliance “false.” They wrote:

Despite the chair’s false public claims of widespread noncompliance, thousands of pages of documents have been submitted to the panel by universities, clinics, and companies. These materials indicate that costs related to fetal tissue donation remain consistent with the Government Accountability Office’s reporting from 16 years ago and provide no evidence of the unlawful sale of fetal tissue.

The select panel includes eight Republicans and six Democrats.

The initial goal of the panel’s investigation was to figure out whether abortion clinics and other companies profit from the sale of fetal tissue. In the course of obtaining documents, Republicans say, they learned that abortion clinics and middleman companies also may have violated other laws and regulations that apply to the abortion industry.

To provide Congress with a complete picture, panel investigators say Democrats must stop encouraging abortion clinics and middleman procurement companies to refuse to turn over accounting and banking records critical to the investigation.

“At every turn, the minority has urged that the panel’s requests for information be ignored and even urged noncompliance with congressional subpoenas,” Page 5 of the interim report reads. The report continues:

At the behest of the minority, many individuals who have received congressional subpoenas have heavily redacted critical information, and some have refused to comply at all. Still others have communicated in writing that they have relied upon minority memoranda to support their noncompliance. Information is a critical tool for congressional deliberation, so in the coming months, the panel will undertake initiatives to gain compliance with its subpoenas.

“Democrats did not give anyone a memorandum urging noncompliance and we told this to Republicans when they asked,” a spokeswoman for panel Democrats told The Daily Signal in response to these allegations, adding:

Democratic staff prepared a memo for our members on the status of the investigation which made clear that we have uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing and highlighted the Republicans’ partisan abuses. That memo is available on our website. Republicans must be really struggling if they have to resort to peddling falsehoods about Democrats and a simple status memo can put the brakes on their investigation. Just like the many allegations Republicans have made throughout this so-called investigation, this one has no basis in fact.

In their report, Republicans detail specific examples where they say middleman companies and other entities refused to cooperate with Congress’ investigation.

On Feb. 12, the panel issued a subpoena to StemExpress demanding the production of all banking and accounting records relating to fetal tissue, among other documents. According to the panel’s report, StemExpress produced only accounting summaries created by its lawyers.

On March 29, the panel issued a second subpoena to StemExpress and its founder, Cate Dyer, again requesting the same transaction information, as well as information on the company’s financial director.

“Without enforcing the subpoenas to StemExpress and Ms. Dyer, the panel will be unable to determine whether StemExpress complied with or violated [federal law],” the report states.

The Daily Signal emailed StemExpress, but the company would not comment on the record.

The panel documented what it calls similar instances of noncompliance involving Southwestern Women’s Options (an abortion clinic located in Albuquerque, New Mexico), the University of New Mexico (a research institute), and Advanced Bioscience Resources (a middleman procurement nonprofit).

An attorney for Advanced Bioscience Resources told investigators the organization does not have detailed records of its fees and expenses.

Instead, investigators said, Advanced Bioscience Resources gave the panel a “single sheet of financial information, and a one-page document, apparently generated using a calculator.”

“It is unclear how these documents were created or by whom,” the report states.

The Daily Signal contacted Advanced Bioscience Resources, Southwestern Women’s Options, and the University of New Mexico for comment, but those entities have not yet responded.

Without obtaining these accounting documents, Republicans say, they’ll be unable to meet their Dec. 31 deadline to complete the investigation.

“Information is a critical tool for congressional deliberation, so in the coming months, the panel will undertake initiatives to gain compliance with its subpoenas,” Blackburn and her fellow Republicans warn in the interim report.

Democrats maintain that if these companies and organizations are forced to hand over the information demanded, lives could be at risk.

“Republicans have offered no legitimate reason for continuing this investigation, which is putting lives, life-saving research, health care at risk, and wasting taxpayer dollars,” the panel’s Democrats wrote in their May report. (For more from the author of “Republicans Accuse Democrats of ‘Privately’ Obstructing Probe of Fetal Tissue Market” please click HERE)

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Reports: Indiana Governor Pence Is Trump’s VP Pick

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The Donald Trump vice-presidential guessing game is over, according to widespread reports, and the winner is Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

Roll Call first broke the story citing an anonymous source, The Indianapolis Star then reported that Pence has dropped his re-election campaign in order to be on the state’s ballot as Vice President, The New York Times joined those confirming Pence was the likely pick, and now ABC News is reporting the governor has flown to New York City for what was expected to be Friday’s official announcement.

A radio host before becoming a politician, Pence is a former Congressman who served six terms in the House of Representatives. Known for his conservative principles, he opposed several of President George W. Bush’s key initiatives, including No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and the Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout. He eventually rose to become the fourth-ranking Republican in the House before running for governor in 2012.

As governor, Pence has faced criticisms from both sides of the political aisle. The left has targeted him for signing multiple pro-life bills, including one that makes choosing abortion because of a baby’s sex or race illegal. He signed a Religious Freedom Restoration Act law in Spring 2015 that drew a tremendous backlash from LGBT activists and corporations, leading him to sign a modified version shortly thereafter.

The latter move left conservatives infuriated with a candidate many wanted to run for president in 2008 and 2012. Pence has also been criticized for expanding Medicaid in a compromise with the Obama administration that implemented conservative priorities like health savings accounts. He pulled Indiana out of Common Core, but instituted education policies that have garnered significant conservative criticism.

On budgets and taxes, Pence was one of four governors who received an “A” from the Cato Institute in its 2014 rankings.

“Mike Pence of Indiana has been a champion tax cutter, and he has held the line on spending. He signed into law a 2013 tax package that cut the individual income tax rate from 3.4 to 3.23 percent and repealed the state’s inheritance tax,” according to Cato’s report. “In 2014 he approved cuts to the corporate income tax rate and to business property taxes, both of which will be phased in over time.”

Pence’s conservative pedigree was rarely challenged during his 12 years in the House, where he took the Republican Study Committee from a little-noticed group of House conservatives to being a powerhouse organization that regularly pushed the GOP to the right on policy. In 2006, he tried to broker a deal between Bush and conservatives on immigration, an effort that was praised by many in Republican circles, but decried by hard-liners like former Rep. Tom Tancredo.

A Trump/Pence ticket will balance the hard-charging charisma of Trump with the balanced, policy-centric Pence. It will also settle many conservative concerns about Trump’s seriousness about issues like abortion, and likely add significant fundraising power to the Trump campaign.

Reactions to the likely pick included praise from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser also expressed admiration for Pence as Vice President, saying in a statement, “Mr. Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence is an affirmation of the pro-life commitments he’s made and will rally the pro-life grassroots.” Huffington Post reports that other Republicans are offering similar words of affirmation.

Erick Erickson, however, was less pleased. The former Red State Editor-in-Chief criticized Pence on Twitter for retreating on religious liberty, and offered other critical commentary in blog posts.

From the left, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director Ilya Sheyman said that picking Pence would show that Trump is “doubling down on his divisive and hate-filled approach to politics.” Sheyman specifically highlighted Pence’s socially conservative principles, and concerns Pence had about Syrian refugees settling in Indiana.

One word of warning: Although all signs to Pence, multiple people on the Trump campaign have denied that a final pick has been made, and The New York Times cautions “the party’s mercurial presidential candidate may still backtrack on his apparent choice.” (For more from the author of “Reports: Indiana Governor Pence Is Trump’s VP Pick” please click HERE)

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U.S. MARINE-KILLING HEZBOLLAH: All of Our Weapons and Rockets Come From Obama’s Buds in Iran

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Hezbollah’s leader said on Friday that the Lebanese terrorist organization will not be harmed by U.S. sanctions since it is funded and armed directly by Iran, Agence France-Presse reported.

“We are open about the fact that Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who insisted that the Lebanese terrorist organization “will not be affected” by the recently imposed sanctions.

“As long as Iran has money, we have money… Just as we receive the rockets that we use to threaten Israel, we are receiving our money. No law will prevent us from receiving it,” he added.

Lebanon’s central bank ordered all financial institutions to cease dealings with Hezbollah and come into compliance with U.S. sanctions last month, which led Nasrallah to accuse central bank governor Riad Salameh of “yielding” to American pressure. A bomb exploded outside a Beirut bank earlier this month, only hours after an Iranian news agency issued a threat against institutions enforcing the law.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an expert on the Middle East, pointed out the significance of Nasrallah’s declaration in Al Arabiyah:

It has been long known to political observers that the Islamic Republic played a key role in giving birth to the Lebanese Shiite militant group in 1982. For over three decades, Iran’s financial, military, intelligence, logistical, and advisory assistances to Hezbollah have been well known. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its elite force, the Quds force, transformed Hezbollah to be one of Iran’s most important and powerful regional and international proxies.

Nevertheless, what highlights the significance of Nasrallah’s speech is the fact that this is the first time in which he is announcing and publicly confirming that his group is receiving full monetary and arms support from the Iranian government.

Lebanese MP Saad Hariri criticized Hezbollah following Nasrallah’s acknowledgement, saying, “this admission shows Hezbollah follows Iran par excellence.” Hariri’s father Rafic, the former prime minister of Lebanon, was assassinated in 2004. A United Nations investigation implicated Hezbollah in the killing.

Nasrallah’s admission was made in the course of a speech marking 40 days since the death of Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine. After Badreddine’s death, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif eulogized the explosives expert, who was implicated in the 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 305 people.

Nasrallah’s speech seems to confirm an assurance given to him last August by Zarif that the nuclear deal presented “a historic opportunity” to confront Israel. Iran recently announced that its defense spending would increase by 90% in the coming year.

The comments also call into question assurances made by Secretary of State John Kerry last year that the U.S. would ensure that Iran could not arm Hezbollah, despite the lifting of nuclear sanctions against Tehran. “Our primary embargo is still in place,” Kerry said at a Senate hearing last year. “We are still sanctioning them. And, I might add, for those things that we may want to deal with because of their behavior, for instance, Hezbollah, there is a UN resolution, 1701, the prevents the transfer of any weapons to Hezbollah. That will continue and what we need to do is make sure that we’re enforcing it.” (For more from the author of “U.S. MARINE-KILLING HEZBOLLAH: All of Our Weapons and Rockets Come From Obama’s Buds in Iran” please click HERE)

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Real or Fake? Ghostly Photo Mesmerizes Social Media

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Real or fake? That’s the big question surrounding the latest social media buzz – a photograph posted by a man who says he witnessed the scene of a fatal motorcycle accident from afar, snapped a quick picture, and noticed, while looking at it and posting on Facebook, a shadowy whitish figure hovering above an emergency response official’s head.

Saul Vazquez of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, posted this to his Facebook page, alongside the photo: “I took this picture just few minutes ago from the cab of my truck it was an accident between Campton and Stanton on the service road just off of the mountain parkway, zoom in and pay attention to the shadow just off the top of the state trooper hat. All I say is I hope everyone involved is okay!!”

The crash victim was taken to the hospital, but later died, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Vazquez told LEX 18 he snapped the photo from the bed of his truck, while driving past the scene, and assures the photograph’s not been tampered with in any way.

His post has been shared more than 8,700 times. And most comments show individuals appear to believe the photo is genuine. (Read more from “Real or Fake? Ghostly Photo Mesmerizes Social Media” HERE)

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