Emails: Hillary Clinton Invited Putin to Clinton Foundation Gala

Just two months into her term as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton’s foundation invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin, along with several other prominent heads of state, to the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2009 annual gathering, emails obtained by the watchdog group Judicial Watch reveal.

The March 13, 2009, email from the Clinton Foundation showed that Putin and about 200 other leaders (including others just as controversial) were invited to attend a gathering that occurred at about the same time that the newly appointed secretary of state was attempting a “reset” with Moscow.

The email, which was sent from Clinton Foundation director of foreign policy Amitabh Desai to Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro and then forwarded to top Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, also highlights the potential massive conflict of interest between a non-profit foundation and the federal government.

This may come as a shock to casual observers of global politics, as Clinton represented herself as a fierce anti-Putin hawk on the 2016 election campaign trail. Clinton routinely reprimanded now-President Donald Trump for not condemning Putin. She called Trump’s stance on Russia “unseemly” and “beyond one’s imagination.”

Even after losing the election, Clinton has continued on the warpath against President Trump’s stance on Russia.

“He doesn’t just like Putin, he wants to be like Putin,” Clinton said of Trump on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show Thursday night.

But as secretary of state, Clinton took pains to engage with the Kremlin. Just one week prior to sending out the invites, Hillary flew to Geneva and presented the Russian foreign minister with an actual “reset button” to symbolize a new beginning in U.S.-Russia relations.

She’s also been accused of profiting off of the relationship with Russia. One year after inviting Putin to the Clinton Foundation event, she approved the sale of 20 percent of America’s uranium capacity to Russia. Shortly thereafter, donors connected to the company that was sold to Russia contributed $145 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Beyond the Putin invite, many serious conflicts of interests arose from the sitting secretary of state’s invite list.

Judicial Watch explains further:

The list includes dignitaries from Saudi Arabia, which gave $14.5 million to the Clinton Foundation; Kuwait, which gave between $5 and $10 million; Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar — all of which donated between $1 and $5 million over the years. In February 2015, the Washington Post reported, “A third of foundation donors who have given more than $1 million are foreign governments or other entities … and foreign donors make up more than half of those who have given more than $5 million.”

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Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Denying Funds to Sanctuary Cities

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s rules requiring so-called sanctuary cities to help enforce federal immigration laws in order to receive funding.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced new rules governing DOJ law enforcement grants, The Chicago Tribune reports.

The city of Chicago sued the Trump administration last month over the DOJ’s threat to withhold those grants from “sanctuary cities,” which are cities that refuse to help federal authorities enforce immigration laws.

Leinenweber said in his 41-page ruling that Chicago had shown a “likelihood of success” in its arguments that Sessions exceeded his authority in July when he announced that the DOJ would withhold public safety grants to sanctuary cities. (Read more from “Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Denying Funds to Sanctuary Cities” HERE)

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Caribbean Islands Ravaged by Hurricane Irma Vow to Come Back Stronger Than Ever

St. John, once dubbed the jewel of the Caribbean, was left looking like a devastated wasteland after Hurricane Irma ripped through it. The storm also destroy 90 percent of St. Martin and left the once glamorous and exclusive resort town of St. Barts a tattered mess.

But the survivors left behind on the Caribbean islands ravaged by Hurricane Irma say they will rebuild and the islands will be stronger than ever. But first, they say, they need help – and fast.

Islanders across the northern Caribbean are in desperate need of food, water, power and other basic necessities on the road back to normalcy. Thousands remain without power and communication with those off the islands are shoddy, at best.

“It’s been a mess,” Bryan Barnes, chief of the St. John Rescue on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. John, told Fox News on Thursday. “There wasn’t a house that wasn’t impacted.” (Read more from “Caribbean Islands Ravaged by Hurricane Irma Vow to Come Back Stronger Than Ever” HERE)

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Chelsea Clinton Caught Spreading False Story About Gay Patients Being Denied Treatment

Chelsea Clinton falsely tweeted Friday that the Michigan House of Representatives had voted to allow emergency medical providers choice in treating patients, specifically giving EMTs the option to deny treatment to gay patients.

“Absolutely appalling,” the former First Daughter tweeted, “Michigan House Passed Bill Allowing EMTs To Refuse Treatment To Gay People.”

The story Clinton cited was from a website for the LGBT New Now Next Awards, and was posted in 2014. When followers pointed out the story was old, Clinton deleted her tweet.

Not only was the story old, but the actual premise was deeply flawed. What the Michigan House actually passed was a garden variety Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which would have exempted religious individuals from laws that infringed on their religious beliefs.

Like most state RFRAs, the Michigan bill contained a clause that allows the state to infringe on religious beliefs when there’s a “compelling government interest.” The preservation of human life is widely considered to qualify, according to legal experts. (Read more from “Chelsea Clinton Caught Spreading False Story About Gay Patients Being Denied Treatment” HERE)

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Vatican Recalls U.S. Diplomat in Child Porn Investigation

A senior member of the Vatican U.S. embassy staff in Washington was recalled after a request from U.S. prosecutors for him to be charged and tried in a child pornography case, Vatican and U.S. officials said.

The diplomat, a priest, is suspected of possessing, though not producing or disseminating, child pornography, including images of prepubescent children, the Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. source who is familiar with the investigation and speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The Vatican said in a statement on Friday that U.S. State Department notified the Vatican Secretariat of State of “a possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images.”

The Holy See said it recalled the priest in keeping with the practice of sovereign states, and that he is currently in Vatican City. (Read more from “Vatican Recalls U.S. Diplomat in Child Porn Investigation” HERE)

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Criminal Justice Professor Who Called for Police Deaths Placed on Administrative Leave

Mike Isaacson, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who made numerous jokes about dead cops and openly supports Antifa, has been placed on administrative leave by the school.

The college contacted The Daily Caller Friday with a statement from college president Karol V. Mason to announce that the professor has been placed on administrative leave following TheDC reporting on Isaacson’s comments. The report prompted users on social media to participate in a popular #FireMike Twitter hashtag calling for the college to take action against him.

“Many of you may be aware of recent statements made by a John Jay College adjunct on social media, television and in the press,” he wrote, and proceeded to denounce Isaacson’s statements.

“I want to state clearly that I was shocked by these statements. They are abhorrent. This adjunct expressed personal views that are not consistent with our college’s well known and firm values and principles and my own personal standards and principles,” he continued. (Read more from “Criminal Justice Professor Who Called for Police Deaths Placed on Administrative Leave” HERE)

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Report: Congressman Chats With WH About Potential Assange Pardon

California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher spoke to White House chief of staff John Kelly Wednesday about a potential deal with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in exchange for info that exonerates Russia of hacking allegations, according to a Friday report from The Wall Street Journal.

The Daily Caller first reported that Rohrabacher met with Assange in mid-August. Rohrabacher later spoke to TheDC and said that Assange could potentially be pardoned for “information that will be of dramatic importance to the United States.”

Assange has been in asylum since 2012 in the Ecuadorian embassy in London following sexual assault charges in Sweden that have since been dropped. However, the U.S. is reportedly investigating Assange and WikiLeaks for its dissemination of hundreds of thousands of classified documents. (Read more from “Report: Congressman Chats With WH About Potential Assange Pardon” HERE)

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FACT CHECK: Was There Violence on Both Sides of Charlottesville?

President Donald Trump reiterated Thursday his claim that “both sides” were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville, prompting The New York Times to relitigate the statement.

Were both sides violent?

Verdict: True

Regardless of blame regarding who started the violence or who perpetrated the most violence, it is true that both sides committed violence during the Charlottesville fiasco.

Fact Check:

Casting Trump’s assertion that both the white supremacists and the antifa protesters share blame in the violence as a false claim, The New York Times reports that antifa protesters “clashed with” and “resisted” the white supremacists. The report does not, however, address whether one or both sides were in fact violent during the protests.

(Read more from “FACT CHECK: Was There Violence on Both Sides of Charlottesville?” HERE)

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Shariah Judge Rages at America for Its ‘Satanic Urge’

Americans in general, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman in particular, are motivated in their stance on Israel by “satanic urges,” according to a top Palestinian official.

The insult comes from Mahmoud Al-Habbash, an adviser to Mahmoud Abbas.

It was in response to Friedman’s characterization of a long-running and likely unsolvable disagreement over land.

Despite Arab denials, Israel has been part and parcel of that region of the Middle East for 3,000 years. The Jewish temples are among the evidence of the links between the Jewish people and the land . . .

Palestinian Media Watch said that in an interview Friedman gave to the Jerusalem Post, he rejected the assertion that Israel occupies any land by using the term “alleged occupation.” (Read more from “Shariah Judge Rages at America for Its ‘Satanic Urge'” HERE)

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Army Punishes Officer Who Halted Lesbians Public ‘Make out’ Session

The Army broke its own rules in its punishment of an officer who, following military protocol, intervened to stop a public “make-out” session by two lesbian subordinate officers, contends an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lt. Col. Christopher Downey was cited for assault for bumping a camera that inadvertently hit the nose of an Army staffer who was trying to capture the scene on video.

The Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, this week petitioned the high court to “correct the injustice done to Lt. Col. Christopher Downey after the United States violated its own regulations, effectively ending his stellar career.”

The problem, according to his legal defender, the Thomas More Society, is that when his complaint was working its way through the lower courts, he was required to prove his innocence using a “clear and convincing” standard of evidence, rather that the statutory “preponderance of evidence.”

The legal non-profit explained that in a footnote, the U. S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals “acknowledged that the Army applied the incorrect burden of proof to LTC Downey’s case, contrary to its own regulations.” (Read more from “Army Punishes Officer Who Halted Lesbians Public ‘Make out’ Session” HERE)

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