Prosecutors Ask FBI Agents for Info on Uranium One Deal

/0 Comments/in , /by

On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton, multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News.

The interviews with FBI agents are part of the Justice Department’s effort to fulfill a promise an assistant attorney general made to Congress last month to examine whether a special counsel was warranted to look into what has become known as the Uranium One deal, a senior Justice Department official said.

At issue is a 2010 transaction in which the Obama Administration allowed the sale of U.S. uranium mining facilities to Russia’s state atomic energy company. Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time, and the State Department was one of nine agencies that agreed to approve the deal after finding no threat to U.S. national security.

A senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the initial FBI investigation told NBC News there were allegations of corruption surrounding the process under which the U.S. government approved the sale. But no charges were filed.

As the New York Times reported in April 2015, some of the people associated with the deal contributed millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. And Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 for a Moscow speech by a Russian investment bank with links to the transaction. (Read more from “Prosecutors Ask FBI Agents for Info on Uranium One Deal” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

ISIS Threatens Holidays in US, Europe

/0 Comments/in , /by

By CBN News. Islamic State terrorists are threatening Christmas and New Year’s attacks in major cities across the US and Europe.

The terror group has released a series of chilling posters depicting holiday attacks.

The latest show two armed terrorists with the grammatically incorrect words, “Wait for us on your year parties.” (Read more from “ISIS Threatens Holidays in US, Europe” HERE)

___________________________________________

Christmas Returns to City Liberated From ISIS

By The New York Times. For more than two years, 300 militia fighters waited to retake from the Islamic State the Iraqi city of Qaraqosh, the country’s largest Christian enclave. Then, in October of last year, the photographer Quentin Bruno accompanied these civilians turned soldiers as they approached the city that was once home to 50,000 people. He remembered their excitement, as well as the mortars that rained down upon them, a few days after the Iraqi Army had launched the Battle of Mosul.

Hope and excitement turned to surprise as they went into town and arrived at the ruins of a church. “When we entered, nothing exploded,” Mr. Bruno explained. “Everybody was expecting booby traps everywhere.”

Some of the men lit candles, Mr. Bruno recalled, until a sniper took aim and forced them to flee to another church. Once there, he said, a poet and writer named Jamil made a cross from two pieces of wood and hoisted it aloft. (Read more from “Christmas Returns to City Liberated From ISIS” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Clinton-Appointed Judge Throws out yet Another Anti-Trump Lawsuit

/0 Comments/in , /by

A federal court in New York City has dismissed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump that alleged his failure to divest from the Trump business empire violated anti-corruption provisions of the Constitution.

U.S. District Judge George Daniels, a Clinton administration appointee, ruled Thursday that the case could not proceed because the plaintiffs could not prove that Trump’s actions tangibly harmed their businesses.

The lawsuit was brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an anti-Trump watchdog group formerly led by Clinton ally David Brock.

A number of accomplished lawyers and legal scholars participated in the effort, including Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, and Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the federal trial court in Manhattan.

The plaintiffs claim that their economic livelihood has been adversely affected by their inability to compete with Trump’s businesses following his election to the presidency.

The plaintiffs — event planners, hoteliers and restaurant owners — claim they have lost business in recent months, as prospective costumers flock to Trump properties to curry favor with the administration or secure greater exposure.

Daniels was not convinced, however, finding that the plaintiffs could not show that Trump’s actions hurt their business.

Daniels explained that interest in Trump properties would naturally attend his election to the presidency. Such an organic development in the market, he said, is not grounds for a lawsuit.

“(T)he connection between the hospitality plaintiffs alleged injuries and defendant’s actions is too tenuous to satisfy Article III’s causation requirement,” he wrote.

He also noted that nothing in the Constitution suggests its anti-corruption provisions are meant to protect people from fair economic competition.

“Nothing in the text or the history of the emoluments clauses suggests that the framers intended these provisions to protect anyone from competition,” he wrote.

On a separate note, Daniels wrote the Constitution explicitly cedes enforcement of the emoluments clause to Congress.

Therefore, it would only be appropriate for a court to hear an emoluments challenge if Congress first attempted to enforce the provision, and the president refused to comply.

“Congress is not a potted plant,” he wrote in a footnote. “It is a co-equal branch of the federal government with the power to act as a body in response to defendant’s alleged foreign emoluments clause violations, if it chooses to do so.”

Speaking after the ruling, CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said the organization would review its options before proceeding with a potential appeal.

“While today’s ruling is a setback, we will not walk away from this serious and ongoing constitutional violation,” he said. “The Constitution is explicit on these issues, and the president is clearly in violation.” (For more from the author of “Clinton-Appointed Judge Throws out yet Another Anti-Trump Lawsuit” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Nikki Haley Sets the Record Straight After Senior Muslim Diplomat Called US a ‘Blatant Bully’

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The United States remains defiant this week in the face of mounting criticism from the United Nations regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

As The Western Journal previously reported, the U.S. vetoed a measure that would have reversed Trump’s pronouncement. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley went on to criticize the member states who support that security council resolution and a similarly worded non-binding measure that was approved Thursday by the General Assembly.

One Reuters reporter tweeted Wednesday that a “senior diplomat from a Muslim country” shot back at Haley after reading a letter she reportedly sent explaining that Trump intended to keep a close eye on which nations voted against his Jerusalem decision.

“States resort to such blatant bullying only when they know they do not have a moral or legal argument to convince others,” the unnamed official told Michelle Nichols.

Haley once again defended the position by claiming American sovereignty on the issue.

She tweeted that such action actually comes “when a country is tired of being taken for granted.”

The former South Carolina governor used similar language when she defended the prior veto, which marked the first such security council vote by the U.S. in six years.

Haley claimed the action was “in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process.”

She went on to warn nations supporting the resolution against the U.S. that they could face similar retaliation in the future.

“The United States has a sovereign right to determine where and whether we establish an embassy,” she said. “I suspect very few member states would welcome security council pronouncements about their sovereign decisions.”

Ahead of the general assembly vote on the matter, both Haley and Trump have made it clear the U.S. plans to hold nations individually accountable.

In a letter sent to most of the 193 member states participating in the vote, Haley wrote that the administration will be keeping track of the nations voting in favor of the measure condemning the U.S.

She also tweeted that the U.S. would be “taking names.”

Trump later made the same case more emphatically.

“Let them vote against us,” he said. “We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.” (For more from the author of “Nikki Haley Sets the Record Straight After Senior Muslim Diplomat Called US a ‘Blatant Bully'” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Innocent Man Spends Almost 30 Years in Prison for Rape Before the Truth Is Revealed

/0 Comments/in , /by

Mark Denny of Brooklyn was freed from prison Wednesday, after serving 30 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Denny, 46, had been convicted of rape and robbery at a Burger King in 1987, but the only piece of admissible evidence against him was the eyewitness account of the worker who was attacked, according to NBC News.

Two men wearing ski masks surprised a male and female worker who were locking up around 2 a.m.

The men forced the male employee into the stock room and proceeded to rape the woman, with at least one other man joining in on the assault, NBC News reports.

Denny was later arrested in his cousin Raphael James’ car after James had robbed several Burger Kings with two friends.

James’ friends ended up taking plea deals, while Denny was tried and convicted alongside his cousin.

Denny never admitted guilt and had an alibi for when the crime was committed.

The victim originally stated only three men attacked her, but later left open the possibility for a fourth perpetrator after Denny was arrested, according to NBC News.

The Innocence Project took on Denny’s case and brought it to the attention of the Kings County District Attorney’s conviction review unit.

They later found Denny to be innocent and asked a judge to vacate his conviction.

“The crime was horrible and she did suffer tremendously,” Denny told NBC.

“I wish I could have been the hero that day that she needed, but unfortunately, I wasn’t there.”

Denny said he had contemplated suicide but was given hope when the Innocence Project stepped in to defend him.

“It made me look forward to this day. By the grace of God, I was able to make it through,” he told NBC News. (For more from the author of “Innocent Man Spends Almost 30 Years in Prison for Rape Before the Truth Is Revealed” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump Issues Threat to United Nations

/0 Comments/in , , /by

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is taking a bold stand for President Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – warning that she will be “taking names” of nations that reject the president’s decision in a General Assembly vote scheduled for Thursday . . .

President Trump is threatening to cut off aid to the countries in Haley’s list of names that call for him to withdraw his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” President Trump said at the White House Wednesday. “This isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars and nobody knows what they’re doing.

“People are tired of the United States – people that live here that are great citizens that love this country – they’re tired of this country being taken advantage of. And we’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”

On behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, Turkey and Yemen had requested an emergency meeting of the 193 nations. The request came in response to the U.S. veto of a draft resolution rejecting President Trump’s Dec. 6 Jerusalem declaration. Egypt introduced the draft, which was supported Monday by all 14 other Security Council members. It expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.” (Read more from “Trump Issues Threat to United Nations” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Study: These Are the Healthiest and Least Healthy States in the US

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The United Health Foundation has released its annual report of the healthiest and least healthy states in the U.S.

According to the foundation’s website, “America’s Health Rankings” were based off of the World Health Organization’s holistic view of health.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” reads WHO’s definition.

“The model reflects that determinants of health directly influence health outcomes. A health outcomes category and four categories of health determinants are included in the model: behaviors, community & environment, policy and clinical care,” the United Health Foundation said.

The study looked at a variety of different factors affecting a population’s health, including lack of physical activity and obesity rates, smoking and drug deaths. It also explored environmental factors such as air pollution and the number of health care providers available across a state, according to CBS News.

The foundation said the top five healthiest states in the U.S. were Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Utah and Connecticut.

This year, Massachusetts knocked Hawaii out of the top spot due largely to the accessibility of health care in the state. The Bay State has not only the largest number of dentists and primary care physicians per capita, but also the highest concentration of mental health care providers, according to CBS.

Utah has apparently also shown one of the greatest improvements. Factors in that state’s rise include reduced air pollution and an increase in immunization rates among children.

Ranking in the bottom five were West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Those five states have not budged much, as shown by past rankings. Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana all maintained their positions from last year, while West Virginia fell three places to number 46.

Alabama had the lowest number of mental health professionals — 85 per 100,000 people vs. 547.3 per 100,000 for Massachusetts.

After Utah, Florida was noted for making vast improvements. Ranking at number 32, the study found positive changes in childhood poverty rates and levels of mental stress in the state since last year.

Meanwhile, North Dakota saw the sharpest decline, falling seven places to number 18. The study noted ratings for smoking and Salmonella — as well as the amount of children being immunized in the state — as major factors.

The United Health Organization listed rising rates of premature deaths and an uneven concentration of health care providers across the country as a cause for concern. (For more from the author of “Study: These Are the Healthiest and Least Healthy States in the US” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Vote Alert: Tax Cut for America

/0 Comments/in , /by

Given our current political environment, there is no easy way to reform the base structure of our current progressive income tax. The GOP tax bill certainly will not solve the systemic problems with our tax code or system of governance. The bill does not make the code simpler, flatter, or fairer. Conservatives have long advocated for transformative tax reform and would have preferred a flatter tax that broadens the base so that everyone pays a fair, low rate.

This GOP tax bill does cut taxes for almost everyone, particularly for families with children. Additionally, this bill substantially lowers the ridiculously high business tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and significantly reduces the tax liability for “pass through” income of small business owners. But with the inclusion of an expanded refundable child tax credit, this bill increases the current progressive nature of the federal income tax by ensuring that even more individuals pay zero taxes and some others “earn” extra cash through the tax code. Simply put, this bill is a tax cut, not tax reform.

While conservatives would prefer that Congress cut spending to offset at least part of the tax cut, unfortunately, that was not an option on the menu. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have any interest in reducing the size of the federal government or even cutting waste in a meaningful way.

Ultimately, when faced with the final choice of spending into oblivion with a progressive tax code that cuts taxes for almost everyone who pays them (and gives money to many who don’t) vs. spending into oblivion without a tax cut and no chance for economic growth, the best thing for conservatives is to pocket the tax cut and continue fighting for more structural reforms to the code, more spending cuts, and entitlement reforms.

As an added bonus, this bill repeals the unconstitutional requirement to purchase medical insurance. To be clear, this is not a fulfillment of the GOP promise to repeal Obamacare. However, it is better than the status quo and will help consumers escape from the monopoly of the insurance cartel and create alternatives that will compete with the system.

The bill was approved by the Senate 51-48 on December 20, 2017, and the House of Representatives approved the bill 224-201 on December 20, 2017.

To see how your elected officials stack up or other votes that compose the Liberty Score, view our full scorecard here. (For more from the author of “Vote Alert: Tax Cut for America” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

A Record Number of Americans Are Expected to Travel This Christmas and New Year

/0 Comments/in , /by

About 107.3 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, a 3.1 percent increase from last year that can be explained in part by lower plane ticket prices and a growing economy.

The holiday travel season, according to a AAA report, will be the sixth consecutive record high in terms of number of travelers between Dec. 23 and Jan. 1.

Most of the travelers — 97.4 million — will be on U.S. roads driving to their destination.

“With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays in major metros,” Dr. Graham Cookson, chief economist and head of research at INRIX. “Our advice to drivers is to avoid peak times altogether or consider alternative routes.”

AAA and INRIX, a global transportation analytics company, calculated the worst times to travel in 10 major U.S. cities. The most congestion is expected to occur during the week before the Christmas holiday in the early afternoon as people leave work and try to beat the traffic.

Those traveling by car will also find the most expensive year-end gas prices since 2014. Last week, average prices were $2.45 per gallon, a 9 percent increase from last year. AAA does expect the average to drop five cents by the end of the year.

“More expensive gas prices are not swaying holiday revelers to stay at home,” AAA senior vice president Bill Sutherland said.

Sutherland noted that travel across the board has increased “year-over year for every major holiday weekend” and the same is expected of this year-end holiday time frame.

“We’ve seen the strong economy and growing consumer confidence fuel holiday travel all year long,” he said.

Air travel is also up 4.1 percent this year, the fourth consecutive year of volume increase, with 6.4 million people flying to their holiday destinations. AAA reported that holiday airfare was almost 20 percent cheaper than it was last year, but rental car rates are more expensive.

The remaining 3.6 million people will travel by trains, buses, rails and cruise ships.

The top 10 year-end holiday destinations are Orlando, Florida; Anaheim, California; Cancun, Mexico; Honolulu, Hawaii; Kahului, Hawaii; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Miami, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and New York, NY. (Read more from “A Record Number of Americans Are Expected to Travel This Christmas and New Year” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Dad Insists Son Is Healthy, 13 Surgeries Later Mother Behind Bars

/0 Comments/in , /by

It usually goes without saying that parents want what’s best for their children, including keeping them away from the hospital and as healthy as possible.

However, that was not the case with Kaylene Bowen-Wright, the mother of Christopher Bowen, who has insisted since his birth that something isn’t quite right with her son — subjecting him to 323 hospital visits and 13 major surgeries.

“Christopher has trouble breathing so basically, his lungs — and body — doesn’t get the oxygen it needs, so he gets tired,” Bowen-Wright told CW33 TV during one of the many instances she raised money for his alleged sickness.

“He can’t play as long as the normal kids,” she added.

But it seemed the longer Bowen-Wright insisted on her son’s illnesses, the more doctor’s began to speculate that there was something else that was off — and it wasn’t Christopher.

The 34 year-old mother was arrested nearly a month after she brought Christopher to the hospital, claiming that the child had a seizure.

However, upon examining Christopher, medical staff found no proof of any such event, leading care providers to contact Child Protective Services, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“I am very concerned that mother has moved from exaggerating symptoms to inducing symptoms,” Dr. Suzanne Dakil wrote in an affidavit to CPS. “If mother has given Chris something to induce a seizure, this is potentially fatal. At this point, I am very concerned for his welfare.”

It was the second report to be filed against Bowen-Wright, with the first being reported to CPS by a doctor back in 2015.

Authorities added that, at the time of Bowen-Wright’s arrest, Christopher had been on oxygen and even had a feeding tube and specific medication to regulate seizures, all of which doctors stated were unnecessary, according to CPS documents.

But there is one voice in this whole case that has been fighting on behalf of Christopher the entire time: his father Ryan Crawford.

For years, Crawford attempted to convince Dallas County judges that Christopher was healthy, yet they chose to believe the child’s mother, who would often break-down in tears before them and claim that their son was dying.

“It was always the same story: Christopher is dying. The father doesn’t need to be around because he doesn’t know to take care of him,” Crawford told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“Every time I went to court,” he added, “they made me feel like I was the worst human ever.”

One particular judge even blocked Crawford from seeing Christopher in late 2012, when the boy was only 3 years-old.

Yet, the conditions Christopher had been subject to are found within the documents and occur even before he was three, ranging from being wheelchair-bound to his mother attempting to get his name on a lung transplant list, and even telling others that her son had cancer.

Suspected of Munchausens disease (where a guardian will induce and/or exaggerate an illness to garner attention or sympathy) Bowen-Wright is reportedly being charged with seeking unnecessary medical care and possibly causing bodily harm to her child.

She is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

When speaking to Child Protective Services last month, however, she denied all allegations of abuse.

And Crawford hasn’t stopped fighting for his son, who has since been placed in foster care.

“Out of everything that has happened,” Crawford told the Star-Telegram, “the worst thing you can do is put my children in foster care with strangers.”

“I need my son in my life and my son needs me in [his] life.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Crawford’s friends and family, who are helping him to hire a new attorney. (For more from the author of “Dad Insists Son Is Healthy, 13 Surgeries Later Mother Behind Bars” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.