Obama Takes Direct Shot at Trump, Calls Him out by Name Publicly for First Time Since Leaving Office

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After taking a few indirect swipes at his successor since leaving office last year, Barack Obama mentioned President Donald Trump by name for the first time in public at an event in Illinois on Friday.

According to The Hill, his address took place at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and focused on the deep division within American politics and society.

He said some of the tension is being caused by frustrated Americans who are “genuinely, if wrongly, fearful of change,” but attributed a more sinister motive to much of the rest of the nation’s socioeconomic tension and resentment.

“More often it’s manufactured by the powerful and the privileged who want to keep us divided and keep us angry and keep us cynical,” he said. “Because it helps them maintain the status quo and keep their power and keep their privilege.”

He told the students gathered for the address that they “happen to be coming of an age during one of those moments.”

In a remark that drew applause from the audience, Obama said that the current administration is “a symptom, not the cause” of that division.

“It did not start with Donald Trump,” he said.

With the radical changes in technology, culture and elsewhere in recent years, Obama said Trump has been able to use the tactics he described in more effective ways.

“He’s just capitalizing on resentments politicians have been fanning for years,” Obama said. “A fear, an anger that’s rooted in our past, but it’s also born out of the enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes.”

He went on to describe some of the changes he believes many Americans have found loath to accept.

“Think about it,” he said. “You’ve come of age in a smaller, more connected world where demographic shifts and the winds of change have scrambled not only traditional economic arrangements, but our social arrangements and our religious commitments and our civic institutions. Most of you don’t remember a time before 9/11 when you didn’t have to take off your shoes at an airport.”

As The Hill reported, Obama’s address Friday was expected to launch a series of campaign stops during which he will rally for Democrat candidates and policies.

“He will make a pointed case in his speech on Friday, and on the trail this fall, that this moment in our country is too perilous for Democratic voters to sit out,” said Obama spokesperson Katie Hill.

She added that the former president will build on previous concerns he has raised since Trump’s inauguration.

“He will echo his call to reject the rising strain of authoritarian politics and policies,” Hill said. (For more from the author of “Obama Takes Direct Shot at Trump, Calls Him out by Name Publicly for First Time Since Leaving Office” please click HERE)

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Andrew McCabe Under Grand Jury Investigation

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Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has been under investigation by a grand jury for months, according to a new report from The Washington Post.

The investigation is underway to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against McCabe, months after the Department of Justice inspector general found McCabe “lacked candor” in his discussions with officials regarding his disclosure of information to the media about the FBI’s investigation into Secretary Hillary Clinton.

“Such panels are sometimes used only as investigative tools, and it remains unclear if McCabe will ultimately be charged,” The Post explained.

Federal prosecutors impaneled the grand jury after a recommendation from the Justice Department. Already more than one witness has been summoned before the jury, according to The Post.

McCabe’s lawyer downplayed the development.

“Today’s leak about a procedural step taken more than a month ago — occurring in the midst of a disastrous week for the president — is a sad and poorly veiled attempt to try to distract the American public. We remain confident that a thorough review of the facts and circumstances related to this matter will demonstrate that there is no basis on which criminal charges should be brought,” said Michael R. Bromwich, McCabe’s attorney, according to Fox News.

Bromwich said he does not expect his client will face prosecution unless there is interference from “high levels of the administration.”

McCabe was found to have leaked information to the media in 2016 in an effort to portray himself in a favorable light regarding the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server.

McCabe sought to “rebut a narrative that had been developing … that questioned McCabe’s impartiality in overseeing” the investigation into Clinton’s emails and the Clinton Foundation, the Washington Examiner reported.

McCabe was a controversial figure within the FBI even prior to his role investigating Clinton, as his wife sought political office with the help of Clinton’s Democratic allies.

In November last year, the watchdog group Judicial Watch noted that McCabe had conflicts during the investigation.

“The FBI is compromised. Mr. McCabe should have been nowhere near the Hillary Clinton investigations,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “That he saw fit to recuse himself only days before the election further demonstrates the FBI’s Clinton email investigation was a sham. No wonder it took a year and a federal lawsuit to get these records. It is well past time for the Justice Department to reopen the Clinton email investigation.”

McCabe was fired from his role in the FBI in March, shortly before he planned to retire.

“The FBI’s OPR then reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending the dismissal of Mr. McCabe,” a statement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at the time. “Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.”

“Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately,” Sessions said then.

McCabe has insisted he has been unfairly attacked by the Trump administration.

In the same month as his firing, McCabe defended himself in an Op-Ed for The Washington Post in which he said he may not have always told the truth but that he never meant to mislead anyone.

“I have been accused of ‘lack of candor.’ That is not true. I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators,” McCabe wrote. “When asked about contacts with a reporter that were fully within my power to authorize as deputy director, and amid the chaos that surrounded me, I answered questions as completely and accurately as I could. And when I realized that some of my answers were not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood, I took the initiative to correct them.”

“At worst, I was not clear in my responses, and because of what was going on around me may well have been confused and distracted — and for that I take full responsibility,” he added. “But that is not a lack of candor.” (For more from the author of “Andrew McCabe Under Grand Jury Investigation” please click HERE)

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Former Senator Explains What Should ‘Disqualify’ Kavanaugh

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Franken believes he has exposed Republicans’ agenda in how they have handled the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings this week. For instance, why did Chairman Chuck Grassley allow a document dump on the nominee the night before the hearings began? . . .

Kavanaugh has misled Americans in trying to boost President Trump’s image, Franken charged. At the White House ceremony in which he announced Kavanaugh as his next Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh praised Trump’s diligence in making his pick, saying, “no president has ever consulted more widely, or talked with more people from more backgrounds, to seek input about a Supreme Court nomination.”

Kavanaugh should be disqualified for his “lie” and such “nonsensical praise,” Franken writes.

This was extremely untrue. President Barack Obama, for example, had taken a month or close to it to pick both Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Trump had taken just 12 days to make his pick. And, of course, he made that pick from a list of 25 names presented to him by the right-wing Federalist Society.

If judgment matters, and if we want judges who make their judgments based on a full and fair understanding of the facts, a big, fat, easily debunked lie like Kavanaugh’s should have been instantly disqualifying. Instead, it became just the first example of how Kavanaugh’s selection to the Supreme Court represents a perfect illustration of what the conservative movement has been doing to the judicial system for decades.

(Read more from “Former Senator Explains What Should ‘Disqualify’ Kavanaugh” HERE)

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Just Blew It: Nike Favorability Drops by Double-Digits

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Well, in their infinite wisdom, Nike decided to make former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of their Just Do It campaign. The ad has been released. The tagline is “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt.” Kaepernick is a source of controversy, a vehicle for the left wing social justice activism that struck the NFL two years ago when he started to take a knee during the national anthem. There were a multitude of reasons but race relations and police brutality seem to be the top issues for why he and other players started this nonsense. No doubt the cause is worth a discussion. I totally disagree with their take, but it’s worthy of a discussion. All that good will went out the window as soon as you start trashing the flag. Kaepernick’s anti-police stance also drew a backlash. These players see their side getting attention. Everyone else sees them trashing the flag, our veterans, and those who have died in service to the country. It’s unpatriotic. It’s not appropriate—and the NFL knows it. When President Trump torched the players for kneeling, he won a solid cultural victory.

So, with Nike becoming more or less a hipster brand, they put this left wing activist as the face of their new campaign. How did it fare? It cost them billions as market shares tanked upon its announcement. It cost them billions, though it’s not going to sink the company. It did, however, cause the net favorability of Nike to drop by double-digits and no boosts were registered within key demographics for the brand. That’s, uh, not good. Quite a hefty loss for trying to keep Kaepernick relevant Morning Consult has the numbers:

Nike’s Favorability Drops by Double Digits: Before the announcement, Nike had a net +69 favorable impression among consumers; it has now declined 34 points to +35 favorable.

No Boost Among Key Demos: Among younger generations, Nike users, African Americans, and other key demographics, Nike’s favorability declined rather than improved.

Purchasing Consideration Also Down: Before the announcement, 49 percent of Americans said they were absolutely certain or very likely to buy Nike products. That figure is down to 39 percent now.

(Read more from “Just Blew It: Nike Favorability Drops by Double-Digits” HERE)

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Stanford Study Finds Conservative Professors Shunned by Law Schools

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A researcher at Stanford University has confirmed what many have suspected for some time: conservative law professors are being discriminated against at the nation’s most elite law schools.

The study was recently published by James C. Phillips, a non-resident Fellow with the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School. The findings seem to indicate that conservative-leaning law professors are facing discrimination at top-tier law schools in ways distinct from their liberal counterparts.

Titled “Testing a Beckerian-Arrowian Model of Political Orientation Discrimination on the U.S. Law Professor Labor Market: Measuring the ‘Rank Gap’, 2001-2010”, Phillips’ research concludes that “conservative and libertarian law professors are underrepresented in top-tier legal academia, whether compared to the American population overall, those who graduate from law school, or elite lawyers who look like most law professors.”

Phillips went on to add that the core issue is most likely “not discrimination against conservatives and libertarians so much as discrimination against anyone who is not liberal.”

The study demonstrates that, when looking at the hiring practices of law schools between the years of 2001 and 2010, the three categories of professors labeled “conservative/libertarian”, “liberal”, and “unknown” appear to be unevenly distributed. (Read more from “Stanford Study Finds Conservative Professors Shunned by Law Schools” HERE)

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Twitter’s Latest (And Final) Punishment for Alex Jones

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After weeks of controversy, Twitter officially banned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars site from its platform. The social media company tweeted out the decision from its Twitter Safety account Thursday afternoon, stating that it permanently suspended Alex Jones and InfoWars after both accounts posted tweets and videos that violated the company’s abusive-behavior policy. Previous violations also contributed to the decision to ban both accounts.

Both accounts show “account suspended” messages, so the tweets and videos that violated Twitter’s policy are no longer available. However, according to a report by The Daily Beast, Twitter confirmed that one of the videos that violated its policy was an InfoWars video posted to Jones’ Twitter account. It showed Jones verbally attacking CNN reporter Oliver Darcy, saying, among other things, “Those are the eyes of a rat.”

Last month, Twitter gave Jones a small punishment for his inflammatory behavior on the platform—a one-week suspension that prevented Jones from tweeting or retweeting from his personal account. That came after users flagged a video that Jones posted to Twitter in which he encouraged his supporters to ready their weapons against the media and other groups.

Twitter’s first punishment was minor compared to the repercussions that Jones and InfoWars faced from other tech companies just days before. YouTube, Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and others had removed content made by Jones and InfoWars from their respective platforms. Facebook followed up by suspending Jones for 30 days, while YouTube terminated his account after it found Jones violated the company’s Community Guidelines. (Read more from “Twitter’s Latest (And Final) Punishment for Alex Jones” HERE)

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Resistance Torches Devin Nunes’ Family After He Dared to Expose Intel Agencies’ Collusion With Democrats

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. . .Another aspect of Tulare lends it additional significance. It is the hometown to California Rep. Devin Nunes, the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the author of the “Nunes memo,” a four-page document released in February detailing alleged surveillance abuses committed by the U.S. government.

Before the release of the memo, Nunes had been vocal in his skepticism towards federal agencies and their handling of potential election interference during the 2016 election. His criticisms earned him a litany of nicknames from those opposed to his attacks on federal agencies, such as “Trump’s political stooge” who is simply “doing dirty work” to shield Trump, or simply a “presidential fig-leaf holder.” . . .

In addition to agenda-driven reporting, the localized resistance, comprised of both media figures and political opponents, has gone to strange lengths to badger Nunes’ extended family.

Last month, Gerald Nunes, Devin’s uncle, was accused of “harass[ing]” the video crew of Devin’s Democratic opponent, Andrew Janz, while Janz’s team was shooting a campaign video. The Janz team originally started shooting the video on land Gerald owned, although he had not given the crew permission to do so.

Gerald confronted the crew and asked them to leave his property, and a member of the irrigation district later called the police. The crew then moved to land nearby that Gerald rents. The result of this staged filming fiasco targeting Nunes’ uncle? Janz posted a tweet accusing Devin Nunes of “send[ing] one of his relatives to stop” Janz’s team from filming and referring to Nunes and his relatives as “triggered snowflakes.” (Read more from “Resistance Torches Devin Nunes’ Family After He Dared to Expose Intel Agencies’ Collusion With Democrats” HERE)

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UFC Champ Goes on Vulgar Tirade Against Nike Over Kaepernick Deal

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Nike’s decision this week to launch an advertising campaign praising quarterback — and national anthem protester — Colin Kaepernick has sparked much criticism, and even calls for a boycott of the company.

Within the sports world, however, Nike has faced very little pushback. That’s not surprising; Nike has sponsorship deals with so many high-profile athletes as well as numerous professional and college teams that Nike isn’t going to be singled out by most athletes, even if they disagree with Kaepernick’s stance on the anthem.

But one champion athlete isn’t holding in back his criticism of Nike or Kaepernick, who is featured in the Nike ad as saying, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

Mixed martial arts fighter Colby Covington, currently the UFC interim welterweight champion, went on Twitter to rip the company and using an expletive to describe Kaepernick.

“I grew up in Oregon and was around Nike my whole life,” Covington said, referring to the state where Nike’s corporate offices are located. “It’s funny watching a company that uses child slave labor overseas to make their products all of sudden become humanitarians.”

Covington then said former NFL player Pat Tillman — who walked away from a lucrative contract in pro football to join the military in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was eventually killed during his service — was much more of a hero when compared to Kaepernick because Tillman truly gave the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed in.

It’s worth noting that UFC is sponsored by Reebok, a fierce competitor of Nike.

But Covington’s public display of patriotism, as well as his support of President Donald Trump, are well documented.

Last month, Covington posed with President Donald Trump at the White House with the UCF championship belt — a belt he promised he would bring to the White House if he won the welterweight championship in June after Covington ripped championship athletes from other sports for not wanting to visit the White House.

Covington has also made it clear that he has no tolerance for anyone who uses the anthem as a platform for protest.

Covington won the interim championship in June by defeating Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225.

Covington’s reign as interim welterweight championship comes to an end this weekend at UFC 228. He is unable to defend his title due to injury, so the winner of Saturday’s bout between Tyron Woodley and Darren Till will become the new welterweight champion. (For more from the author of “UFC Champ Goes on Vulgar Tirade Against Nike Over Kaepernick Deal” please click HERE)

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Reward Posted for Identity of Anonymous Op-Ed Writer – the Amount Is CRAZY

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Someone identified as a “prominent Republican donor” is reportedly offering a $50,000 reward for the identity of the person who claims to be a high-ranking member of President Donald Trump’s administration who penned an anonymous Op-Ed piece for the New York Times and claimed they were working to actively protect the country from some of the president’s actions.

Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative campus activist group Turning Point USA, went on Twitter early Thursday morning to announce the reward offer.

The reward offer comes in reaction to the Op-Ed published Wednesday and titled, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The Times would only identify the writer as “a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us.”

The paper said it was taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed “because we believe it is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”

The writer claimed that the “resistance” described in the piece is not the case of a liberal masquerading as a conservative.

“To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left,” the writer explains. “We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.”

Instead, the writer says the actions being taken by multiple people within the White House are being taken to protect the country from the president’s decision-making, which the writer described as amoral, impetuous, petty and ineffective.

“The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House,” according to the anonymous writer. “Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.”

A Twitter user responding to Kirk’s report of a reward being offered suggested that the higher the reward, the more likely the source of the article would be revealed.

The president blasted the Times for running the piece, questioning if the writer actually works within the administration. He also said that if the piece is legitimate, the writer must be identified.

“Does the so-called ‘Senior Administration Official’ really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?” the president said on Twitter. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

Thursday, the Times said three high-ranking members of the administration — Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national intelligence director Dan Coats — have each denied they were the source of the Op-Ed.

“Our office is above such amateur acts,” Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen said on Twitter.

“It is not mine,” Pompeo said.

“Patently false,” said Coats when asked if he or someone on his staff wrote the piece. “We did not.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday the Op-Ed was “another example of the liberal media’s concerted effort to discredit the president.” She also said that if the person who authored the piece is indeed a member of the administration, he or she should resign immediately.

“The individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected President of the United States,” Sanders said. “He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign.” (For more from the author of “Reward Posted for Identity of Anonymous Op-Ed Writer – the Amount Is CRAZY” HERE)

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Trump Admin Introduces Plan to Close Illegal Alien Family Detention Loophole

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The Trump administration introduced Thursday a new set of rules that would allow the long-term detention of illegal immigrant families and terminate the Flores settlement, a court order the White House says is a major “pull factor” for illegal immigration.

If enacted, the rules would give the Department of Homeland Security broad authority to set standards for the detention and care of illegal immigrant families in its custody.

The most significant change in the 200-page proposal, which will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, would permit the government to keep illegal immigrant families in detention until they are deported or win a favorable decision in immigration court.

“Today, legal loopholes significantly hinder the department’s ability to appropriately detain and promptly remove family units that have no legal basis to remain in the country,” DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. “This rule addresses one of the primary pull factors for illegal immigration and allows the federal government to enforce immigration laws as passed by Congress.”

Current detention policy is governed by the Flores consent decree, a 1997 Supreme Court order that requires the government to release unaccompanied alien children from detention to relatives or licensed shelters without unnecessary delay. (Read more from “Trump Admin Introduces Plan to Close Illegal Alien Family Detention Loophole” HERE)

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