PHOTOS: Lobsterman Hauls in Unusual Catch off Maine Coast

A Maine lobsterman got a shock when he caught a live deer in open water Monday morning.

Ren Dorr said he was setting traps when he saw the young deer, which had given up swimming and was being carried farther offshore.

“I’m sure he [had been] going from island to island or shore to an island and he couldn’t see or got caught in the current,” the 31-year-old Harrington lobsterman told the Bangor Daily News. “He was just kind of going with the flow. He wasn’t trying to fight it or swim with it. He was just kind of floating along.”

Dorr added that although he has seen deer swimming before he knows that if he hadn’t been a Good Samaritan and rescued the animal, it would have been “a goner.”

“I couldn’t have that on my conscience, obviously,” Dorr told the news outlet. “That’s not the guy that I am, so I figured I’d bring him in.” (Read more from “Lobsterman Hauls in Unusual Catch off Maine Coast” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

WATCH: Reporter Ties ABC’S Epstein Cover-Up to Clintons, Stephanopoulos; Epstein’s Brother Believes He Was Likely Murdered

By The Blaze. Mark Epstein, brother of the late Jeffrey Epstein, says his brother’s body exhibited “unexplained” injuries during the autopsy, according to Fox News. . .

Mark Epstein told Fox News that there are too many questions in connection with his late brother’s death and wants the Department of Justice to release all forensic materials relating to the autopsy for independent verification.

He said he isn’t ruling out murder as the cause of Jeffrey’s death and insisted that investigators aren’t entirely forthcoming with evidence for why they ruled out murder.

Fox News, which obtained a copy of the autopsy file, revealed three bone fractures in the late financier’s neck, contusions on both wrists, a left arm abrasion, and deep muscle hemorrhaging in his left shoulder muscle.

“Those are unexplained. Was he handcuffed and struggled? Was someone holding his wrists? The marks on his wrist are unexplained,” Epstein said. (Read more from “Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Believes He Was Likely Murdered” HERE)

____________________________________________________

Katie Pavlich Ties ABC’s Epstein Cover-Up to Clintons, Stephanopoulos

By Daily Caller. Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich drew a straight line from ABC’s alleged quashing of a bombshell Jeffrey Epstein story to the network’s news anchor with ties to the Clintons.

Pavlich, who appeared Wednesday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” suggested that ABC’s reluctance to cover a story that tied former President Bill Clinton and others to the late convicted pedophile could be summed up in just one name: veteran ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos.

(Read more from “Katie Pavlich Ties ABC’s Epstein Cover-Up to Clintons, Stephanopoulos” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Report: Jeff Sessions to Announce 2020 U.S. Senate Run

On Thursday, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce he will run the Senate seat he held for two decades, which is currently occupied by Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL).

Sessions will join a Republican field that includes former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R).

According to multiple reports, despite serving as U.S. Attorney General for the Trump administration, Sessions is expected to be opposed by President Donald Trump.

Sessions entry into the contest comes at the 11th hour with the Alabama Republican Party’s deadline to qualify for the primary ballot set at 5 p.m. local time on Friday.

The Alabama Republican also reportedly will make his run official on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday.

(Read more from “Report: Jeff Sessions to Announce 2020 U.S. Senate Run” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Media Triggered After Don Jr. Tweets About Alleged ‘Whistleblower’ Whose Name Has Been Public for Weeks

Leftists experienced a mass meltdown on Wednesday after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a Breitbart News article containing the alleged name of the “whistleblower” at the crux of the partisan impeachment inquiry, even though the name has been public for weeks.

RealClearInvestigations claimed in a report last week that Eric Ciaramella, an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, is the alleged “whistleblower” at the heart of the partisan impeachment inquiry, although his name had been floating around weeks prior to RealClearInvestigations’ report. The “whistleblower’s” legal team refused to confirm or deny his or her identity.

Nonetheless, the analyst is widely believed to be the “whistleblower” who sparked a political firestorm after expressing concerns over President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite lacking firsthand knowledge of the conversation itself. . .

While mainstream media outlets have refused to identify the “whistleblower,” the name has been public. Despite that, outrage, particularly from the “whistleblower’s” lawyers and mainstream news outlets, continues to pour in:

(Read more from “Media Triggered After Don Jr. Tweets About Alleged ‘Whistleblower’ Whose Name Has Been Public for Weeks” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Trump to Hire a Foreign Agent to Advise on Impeachment

By Daily Caller. President Donald Trump is reportedly set to hire Pam Bondi to advise him on strategies for dealing with Democrats’ impeachment efforts, which relate to allegations that he and his attorney Rudy Giuliani improperly mixed politics and foreign affairs.

Foreign agent disclosures show that Bondi became a registered foreign agent in July for lobbying firm Ballard Strategies, a lobbying firm that also represented Halkbank, a Turkish government-controlled bank that played a role in an earlier effort where Trump allegedly made an improper request to help a Giuliani client.

Federal prosecutors charged Halkbank on Oct. 15 with fraud, money laundering and participation in a multi-billion dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. Ballard Strategies also represented Halkbank.

“We terminated that relationship the same day or within 24 hours of their indictment,” Justin Sayfie, a Ballard spokesman, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

An Iranian-Turkish gold trader named Reza Zarrab pleaded guilty to related charges in October 2017 and testified against the CEO of Halbank, also alleging that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan knew of and supported the effort on behalf of Iran, Bloomberg reported. (Read more from “Trump to Hire a Foreign Agent to Advise on Impeachment” HERE)

________________________________________________

McConnell Says Trump Impeachment Trial ‘Would Not Lead to a Removal’ If Held Today

By NBC News. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threw cold water on the impeachment process Tuesday, telling reporters that if a hypothetical Senate trial were held today, the upper chamber would not vote to convict President Donald Trump.

“I will say, I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end: If it were today I don’t think there’s any question it would not lead to a removal,” the Kentucky Republican said. “So the question is how long does the Senate want to take? How long do the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the Senate instead of in Iowa and New Hampshire?” (Six senators, who would serve as jurors, are running in the Democratic presidential primary.)

“And all of these other related issues that may be going on at the same time, it’s very difficult to ascertain how long this takes,” McConnell added. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t end the way the two previous ones did with the president not being removed from office.”

A national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released this week found that a near-majority of Americans support Trump’s impeachment and removal from office while 46 percent said they do not. But 9 in 10 Republicans oppose the president’s removal from office, which might help him in the GOP-controlled Senate. (Read more from “McConnell Says Trump Impeachment Trial ‘Would Not Lead to a Removal’ If Held Today” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

The U.S.-China Trade War Has Cost Americans an Added $38 Billion

Tariffs President Donald Trump implemented against China have cost Americans an additional $38 billion since February 2018, Tariffs Hurt the Heartland found.

Americans paid a total in September of $7.1 billion on all tariffs and $4.1 billion on tariffs the Trump administration implemented, according to data anti-tariff campaign Tariffs Hurt the Heartland and consulting firm The Trade Partnership released Wednesday.

Tariffs on $112 billion worth of mostly consumer goods called List 4A went into effect in September, which forced American businesses to pay an additional $905 million, the campaign noted.

“Imagine you’re running a business, and all of a sudden, your cost of goods — overnight — goes up 15%. … We made the decision not to raise our prices and scale back marketing instead and some other things, but it’s not sustainable. If the tariffs stay, we will need to raise our prices,” homemade speaker company SVS Sound Revolution President Gary Yacoubian told the Daily Caller News Foundation. . .

The first phase of the deal, which is expected to decrease tariffs on both countries and address concerns regarding intellectual property theft and financial services, was expected to be signed in November, but a senior administration official told Reuters Wednesday that phase one could be pushed back until December. (Read more from “The U.S.-China Trade War Has Cost Americans an Added $38 Billion” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

WATCH: George Soros Dropped Nearly $1 Million to Defeat a Republican DA, but She Won and Mocked Him in Her Victory Speech

A Republican district attorney in New York faced a challenger backed by more than $800,000 from liberal financier George Soros, but she came out victorious and mocked him in her victory speech.

Soros funded the New York Justice & Public Safety Political Action Committee, which purchased television ads for Democratic candidate Shani Curry Mitchell, the challenger to Monroe County district attorney Sandra Doorley.

On Tuesday, Doorley soundly defeated Mitchell soundly with 56 percent in the election, despite the overwhelming financial support from Soros. . .

“And look at all the great people, here. We still have the energy and we will be back. And I am back for another four more years, so, thank you, George Soros!” she added.

(Read more from “WATCH: George Soros Dropped Nearly $1 Million to Defeat a Republican DA, but She Won and Mocked Him in Her Victory Speech” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Making Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony

. . .The Senate unanimously passed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which criminalizes certain acts of animal cruelty.

The bipartisan bill, which was passed Tuesday afternoon, will now be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

“Passing this legislation is a major victory in the effort to stop animal cruelty and make our communities safer,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who sponsored the bill in the Senate along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “Evidence shows that the deranged individuals who harm animals often move on to committing acts of violence against people. It is appropriate that the federal government have strong animal cruelty laws and penalties.” . . .

“There is no place in a civilized society for maiming and torturing animals – period,” Blumenthal added. “Senator Toomey and I have spent years working to hold the barbaric individuals who commit these crimes accountable, and I’m glad that Congress is now finally sending our bill to the president’s desk to be signed into law.”

The bill is an expansion on the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which made the creation and distribution of “animal crushing” videos illegal. The underlying acts, which were not included in the 2010 bill, are part of the PACT Act. (Read more from “Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Making Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Federal Judge Strikes down Trump Admin Rule Protecting Pro-Life Doctors

A federal district judge in New York has ruled against a Trump administration rule meant to protect the conscience rights of health care workers.

In a 147-page decision issued on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer found the administration’s “conscience rule” unconstitutional because it uses the withholding of federal funds as an enforcement mechanism and ruled that the department of Health and Human Services acted “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in promulgating it. The ruling also claims that the department was invoking powers that weren’t granted to it by Congress via federal law.

The measure was supposed to go into effect on November 22; however, Engelmayer — an Obama appointee — decided to vacate it “in its entirety.”

The Trump administration announced the rule back in May as an effort to protect the rights of people and institutions in the health care field who have moral objections to certain procedures like abortion, the provision of contraception, or “assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.”

“This rule ensures that healthcare entities and professionals won’t be bullied out of the health care field because they decline to participate in actions that violate their conscience, including the taking of human life,” reads a statement from OCR Director Roger Severino at the time of introduction. “Protecting conscience and religious freedom not only fosters greater diversity in healthcare, it’s the law.” (For more the author of “Federal Judge Strikes down Trump Admin Rule Protecting Pro-Life Doctors” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

New Numbers Highlight Just How Bad the Partisan Divide Is on Impeachment

Democrats’ desire to drive President Donald Trump from office is higher than it was to remove President Richard Nixon 45 years ago, according to a new poll that highlights the deep partisan divide over Democrats’ current impeachment attempt.

In an October poll of U.S. adults conducted by Gallup, 87 percent of Democrats surveyed said that — based on what is currently known — Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office. This is compared to just 71 percent of Democrats who wanted to remove President Richard Nixon from office just days before his 1974 resignation.

The comparison also finds a much higher percentage of Republicans are now opposed to the removal of Donald Trump than were to Nixon’s: 92 percent of surveyed Republicans opposed Trump removal in October, versus 59 percent in 1974. . .

A Gallup article accompanying the recent survey results notes that the wide partisan divide in public opinion on removing Trump sets this impeachment episode apart from those of Nixon and former President Bill Clinton.

“Though Republicans did not favor removing Nixon from office, enough of them did that Republican members of Congress had more latitude to vote against the party majority on impeachment,” the article notes. “As far as Democrats are concerned, their steadfast opposition to Trump throughout his presidency suggests they are unlikely to revise their opinions as the impeachment process unfolds.” (For more from the author of “New Numbers Highlight Just How Bad the Partisan Divide Is on Impeachment” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE