Three Prisoners Released from North Korea

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Breitbart. The three men released from North Korea into the custody of United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put out a joint statement as they traveled home to the U.S.

Kim Hak Song, Kim Dong Cul, and Kim Sang-Duk said, according to Reuters:

We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home. We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world.

Pompeo gave a briefing to reporters traveling with him on the trip back to the U.S. from North Korea. Asked if there were any glitches during the 13-hour stay, Pompeo said, “It was a long day. But there were no moments where I felt like we were going to be anything but successful in the day.” (Read more from “Three Prisoners Released from North Korea” HERE)

__________________________________________________

North Korea Frees Three U.S. Detainees Ahead of Trump Summit

By BBC. North Korea has freed three US citizens from prison, according to a tweet from US President Donald Trump.

It is viewed as a goodwill gesture ahead of a historic summit between Mr Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Mr Trump said he would greet the men when they return with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been in Pyongyang to arrange the planned talks.

Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul boarded the plane “without assistance”, the White House said.

They had been jailed for anti-state activities and placed in labour camps. (Read more from “North Korea Frees Three U.S. Detainees Ahead of Trump Summit” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Stormy’s Lawyer Reveals Legal Strategy and Even the CNN Employees Were Stunned

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Bizpac Review. . .[Michael] Avenatti just revealed there is apparently a strategy behind his prolific media appearances, though his admission seemed only to earn him a new round of mockery.

The attorney representing the adult film actress has made television appearances part of his legal strategy, convinced it will ultimately lead to a win in the court case against President Trump.

“You tweeted that you are just getting started,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Avenatti Tuesday. “Is that hyperbole, do you have more information, and if so, why not just release it now?”

“Look, if anybody’s been paying attention for the last 8 or 9 weeks they know that there’s not a lot of hyperbole,” Avenatti replied. “We make a lot of statements but we back them up and then some.”

“I have to tell you this — I’m going to touch on this, okay?” Avenatti added. “There’s been a lot of criticism lately…about how our media strategy, and how often I’m on CNN and how often I’ve been on your show.” (Read more from “Stormy’s Lawyer Reveals Legal Strategy and Even the CNN Employees Were Stunned” HERE)

_____________________________________________

Daniels’ Lawyer: Cohen Got $500k from Russian Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg

By NBC News. Stormy Daniels’ attorney claimed Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen received $500,000 from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch, deposited into an account for a company also used to pay off the adult film actress.

Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, also detailed other transactions he said were suspicious, including deposits from drug giant Novartis, the state-run Korea Aerospace Industries, and AT&T.

Novartis confirmed it had paid Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants, and said Special Counsel Robert Mueller had inquired about the arrangement in November. AT&T also confirmed it paid Cohen’s company, for “insights” into the Trump administration.

Avenatti’s claims, made in a dossier posted to Twitter, could suggest a new dimension to the federal investigation into Cohen. NBC News has reviewed financial documents that appear to support Avenatti’s account of the transactions.

(Read more from “Daniels’ Lawyer: Cohen Got $500k from Russian Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Top Secret Source Who Aided Mueller Probe Is Deemed off Limits to Congress, Trump Agrees

/0 Comments/in , /by

House Republicans are again battling with the Justice Department over information related to the Russia investigation, this time over documents the intelligence community said involves a top-secret source who has provided information to the CIA and FBI.

The mysterious source has also gathered information that was given to Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to The Washington Post.

WaPo reported Justice Department and intelligence community officials issued a stark warning to the White House on May 2 against a request from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Nunes had submitted a subpoena to the Justice Department on April 24 for records related to the Russia probe.

Justice Department and intelligence community officials argued to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that complying with the subpoena would reveal the identity of a top-secret source and would undermine protocol regarding intelligence sources, according to WaPo . . .

Kelly discussed the issue with Trump, who sided with the intelligence officials. WaPo noted that it is unclear whether Trump knew that information from the source has been shared with Mueller. Trump has been heavily critical of the Mueller probe, which he has described as a “witch hunt.” (Read more from “Top Secret Source Who Aided Mueller Probe Is Deemed off Limits to Congress, Trump Agrees” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

First Giant Religious Group Announces Break up with New Boy Scouts

/0 Comments/in , /by

. . .The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Tuesday that it will be severing all ties with the Boy Scouts of America at the end of next year, continuing its break from the group after diverging values, according to an Associated Press report.

The Mormon Church is one of the largest sponsors of the Boy Scouts, which announced last week that after 108 years, it was changing the name of its 11-17 year old member club to Scouts BSA in order to make way for girls to join. The existing Girls Scouts of America blasted the group for its decision last year.

The Church removed 185,000 boys between the ages of 14 and 18 from the Boy Scouts last year, and plans to move its remaining 425,000 boys into a youth program it is working on . . .

“The Church has increasingly felt the need to create and implement a uniform youth leadership and development program that serves its members globally. In so doing, it will be necessary for the Church to discontinue its role as a chartered partner with BSA,” the statement read.

Until the end of the year, the Church stated that it intends to “remain a fully engaged partner in Scouting for boys and young men ages 8­–13 and encourages all youth, families, and leaders to continue their active participation and financial support.” (Read more from “First Giant Religious Group Announces Break up with New Boy Scouts” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s How Many Americans Are Now Saying Mueller’s Investigation Is ‘Politically Driven’

/3 Comments/in , , /by

By The Blaze. The CBS poll says that 53 percent of Americans now say that the Mueller investigations are “politically motivated,” a charge that President Trump has made repeatedly to discredit the probe. . .

This is a significant change from the same poll questioned administered in December, when 48 percent of Americans called it “politically motivated,” and 46 percent said it was “justified.”

In the intervening months, the offices and residence of the president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen have been raided after a criminal referral by Mueller. Paul Manafort, the former manager of the Trump campaign, was also raided by the FBI.

A majority of Americans, (53 percent) believe Trump should be questioned, while 42 percent believe he shouldn’t. But, even in this measure, fewer Americans believe in the validity of the Mueller probe. . .

Earlier Tuesday, Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti released an astounding accusation against Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, saying that he had received money from a Russian oligarch after he made the payment to the adult film star. (Read more from “Here’s How Many Americans Are Now Saying Mueller’s Investigation Is ‘Politically Driven’” HERE)

_________________________________________________

Lawyer Sentenced in Mueller Probe Reports to Prison: Report

By The Hill. A Dutch lawyer who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators examining Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election has reported to a federal prison to serve out his sentence.

Alex van der Zwaan, 33, arrived at a low-security federal prison near Allenwood, Pa., according to a Politico report.

He was sentenced last month to a $20,000 fine and 30 days in prison, and is expected to be released on June 4, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’s website.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to The Hill’s requests for comment, nor did the prison, FCI Allenwood Low, where van der Zwaan is serving out his sentence.

In reporting to prison, van der Zwaan becomes the first person charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe to be incarcerated. (Read more from “Lawyer Sentenced in Mueller Probe Reports to Prison: Report” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Why the FBI’s Raid on Michael Cohen Sets a Dangerous Precedent

/0 Comments/in , , /by

. . .It has been long recognized that, for the right to counsel to have any value, clients must have absolute confidence in their ability to communicate confidentially with their lawyers, whether in person, by phone, or on email. That is what is known as the attorney-client privilege, and it is indispensable to the practice of law. After recent events, however, only a fool would place any trust in it.

Like most folks with day jobs, I do not generally follow the ins and outs of the special counsel investigation. But no attorney in America could possibly have missed last month’s news. The FBI, on referral from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, raided the office, home, and hotel room of Michael Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, and hauled off “thousands if not millions” of pages of documents. In court filings, the feds further revealed that, for weeks prior to the search, they had been secretly reading Cohen’s emails as he was sending them.

Moreover, prosecutors apparently convinced a federal magistrate to issue this warrant on the flimsiest of pretenses—the so-called “crime-fraud exception” to the attorney-client privilege. If media reports are to be believed, Cohen is being investigated for one or more payoffs to old Donald Trump paramours, payments that, because they theoretically benefitted a candidate for president, could be deemed an unreported “in-kind” campaign contribution.

Folks my age and older will remember the ‘90s edition of Mueller, another budding Inspector Javert named Ken Starr. Starr was originally tasked with investigating a shady Clinton land deal but ended up stinging a White House intern into confessing an illicit relationship with the president. He then produced a salacious report that needlessly humiliated and traumatized a young woman, who still seems not to have fully recovered.

But even Starr never raided a law office. At least not that of a living lawyer. He did try to grab the privileged communications of a deceased one: Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster. At some point, Starr moved beyond the land deal and took to investigating President Clinton’s firing of the White House’s travel staff, a ridiculous endeavor if ever there were one. When the investigation began, Foster turned to the law firm of Swidler Berlin for legal advice. Nine days later, he took his own life, launching a decade’s worth of conspiracy theories. Starr then tried to subpoena Foster’s privileged communications. (Read more from “Why the FBI’s Raid on Michael Cohen Sets a Dangerous Precedent” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

New Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo Kills 17, Said to Have ‘International Impact’

/0 Comments/in , /by

By The Blaze. . .Two out of five samples collected from patients were confirmed to have tested positive for Ebola, which the DRC reported to the World Health Organization. With a fatality rate of fifty percent, WHO is mobilizing to act quickly to address the outbreak of the virus. The organization released $1 million from a Contingency Fund for Emergencies in order to help stop the spread.

WHO deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response, Dr. Peter Salama, said, “Our top priority is to get to Bikoro [a neighboring province] to work alongside the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and partners to reduce the loss of life and suffering related to this new Ebola virus disease outbreak.

“Working with partners and responding early and in a coordinated way will be vital to containing this deadly disease.” Doctors Without Borders is one of the organizations who will assist the WHO, and the response will be modelled after the methods used in a 2017 Ebola outbreak that occurred in another DRC province.

Since 1976, this is the ninth outbreak of Ebola in Congo. The virus is highly contagious and can cause organ failure as well as internal and external bleeding.

The WHO Regional Director for African, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “We know that addressing this outbreak will require a comprehensive and coordinated response. WHO will work closely with health authorities and partners to support the national response. We will gather more samples, conduct contact tracing, engage the communities with messages on prevention and control, and put in place methods for improving data collection and sharing.” (Read more from “New Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo Kills 17, Said to Have ‘International Impact’” HERE)

__________________________________________________

New Outbreak of Ebola Kills 17 in Northwest Dr Congo

By AFP. Seventeen people in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have died from Ebola, the health ministry said on Tuesday, describing the fresh outbreak as a “public health emergency with international impact.”

“Twenty-one cases of fever with haemorrhagic indications and 17 deaths” have been recorded in Equateur province, it said, citing a notification to the ministry as of May 3.

It is the DRC’s ninth known outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the deady viral disease was first identified in then-Zaire by a Belgian-led team.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said lab tests in the DRC confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in two out of five samples collected from patients.

“WHO is working closely with the government of the DRC to rapidly scale up its operations and mobilize health partners, using the model of a successful response to a similar… outbreak in 2017,” it said in a statement. (Read more from “New Outbreak of Ebola Kills 17 in Northwest Dr Congo” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Farmer Charged with Shooting Intruder… Floored by Unexpected Surprise in Courtroom

/0 Comments/in , , /by

According to CTV News, a farmer from a rural area near Calgary fired a shotgun at intruders who were prowling on his property in February. It worked: The suspects fled, and one was later found with a non-life-threatening shotgun injury to his arm. . . .

Government officials want to make an example out of the farmer, but when he arrived at court Friday, he was faced with something neither he nor prosecutors likely expected: a crowd of residents who came to support the landowner and his right to protect his family . . .

“Why do the criminals have all the rights? It doesn’t seem fair to me,” explained one supporter. “They’re telling us that if we live in the country that we should get gates and lock them. We become prisoners on our own land because of criminals.”

In an increasingly litigious time, Americans — and Canadians, for that matter — must know what the law in their area says about the use of force. There are many misconceptions and myths about defense law, and the time to become educated is before a self defense situation arises.

We cannot comment on Canadian law, but many states in the U.S. stipulate that there must be an imminent threat of bodily harm or death for a firearm to be used in self defense. Though Maurice may have been morally right to defend his property from prowlers, the jury is still out — if you’ll pardon the expression — on whether he was legally justified. (Read more from “Farmer Charged with Shooting Intruder… Floored by Unexpected Surprise in Courtroom” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

War on Men: CNN Website Says Men Are ‘Inherently Violent, Dominant, Controlling’

/0 Comments/in , /by

An inmate doing 10 years in a California prison for armed robbery is rapidly on his way to making himself a darling of liberals everywhere by putting a spin on his incarceration that appeals to every anti-masculine trope currently running wild among today’s American left, while at the same time dodging responsibility for his own guilt . . .

That’s the takeaway from a commentary piece published by CNN and penned by Richard Edmond Vargas, an inmate of the Correctional Training Facility, commonly referred to as Soledad State Prison.

In the piece, Vargas acknowledges his own actions — committing robbery ostensibly to raise rent money — but manages to slide the blame onto the idea of “patriarchy,” or rather what liberals want to believe is the “toxic masculinity” that makes men unstable, vicious and dangerous.

“Patriarchy is a social system that defines men as being inherently violent, dominant and controlling while rewarding them with power for being that way,” Vargas writes. “It is no secret, especially these days, that we live in a patriarchal society. Why are we continually surprised when a man takes up arms and commits mass murder?”

It’s not an argument unique to Vargas, of course. Feminists love to excoriate what they call “patriarchy,” blaming the concept for everything from social ills to “sexist” treatment of dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club. (Read more from “War on Men: CNN Website Says Men Are ‘Inherently Violent, Dominant, Controlling’” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Met Gala Slammed for Mocking Christianity

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Tommy Hilfiger proclaimed that his inspiration for the Met Gala Monday was “In the name of the father, the son and Holy Spirit,” USA Today reported. . .

Just plain mockery of faith, according to a harsh critique from Daily Mail columnist Piers Morgan.

“Next year’s Met Gala is going to have an ‘Islam’ theme. Yes, guests in 2019 will be encouraged to wear skimpy, provocative dresses that ‘celebrate’ the Prophet Mohammad, Islamic clothing including hijabs and burqas, and the Quran,” he wrote. “I can also reveal that the 2020 Met Gala will have a ‘Jewish’ theme. Yes, a bunch of celebrities and models will be posing for the world’s paparazzi dressed in all manner of Jewish attire and regalia, including dressing up as Rabbis and wearing kippahs.

“Oh, wait. Neither of these things is actually going to happen. In fact, just by suggesting it, I’m sure I will be subjecting myself to immediate anger from many Muslims and Jews,” he wrote.

“The Met wouldn’t dream of having an Islam or Jewish themed, but Catholicism is apparently fine. Monday night was titled ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ and the stars and their designers threw themselves into the theme. Rihanna came as a silver pope. Yet apparently it’s absolutely fine to have a ‘Catholic’ theme, as we saw at last night’s Met Gala.

(Read more from “Met Gala Slammed for Mocking Christianity” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.