Claim: Evidence Exists Tying Mr. Christie to Having Knowledge of the Lane Closures (+video)

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Photo Credit: NBC NewsNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the official who ordered the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge last year clashed Friday over precisely when Christie learned about the controversial incident.

In a letter to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (.pdf), a lawyer for David Wildstein — the Port Authority official who actually ordered the event — says “evidence exists tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference.”

In a statement Friday afternoon, Christie’s office said that rather than call Christie’s behavior into question, the letter “confirms what the Governor has said all along — he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein’s motivations were for closing them to begin with.”

Christie’s statement goes on to say he denies “Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer’s other assertions,” which primarily have to do with Wildstein’s attempt to force the Port Authority to pay his legal bills.

The main disagreement appears to stem from the sequence of events.

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Amanda Knox Conviction in Italy Could Spur Lengthy Extradition Fight

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLYItaly’s conviction of Amanda Knox for the murder of her British roommate when the two were exchange students together could spur a drawn-out fight over extradition in the United States, where supporters contend she is the victim of a faulty foreign justice system.

If Knox’s conviction is ultimately confirmed pending further appeals, her lawyers are expected to argue that the United States cannot send her to Italy in part because of U.S. constitutional guarantees against “double jeopardy,” although some experts say that could be a tough case to prove.

Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty on Thursday for the second time in the 2007 stabbing death of Meredith Kercher, in a retrial that reversed an earlier appeal judgment that cleared her.

Knox, who spent four years in an Italian jail before returning to the United States in 2011, was sentenced to 28 years and 6 months but will not face jail time pending further appeals in Italy. Knox did not attend the trial and would have to be extradited to serve her sentence.

“She has powerful legal arguments that she can use to fight extradition, or the U.S. can use to deny extradition,” said Sean Casey, a New York-based former federal prosecutor. “Under the law, the Constitution trumps a treaty.”

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Caregiver Used Stun Gun to Punish Kids, Kissimmee Police Say

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Photo Credit: Yohei Yamashita/flickrA woman was arrested Thursday in Kissimmee on allegations of using a stun gun to punish children in her care.

Letina Smith, 41, faces three counts of child abuse after a 7-year-old, 8-year-old and 9-year-old told officers that Smith punished them with an electric weapon.

The children described the weapon as being pink, rectangle-shaped and having two points with electricity flowing between them, Kissimmee police said. The children also said Smith touched them with the weapon when they misbehave, according to police.

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Holder Tells Cruz He Didn’t Know IRS Investigator Was Obama Contributor (+video)

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Photo Credit: APAt a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowing that a top Democratic donor is leading the internal investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups.

“No, I don’t know anything about the political activities of any of the people who are involved in this investigation,” he said when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned him during a Justice Department oversight hearing.

“I must tell you I find it astonishing that the Department of Justice appointed a major Obama donor to head this investigation, so the first question I want to ask is did you know that the lawyer in charge of this investigation was a major Obama donor?” Cruz asked Holder.

On Jan. 8, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Holder, calling Bosserman’s involvement “highly inappropriate” and demanding that she be “immediately” removed from the investigation.

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Senate Democrats Have Reason to Freak Out

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated PressBy Jennifer Rubin.

Senate Democrats on the 2014 ballot who were sitting in the House chamber last night had reason to worry — a lot.. Here are eight reasons they should be nervous:

1. The president is already a drag on the ticket in 2014 in swing states. Gallup reports that among the twelve states in which Obama is most unpopular (ranging from 22.5 percent to 35 percent approval) there are four hotly contested Senate seats where the Republican can lasso his opponent to the president (e.g. West Virginia, Montana, South Dakota and Alaska). In other competitive states, the president is also a drag. (Arkansas 34.9 percent, Louisiana 40 percent, New Hampshire 44.6 percent, Colorado 42.3). In the top 12 battleground states, his approval averages 36 percent.

2. Whatever you thought of the State of the Union address it was no game changer, and the Democratic candidates will have to defend a “more of the same” message.

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsVulnerable Dems avoiding Obama? Itinerary skips over battlegrounds

By Fox News.

His poll numbers are diving, he just gave a State of the Union address that even his own supporters panned as flat, and with three years left to run the country he’s fending off the term “lame duck.”

So as Democrats fight to keep control of the Senate and make gains in the House, are they giving President Obama the cold shoulder?

Over the past six months, the president only has visited two states — North Carolina and Louisiana — where a vulnerable Senate Democrat is facing a tough race. And none of the states Obama was visiting on his latest two-day tour have Senate Democrats up for reelection in the fall.

The president’s itinerary has led to Republican jeers that vulnerable and moderate Democrats are intentionally avoiding him, keeping their distance as they try to hold their seats in November.

Democrats themselves aren’t exactly challenging that narrative.

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Why Are Anti-Development Environmentalists Funding Begich?

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Fairbanks, Alaska. January 30, 2014 – While Mark Begich professes to be an advocate of off-shore drilling, US Senate candidate Joe Miller isn’t so sure Alaskans are getting the whole story.

“Mark Begich promised to be an advocate for resource development,” said Miller. “But given the results, coupled with his behavior in the senate, Alaskans are having their doubts.”

In his latest radio ad, Begich takes credit for the return of Shell Oil rigs to the Chuckchi Sea. There’s only one problem. Last week’s Ninth Circuit Court decision to suspend permits resulted from litigation brought by some deep-pocketed friends of the junior senator.

Begich has collected nearly $20,000 in campaign cash over the last two cycles from board members, executives, and associates of the plaintiffs who sued to stop drilling in the Arctic Ocean. These plaintiffs included the Alaska Wilderness League, Pacific Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, the Village of Point Hope, Oceana, and EarthJustice.

That doesn’t include other affiliated groups and non-profits who account for thousands more. And who knows what their donors are doing?

“It all adds up to a rather disturbing pattern,” Miller concluded. “When seen through the purview of his party’s stance on development issues, his support for Obama and Reid, votes to confirm radical environmentalists to cabinet-level positions in the Department of Interior and at the EPA . . . I have to scratch my head. Do Mark’s big government friends know something that Alaskans aren’t being told?”

It’s time to send a senator to Washington that folks can trust to put principle over party. Alaskans deserve a leader that they know won’t be cheating on them with Barack Obama and Harry Reid’s environmentalist friends.

Joe Miller is a husband, father, combat veteran, businessman, and advocate for constitutional liberty, who believes in limited government, the Right to life, individual rights, private property, and free markets.

Poll: Sarah Palin Has Highest Favorability Rating Among 2016 GOP Primary Contenders

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Though former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not included in a Public Policy Polling survey of potential 2016 Republican presidential contenders, she was still overwhelmingly the most liked person among Republican primary voters.

According to Public Policy Polling:

The best liked person we tested on this poll with Republican primary voters is actually Sarah Palin who has a 70/20 favorability rating. She’s followed by Huckabee at 64/18, Ryan at 58/18, Paul at 58/21, Bush at 56/18, Cruz at 45/20, and Christie at 40/38. Most of those numbers are similar to what they were a month ago but Christie’s seen a substantial drop from +18 at 47/29 a month ago to his new +2 net favorability.

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Oil Drilling on US Arctic Coast Put On Ice

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Photo Credit: Alastair Grant / AP

Photo Credit: Alastair Grant / AP

By Toby Sterling.

Oil companies’ rush to find reserves off Alaska’s Arctic shores suffered a setback on Thursday after Shell said it would suspend its operations in the region — and possibly withdraw for good.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is the main company to have purchased leases for oilfields off Alaska’s Arctic shores, but its attempts to drill have been halting due to technical and legal hurdles.

While other companies are still seeking to exploit deep-water Arctic fields nearby in Canada, Shell’s troubles may indicate that the difficulties outweigh the potential economic benefits.

“We will not drill in Alaska in 2014, and we are reviewing our options there,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told reporters in London.

Shell received a negative Federal court decision last week. Environmentalists are still challenging whether the government’s 2008 decision to open the area to exploration was correctly granted in the first place: it is covered by sea ice for much of the year.

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Photo Credit: Newscast

Photo Credit: Newscast

Shell halts Alaska exploration to focus on performance

By Alistair Osborne.

Royal Dutch Shell will stop its exploration programme in Alaska this year as part of a refocusing of strategic priorities under new chief executive Ben van Beurden.

The oil giant, which stunned the market a fortnight ago with its first profits warning in 10 years, said its new boss was setting “an agenda for sharper performance and rigorous capital discipline”.

One immediate decision is that Mr van Beurden, who took over at the start of the year from predecessor Peter Voser, has called a halt to Shell’s controversial exploration in Alaska – a move that will be seen as a victory for environmental campaigners.

Mr van Beurden said he was responding to a US federal court ruling last week that the full range of environmental risks had not been assessed by the American government.

Shell said the ruling “raises substantial obstacles to Shell’s plans for drilling in offshore Alaska”.

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‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Turns Heads at State of the Union

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Robertson attended the speech as a guest of Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister, and he stood out in the sea of coats and ties with his long beard, untucked white shirt, and signature American flag bandana around his head.

“It was neat being here,” he told reporters after the speech. “It’s cool to be here. Neat experience.”

From the moment Robertson arrived in the Capitol complex, he was in high demand — multiple lawmakers tweeted pictures of themselves posing with him before the speech.

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