Trump Rebukes FBI Chief Over Russia Threat: Why No Talk About China?

President Donald Trump on Friday took issue with his FBI director, Christopher Wray, for highlighting the threat posed by Russia and right-wing militias to the U.S. election, rather than focusing on China and left-wing groups.

Trump, whose campaign was accused by political opponents of having murky ties to Russian operatives offering assistance during the 2016 election, has repeatedly challenged intelligence officials’ claims that Moscow still poses the chief danger. . .

Asked by reporters if he wanted to fire Wray, Trump said: “We’re looking at a lot of different things.” . . .

In his remarks on Friday, the president also reiterated his insistence that China, not Russia, is the bigger problem.

“Obviously China is at the top of the list. I see Russia, North Korea, many other countries, can be talked about. But China would be at the top of that list, so I don’t know why that’s not mentioned,” Trump said. (Read more from “Trump Rebukes FBI Chief Over Russia Threat: Why No Talk About China?” HERE)

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Teenager Arrested in Connection With ‘Ambush’ Shooting of AZ Trooper

A teen was arrested and a second suspect is in the wind following an “ambush”-style shooting of an Arizona state trooper Thursday, authorities said.

Luis German Espinoza Acuna, 17, allegedly used an AK-47 to fire multiple shots at Arizona Department of Public Safety detectives in a residential area of Phoenix just before 9 a.m., the department said.

Troopers were in the area to execute a warrant on a wanted suspect, according to ABC News. The trooper who was struck was sitting in an unmarked vehicle but was wearing visible police attire, police said.

“There was no question, it was an ambush,” department director Col. Heston Silbert said at a press conference Thursday night. “He was identifiable as a police officer.”

Acuna was a passenger in a silver, four-door Infiniti that pulled up in front of the detective’s vehicle and honked the horn. He then got out of the car and allegedly “immediately opened up and opened fire” on the trooper, who also got out of his vehicle, Silbert said. (Read more from “Teenager Arrested in Connection With ‘Ambush’ Shooting of AZ Trooper” HERE)

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Nearly 90 Arrested at Abolish ICE Protest

Police arrested nearly 90 protesters at an Abolish ICE demonstration Saturday in New York City’s Times Square near the New York Police Department’s headquarters, police said.

The New York Post reported that the police and protesters, who were demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) based on recent reports that the agency performed unneeded hysterectomies on illegal alien women, clashed in Manhattan’s Times Square. . .

[Warning: video contains explicit language.]

An NYPD public alert system blared that the protesters were “unlawfully in the roadway and obstructing vehicular traffic.”

In total, 86 people were arrested throughout the protest, 41 of them being men and 45 of them being women.

All were charged with one count of disorderly conduct, and one protester was charged with one count of resisting arrest. (Read more from “Nearly 90 Arrested at Abolish ICE Protest” HERE)

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Liberals Celebrated the Death of Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia

To say the Left has responded very emotionally to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be an understatement. Some have even suggested it is disrespectful to her memory to talk about her replacement so soon after her death.

But the political implications of the vacancy on the Court resulting from her death are impossible for anyone to ignore, regardless of which side of the aisle they are on. That said, the reaction from most on Left and Right has been mostly respectful from what I’ve seen.

But I can’t say the same for when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in 2016.

Nominated by Ronald Reagan, Justice Scalia was a diehard defender of the Constitution, and when he died during the last year of Obama’s presidency, many on the Left couldn’t contain their glee. . .

(Read more from “Liberals Celebrated the Death of Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia” HERE)

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Here’s What Trump Told Reporters to Expect With His SCOTUS Pick

On Saturday, President Trump talked to reporters about his Supreme Court nominee, saying the nominee will likely be a woman.

In agreement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), President Trump said he may pick a nominee to go before the Senate as early as this coming week.

“I agree with the statement put out by Mitch McConnell,” the president said before departing for a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon. “I agree with it, actually, 100 percent. I put out a very similar statement as you saw. So I think we’re going to start the process extremely soon, and we’ll have a nominee very soon.” . . .

“I could see most likely it would be a woman,” Trump told reporters. “Yeah, I think I could say that. … if somebody were to ask me now, I would say that a woman would be in first place. The choice of a woman I would say would certainly be appropriate.” (Read more from “Here’s What Trump Told Reporters to Expect With His SCOTUS Pick” HERE)

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Video Captures Violent Confrontation at California Trump Rally; Teenage Republican Campaign Volunteer in Minneapolis Shot and Killed

By Fox News. A 33-year-old California man was arrested this week after a number of people were attacked during a rally held in support of President Trump.

Tense moments captured on video at the Aliso Viejo event on Wednesday show opposing sides appearing to square off in an armed confrontation.

Deputies were sent to Aliso Creek Road and Pacific Park Drive about 6:30 p.m. PT, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department told KTLA that five separate 911 calls were made.

The fracas concluded when a retired police officer pulled a gun on the alleged attacker, Alvin Shaw, who the department’s Sgt. Dennis Breckner said had pulled out a small pocket knife. Shaw is accused of assaulting three women aged 55, 74, and 84.

A knife was later recovered from the bushes by deputies, where witnesses reported seeing it thrown. (Read more from “Video Captures Violent Confrontation at California Trump Rally” HERE)

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17-Year-Old Republican Campaign Volunteer in Minneapolis Shot and Killed

By PJ Media. Two campaign staffers for Republican congressional candidate Lacy Johnson, who is challenging Rep. Ilhan Omar, were shot on Monday in Minneapolis. One of the staffers, a campaign outreach coordinator, died from his injuries. He was 17 years old.

“It is shocking and unnecessary acts of violence like this that prove why change is needed now more than ever in our community,” said candidate Lacy Johnson. “The shooting did not occur during a campaign or outreach and we do not believe it has any connection to their work for the campaign.” . . .

The two campaign staffers were standing outside a service station when they were approached by the assailant. According to the Minneapolis Police Department’s investigation, the victims were part of a group “standing in front of a business when a person, or persons, approached on foot and shot at the group. The suspect fled the scene prior to officers arrival.” (Read more from “17-Year-Old Republican Campaign Volunteer in Minneapolis Shot and Killed” HERE)

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Bill Gates Is Claiming Trump’s Travel Ban Made Coronavirus Pandemic Worse; CDC Reverses Coronavirus Guidance, Again

By Fox News. Microsoft founder Bill Gates told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace President Trump may have worsened the coronavirus pandemic with his travel bans, in an exclusive interview set to air this weekend.

On Jan. 31, Trump issued a travel ban on China after the coronavirus broke out in Wuhan before issuing others in February and March, banning travel from Europe and other countries with coronavirus outbreaks.

“We created this rush, and we didn’t have the ability to test or quarantine those people,” the billionaire philanthropist said.

“And so that seeded the disease here. You know, the ban probably accelerated that, the way it was executed,” Gates said. . . .

Gates explained that “March saw this incredible explosion — the West Coast coming from China and then the East Coast coming out of Europe, and so, even though we’d seen China and we’d seen Europe, that testing capacity and clear message of how to behave wasn’t there.” (Read more from “Bill Gates Is Claiming Trump’s Travel Ban Made Coronavirus Pandemic Worse” HERE)

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CDC Reverses Controversial Coronavirus Guidance That Said People Without Symptoms May Not Need a Test

By CNBC. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reversed controversial coronavirus testing guidance that said people who were exposed to an infected person but weren’t showing any symptoms did “not necessarily need a test.”

The new guidance said that people without symptoms who have been in close contact with an infected person “need a test.” The CDC defines “close contact” as being within 6 feet of a person with a confirmed Covid-19 infection for at least 15 minutes.

“Please consult with your healthcare provider or public health official. Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the new guidance said. “Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection be quickly identified and tested.”

Numerous studies have shown that people can carry and spread the virus without showing symptoms — both in the presymptomatic stage and in cases where they never develop symptoms. Public health specialists and officials at the World Health Organization have repeatedly emphasized the importance of testing people who don’t have symptoms in order to cut off chains off transmission. (Read more from “CDC Reverses Controversial Coronavirus Guidance That Said People Without Symptoms May Not Need a Test” HERE)

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead at 87

By NPR. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died Friday. The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas.

The court, in a statement, said Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, D.C., surrounded by family. She was 87. . .

Inside the court, not only is the leader of the liberal wing gone, but with the court about to open a new term, the chief justice no longer holds the controlling vote in closely contested cases.

Though Roberts has a consistently conservative record in most cases, he has split from fellow conservatives in a few important ones this year, casting his vote with liberals, for instance, to protect at least temporarily the so-called DREAMers from deportation by the Trump administration, to uphold a major abortion precedent and to uphold bans on large church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. But with Ginsburg gone, there is no clear court majority for those outcomes. (Read more from “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead at 87” HERE)

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Trump reacts to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, says justice ‘led an amazing life’

By Fox News. President Trump on Friday called late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “an amazing woman who led an amazing life” and said he was “sad” to learn of her passing, but didn’t say anything about plans for nominating a replacement.

The president, on the tarmac after finishing a rally in Minnesota Friday night, had just learned that Ginsburg, 87, had died from complications surrounding metastatic pancreas cancer.

“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Trump told reporters. “She led an amazing life. Whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.”

He added: “Sad to hear that.”

The president didn’t discuss any plans for nominating a replacement. But just earlier, during the Minnesota rally, the president vowed to “nominate judges and justices who will interpret the Constitution as written,” and called the Supreme Court “so important.” (Read more from “Trump reacts to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, says justice ‘led an amazing life’” HERE)

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Leaked 2016 Call Reveals Joe Biden Risked National Security to Sabotage Trump

A recently leaked phone call between then-Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko directly after the 2016 presidential election shows that Biden sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration before Donald Trump even took office, and much worse.

During the course of the call, Biden badmouthed the incoming administration, saying, “The truth of the matter is that the incoming administration doesn’t know a great deal about [Ukraine]” and that they were unprepared for the transition. This in itself is inappropriate, but it was meant to set the stage for Biden’s next statement and future plans.

Biden then told Poroshenko, “I don’t plan on going away. As a private citizen, I plan on staying deeply engaged in the endeavor that you have begun and we have begun.” In a matter of moments, Biden undermined the incoming administration, branded them as not knowing anything about Ukraine, and attempted to set up a foreign policy backchannel for himself after he left office as a private citizen, which could violate the Logan Act.

The Logan Act bars private citizens from engaging in U.S. foreign policy, although its constitutionality remains questionable and no person has ever been convicted of violating it since it was signed into law in 1799. Ironically, this is the same act that, at Joe Biden’s suggestion, the FBI accused National Security Advisor Michael Flynn of violating as a result of a discussion Flynn had with the Russian ambassador to the United States around nearly the same time as Biden’s call with Poroshenko. . .

So Biden, the sitting vice president of the United States, told a foreign leader whose country was part of a highly classified FBI counterintelligence investigation that there were things he couldn’t share about his country with the incoming administration and that they weren’t cleared. We now know from subsequent investigations that the Trump administration did not in fact collude with Russia, but at the time, Biden didn’t and he was privy to the fact that the FBI had opened the investigation. (Read more from “Leaked 2016 Call Reveals Joe Biden Risked National Security to Sabotage Trump” HERE)

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Despite Catholic Faith, Nancy Pelosi Wants to Keep Churches Closed

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a Catholic, doesn’t think churches should open until it is “scientifically safe” to do so.

Pelosi was asked at a Friday press conference to respond to Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Joseph Cordileone’s recent article urging California leaders to consider reopening churches. Despite her own violation of the COVID-19 government lockdown orders in San Francisco by booking and attending an illegal indoor hair appointment, Pelosi stated that going to in-person church services might be ” jeopardizing people’s health.”

“I don’t know if he was speaking as our pastor or as a lobbyist or advocate, but whatever it is, I’m sure that he must have meant if it is scientifically safe rather than jeopardizing people’s health if they want to go to church,” she explained.

While Pelosi admitted that she misses “going to church regularly,” she claims that she and the archbishop have “some areas of agreement and some areas of disagreement.”

“With all due respect to my Archbishop, I think we should follow science on this. And again with faith and science, sometimes they’re countered to each other,” Pelosi said. (Read more from “Despite Catholic Faith, Nancy Pelosi Wants to Keep Churches Closed” HERE)

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