Trump Administration Releases Rule to Restrict ‘Birth Tourism’

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The Trump administration on Thursday formally issued a rule allowing customs officials to deny entry to travelers whom they suspect are headed to the U.S. for the sole purpose of giving birth on American soil.

A rule issued by the State Department marks the administration’s first formal effort to cut down on the practice known as “birth tourism,” which President Trump has heavily criticized and suggested should be a reason for ending birthright citizenship.

“This rule establishes that travel to the United States with the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States is an impermissible basis for the issuance of a B nonimmigrant visa,” the statute reads.

“Consequently, a consular officer shall deny a B nonimmigrant visa to an alien who he or she has reason to believe intends to travel for this primary purpose,” it continues.

The White House said in a statement that “the birth tourism industry threatens to overburden valuable hospital resources and is rife with criminal activity, as reflected in Federal prosecutions.” (Read more from “Trump Administration Releases Rule to Restrict ‘Birth Tourism'” HERE)

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Alleged Al-Qaeda Jihadis Caught Trying to Enter U.S. With Fake Colombian Passports

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American authorities identified and apprehended three Syrian nationals accused of belonging to al-Qaeda in Dallas, Texas, from Colombia, the Colombian news agency RCN reported on Thursday, publishing images of the three individuals’ fake passports.

According to RCN, American law enforcement identified the three individuals as Al Raefee, Tuameh Tuameh, and Al Harari Al Harari. The three are believed to be in U.S. custody, soon to be charged with membership in a terrorist organization. The men appear to have entered Colombia through Venezuela, where they acquired Colombian residency paperwork, a government identification card, and a Colombian passport through an illegal documentation network.

Journalist Luis Carlos Vélez published images of the counterfeit passports on Twitter, noting that the men appeared to have crossed into Colombia through the La Guajira border crossing with Venezuela. Reports have not yet specified how the Syrians entered Venezuela or how long they had spent in the country after leaving Syria. Vélez reportedly stated that the U.S. embassy identified them as al-Qaeda terrorists when they attempted to procure U.S. visas, which does not align with the RCN report that police arrested them in Dallas. The RCN report does not note if Dallas authorities arrested them at the airport, which would suggest the men did receive U.S. visas and got onboard a flight to the country, or if they arrived by other means.

American authorities reportedly suspected criminal activity after inspecting the passports and finding several irregularities. The identification numbers on all three passports, RCN noted, did not match their birthdates. Colombian passports assign numbers to citizens based on when they were born. Although the youngest of the three men is 45 years old according to his passport, the identification number on his passport corresponded to a much more recently born person, at most 25 years old. (Read more from “Alleged Al-Qaeda Jihadis Caught Trying to Enter U.S. With Fake Colombian Passports” HERE)

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Start-Up Linked to Hunter Biden’s Firm Bagged $3 Million From Government Program Run by Biden Adviser

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An investment fund connected to Hunter Biden received three million dollars in taxpayer cash from a federal program run by one of his father’s top advisers, according to revelations in Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite—a new book by Peter Schweizer, a senior contributor at Breitbart News and the president of the Government Accountability Institute.

In December 2013, Hunter Biden along with his long-time business associate Devon Archer invested in a Hawaii-focused venture capital fund called mbloom. The investment in mbloom, meant to provide seed capital for technology startups, was the result of a public-private partnership between Biden’s firm, Rosemont Seneca Technology (RST) Partners, and the state of Hawaii.

As part of the agreement, RST would provide five million for the fund, with the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation (HSDC) matching the same amount. Little-known at the time, however, was that more than half of HSDC’s contribution would come from a federal program controlled by a confidant of the Biden family.

As Schweizer reveals in Profiles in Corruption, three million of HSDC’s matching funds came from the Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. The program, which expenses more than $1.5 billion to state economic development agencies, was administered by then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Don Graves.

Complicating matters is that while Graves was overseeing the Small Business Credit Initiative, he was also informally advising Biden on economic and domestic policy as the executive director of the president’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. That role took on a more official form shortly after mbloom received its contribution from HSDC, with Graves leaving the treasury department and joining the vice president’s office. (Read more from “Start-Up Linked to Hunter Biden’s Firm Bagged $3 Million From Government Program Run by Biden Adviser” HERE)

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DOJ Concludes That Two FISA Surveillance Renewals on Carter Page Were Illegal

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By The Blaze. The Department of Justice concluded that two renewals of the FISA surveillance warrant against a former Trump campaign official were illegal, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.

Carter Page was targeted by the FBI for surveillance during the Obama administration because of ties he had to Russia, but critics have accused the government of acting improperly and out of political motivation.

Two of the renewals of the warrant against Page were made in 2017, and the DOJ now believes they had “insufficient predication to establish probable cause.”

The admission will undoubtedly help bolster claims of politically motivated abuse of power against former Obama officials.

“Today’s unprecedented court filing represents another step on the road to recovery for America’s deeply damaged judicial system,” said Page in a statement responding to the report. (Read more from “DOJ Concludes That Two FISA Surveillance Renewals on Carter Page Were Illegal” HERE)

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Justice Dept. Concedes It Had ‘Insufficient’ Cause to Continue Monitoring Former Trump Campaign Adviser in Russia Probe

By The Washington Post. The Justice Department secretly acknowledged last month that it had “insufficient predication” to continue monitoring a former Trump campaign adviser during the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to records made public Thursday — a notable admission likely to fuel continued criticism over how the bureau handled the high-profile case.

The concession was revealed in an order posted on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s website. In December, according to the order, the department told the court it had come to believe that in at least two of the four applications to monitor the former adviser, Carter Page, “there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause” to believe he was acting as a Russian agent. . .

The department’s concession is validating for conservatives who had long criticized the surveillance of Page, and it is likely to fuel continued attacks on the Russia probe, which was eventually taken over by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Read more from “Justice Dept. Concedes It Had ‘Insufficient’ Cause to Continue Monitoring Former Trump Campaign Adviser in Russia Probe” HERE)

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Report: Co-Workers of Alleged Whistleblower Say They Heard Him Plotting Trump’s Removal in 2017; Ted Cruz Says Adam Schiff Made Hunter Biden’s Testimony ‘Directly Relevant’

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By The Blaze. Former colleagues of alleged impeachment whistleblower Eric Ciaramella say they heard him discussing ways to get President Donald Trump out of office within days of his inauguration in January 2017, according to RealClearInvestigations.

The sources, who spoke to RCI under the condition of anonymity, said Ciaramella talked about ousting Trump with Sean Misko. Ciaramella and Misko were holdovers from the Obama Administration’s national security team.

According to the sources, Ciaramella and Misko, who are reportedly friends, were upset about Trump’s policy changes from the Obama administration.

“They were popping off about how they were going to remove Trump from office. No joke,” one ex-colleague told RCI. (Read more from “Report: Co-Workers of Alleged Whistleblower Say They Heard Him Plotting Trump’s Removal in 2017” HERE)

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Trump Disrupts Republican Trial Strategy

By Politico. Just five hours after Senate Republicans carefully assembled and passed an impeachment trial framework that could clear Donald Trump by next week, the president himself delivered an unwanted surprise to the GOP: The prospect of a longer trial with lots of witnesses.

Senate Republicans have been publicly and privately maneuvering to give Trump as quick an acquittal as possible while still keeping 51 GOP senators on board. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has largely thrown cold water on the idea of hearing from new witnesses and many of his members are eager to end the trial, not extend it.

In interviews Wednesday morning ahead of House managers’ opening arguments, Republicans empathized with the president’s call for new testimony. But they also said that they will tune out any outside noise if they can — including the running commentary from a president who demands party loyalty — and potentially wrap up the trial far more quickly than Trump desires.

“Certainly, the president has those in the Senate who are very interested in his views,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), but added, “Those are decisions to more likely be made by senators themselves, and individually and collectively, than outside influences.” (Read more from “Trump Disrupts Republican Trial Strategy” HERE)

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Ted Cruz Says Adam Schiff Made Hunter Biden’s Testimony ‘Directly Relevant’

By Daily Caller. Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters on Wednesday that Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff’s day two impeachment arguments before the Senate made testimony by Hunter Biden “directly relevant” and “critical.”

“I think the House managers made a very serious strategic error today,” Cruz said, according to ABC News. “Adam Schiff’s arguments to open the day today directly drew into question Hunter Biden and made not only his testimony relevant which it already was but it is now critical.”

The Texas senator, who last week said he is “open to the possibility” of the Senate calling witnesses, including the whistleblower, contended that if the “House managers’ case is based on the allegations of corruption concerning Hunter Biden and Joe Biden being a scam,” then the Senate being able to hear from Biden is “directly relevant.”

“And I gotta say, the need for the Senate to hear the testimony of Hunter Biden and the need for the senate to grant the White House lawyers the ability to take that testimony has become all the more relevant,” he said per ABC. (Read more from “Ted Cruz Says Adam Schiff Made Hunter Biden’s Testimony ‘Directly Relevant’” HERE)

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Cal Thomas: America’s Expiration Date — Will U.S. Collapse in 2026?

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. . .In my new book, “America’s Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers … and the Future of the United States,” I examine eight empires that believed their economic strength and military power were enough to sustain them well into the future and in the case of the Roman Empire, eternally.

Nations are made up of people. While modes of transportation, hairstyles, clothing and other things change, human nature remains the same. A nation’s strength and sustainability require more than economic and military success. There are issues of character and virtue that are stronger supporters and sustainers of any nation. As the Psalmist asked, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” He isn’t talking about money and a military.

The book is inspired by the late British diplomat Sir John Glubb, who found a pattern to the decline of nations. He said that pattern has not changed in the 4,000 years of history he studied and that the average age of great nations is 250 years. Rome was an exception, but even Rome followed the same path to self-destruction. . .

This includes uncontrolled immigration without assimilation. No nation can be sustained if it forgets its identity and fails to absorb new immigrants, requiring they learn the native language and understand the native history while leaving behind the agendas and issues of the country from which they came, while obeying the laws. . .

Massive national debt is another cause of the decline of superpowers. The U.S. currently is $23 trillion in the red (and counting). Neither political party will do what is necessary to reverse course, though both parties know entitlement reform is a key to the restoration of financial stability. (Read more from “Cal Thomas: America’s Expiration Date — Will U.S. Collapse in 2026?” HERE)

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Cyber Expert Behind a Report on Saudi Arabia’s Alleged Bezos Hack Was Paid $4 Million to Verify Steele Dossier

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One of the experts who spearheaded a forensics report alleging Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s phone was also part of an attempt to verify the Steele dossier.

Bezos’s iPhone began sharing large amounts of data after receiving an encrypted video file from bin Salman’s WhatsApp account in May 2018, according to a November 2019 report cobbled together by Anthony Ferrante, a cyber expert at the advisory firm FTI Consulting. The report, which Vice News published Wednesday, concluded with “medium to high confidence” that the crown prince’s phone was involved.

BuzzFeed asked Ferrante, a former FBI agent who joined CNN as a contributor in 2019, to investigate the Steele dossier’s claims that Russian tech executive Aleksej Gubarev played a “significant” role in hacking Democrats’ computer systems. BuzzFeed published the full dossier on Jan. 10, 2017.

Ferrante determined that Gubarev’s companies “have provided gateways to the internet for cybercriminals and Russian state sponsored actors to launch and control large-scale malware campaigns over the past decade.”

Gubarev’s lawyer, Evan Fray-Witzer, dismissed Ferrante’s contention in a March 2019 statement. “Buzzfeed spent $4.1 million on a team of former FBI agents to try to prove that Gubarev and his companies did what was alleged in the Steele Dossier and came up empty-handed,” he said. (Read more from “Cyber Expert Behind a Report on Saudi Arabia’s Alleged Bezos Hack Was Paid $4 Million to Verify Steele Dossier” HERE)

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21-Year-Old Son of Christian Rapper TobyMac Died of an Accidental Drug Overdose

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Truett Foster McKeehan, the son of popular Christian recording artist, TobyMac, died of an accidental drug overdose, autopsy and toxicology results show.

Davidson County Medical Examiner Feng Li said that an “acute combined drug intoxication” of fentanyl and amphetamines resulted in the 21-year-old’s death last October, according to the Tennessean.

In the report, Li said that McKeehan had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and possibly abused nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas.” He also had Adderall and marijuana in his system at the time of his death.

McKeehan was discovered unresponsive in his bed on Oct. 23 when a friend was conducting a welfare check on him. . .

Truett’s father, TobyMac — real name Kevin Michael McKeehan — inspired faith and hope through his response to the sudden passing of his eldest son. (Read more from “21-Year-Old Son of Christian Rapper TobyMac Died of an Accidental Drug Overdose” HERE)

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Did President Trump Just Accept an Invitation to Show up at His Impeachment Trial?

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On his way back from Davos, Switzerland Wednesday, President Trump retweeted an invitation from Republican Senator Rand Paul to join him in the Senate chamber for his impeachment trial.

During a press conference this morning, President Trump called Democrat House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler a sleaze bag. He also said it would be “beautiful” if he showed up to the trial and “sat in the front row.”

“First of all, Jerrold Nadler, I have known him a long time. He is a sleaze bag,” Trump said.

He also addressed a question about whether former National Security Advisor John Bolton should testify and explained why he wants to protect presidential executive privilege.

(Read more from “Did President Trump Just Accept an Invitation to Show up at His Impeachment Trial?” HERE)

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Senators Are Reportedly Considering a Biden-Bolton Witness Trade-Off in Impeachment Trial

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While the Senate continues to fight over which witnesses — if any — might be called to testify in its impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, some of its Democratic members are reportedly discussing a potential trade: Hunter Biden for former White House national security adviser John Bolton.

According to a Tuesday night story at the Washington Post, “several Senate Democrats are privately discussing” the prospect of such an agreement:

Publicly, most Democrats have scoffed at the growing GOP clamor to hear former Vice President Joe Biden’s son testify, dismissing him as irrelevant to the charges against Trump and accusing Republicans of trying to distract from the allegations against the president.

But behind closed doors, a small group of Democratic senators and aides has begun to question that logic, sounding out colleagues on whether to back a witness deal that could lead to testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton or other administration officials with possible firsthand knowledge of the Ukraine controversy, according to multiple Democratic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions.

The story was published as the first substantive day of the Senate’s impeachment trial lasted late into the night due to debates and votes on several Democrat-proposed amendments to the proposed trial rules having to do with subpoenaing witnesses and evidence. Those efforts were ultimately defeated, putting off the question of calling witnesses until later in the trial process.

(Read more from “Senators Are Reportedly Considering a Biden-Bolton Witness Trade-Off in Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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