Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Quote Tweet Is Actually Grounds for Impeachment, Says Harvard Law Professor; GOP Rep. Goes off on ‘Civil War’ Tweet: ‘Beyond Repugnant’

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By Newsweek. President Donald Trump’s recent tweet quoting a longtime evangelical pastor who warned of a “Civil War” if Democrats seriously pursue removing him from office could actually be grounds for impeachment, one Harvard Law professor said.

“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,” Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

The tweet was a quote from Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor who gave the comment during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend. Trump added his own parenthetical aside to Jeffress’ quote, in which the president asserted that Congress won’t be successful in their impeachment efforts.

The president’s tweet was immediately met with backlash, and Harvard Law professor John Coates argued that the social media post itself is an “independent basis” for lawmakers to remove him from the White House.

“This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment – a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power,” Coates wrote on Twitter on Monday.

(Read more from “Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Quote Tweet Is Actually Grounds for Impeachment, Says Harvard Law Professor” HERE)

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Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on President Donald Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Threat: ‘Beyond Repugnant’

By USA Today. Republican congressman and Air Force veteran Adam Kinzinger slammed President Donald Trump for suggesting that his impeachment could lead to a “Civil War.”

“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,” Trump tweeted on Sunday, quoting Robert Jeffress, an evangelical pastor and loyal Trump supporter who appeared on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

The suggestion of a civil war was met with widespread backlash — even from Trump’s own party, including Kinzinger, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I have visited nations ravaged by civil war,” the Illinois lawmaker tweeted. “I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant.”

(Read more from “Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on President Donald Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Threat: ‘Beyond Repugnant'” HERE)

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Report: Whistleblower Seeking Federal Protection, Lawyers Allege ‘Certain Individuals’ Have Offered Bounty

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By Mediaite. CBS reported a new update on the anonymous whistleblower: they are seeking further federal protection “because he or she fears for their safety.”

60 Minutes reported Sunday night that a letter from the whistleblower’s attorney Andrew Bakaj alleges “certain individuals have issued a $50,000 ‘bounty’ for ‘any information’ relating to our client’s identity.” The letter includes Trump’s leaked comments from earlier this week, saying they indicated a threat of violence against the whistleblower.

“I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” Trump said earlier this week. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

Scott Pelley also spoke with Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the ongoing impeachment inquiry. The inquiry was launched following the release of a transcript that appeared to show Trump asking the Ukrainian president for political favors in exchange for military aid.

(Read more from “Report: Whistleblower Seeking Federal Protection, Lawyers Allege ‘Certain Individuals’ Have Offered Bounty” HERE)

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Intel Community: ‘First-Hand Information Required’ for Whistleblowers — Until Second-Hand Complaint on President Trump, That Is

By The Blaze. The Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG) has quietly removed its requirement that whistleblowers report only “first-hand information,” according to a report in The Federalist.

Coincidentally, the whistleblower who recently filed a complaint against President Donald Trump admitted that he or she was “not a direct witness” to the alleged wrongdoings, a stipulation that would have disqualified the complaint under previous versions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA) disclosure process.

A screenshot provided by The Federalist’s Sean Davis shows the former version of the whistleblower complaint form, or “Disclosure of Urgent Concern” form, with the following listed under a bold, underlined heading that read, “FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED.”

In order to find an urgent concern “credible,” the [Intelligence Community Inspector General] must be in possession of reliable, first-hand information. The IC IG cannot transmit information via the ICPWA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge of wrongdoing. This includes information received from another person, such as when an employee informs you that he/she witnessed some type of wrongdoing.

However, a new version of the form only requires would-be whistleblowers to check a box saying, “I heard about it from others.” (Read more from “Intel Community: ‘First-Hand Information Required’ for Whistleblowers — Until Second-Hand Complaint on President Trump, That Is” HERE)

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NYC Makes It Illegal to Call Someone an ‘Illegal Alien’

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New York City declared on Thursday that using the term “illegal alien” in a derogatory way is illegal and punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.

The city’s Commission on Human Rights issued new legal enforcement guidance stating that “the use of the term ‘illegal alien,’ among others, when used with the intent to demean, humiliate, or harass a person, is illegal under the law.”

Also outlawed under the guidelines are “harassing and discriminating against someone for their use of another language or their limited English proficiency, and threatening to call ICE on a person based on a discriminatory motive.” . . .

Mayor Bill De Blasio, who earlier this month aborted his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, retweeted the city’s post. (Read more from “NYC Makes It Illegal to Call Someone an ‘Illegal Alien’” HERE)

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Illegal Alien Charged With Shooting Man in Head – in What Appeared to Be Car Crash

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It looked like a horrific car accident, of the kind that is all too common on America’s highways. On the evening of September 21, Indiana state police arrived at the scene of a two-car crash on I-70 east of Indianapolis and found two cars badly smashed on the westbound side of the high median. 27-year-old Devon Anderson was bleeding profusely in his Dodge Caravan and was pronounced dead at the scene, and 24-year-old Juan Garrado Vivas, the driver of the Ford Ranger, was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Just another day in the grisly work of highway patrol seeing fatal injuries resulting from car crashes, or so they thought. The Marion County Coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Tuesday, September 23, and found a bullet in Anderson’s head, not exactly the typical result of a car crash. Upon further investigation, police believe they’ve determined that Vivas, the driver of the Ford Ranger, shot Anderson in the head, which then caused the Caravan to crash into Vivas’ Ranger, making it look like a tragic accident at first. Anderson was also not wearing a seatbelt, according to the press release from the state police, which would certainly explain the massive head injuries that masked the bullet wound at the scene.

The booking records from the Marion County sheriff’s office show Vivas was arrested on Sept. 24 on murder charges. He was also charged with carrying a gun without a permit and driving without ever having received a driver’s license.

As of this writing, police have not publicly offered any suspected motive for this highly unusual homicide.

This is a bizarre and disturbing homicide case, yet not a single reporter in Indianapolis appeared interested in finding out Vivas’ immigration status. Any good reporter would automatically suspect this man is here illegally because he was charged with “never” having been issued a driver’s license. In response to my inquiry, an ICE official told me on Friday that “ICE has filed a detainer with Marion County Jail” on Vivas.

How much skill does it take to kill someone with a head shot while driving on a highway with both cars traveling at high speeds?

This is why it’s so important to document the origin of these crimes – to determine whether they are inherent in our country or a problem imported through illegal immigration. So many of these horrific murders go “undocumented” as committed by illegal aliens, and law enforcement are left without the important tools to track unique foreign gang and cartel crimes. Likewise, policy-makers are left without important data with which to debate policy loopholes in our immigration system that are allowing dangerous criminal aliens to remain in the country undetected. (For more from the author of “Illegal Alien Charged With Shooting Man in Head – in What Appeared to Be Car Crash” please click HERE)

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University Officials Held ‘Personally Liable’ for Discrimination Against Christian Group

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A federal court ruled University of Iowa officials must pay out of their own pockets for discriminating against a prominent Christian student group, calling the university’s conduct “ludicrous” and “incredibly baffling” during a hearing last week.

Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa ruled Friday that the University of Iowa and its officers violated constitutional law when they kicked InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and other religious groups, off the campus in June 2018 for requiring leaders to uphold Christian beliefs — but giving a pass to secular student groups that also have leadership requirements.

The university limited the Christian group’s access to campus after being there for over 25 years, froze its bank account, shut down its website and advertised that it was “defunct” for lack of student interest, according to court documents. This violated the Christian group’s free speech and free exercise rights, the court ruled.

“It’s rare for a federal judge to call out a public university for ‘ludicrous’ and ‘incredibly baffling’ violations of the First Amendment,” Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket, who represented InterVarsity and BLinC, told Fox News. “But it was necessary here. The court already told the University of Iowa to stop picking on one Christian student group. The University responded by doubling down and kicking out Christian, Muslim and Sikh groups. That was obviously wrong. And it’s even more clearly wrong once you consider, as the court did, that it was also unfair.” . . .

“We must have leaders who share our faith,” Greg Jao, director of external relations at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, said in a statement. “No group — religious or secular — could survive with leaders who reject its values. We’re grateful the court has stopped the University’s religious discrimination, and we look forward to continuing our ministry on campus for years to come.” (Read more from “University Officials Held ‘Personally Liable’ for Discrimination Against Christian Group” HERE)

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House Dems Subpoena Rudy Giuliani

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The House Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani for documents as part of its impeachment inquiry into the president.

In a letter to Giuliani dated Monday, the heads of three House committees asked for information related to the president’s and his lawyer’s efforts to get Ukraine’s government to investigate the Biden family.

Three Democratic-led panels — the Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees — are demanding that Giuliani produce all text messages, phone records and other communications related to the “scheme” he is accused of perpetrating “in order to determine the full extent of this effort by the President and his Administration to press Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election.”

They wrote that the House Democrats’ probe “includes an investigation of credible allegations that [Giuliani] acted as an agent of the President in a scheme to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President.” Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. — who lead the Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, respectively — asked him to produce documents by Oct. 15. . .

The subpoena adds to the heightened scrutiny of both administration officials and outside Trump confidants after the House decided last week to move forward with impeachment proceedings. On Friday, the Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents. The heads of the Appropriations and Budget committees also asked Friday for records related to the Office of Management and Budget’s involvement in the Trump administration deciding to hold back nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. (Read more from “House Dems Subpoena Rudy Giuliani” HERE)

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Fox News Host Has an Idea of Whose Behind the Whistleblower Complaint

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During Friday’s episode of “The Five” on Fox News, Geraldo Rivera made an interesting prediction: he believes a group like Media Matters is behind the whistleblower complaint that has lead to the House formally announcing an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. . . .

“And that’s the issue,” Katie Pavlich replied. “If they had released the complaint that the Intelligence Committee in the House and Senate received, without the transcript, people would believe the complaint over the transcript. So you release the transcript and hope people can look at it and know exactly what was said. But the timing here now comes into question, because the complaint is dated August 12, 2019 and Adam Schiff claims he only got it this week. Elise Stefanik, who sits on the same committee in the House, saying yesterday that not only should he not be making stuff up but then pointing out, how long did he have this complaint and why didn’t he share it with the committee? Because they were only given two hours to look at the complaint, so obviously, it’s political.” . . .

“Half a dozen U.S. officials that are named in the complaint, well, who are those people? Can they bring them up and say why didn’t you file a whistleblower report if this was that important?,” Pavlich explained. “And also, who’s behind the writing of the complaint? This is not just an email that someone sent as a ‘Hey, I have information, I need to meet with you.’ It’s very clearly written by a lawyer or a team of lawyers and possibly a research team.”

“I bet this can be traced, ultimately, and I’m not accusing, but a group like Media Matters, is in the air, with their dirty hands,” Rivera said. (Read more from “Fox News Host Has an Idea of Whose Behind the Whitstleblower Complaint” HERE)

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NYT Columnist: Either Trump Goes to Jail or ‘Thousands of Journalists’ Will End up in Prison Camps

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Economist and New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman suggested Friday evening that either “thousands of journalists” will be imprisoned because of the administration or President Donald Trump will end up in jail.

A formal impeachment inquiry was launched Tuesday after news that Trump had asked Ukrainian officials to look into Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter regarding business dealings in the country. The transcript of this phone call was held in a special computer system for sensitive calls, according to the NYT.

The White House restricted access to other phone calls between Trump and foreign leaders, CNN reported Friday evening. Following this news, Krugman tweeted that there seemed to be “two possible outcomes.” . . .

Krugman did not follow up his tweet with reasons as to how “thousands of journalists” would become imprisoned if Trump doesn’t spend time behind bars. (Read more from “NYT Columnist: Either Trump Goes to Jail or ‘Thousands of Journalists’ Will End up in Prison Camps” HERE)

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Nancy Pelosi Has Fast-Tracked Impeachment. Here Is What That Means.

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced late last week that she plans on “fast-tracking” an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, stemming from allegations that Trump demanded information about Joe Biden’s son from Ukrainian authorities.

USA Today reports that although Congress can’t officially “fast-track” an impeachment inquiry, House leaders can move as quickly as possible to get the inquiry on the calendar, and that’s precisely what Pelosi and her team intend to do.

So far, Democrats have had difficulty transitioning the evidence they’ve been provided into an open-and-shut case, but that’s not stopping a select House panel from scheduling depositions, even though Congress leaves this week for a two-week vacation ahead of the final session of the year. USA Today suggests that some in the Democratic leadership want articles of impeachment on the table by Thanksgiving so that the ensuing hearings have the greatest impact possible on the 2020 presidential election cycle (even if it looks like Democrats on the trail won’t benefit).

The impeachment inquiry is, at least, taking priority over the dozens of other investigation currently being pursued by various House committees. Any research being done into Donald Trump’s potential violations of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, questions about his campaign’s ties to Russian officials, or probes into whether the White House obstructed justice during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation (or any other of a handful of Democratic deep dives) will now take a backseat to the Ukrainian issue, since that’s the issue du jour.

“The plan for now, according to lawmakers, is to prioritize the Ukraine investigation, which is being led by the House Intelligence Committee, while other panels wrap up their probes and send their best cases to the House Judiciary Committee,” USA Today reports. (Read more from “Nancy Pelosi Has Fast-Tracked Impeachment. Here Is What That Means.” HERE)

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State Department Ramps up Investigation Into Hillary’s Emails

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The State Department has reportedly ramped up its investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server, an issue that took center stage during the 2016 presidential election.

According to the Washington Post, the State Department has called in 130 officials who had access to Clinton’s email inbox. The officials ranged from low-level employees to senior officials who reported directly to Clinton. Former aides were sent letters letting them know that their emails were retroactively deemed “classified” and sharing that information could be deemed a security violation.

The investigation began 18 months ago, fizzled out and then was picked back up in August. Senior officials at the Department say they have followed standard protocol. Because the investigation began in the later days of the Obama administration, it is just now coming to an end. . .

“This has nothing to do with who is in the White House,” an anonymous senior State Department official told the Post. “This is about the time it took to go through millions of emails, which is about 3½ years.”

“The process is set up in a manner to completely avoid any appearance of political bias,” a second official told the Post. (Read more from “State Department Ramps up Investigation Into Hillary’s Emails” HERE)

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