All the Times Obama Called for a National Emergency

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1. Declaration of a National Emergency With Respect to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: This was the first public health emergency declared by Obama in his premiere term. This empowered the secretary of Health and Human Services to issues waivers that allowed overcrowded hospitals to move swine flu patients to satellite facilities or other hospitals. This is one of two executive emergencies which were completed by the time Obama left office.

2. Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia: This was intended to help combat Somali pirates. Because Somalian pirates are totally going to cross the US border.

3. Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya: This imposed sanctions of Muammar Gaddafi, his family and Libyan officials after protestors were killed by government forces.

4. Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations: This sanction was levied against four criminal organizations: Los Zetas, the Brothers’ Circle, the Yakuza and the Camorra. This included freezing assets, barring ownership of American real estate and implementing travel bans on members or associated persons.

5. Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security or Stability of Yemen: This sanction was intended to counter unrest in Yemen in the aftermath of the Yemeni Revolution.

(Read more from “All the Times Obama Called for a National Emergency” HERE)

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HAMMER: Roberts and Kavanaugh’s Death Penalty Betrayal Again Shows Why Conservatives Never Win the Long Game on Judges

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How many betrayals from Republican-nominated Supreme Court Justices will it take to finally convince conservatives that the judicial deck is systemically stacked against us in such a way that we will simply never ultimately prevail? . . .

Today, Roberts and Kavanaugh yet again demonstrated to the legal conservative movement the fallacy of putting all one’s eggs in the alluring basket of the Supreme Court.

In Moore v. Texas, released this morning, the Court summarily reversed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ determination that Mr. Moore “did not have intellectual disability and consequently was eligible for the death penalty.” Summary reversal, as Ed Whelan notes at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog, is “ordinarily reserve[d]…for situations in which a lower court has clearly failed to abide by the Court’s precedents.”

But that clear failure to abide by precedent plainly did not happen here. And the unsigned, per curiam opinion in Moore today itself suggests as much. The opinion merely states that the Texas court’s decision below “rests upon analysis too much of which too closely resembles what we previously found improper.” And, as Justice Alito’s dissent notes, “each of the errors that the majority ascribes to the state court’s decision is traceable” to the Court’s failure to provide a clear adjudicative rule in 2017, when Mr. Moore’s case was last in front of the nine robed oracles. . .

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ determination had followed a previous remand from the Supreme Court in 2017 — a remand order from which, crucially, Chief Justice Roberts dissented. But today, the Chief Justice concurred with the Court’s liberal bloc in vacating the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ determination that Mr. Moore is eligible for the death penalty. Put simply, the Chief Justice completely flipped his stance in the same case, from two years earlier, in order to side with the Court’s liberals.

(Read more from “HAMMER: Roberts and Kavanaugh’s Death Penalty Betrayal Again Shows Why Conservatives Never Win the Long Game on Judges” HERE)

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Charges Against Jussie Smollett in 2007 Included ‘Providing False Information’

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Jussie Smollett pleaded no contest to DUI, driving without a license, and providing false information to law enforcement officials in 2007, according to new reports released on Tuesday.

“Tuesday the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office confirmed that in August of 2007 Smollett pleaded no contest to DUI, driving without a license and providing false information to law enforcement,” CBS Chicago reported. “He was sentenced to two years probation and a choice of a fine or jail. Officials at the office could not confirm which Smollett chose. A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the department was already aware of the plea.”

This latest revelation follows several significant developments over the last few days, and could end up impacting how prosecutors handle potential false report charges. . .

“The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are currently investigating whether Jussie Smollett played a role in sending a threatening letter addressed to him at ‘Empire’s’ Chicago studio prior to the alleged attack,” ABC News reported, after confirming with two federal officials. “The accusation, made by the two brothers who were persons of interest, has not been confirmed.” . . .

“He had been in New York City for a reading of the play Take Me Out, with sources telling DailyMail.com that Smollett was being considered to appear in a possible revival of the Tony-winning production about a biracial baseball star who comes out as gay,” The Daily Mail reported. “The script for that play finds the lead character being attacked by a new pitcher who joins the team. That character uses the same racial slurs Smollett told police his attackers screamed at him, including ‘f****t’ and ‘n****r.'” (Read more from “Charges Against Jussie Smollett in 2007 Included ‘Providing False Information'” HERE)

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Border County Commissioner: Ranchers Are Scared to Report Drug Trafficking Crimes

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If ranchers in our own country are scared to report crimes, not of internal criminals, but of foreign invaders at our border, is that a national emergency? And if their properties are being used for drug smuggling, does that count as drugs coming in between ports of entry in the minds of the media? And if you live in a poorer county at the border in New Mexico, are you as much of a citizen as a resident of Maryland or Virginia?

In a wide-ranging conversation with Joel Edwards, one of the county commissioners in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, he expressed deep concern for his constituents in this hard-hit county. “One of my primary responsibilities is to try to see that the residents of my county can enjoy a solid quality life and they don’t have to live in fear for their lives,” said Edwards. “You know, they shouldn’t have to live in fear that somebody is going to steal their vehicle or their four-wheeler or their horses, just because they live on an international border.”

Edwards explained that the folks in Washington live near counties that are completely protected and have robust resources to deal with internal crime, yet his county is left in the lurch dealing with “sophisticated cartels” coming over an international border. And that is scaring his residents. “Some of them are afraid to even come forward because they live right there on the border,” said Edwards of the ranchers encountering drug traffickers dressed in paramilitary getup. “Some of my residents go back and forth across the border because they actually have some family on the other side of the border, and they fear retaliation from the cartel if they cooperate and [try] to do something about the border problem.”

As I’ve reported before, Hidalgo County has just four sheriff’s deputies for a county of several thousand square miles, with no law enforcement presence in the border ranch areas south of Highway 9. The county has money to add only two more deputies, a drop in the bucket for an area that size. “You know, we’re a poor county. The average income in this county is small, considerably small compared to the part of the country where the media lives,” said Edwards.

Perhaps that is why the media sees no emergency at the border. Hidalgo County alone has been forced to absorb roughly half of the more than 60 groups of 100-300 migrants at a time being smuggled through by the cartels since last October. While the cartels strain our Border Patrol with the health care and welfare of the migrants, they engage in their other criminal activity.

Edwards called the media’s assertion that drugs only come in at the points of entry “asinine” and invited anyone from the media to come on a tour with him and his rancher constituents.

“You know, we visited ranchers that actually showed us pictures of the drug trafficking and told us stories about it. The cartels have a lot of the latest technology; the people that are coming across, they have sophisticated communication equipment. They’re not just desperate migrants. These people are … up on technology, they’re up on weaponry. Their loads that they’re carrying are worth thousands and thousands of dollars. They are protecting it because that’s how they’re making their money.” . . .

They are at least one or two hours away from any civilization, with no cell phone reception. Given that there is no permanent federal, state, or county law enforcement presence to protect them, Edwards told me his ranchers are too scared to share their stories with the media. But he did direct me to a Facebook post of Kari Wade, a constituent in his county, who responded to those who don’t see any emergency at our border:

Isn’t this why we have a military? Why are our own citizens less worth protecting than citizens of foreign countries in the Middle East?

This is not even right at the border. Edwards tells me that anything south of Interstate 10 is within the drug trafficking corridor. That is roughly 70 miles into the state. Yet the state’s governor doesn’t even think there is a problem!

Many of the illegal aliens passing through are growing bolder and more belligerent. Tisha Green, who is the county manager appointed by Edwards and his two colleagues on the county commission, told me the ranchers have witnessed a disturbing change in the migrants’ attitudes, which is further concerning the ranchers. “When ranchers would encounter criminals on their property, in the past, they used to ask to use the rancher’s phone, ask for food, water, and/or transportation. Now they demand it, by stating you will give me a ride, you will give me food, and you will give me your phone.”

What about fencing? As I reported in my last article on Hidalgo County, Edwards warned that the fencing is so poor that the cartels even drive vehicles over the wired fencing and place ramps over the Normandy barriers. That “happens a lot” in his county.

What allows the cartels to tie down border agents, who are essentially the only law enforcement lifeline for the ranchers? The endless flow of the migrants and the caravans. Last week, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agent Fidel Baca told Fox News that the large groups of migrants are not showing up specifically in this remote location “by coincidence.” It’s the criminal organizations taking advantage of the remoteness of the area to do their work.

Thus, as long as the magnet of catch-and-release continues, the cartels will have their strategic diversion to tie down the agents and endanger the local residents with their smuggling activity. Yesterday, Breitbart Texas posted leaked photos of the overcrowded conditions in the El Paso CBP detention center. But a large number of those migrants initially pass through Hidalgo County, New Mexico, which has much fewer resources and is being strained every day. David Whipple, the head of the seven-man EMS team in Lordsburg, the Hidalgo County seat, confirmed to me last week that the migrants are usually transferred to El Paso after about three days. Thus, everything you see in the large holding facility in El Paso begins as a colossal strain on a county of 5,000 residents.

This is important as the president considers his next steps following his declaration of an emergency at the border. While a border wall is effective, catch-and-release is the cause of the problem and something that can be ended using executive power. Moreover, we need the military to protect these residents as Border Patrol deals with the legal land mines of asylum processing. This is why we have a military. This is not about using military personnel for immigration processing, but to repel what is quite clearly a foreign invasion of paramilitary groups.

The media and politicians living in their gated communities could never relate to what Edwards deals with as a county official at our frontier, because to them, an emergency is if they only get three bars of signal on their phones one day. (For more from the author of “Border County Commissioner: Ranchers Are Scared to Report Drug Trafficking Crimes” please click HERE)

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Rashida Tlaib Joins Extremist Imam on CAIR Speaking Circuit

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Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a self-proclaimed liberal progressive, will speak alongside an extremist imam at an event hosted by the Michigan chapter of the terror-tied Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) next month. The Hamas-connected outfit is infamously known for being labeled an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing case in U.S. history.

On March 17, Rep. Tlaib will join Omar Suleiman, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked imam who has a long history of anti-LGBT, anti-woman, and anti-Semitic remarks, at the fundraising event in Detroit. Tickets will cost $50 per person, or $500 to reserve a table.

Imam Suleiman has referred to homosexuality as a “disease” and a “repugnant shameless sin” that he believes is justifiable to punish by death. Additionally, the radical imam has endorsed mandatory hijabs for all women, even when they are around family members. In a 2012 sermon, he warned that women who do not wear a full hijab risk an incestous relationship with their family members. In that address, he added that women who commit adultery run the risk of being honor-killed by their family members, without condemning the practice of honor killing. On the foreign policy front, Suleiman regularly cheers on Hamas-led violent Islamist uprisings against Israel in calling for the elimination of the Jewish state.

Dawud Walid, the longtime CAIR-Michigan director who is presiding over the event, also has a long history of extremist rhetoric. At a 2012 sermon at a mosque in Michigan, he described Jews as enemies of Islam who have “incurred the wrath of Allah.” Moreover, Walid has endorsed blasphemy laws that call for violent repercussions for engaging in criticism of Islam or Muhammad. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, the president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, has described Walid as one of the “leading radicalizers of American Muslims.”

It’s odd that Tlaib has decided to share a stage with the sexist, gay-bashing, anti-Semitic imam and an extremist CAIR director, as she has routinely identified herself as a progressive feminist and an advocate for LGBT rights.

It does appear that Tlaib agrees with the two hate-preachers when it comes to the Jewish state of Israel. Its mere existence as a sovereign state has become an obsession for the newly elected “Palestinian-American” congresswoman. On day one of her congressional tenure, Tlaib’s office wiped Israel off of her office map, replacing it with a post-it note that said “Palestine” on it.

Tlaib has become a regular on the CAIR circuit. In February, she headlined a CAIR-Chicago fundraiser. In January, she spoke at a CAIR event in which she was introduced by an avowed supporter of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas.

Rep. Tlaib is not the only elected congressional representative speaking at a CAIR event next month. On March 23, her Democratic colleague, anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., will speak at a CAIR fundraiser in Los Angeles. (For more from the author of “Rashida Tlaib Joins Extremist Imam on CAIR Speaking Circuit” please click HERE)

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Here’s a List of Hoax Hate Crimes in the Trump Era

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A Muslim woman at the University of Michigan received national attention from national outlets like The Washington Post in November 2016 after she claimed a drunk 20-something man threatened to light her on fire if she didn’t remove her hijab. The university condemned the “hateful attack,” which turned out to be a hoax. . .

Taylor Volk, an openly bisexual senior at North Park University claimed to be the target of hateful notes and emails following Trump’s election in November 2016. Volk told NBC News that “I just want them to stop.” But the “them” referenced by Volk turned out to be herself, as the whole thing was fabricated. . .

Philadelphia woman Ashley Boyer claimed in November 2016 that she was harassed at a gas station by white, Trump-supporting males, one of whom pulled a weapon on her. Boyer claimed that the men “proceeded to talk about the election and how they’re glad they won’t have to deal with n—–s much longer.” Boyer deleted her post after it went viral and claimed the men had been caught and were facing criminal charges. Local police debunked her account. . .

An 18-year-old Muslim woman in Louisiana claimed in November 2016 that two white men, one of whom was wearing a Trump hat, attacked and robbed her, taking her wallet and hijab while yelling racial slurs. She later admitted to the Lafayette Police Department that she made the whole thing up. . .

A church organist was arrested in May 2017 after he was found responsible for spray-painting a swastika, an anti-gay slur and the words “Heil Trump” on his own church in November 2016. When the story first broke, media outlets tied the hoax to Trump’s election. “The offensive graffiti at St. David’s is among numerous incidents that have occurred in the wake of Trump’s Election Day win,” The Washington Post reported at the time. (Read more from “Here’s a List of Hoax Hate Crimes in the Trump Era” HERE)

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All the Celebrities Who Used Presidents Day to Bash Trump

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Hollywood celebrities from actor Jeffrey Wright to former Netflix host Chelsea Handler decided to celebrate Presidents Day by attacking President Donald Trump, calling him a criminal, a liar, and praising Obama.

. . .

Handler decided to thank President Trump for driving her to see a psychiatrist and to reflect on her “white privilege.”

Alyssa Milano got a kick out of an Instagram post from Hillary Clinton that featured former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama as well as Michelle Obama.

(Read more from “All the Celebrities Who Used Presidents Day to Bash Trump” HERE)

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Man Who Died in Clinton Megadonor’s Home Called Him a ‘F—Ing Devil’

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A man who died last month at the West Hollywood home of prominent Democratic Party fundraiser Ed Buck warned his friends to steer clear of the well-connected donor and referred to him as a “f—ing devil” and “a horrible, horrible man,” according to a report Monday night.

Timothy Dean, 55, was found dead in Buck’s apartment early on Jan. 7, 17 months after 26-year-old male escort Gemmel Moore was found dead of a methamphetamine overdose. The Daily Beast reported that Dean and Buck had a relationship years before Moore’s death, but Dean’s friends claimed the relationship turned into a one-sided affair — with Buck sending multiple text messages to Dean and Dean declining to respond.

One friend of Dean, DeMarco Majors, told the website that Moore told him during a November 2018 conversation: “Ed Buck hits me up all the time, and I don’t answer none of his text messages. Don’t you take your a– over there.” Majors said he told Dean that he didn’t know who Buck was, but that did not deter Dean.

“Don’t you go over there,” Dean reportedly told Majors again. “I’m not going over there either. S—, I’m not trying to end up dead.”

Buck’s attorney, Seymour Amster, described Dean at the time of his death as a “longtime friend” of Buck who had “reached out for his help” and had begun “acting in a bizarre way” after he arrived at Buck’s apartment the night he died. When contacted by Fox News about the Daily Beast report, Amster wrote in an email: “We are in possession of text messages from Mr. Dean to Mr. Buck that refute the picture the Daily Beast is trying to paint of the relationship between Mr. Dean and Mr. Buck. The text messages do not put Mr. Dean in a good light. We are sure that law enforcement are in possession of these texts as well. (Read more from “Man Who Died in Clinton Megadonor’s Home Called Him a ‘F—Ing Devil'” HERE)

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16 States Sue Trump Over Emergency Declaration

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The attorneys general of California, New York, and 14 other states on Monday filed a lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit against the White House’s recent national emergency declaration over border security, claiming President Trump has “veered the country toward a constitutional crisis of his own making.”

President Trump sarcastically had predicted the lawsuit last week. He’s slammed the Ninth Circuit multiple times as “disgraceful” and politically biased.

The litigation, brought before a federal trial court in the Northern District of California, seeks an injunction to prevent Trump from shifting billions of dollars from military construction to the border without explicit congressional approval. The suit also asks a court to declare Trump’s actions illegal, arguing that Trump showed a “flagrant disregard of fundamental separation of powers principles engrained in the United States Constitution” by violating the Constitution’s Presentment and Appropriations Clauses, which govern federal spending.

The litigation additionally includes allegations that Trump is violating the National Environmental Policy Act, by planning to build a wall that could impact the environment without first completing the necessary environmental impact reports.

The attorneys general specifically argue that the border wall does not “require[] use of the armed forces,” as required under 10 U.S.C. section 2808, the federal law which governs construction projects during national emergencies. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan reportedly said this week he isn’t sure there is a military necessity at the border, or how much the agency would need to spend. (Read more from “16 States Sue Trump Over Emergency Declaration” HERE)

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Rod Rosenstein Expected to Resign Next Month

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By The Blaze. CNN has reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to step down next month, citing an anonymous Justice Department official with knowledge of Rosenstein’s thinking.

Rosenstein, who has had oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into President Donald Trump and the Trump campaign and potential collusion with Russia, had reportedly already planned to step down once Attorney General William Barr was confirmed, although the exact timing of that move was previously unknown.

Barr has already selected deputy transportation secretary Jeffrey Rosen as his deputy attorney general, an appointment that is likely to be announced soon.

Rosenstein’s name has been back in the news in recent days as former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has talked publicly about Rosenstein allegedly discussing how Trump could be removed from office under the 25th Amendment if they could prove that he was unfit for office. . .

Rosenstein and the Justice Department have denied those allegations, but that didn’t stop Trump from taking a shot at Rosenstein, whom Trump nominated in 2017, and McCabe on Twitter. (Read more from “Rod Rosenstein Expected to Resign Next Month” HERE)

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Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein Expected to Step Down by Mid-March, Official Says

By Fox News. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role at the Justice Department by mid-March, a senior DOJ official told Fox News on Monday.

An official announcement of who has been selected to replace Rosenstein could come as early as this week. A Trump administration official added that Attorney General William Barr has picked Jeffrey Rosen, who currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to take over for Rosenstein.

A graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School, Rosen previously served as General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor for the White House Office of Management and Budget (2006 to 2009) and as General Counsel at the Department of Transportation (2003 to 2006), according to his online biography.

Rosen, confirmed for his current role by the Senate in May 2017, works under Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in overseeing the daily operations of the department.

Fox News reported in January that Rosenstein was expected to step down in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition for Barr, who was sworn-in on Thursday. (Read more from “Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein Expected to Step Down by Mid-March, Official Says” HERE)

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