Fl Sen: Palm Beach County Election Supervisor Says GOP Lawsuit Could Be Racist, or Something

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It’s a total mess. We don’t know how many ballots are left to be counted in Florida’s elections because some election supervisors are simply not telling us. Yeah, in a state that was hit hard by Hurricane Michael, the storm-ravaged counties have counted all their ballots, but two of the most Democratic counties, Broward and Palm Beach, are still tabulating votes. The lack of transparency, regular updates on vote tallies, and overnight vote dumps are raising eyebrows among Republicans and rightfully so. These two counties, Broward in particular, has a long history of incompetence, negligence, and violations of state law. The Miami Herald has more on Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes in Broward:

Following a court ruling in May that Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes had illegally destroyed ballots from a 2016 congressional race, the governor’s office announced the Florida Department of State would send election experts to Snipes’ office during this year’s election “to ensure that all laws are followed” and “to observe the administration of the election.”

Snipes says the extra scrutiny is undeserved.

[…]

Even beyond her own reprimand for authorizing the destruction of ballots, Snipes cannot deny the department’s patchy track record. In 2016, early voting results for Broward were posted a half hour before polls closed, in violation of election law. Her office was sued unsuccessfully because a constitutional amendment was missing from some mail-in ballots. The electronic system used by the county was also later found to have been targeted by Russian government hackers — although it’s unclear whether that affected results and had nothing to do with the early posting.

(Read more from “Fl Sen: Palm Beach County Election Supervisor Says GOP Lawsuit Could Be Racist, or Something” HERE)

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Michelle Obama Makes Insane Accusation About Trump

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Former first lady Michelle Obama has some choice words for President Trump in her new book “Becoming” which will be released Tuesday. The Associated Press reported Friday that Obama accused Trump of stalking Hillary Clinton during a debate through his “body language.” She also said she would “never forgive” him over his birtherism comments.

She accused Trump of stalking Clinton through body language during an election debate because he followed her around the stage and stood nearby “trying to diminish her presence.” . . .

This refrain of “stalking” during an October 2016 presidential debate was something the Clinton campaign initially claimed and was subsequently taken up by many on the left.

“This is not OK, I thought,” Clinton wrote in her memoir a year later. “It was the second presidential debate and Donald Trump was looming behind me.”

“We were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled,” she said. (Read more from “Michelle Obama Makes Insane Accusation About Trump” HERE)

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Trump Moves Toward Tightening Asylum Claims at Border

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By The Daily Caller. The Trump administration will publish a new rule in the federal register allowing the president to classify a group of aliens as ineligible for asylum claims if they illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, senior administration officials told reporters Thursday afternoon.

The new rule in the federal register will allow President Donald Trump in the future to classify a group of aliens under his authority from the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“The interim rule, if applied to a proclamation suspending the entry of aliens who cross the southern border unlawfully, would bar such aliens from eligibility for asylum and thereby channel inadmissible aliens to ports of entry, where they would be processed in a controlled, orderly, and lawful manner,” new Department of Justice guidance reads.

“Today, we are using the authority granted to us by Congress to bar aliens who violate a Presidential suspension of entry or other restriction from asylum eligibility,” acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said in a Thursday statement. (Read more from “Trump Moves Toward Tightening Asylum Claims at Border” HERE)

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Trump Administration Publishes Rule Restricting Asylum Seekers

By NBC News. Fulfilling President Donald Trump’s midterm promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants crossing the Southwest border, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security published a rule on Thursday that will make it harder for immigrants to claim asylum if they are caught crossing the border between designated ports of entry.

Senior administration officials told reporters on a conference call that the president has the legal authority to do so because of sections of immigration law that allow the president discretion over who is admitted into the United States — the same language the administration used to support its travel ban in court.

The officials said the plan is to force more immigrants who wish to claim asylum to do so at designated ports of entry. Recently, many asylum-seekers have chosen to cross illegally because they are kept waiting for days in Mexico due to backlogs at ports of entry. (Read more from “Trump Administration Publishes Rule Restricting Asylum Seekers” HERE)

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Supreme Court to Hear Another Landmark Religious Liberty Case

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The Supreme Court granted cert last week in what promises to be another landmark case on religious liberty — call it the Masterpiece Cakeshop case of war memorials. In The American Legion et al. v. American Humanist Association et al, the Supreme Court will decide whether to reverse a lower court decision that ruled the Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial should be removed. The plaintiffs argue a public monument that includes any aspect of Christianity entangles government and religion and is therefore unconstitutional.

The Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial is a 93-year-old cross-shaped monument that sits in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on state land. Decades ago, local Gold Star mothers spearheaded the project to honor 49 Prince George’s County men who gave their lives while serving in WWI.

They chose a cross shape to mimic the cross-shaped grave markers standing over the countless American graves on the Western Front of that war. This gesture was particularly meaningful for family members who were unable to bury their dead on U.S. soil. The monument stood for dozens of years, until 2014, when the American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit claiming the cross-shaped memorial was unconstitutional.

In 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland disagreed, ruling the memorial was in fact constitutional. Crosses mark the graves of fallen American servicemen overseas, in Arlington cemetery, and in hundreds of other important places we remember the fallen . . .

The Supreme Court will now hear the merits of the case and decide if the latest ruling that found the monument unconstitutional should stand or not. As was to be expected, liberals are not happy the Supreme Court decided to hear this case. For starters, it’s typically a good sign when the court wants to hear something. It means they might disagree with the previous ruling. The Supreme Court has reversed 70 percent of lower court rulings since 2007, so the chances the previous decision will be overturned are high. (Read more from “Supreme Court to Hear Another Landmark Religious Liberty Case” HERE)

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Sessions Already Considering Running for His Old Senate Seat

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. . . [Jeff] Sessions was fired as attorney general Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. President Donald Trump had publicly savaged Sessions throughout his tenure, and his dismissal had long been expected.

After Sessions left the Senate in 2017, his vacated seat was won by Democrat Doug Jones in a special election upset. Jones is up for a full term in 2020, and he is widely viewed as the most vulnerable incumbent senator facing reelection given Alabama’s conservative tilt. Republicans are certain to contest the seat aggressively as they look to protect their majority . . .

Sessions, who spent two decades in the Senate, is practically a household name in his home state, and speculation has been simmering for weeks within Alabama political circles that he might seek a return. Yet, party officials stress that the 71-year-old Sessions wouldn’t necessarily face a clear path should he wage a comeback. Trump’s relentless attacks on the former attorney general, they say, have taken a toll on his popularity in the state. (Read more from “Sessions Already Considering Running for His Old Senate Seat” HERE)

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American Airlines to Allow yet Another Group to Board Planes Early… People Allergic to Nuts

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American Airlines announced that it will allow early boarding for people with nut allergies so they can wipe down their seats to avoid allergens.

The airline announced its new policy, which will go into effect Dec. 12, in a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Transportation Department. The change comes in response to complaints that Food Allergy Research & Education and the mother of a highly allergic boy filed against American Airlines in 2017.

“Customers with nut allergies who would like to board flights early to wipe down surfaces may ask to do so at the gate,” an airline representative told Bloomberg. (Read more from “American Airlines to Allow yet Another Group to Board Planes Early… People Allergic to Nuts” HERE)

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Trump Administration Issues Final Obamacare Religious Exemption Protecting Little Sisters of the Poor

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The Trump administration released two final rules Wednesday finalizing their interim rules regarding entities with religious objections to covering their employees’ contraceptives.

The first rule provides an exemption from Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate for entities and individuals with religious objections to the mandate.

The second rule provides an exemption to nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and individuals with non-religious but moral opposition to such coverage.

“The religious and moral exemptions provided by these rules also apply to institutions of education, issuers, and individuals,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement about the rules. “The Departments are not extending the moral exemption to publicly traded businesses, or either exemption to government entities.”

When the Obama administration initially introduced the mandate, The Little Sisters of the Poor and other nonprofit religious organizations that had religious objections to it were forced to sue. (Read more from “Trump Administration Issues Final Obamacare Religious Exemption Protecting Little Sisters of the Poor” HERE)

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Bernie Sanders’s Outrageous Reason for Why Florida Democrats Lost This Year

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If there is one thing we know about the far left, besides being totally wrong on policy, it’s that their memories have a shelf life of two seconds. Seriously, after what Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said about the recent Florida elections, just discount anything this progressive wing has to say because we all know they have a one or two-track mind to explain why their campaigns end in disaster.

The autopsies are usually ‘candidate x wasn’t left wing enough.’ If it’s not that, it’s because of white people, or something. The latter is what Sanders thought was the reason why Andrew Gillum and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson fell short Tuesday night. Gillum lost and has conceded. Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican, are heading for a recount, which will end at noon on November 10. Scott leads Nelson by a little over 34,500 votes. Scott is going to win. And for Sanders, it’s because white people were scared of black people (via Daily Beast):

Democratic officials woke Wednesday morning searching for answers as to why the party was unable to win several marquee Senate and gubernatorial races the night before. But for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the explanation was simple. The candidates who underperformed weren’t progressive enough; those who didn’t shy away from progressivism were undone, in part, by “racist” attacks.

“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” Sanders told The Daily Beast, referencing the close contests involving Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia. “I think next time around by the way it will be a lot easier for them to do that.”

(Read more from “Bernie Sanders’s Outrageous Reason for Why Florida Democrats Lost This Year” HERE)

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Guess Who’s Back: Chris Christie Said to Be in the Running to Replace Jeff Sessions

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So, who will replace Jeff Sessions? President Trump fired his now-former attorney general yesterday:

“At your request, I am submitting my resignation. Since the day I was honored to be sworn in as Attorney General of the United States, I came to work at the Department every day determined to do my duty and serve my country. I have done so to the best of my ability, working to support the fundamental legal processes that are the foundation of justice,” Sessions wrote in his resignation letter. “In my time at Attorney General, we have restored and upheld the rule of law — a glorious tradition that each of us has a responsibility to safeguard. We have operated with integrity and have lawfully and aggressively advanced the policy agenda of the administration.”

As Whitaker takes the reins at the DOJ for now, the candidate search for a permanent replacement is said to include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is leaving due to term limits, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And yes, this is based on sources—nothing concrete yet. But a Giuliani confirmation hearing…that would be some good television (via CBS News):

(Read more from “Guess Who’s Back: Chris Christie Said to Be in the Running to Replace Jeff Sessions” HERE)

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Does Robert Mueller’s Lead Prosecutor Have a History of Ethics Violations?

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Houston-based attorney Kevin Fulton, of the Fulton Law Group, plans to file a motion on my behalf Thursday morning to unseal and unredact court records that may expose past misconduct by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s lead prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann.

Since Weissmann took a leave of absence from his top Department of Justice job to join the special counsel’s team, critics have questioned his impartiality. Reports suggest the man branded Mueller’s pit bull by the New York Times violated internal protocol when he met with reporters from the Associated Press in April 2017. The following day, the AP published an exposé on Paul Manafort’s relationship with Ukraine officials.

Then news broke that twice-demoted Department of Justice attorney Bruce Ohr kept Weissmann “in the loop” about the dossier penned by former MI6 British spy Christopher Steele and used to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to surveil President Trump’s campaign.

Ohr, who apparently had no official role in the Russia investigation, has come under fire for feeding the FBI intel from Steele following the latter’s termination as an informant. Ohr’s purported communications with Weissmann raise the question of whether the top DOJ lawyer likewise sidestepped FBI protocols concerning sources.

These facts raise serious concerns about Weissmann’s continued service on the special counsel’s team and justify delving further into the career of the long-time federal prosecutor. (Read more from “Does Robert Mueller’s Lead Prosecutor Have a History of Ethics Violations?” HERE)

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