Congresswoman Caught on Camera Playing ‘Candy Crush’ During Trump’s Sotu Speech Highlights from President Trump’s First State of the Union Address

/0 Comments/in , /by

Before a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump delivered his very first State of the Union address on Tuesday. But some lawmakers in attendance didn’t seem to be all that interested in what he had to say.

The U.K. Daily Mail pointed out that Democrat Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan was clearly playing “Candy Crush” — a popular mobile game — on her phone while Trump was talking about international trade.

A Getty photo taken at about 9:42 p.m. showed Lawrence, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, playing the game. Moreover, the two congresswomen sitting to her left — fellow caucus members — were also focused on their cellphones.

Meanwhile, the congresswoman in the middle of the photo, Ohio Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty, seemed to be looking over a yet-to-be-published news release responding to Trump’s speech before he was even finished talking.

A spokesperson for Beatty later told The Daily Mail that lawmakers were given copies of the president’s planned remarks beforehand.

“That State of the Union is put out an hour in advance so Democrats and Republicans can read along,” the spokesperson said. “And while the speech was going on, she was putting together a statement in response.”

Finally, New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman — seen in the far left part of the photo, looked to be scrolling through the responses to a tweet she had put out during the address, in which she claimed Trump surrounds himself with “white nationalists.”

As of Thursday afternoon, none of the congresswomen pictured in the photo — with the exception of Beatty — had publicly addressed what exactly they were doing during the State of the Union speech.

Within hours of Trump concluding his address, though, Lawrence was already criticizing what he said.

“When you know his policies and the things he has said and the disrespect, I cannot connect the words to the person standing there,” she told The Detroit News. “He kept talking about us as Americans. I don’t feel like I’m his America. I’m been feeling that way for a long time.”

Meanwhile, as noted by The Hill, other Democrats also expressed their disapproval with the presidents’ remarks.

Many Democrats sat together and refused to clap when Trump talked about his accomplishments, like the passage of the historic tax reform bill late last month. (For more from the author of “Congresswoman Caught on Camera Playing ‘Candy Crush’ During Trump’s Sotu Speech Highlights from President Trump’s First State of the Union Address” please click HERE)

Human-Trafficking Ring Crackdown: 510 Busted, 56 Rescued

/0 Comments/in , /by

By ABC 7. More than 500 suspects were arrested and 56 people were rescued during a statewide human-trafficking crackdown, officials said.

The Los Angeles County Regional Human Trafficking Task Forces announced the arrests of 510 suspects during the three-day sweep, called Operation Reclaim and Rebuild.

During the operation, which took place between Jan. 25 and 27, the task force said 45 adults and 11 girls were rescued.

Among the 510 suspects arrested, 30 are suspected traffickers and 178 are alleged “johns.”

The task force is housed by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and is a collaboration of more than 85 federal, state, county and local law enforcement and nonprofit community organizations. (Read more from “Human-Trafficking Ring Crackdown: 510 Busted, 56 Rescued” HERE)

___________________________________________

Salons and Cosmetology Schools Now Required to Post Human Trafficking Signs

By KXCAN. Cosmetology schools and salons now play a critical role in guiding human trafficking survivors to the right places.

A new law that took effect Thursday, Feb. 1 requires salons and schools to display a sign with information about available resources and services to anyone who is a trafficking victim. The sign was created by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

“I think its a really good opportunity for us to help people in situations that they might not otherwise feel comfortable talking about,” Laura Anderson said.

Anderson, who owns The Salon at the Domain, said this is a way they can help customers and clients. (Read more from “Salons and Cosmetology Schools Now Required to Post Human Trafficking Signs” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Young Girl in Custody After Third 2018 School Shooting

/0 Comments/in , /by

By LA Times. A 12-year-old girl was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm Thursday after a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School left four students injured, authorities said.

Los Angeles police do not believe that the shooting was intentional, spokesman Josh Rubenstein said Thursday evening.

“At this time, the information suggests that this was an isolated incident, involving the negligent discharge of a firearm, where innocent children and a staff member were unfortunately injured,” the LAPD said in a statement.

The girl was taken to Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall. (Read more from “Young Girl in Custody After Third 2018 School Shooting” HERE)

_________________________________________________

L.A. Middle School Shooting: Two Students Wounded, Female Student Booked

By NBC News. A 12-year-old girl was booked on charge of negligent discharge of a firearm after two students were shot in a Los Angeles middle school classroom on Thursday, police said.

A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head was in critical condition, and a 15-year-old girl who was shot in the arm was listed as stable, Los Angeles police said Thursday night. Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center said both were expected to make full recoveries . . .

The shots erupted shortly before 9 a.m. (noon ET) at Castro, just west of downtown Los Angeles. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered, authorities said, and the campus was declared safe. Police, who described the shooting as an isolated incident involving negligence, didn’t identify the girl who was suspected of having fired the weapon because she is a juvenile . . .

The incident follows two other school shootings in the United States last week. A 16-year-old boy was charged with opening fire at a Texas high school on Jan. 22, wounding a teenage girl. And a 15-year-old boy was charged with opening fire at a Kentucky high school, killing two students and wounding 18 other people. (Read more from “L.A. Middle School Shooting: Two Students Wounded, Female Student Booked” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

High Ranking Democrat Threatens Release of Other Classified Info

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden threatened Wednesday to release sensitive and classified information if the House Intelligence Committee’s majority memo is released to the public.

“If this memo comes out, I have a long list of less sensitive, but still classified, information that the American people deserve to see,” he tweeted to his followers.

Wyden spokesman Keith Chu disputed the Oregon Democrat was threatening to release anything telling the Daily Caller in an e-mail statement, “You’ve misread Sen. Wyden’s tweet. Wyden is pledging to ramp up his 17-year fight to stop government from abusing the classification system through secret law. Please read his whole thread or ask before making wild accusations.”

Wyden’s remark comes in the wake of reports that the memo, written by Republican staffers and members on the committee, which describes how the FBI conducted its probe of the Clinton email case and Russia investigation, could be released at any point this week. The bureau claimed that the agency has “grave concerns” over making the memo public. (Read more from “High Ranking Democrat Threatens Release of Other Classified Info” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

FBI Knew About Hillary Emails for Entire Month Prior to Alerting Congress

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Fox News. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe knew of thousands of emails related to the Hillary Clinton private server investigation for at least a month before then-FBI Director James Comey informed Congress, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.

That lag is the subject of an investigation by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz as part of a wider probe into the FBI’s actions prior to the 2016 election. The Washington Post was the first to report that McCabe was a focus of Horowitz’s investigation.

The timeline of when the emails were discovered on the laptop of former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner emerged in text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the Journal reported.

McCabe left his position Monday ahead of his planned retirement, effective March 18. The Post reported Tuesday that McCabe had met with FBI Director Christopher Wray to discuss the inspector general’s investigation prior to the announcement of his departure. (Read more from “FBI Knew About Hillary Emails for Entire Month Prior to Alerting Congress” HERE)

________________________________________________

McCabe Was Aware of New Clinton Emails Month Before Congress Told

By WSJ. Top FBI officials were aware for at least a month before alerting Congress that emails potentially related to an investigation of Hillary Clinton had emerged during a key stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign, according to text messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had learned about the thousands of emails by Sept. 28, 2016, and Director James Comey informed Congress about them on Oct. 28, 11 days before the presidential election, the messages show. Mr. Comey later said nothing in the new emails had changed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s decision that Mrs. Clinton had committed no prosecutable offenses.

That lag is one focus of an investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general, or in-house watchdog, into a variety of FBI actions in advance of the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. McCabe stepped down this week, and FBI Director Christopher Wray in a note to bureau employees announcing Mr. McCabe’s departure also said he wouldn’t comment on the inspector-general probe. The Washington Post first reported the inspector general’s interest in the time lag.

Mr. McCabe has declined to comment on his departure and the inspector-general investigation. (Read more from “McCabe Was Aware of New Clinton Emails Month Before Congress Told” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Lone Democratic Senator Who Applauded Trump’s Speech: ‘Just to Sit There and Frown Is Not Going to Fix Anything’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Throughout President Trump’s 80-minute State of the Union address, you’d think Democrats were sitting on their hands and they’d fallen asleep.

Whenever the cameras panned the Capitol’s House chamber to show the 500-plus lawmakers packed in for the speech, half the room was clapping and half wasn’t. In one shot, Democrats could be seen flipping through their smart phones or chatting with each other. Rudely, many left before the end of the address.

Not so, though, for Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat. He was often shown jumping to his feet and applauding, especially when Trump touted subjects with which many Americans agree (as the president did repeatedly) . . .

Manchin said on “CBS This Morning” that Democrats really need to grow up and appreciate ideas that all Americans support — for the good of the country.

“There’s so much we need to do,” he said. “And just to sit there and frown is not going to fix anything.” (Read more from “Lone Democratic Senator Who Applauded Trump’s Speech: ‘Just to Sit There and Frown Is Not Going to Fix Anything'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s How Many Times Trump Said ‘I’ in His First SOTU Address… Compare That with Obama’s

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The language used by President Donald Trump in his first ever State of the Union speech on Tuesday contrasted sharply with the words of former President Barack Obama when he addressed Congress in 2010.

According to a transcript of the speech released by CNN, Trump referred to himself in the first person singular 30 times. He said the word “I” 29 times, in addition to adding one “me.”

Obama, when he delivered his first State of the Union, used “some version of ‘I’ or ‘me’ nearly 100 times,” wrote Dan Gainor, the vice president for business and culture at the Media Research Center.

In an op-ed for Fox News, Gainor wrote that Obama made these “I” or “me” references nearly four times as often as Trump did.

“Obama’s 2010 speech was littered with “I” or a contraction in some form or another — 88 times, with another 10 “me,” Gainor wrote.

In one sentence, for example, Obama managed to say the word “I” four times.

“But when I ran for president, I promised I wouldn’t just do what was popular, I would do what was necessary,” the then-president said.

There was only one time, meanwhile, when Trump said “I” twice in the same sentence, according to Gainor.

As Gainor noted, mainstream media outlets often accuse Trump of having a massive ego. A recent headline from Vanity Fair read, “Will Trump’s ego launch a nuclear war?” Moreover, Politico tried to connect the president’s ego to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

But if their speeches are any indication, it’s Obama, not Trump, who was obsessed with himself, Gainor suggested.

A 2009 study from NewsBusters, a division of the MRC, claimed that in his first 41 speeches as president, Obama mentioned himself 1,198 times.

Trump’s Tuesday address could not have been more different.

In addition to limiting his usage of “I” and “me,” Trump made a point of saying the words “we” or “our.”

According to The Daily Caller, Trump said “we” 129 times, and “our” 104 times.

“As long as we are proud of who we are and what we are fighting for, there is nothing we cannot achieve,” Trump said near the end of his 80-minute long address. “As long as we have confidence in our values, faith in our citizens, and trust in our God, we will never fail.”

“Our families will thrive. Our people will prosper. And our nation will forever be safe and strong and proud and mighty and free,” he added, emphasizing the importance of coming together as Americans and celebrating our shared heritage. (For more from the author of “Here’s How Many Times Trump Said ‘I’ in His First SOTU Address… Compare That with Obama’s” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

CAIR Is Silent on U.S. Imams’ Call to Kill Jews

/0 Comments/in , /by

In December 2017, Islamist Watch documented three different instances in which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) ignored Islamist hate speech against other minorities.

Since then, we’ve continued to ask CAIR for comment on egregious instances of Islamist bigotry. CAIR often condemns hate speech when it’s committed by the far-Right, but it appears silent when extremists within the Muslim community – which it claims to represent – express similar rhetoric.

So far, 2018 has already brought us four examples. On January 2, we contacted CAIR Texas to ask for comment on a Houston-based imam named Raed Saleh Al-Rousan, who had preached, “Judgment Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews. The Muslims will kill the Jews…This is the promise of Allah.” Both CAIR-Texas executive director Mustafaa Carroll and communications director Ruth Nasrullah ignored our request.

On January 15, we contacted CAIR-National and their southeast chapters (Alabama and Georgia) to ask for comment on yet another anti-Semitic sermon. This time, the culprit was North Carolina-based, Syrian-born imam Abdullah Khadra, who had delivered a similar sermon to that of Al-Rousan. We received no response from any CAIR branch. (Read more from “CAIR Is Silent on U.S. Imams’ Call to Kill Jews” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trey Gowdy Is Leaving Politics

/0 Comments/in , /by

Rep. Trey Gowdy announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the year, becoming the ninth Republican chairman of a congressional committee to decide to leave Congress at the end of this session.

“I will not be filing for re-election to Congress nor seeking any other political or elected office; instead, I will be returning to the justice system,” Gowdy said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system. As I look back on my career, it is the jobs that both seek and reward fairness that are most rewarding,” he added.

Gowdy became the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last June after Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, decided to resign from Congress. Gowdy had previously chaired the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which investigated the 2012 attack on the U.S. compound that resulted in the deaths of several Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

The announcement was posted after Republican lawmakers, who were traveling to their annual retreat in West Virginia, experienced a crash on their chartered Amtrak train. Their train appeared to hit a garbage truck. The White House confirmed the crash, and said in a statement that there is one known fatality. So far, lawmakers appear not to have sustained major injuries. (Read more from “Trey Gowdy Is Leaving Politics” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump Gave Big Warning to North Korea at State of the Union

/0 Comments/in , /by

A leading expert on the North Korean nuclear threat says President Trump’s condemnation of the communist regime through powerful stories also served as an American declaration that it’s time for a regime change in Pyongyang, but he warned that military action would be a big mistake.

During Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address, Trump focused his final foreign-policy item at the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and punctuated it by telling two gripping stories.

First, he recounted the story of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for stealing a political poster and was returned to the U.S. in a coma last year. Warmbier died days later. His grieving parents were in the gallery for the speech.

Next, Trump detailed the harrowing account of North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho, who was also present for the speech.

“In 1996, Seong-ho was a starving boy in North Korea,” Trump said. “One day, he tried to steal coal from a railroad car to barter for a few scraps of food. In the process, he passed out on the train tracks, exhausted from hunger. He woke up as a train ran over his limbs. (Read more from “Trump Gave Big Warning to North Korea at State of the Union” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.