Marco Rubio Rejected ‘Unity Ticket’ With Ted Cruz

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Ted Cruz’s campaign has been exploring the possibility of forming a unity ticket with ex-rival Marco Rubio — going so far as to conduct polling looking into how the two would perform in upcoming primary states.

The motivation, hashed out in conversations among Cruz’s top aides and donors: to find a way to halt Donald Trump’s march to the Republican nomination.

It’s unclear whether Cruz’s campaign brass views a partnership with Rubio as realistic or quixotic. In Rubio’s orbit, according to three sources, it’s seen as an outright nonstarter — with Rubio telling his team he isn’t interested.

Yet in recent weeks, within Cruz’s camp, talk of a joint ticket has run rampant. Utah Republican Mike Lee, one of two senators to endorse Cruz, has emerged as an outspoken supporter of a unity ticket — and as a potential broker. The freshman, according to several sources briefed on the talks, has reached out repeatedly to Rubio to gauge his interest, but has been rebuffed.

Shortly before Lee endorsed Cruz on March 10, Lee and his advisers discussed the possibility of organizing a meeting between the Utah senator and Rubio in Florida, just days before the state’s primary, according to two sources. The meeting, though, never happened. (Read more from “Marco Rubio Rejected ‘Unity Ticket’ With Ted Cruz” HERE)

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Major Republican Donors Fatigued by Presidential Race

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Donald Trump-fueled tumult in the Republican presidential race is prompting some major donors to abandon the field for now and instead funnel resources into downballot races.

Some key political groups dedicated to promoting Republican congressional candidates say they’re seeing interest from donors who would otherwise be focused on the presidential race.

Ian Prior, a spokesman for the conservative Senate Leadership Fund super PAC and One Nation, a nonprofit group that also focuses on the Senate, told the Center for Public Integrity in an email that “there have certainly been consistent concerns with the tenor and tone of the Republican nominating process.

Consequently, Prior continued, “the fight to keep the Senate has become one where there has been increased interest, focus, and attention from the donor community.”

The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, has so far reported raising about $13.8 million during the 2015 election cycle. One Nation does not disclose its donors. (Read more from “Major Republican Donors Fatigued by Presidential Race” HERE)

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Controversy About Obama Supreme Court Nominee’s College Years Could Change Everything

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Following the unexpected death of U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, Republican legislators have repeatedly insisted they will not hold a hearing for any nominee picked by President Barack Obama to replace the conservative jurist. Nevertheless, Obama subsequently selected Merrick Garland, the 63-year-old chief judge of the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, to join the bench of America’s highest court.

Since the nomination, Garland has faced some criticism from conservatives for his record on Second Amendment rights. In recent days, another aspect of the Harvard-educated legal scholar’s past has surfaced, leading some Americans to believe he might harbor resentment toward the U.S. military.

During his time in college, Garland served on the Harvard Committee on Housing and Undergraduate Life, a position that allowed him some influence in campus culture. It was in this capacity, reports indicate, that he agreed to hold a controversial vote to continue an existing ban on Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs at Harvard.

The ban, enacted during the U.S. military’s involvement in the Vietnam War, was about to be rescinded in 1973 at the request of the university’s then-president. When a group of socialist students approached the CHUL to float a referendum that would continue the ROTC injunction, Garland was reportedly interested conducting a vote on the issue. (Read more from “Controversy About Obama Supreme Court Nominee’s College Years Could Change Everything” HERE)

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Border Agents: DHS Has ‘No Intention’ of Deporting Illegals

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A top Homeland Security official told Border Patrol agents the Obama administration has “no intention of deporting” many of the illegal immigrants caught trying to sneak into the country, ordering instead that they be released so they don’t clog up the courts, a leading advocate for agents testified to Congress.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the orders are a new “catch and release” policy, which he said “amounts to amnesty” because it means many illegal immigrants are never asked to leave the country.

It also suggests the Border Patrol is being ordered to break President Obama’s own enforcement priorities, which say new illegal immigrants — defined as those who came after Dec. 31, 2013 — are priorities for deportation, and are supposed to be arrested and processed.

Mr. Judd provided his testimony in written answers released Monday by the House Judiciary Committee, saying that even in some criminal cases, agents are ordered to let illegal immigrants go without ever issuing them a Notice to Appear, or NTA, which is what puts them into deportation proceedings.

Mr. Judd said they took their case directly to Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who told them not to bother. (Read more from “Border Agents: DHS Has ‘No Intention’ of Deporting Illegals” HERE)

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Missouri Soldier’s Conviction for Obama Comments Is Upheld

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The nation’s highest military appeals court has upheld the court-martial conviction of a Missouri man whose racist-sounding diatribe against President Barack Obama raised tough free-speech questions.

The former soldier, who at one point claimed to have connections to Missouri’s Ku Klux Klan, forced a closely divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to clarify the law governing speech by members of the military. Soldiers, in sum, face more restrictions than civilians do.

“The right of free speech in the armed services is not unlimited and must be brought into balance with the paramount consideration of providing an effective fighting force for the defense of our country,” Judge Kevin A. Ohlson noted.

In its 3-2 decision released Friday, the military appeals court rejected defense arguments that the First Amendment protected Eric L. Rapert, of Sikeston, in southeastern Missouri, when he railed against Obama on the night of the 2012 election.

In ruling against Rapert, the court also distinguished the Uniform Code of Military Justice from federal law, whose ambiguities prompted the Supreme Court in 2015 to dismiss the conviction of a Pennsylvania man who’d posted threatening-sounding statements on his Facebook page. The military court found that the military justice code already required a determination of Rapert’s state of mind, something the U.S. Supreme Court said was lacking in the Pennsylvania case, where the defendant argued his postings were fictitious. (Read more from “Missouri Soldier’s Conviction for Obama Comments Is Upheld” HERE)

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Something BIG Was Just Revealed About Trump and Carson That Might Surprise a Lot of People

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Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson stunned many when he endorsed Donald Trump for president. Just a few days later, Carson admitted he would not only be advising Trump during the presidential campaign, but could also play a possible role in a Trump administration.

Many speculated this would mean a cabinet position for the retired neurosurgeon, who has displayed a wealth of knowledge both in medicine and education. Yet it seems these speculations might have underestimated Carson.

Today it was announced that members of Carson’s campaign team are planning to meet in Palm Beach, Fla., to discuss the possibility of a Trump/Carson ticket.

The meeting, which will take place March 29, will include Ben Carson Jr., former Carson campaign chairman Robert Dees, ex-campaign manager Ed Brookover, treasurer Logan Delaney, and former senior adviser Mike Murray.

Brookover has recently joined the Trump campaign to lead a “delegate selection team,” suggesting the two sides have a strong working relationship.

According the multiple sources, the group will discuss a vice-presidential push as well as what to do with the 700,000-member mailing list Carson’s campaign compiled. (Read more from “Something BIG Was Just Revealed About Trump and Carson That Might Surprise a Lot of People” HERE)

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Mitt Romney Reveals Who He’s Voting for in Utah

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Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for President in 2012, will vote for Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in Utah’s primary election next week.

Outlining the decision Friday in a Facebook post, Romney cited his desire to vote for the best possible candidate to beat current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, writing:

“This week, in the Utah nominating caucus, I will vote for Senator Ted Cruz.

Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism. Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these.

The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention. At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible.

I like Governor John Kasich. I have campaigned with him. He has a solid record as governor. I would have voted for him in Ohio. But a vote for Governor Kasich in future contests makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail.

I will vote for Senator Cruz and I encourage others to do so as well, so that we can have an open convention and nominate a Republican.”

(Read more from “Mitt Romney Reveals Who He’s Voting for in Utah” HERE)

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Trey Gowdy Just Exposed What the Dems Are Doing to Block Benghazi Investigation With Damaging Letter

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House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., has responded to the refusal by some Democrats to maintain the integrity of his committee’s work by refusing to give them documents the Democrats have threatened to leak.

Gowdy sought an assurance from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., that Democrats would agree not to leak important information from the hearings. He did not get it.

“As recently as this afternoon, I offered Mr. Cummings total, unfettered access to, and control of, transcripts if he simply agreed he would not selectively leak them. He would not give me that assurance,” Gowdy said in a statement.

Gowdy said Democrats had threatened to release transcripts from witnesses that included White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA director David Petraeus.

“Once they stated their intention to misuse transcripts, I could not in good faith allow them to do so. Mr. Cummings likes to frequently lecture people how ‘we’re better than this,’ but his actions and the actions of his staff with regards to this investigation unfortunately prove otherwise,” Gowdy said.

Gowdy added that he has “no choice but to protect past witnesses, future witnesses, confidential material and the integrity of the investigation by allowing the Democrats equitable access but not control.” (Read more from “Trey Gowdy Just Exposed What the Dems Are Doing to Block Benghazi Investigation With Damaging Letter” HERE)

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Dither, Delay and Cover-Up: Obama’s ‘False’ Human-Rights Record

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One of the top human-rights advocates in Congress is applauding Secretary of State John Kerry for labeling ISIS atrocities as genocide, but he says the designation should have come much sooner, and there is evidence the Obama administration is deliberately concealing the horrific human-rights records of other nations in order to advance other priorities.

This week, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution declaring ISIS guilty of genocide. Kerry followed on Thursday by delivering the genocide verdict that some have been begging for for years.

“I and others have been asking for almost three years that such a designation be made. It was very clear right from the start. I had a hearing back in 2013 and made it clear that Christians especially are being targeted for forced conversion. If they don’t convert to Islam they are killed, raped, beheaded and have other atrocities committed upon them,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a top member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of its human-rights subcommittee.

He says the genocide has been obvious a long time.

Smith is now demanding to know what the administration plans to do about the genocide. But he worries the existing Obama track record on human-rights abuses elsewhere around the world is proof that it’s just not a high priority. (Read more from “Dither, Delay and Cover-Up: Obama’s ‘False’ Human-Rights Record” HERE)

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You Can’t Live Here If You Are Voting for Donald Trump

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For rent: Downtown apartment, 2 bedrooms. Includes organic garden space, hot tub, great backyard. You can bring your dogs if they have references as good as yours. If voting for Donald Trump, do not call.

Supporters of The Donald aren’t welcome at Mark Holmes’ rental on Main Street, indicated by this advertisement he placed in The Nickel last week.

The ad prompted some anonymous callers who disagreed with his political statement to leave hate messages on his voicemail.

His reasoning behind placing the stipulation in the ad is that he doesn’t know what to do anymore about the possibility that Trump might be elected, and he’s just had it . . .

Holmes said he was inspired to include the stipulation for a few reasons, including the fact that he doesn’t want to share a roof with Trump sympathizers who subscribe to Trump’s rhetoric, which has included controversial comments about banning Muslims from the country, building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants and encouraging violence at his rallies. (Read more from “You Can’t Live Here If You Are Voting for Donald Trump” HERE)

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