Sen. Ted Cruz’s CNN debate performance in Las Vegas Tuesday night won him no support with the chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters Wednesday that Cruz may have inadvertently discussed classified information while butting heads with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on surveillance programs.
“The old program covered 20 percent to 30 percent of phone numbers to search for terrorists. The new program covers nearly 100 percent. That gives us greater ability to stop acts of terrorism, and [Rubio] knows that that’s the case,” the Texas senator said while discussing the National Security Agency.
Rubio countered, “I don’t think national television in front of 15 million people is the place to discuss classified information” . . .
“In 2006, a senior U.S. official said, the NSA was collecting ‘closer to 100′ percent of Americans’ phone records from a number of U.S. companies under a then-classified program, but as of last summer that share had plummeted to less than 30 percent,” the newspaper reported at the time. (Read more from “GOP on Attack: Did Cruz Reveal Classified Info?” HERE)
Our news media are so overwhelmingly obsequious to the Democrats that Hillary Clinton can imply the relatives of the Americans killed in Benghazi are liars on national TV, and no one in the press blinks an eye or finds it newsworthy.
ABC is about to host another one of those hide-and-seek Saturday night Democrat debates. There is something very ironic here: It was on this network where she made that outrageous statement.
Clinton lied to her former employee (and donor) George Stephanopoulos on his ABC program “This Week” on Dec. 6. In his toughest question of the day, George told his pal, “Some GOP rivals and family members of the Benghazi victims are saying you lied to them in the hearing. They point to emails that you sent the night of Benghazi attack, one to your daughter, Chelsea Clinton, saying… ‘Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an al-Qaida-like group.'” He added that she had told the Egyptian prime minister on a phone call on Sept. 12, 2012, “We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film.”
Clinton denied ever telling the Benghazi relatives that it could be blamed on an anti-Muhammad video: “No. … I understand the continuing grief at the loss that parents experienced with the loss of these four brave Americans. And I did testify, as you know, for 11 hours. And I answered all of these questions. Now, I can’t — I can’t help it that people think there has to be something else there.” (Read more from “Hillary Just Made This Horrible Claim About the Relatives of Benghazi Heroes” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:51:592016-04-11 10:54:59Hillary Just Made This Horrible Claim About the Relatives of Benghazi Heroes
When I was fighting the Gang of Eight bill in 2013, one of my observations was that this legislation provided much more than amnesty for illegal aliens already here. It created a permanent open border policy across the spectrum of legal and illegal immigration.
One such provision was Section 2310 (page 426), which would have massively expanded the K-1 fiancé visa program, the very visa that San Bernardino terrorist Tafsheen Malik used to gain permanent residence in our country. While the underlying premise of this program makes sense, it has been rife with fraud and 99.7% of requests for K-1 visas have been approved in 2014. According to CIS, “[C]lose to half of the aliens initially slated for K-1 visas (and marriages) did not get married in the United States as planned.”
Section 2310 of the Rubio bill would have extended the courtesy of K-1 visas from foreign fiancés of U.S. citizens to foreign fiancés of legal permanent residents! This would have set off a phenomenon of mass fraudulent chain migration. Think about it this way. We have a record number of immigrants living in this country, particularly from the third world and—most prominent to our discussion—the Middle East. Any one of those individuals, under this bill, could have brought in fiancés from similar countries with the same 99.7% success rate. Also, the millions of illegal aliens awarded amnesty under this bill would have been entitled to bring in fiancés, creating a likely scenario of newly amnestied aliens immediately bringing in a relative or friend under fraudulent pretenses of marriage.
Moreover, by extension, this bill would have extended the K-2 visas—a license to bring in the children of the foreign-born fiancé (even from a previous spouse)—to those spouses of legal immigrants residing in the U.S. The chain migration that would have resulted is bad enough, but could you imagine the endless security risks? As many U.S. citizen Muslim terrorists as there unfortunately are in this country, there are probably even more non-citizen immigrants from the Middle East who likely maintain even stronger ties to their countries of origin. It would have been so easy to bring in limitless numbers of Tafsheen Maliks.
What is also disturbing is that, as Jessica Vaughn noted, immigration officials fail to adequately check into the background of those who sponsor immigrant visas. If the lack of screening of U.S. citizen-sponsors has created a security risk, allowing all immigrants to sponsor visas would be a security nightmare. Remember, there are hundreds of thousands of known criminal legal immigrants in this country that have never been deported but would have been eligible to sponsor visas.
One of the observations from last night’s debate that was lost in the shuffle is that, once again, Marco Rubio did not disavow the Gang of Eight bill. He just repeated the mantra that the American people don’t trust the bill. This jives with his previous comments that, in his estimation, the bill did in actuality have the requisite security measures.
The K-1 provision is just one of many components of this bill that would have presented us with a clear and present security danger, not to mention a massive social and fiscal drain.
No wonder Obama’s former speechwriter said last night that the White House was “very appreciative” of Rubio’s work on immigration.
Look, in the White House, we were very appreciative of all the good work Marco Rubio did on that immigration bill
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:50:062016-04-11 10:54:59Rubio Bill Expanded Visa Program Used by San Bernardino Terrorists
A Middle Eastern woman was caught surveilling a U.S. port of entry on the Mexican border holding a sketchbook with Arabic writing and drawings of the facility and its security system, federal law enforcement sources tell Judicial Watch.
The woman has been identified as 23-year-old Leila Abdelrazaq, according to a Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) report obtained by JW this week. Abdelrazaq appeared to have two accomplices, a 31-year-old man named Gabriel Schivone and a 28-year-old woman named Leslie Mcafee. CBP agents noticed the trio “observing the facilities” at the Port of Mariposa in Nogales, Arizona on December 2. Schivone was first noticed inside the entrance of the pedestrian area while the two women stood outside by the entry door, the CPB document states.
When federal officers asked Abdelrazaq why she was drawing sketches of the facilities she “stated because she’s never been to the border,” according to the CBP report. Abdelrazaq resisted showing officers the sketchbook, citing personal reasons, but subsequently handed it over. “During the inspection of the Abdelrazaq sketching book, CBPOs noticed the book contained writings in English and Arabic language,” federal officers write in the document. “There were drawings of what appeared to be vehicle primary inspection area and an additional drawing of pedestrian turn stile gate depicting video surveillance cameras above the gate.” The report proceeds to reveal that the drawings were “partial and incomplete.”
This distressing information comes on the heels of two separate—and equally alarming—incidents in the same vicinity. A few weeks ago JW reported that five young Middle Eastern men were apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in Amado, an Arizona town situated about 30 miles from the Mexican border. Two of the men were carrying stainless steel cylinders in backpacks, alarming Border Patrol officials enough to call the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for backup. DHS officially denies this ever occurred, but law enforcement and other sources have confirmed to JW that the two men carrying the cylinders were believed to be taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (Read more from “Team Led by Middle Eastern Woman Caught Surveilling U.S. Facility on Mexican Border” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:47:062016-04-11 10:54:59Team Led by Middle Eastern Woman Caught Surveilling U.S. Facility on Mexican Border
A PEW Research Poll released December 15 shows the American public trusts Republicans over Democrats when it comes to guns, terrorism, and the economy . . .
According to PEW, the public supports Republicans on guns by a margin of 43 percent to 37 percent. Regarding the “terror threat,” the public sides with Republicans over Democrats 46 percent to 34 percent. On the economy they side with Republicans by a margin of 42 percent to 37 percent. . . .
Regarding the public’siding with Republicans over Democrats when it comes to guns, the different approaches of the two parties are stark. Republicans reacted to the San Bernardino terror attacks by focusing on border security and mental health, whereas Democrats reacted by wanting to expand gun control and introducing a ban on the manufacture of AR-15s and related weapons.
When it comes to terrorism, 46 percent of the public believes Islam is “more likely than [other religions] to encourage violence among its believers” versus 45 percent who do not. And when broken down by party affiliation, only 30 percent of Democrats believe Islam tends toward violence while 65 percent of Republicans believe it does. (Read more from “Poll: Americans Trust GOP over Democrats on Guns, Terrorism and Economy” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:42:162016-04-11 10:55:00Poll: Americans Trust GOP over Democrats on Guns, Terrorism and Economy
In advance of the release of Congress’ year-end spending package, the office of Sen. Jeff Sessions is highlighting some terrorists who were recently granted access to the U.S. through the nation’s immigration system.
In an email to reporters Tuesday, a Sessions aide listed more than 30 examples of immigrants admitted to the U.S. who were recently implicated in terrorist activities.
Sessions, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, and other conservative lawmakers have warned against passing a spending bill that does not place limitations on admissions — in particular refugee admission — to the U.S.
“Congress must cancel the President’s blank refugee check and put Congress back in charge of the program. We cannot allow the President to unilaterally decide how many refugees he wishes to admit, nor continue to force taxpayers to pick up the tab for the tens of billions of unpaid-for welfare and entitlement costs,” Sessions and Sen. Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations subcommittee, said in a joint statement last week.
The pair added that passing the spending deal without limiting language “would put the U.S. on a path to approve admission for hundreds of thousands of migrants from a broad range of countries with jihadists movements over the next 12 months, on top of all the other autopilot annual immigration – absent language to reduce the numbers.” (Read more from “More than 30 Immigrants Admitted to the U.S. Have Been Recently Implicated in Terrorism” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:39:182016-04-11 10:55:00More than 30 Immigrants Admitted to the U.S. Have Been Recently Implicated in Terrorism
A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter after jurors said they had failed to reach an agreement on any of the charges against him in the death of Freddie Gray.
The decision, which came a day after jurors told Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams they were deadlocked, frustrated activists who had watched the first trial in Gray’s death closely. Outside the downtown courtroom, city officials and community leaders pleaded for calm, and authorities reported two arrests, but no violence or serious disruptions.
Porter, 26, the first of six police officers to be tried in Gray’s death, remains charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Gray, 25, died in April after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police van.
Jurors deliberated for three days before Williams declared the mistrial. The decision now throws the other trials into flux.
Prosecutors chose to try Porter first, planning to use him as a witness at the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson. Goodson, who is charged with second-degree murder, was slated for trial in the first week of January. (Read more from “Mistrial Declared in Trial of Officer William Porter in Death of Freddie Gray” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-16 21:36:582016-04-11 10:55:00Mistrial Declared in Trial of Officer William Porter in Death of Freddie Gray
By Ian Hanchett. Republican presidential candidates Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Senator Sen. Rand Paul sparred with fellow candidate Florida Senator Sen. Marco Rubio on the NSA and immigration during CNN’s prime GOP presidential debate.
Cruz said that the USA Freedom Act, “ended the federal government’s bulk collection of phone medadata of millions of law-abiding citizens. But number two, and the second half of it that is critical, it strengthened the tools of national security and law enforcement to go after terrorists. It gave us greater tools, and we are seeing those tools work right now in San Bernardino. And in particular, what it did, is the prior program only covered a relatively narrow slice of phone calls. When you had a terrorist, you could only search a relatively narrow slice of numbers, primarily landlines. The USA Freedom Act expands that, so now we have cell phones, now we have Internet phones, now we have the phones that terrorists are likely to use, and the focus of law enforcement is on targeting the bad guys. You know, what the Obama administration keeps getting wrong, is whenever anything bad happens they focus on law-abiding citizens, instead of focusing on the bad guys. We need to focus on radical Islamic terrorists, and we need to stop them before they carry out acts of terror.”
Rubio responded that Cruz is wrong, along with others who voted for the act. He added, “This is radical jihadist group that is increasingly sophisticated, and its ability, for example to radicalize American citizens, and its inability to exploit loopholes in our legal immigration system. It’s ability to capture to hold territory in the Middle East, as I outlined earlier, in multiple countries. This is not just the most capable, it is the most sophisticated terror threat we have ever faced. We are now at a time where we need more tools, not less tools. And that tool we lost, the metadata program, was a valuable tool that we no longer have at our disposal.”
Cruz answered, “I would note that Marco knows what he’s what he’s saying isn’t true. You know, Mark Levin wrote a column last week that says that the attack ads his super PAC is running that are saying the same thing, that they are knowingly false, and they are in fact Alinsky-like attacks like Barack Obama.” (Read more from “More Allegiance to Liberals, ‘Alinksy-Like Tactics’ Cruz, Rand Spar with Rubio on NSA, Immigration” HERE)
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AP FACT CHECK: Republican Debaters Go Astray
By Associated Press. A look at some of the claims in the latest Republican presidential debate and how they compare with the facts:
JEB BUSH: “We need to embed our troops in the Iraqi military.”
THE FACTS: The U.S. is already doing that.
U.S. special forces are working side by side with Iraqi forces in the fight against Islamic State militants and American military advisers and trainers are working with Iraqi troops in various locations. To be sure, Bush has called for an intensification of the military effort in a variety of ways, but debate viewers would not know from his comment that U.S. troops are already operating with Iraqi and Kurdish forces. (Read more from “AP FACT CHECK: Republican Debaters Go Astray” HERE)
When Jeb Bush wrapped up yet another response Tuesday night to a debate question pertaining to Donald Trump, the front-runner spoke up in defense of his less prominent rivals.
“I think it’s very sad,” Trump said to moderator Hugh Hewitt, “that CNN leads Jeb Bush … down a road by starting off virtually all of the questions [with] ‘Mr. Trump this …’ I think it’s very sad.”
He went on to recall the first debate, during which he said “the first number of questions” began with direct references to him . . .
The united front was short-lived, however, as Trump and Bush soon began bickering anew by questioning each other’s toughness. Candidates Carly Fiorina and John Kasich chimed in to break it up, representing those who feel such in-fighting among those in the primary race is counterproductive to the common goal of replacing Barack Obama with a Republican. (Read more from “Donald Trump Takes up for Jeb Bush in Debate Rant Against CNN Moderators” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-15 23:48:532016-04-11 10:55:01Donald Trump Takes up for Jeb Bush in Debate Rant Against CNN Moderators
The Army has already shrunk the force by 180,000 troops since withdrawing from Iraq in 2011, and it plans to further reduce its end strength in the coming years. The service is scheduled to reach an end strength of 450,000 troops by the end of fiscal 2017. If the Army continues to get hit with budget cuts, it could see a deeper cut down to 420,000. . .
[US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley] said he’d prefer to keep as many troops as possible for as long as he is able, but reductions are moving forward. Therefore, he’s left to think about how the Army might be able to more effectively build up the force if necessary. To do that, Milley said: “I’m going to lean heavily on the [US Army National Guard]” . . .
If the active force is a certain size, according to Milley, it will most likely get consumed “pretty quickly” in any larger contingencies. “So we have to lean on the Guard,” he said, “but that means I have to get the readiness levels up to a level that is combat capable” . . .
One of the options Milley is examining is increasing the number of training days for some — not all — guardsmen to 60 or even 100 days a year “so it reduces the response time on the back end.” Quick mobilization is becoming more and more critical given the speed of communication and the technology available today, Milley said. . .
Also under consideration is maintaining a high number of leaders on active duty, Milley said. One concept is to build train-and-advise units for overseas deployment that consist of just brigade or battalion leadership. (Read more from “Due to Massive Personnel Cuts, US Army Moving to Failed Hollow Force Model” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-15 23:47:582016-04-11 10:55:01Due to Massive Personnel Cuts, US Army Moving to Failed Hollow Force Model
