Trump Vows Long Campaign, Won’t Commit to Backing GOP Nominee; Hammers Bush for Taking $100k from Vets’ Group

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Donald Trump vowed to wage a hard-charging and lengthy presidential campaign, including filing his financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission as early as next week, as unease continued to swirl throughout the Republican Party about his incendiary rhetoric on immigration.

In a wide-ranging, 30-minute interview with The Washington Post, the billionaire real estate mogul and reality-television star also said he has serious concerns about other GOP candidates and refused to commit to supporting the eventual nominee in the general election.

“So many people want me to run as an independent, so many people,” Trump said. “I have been asked by — you have no idea, everybody wants me to do it.”

Pressed about whether he would back the Republican ticket if he fails to win the nomination himself, Trump left the door open for a third-party bid of his own. “I would have to see who the nominee is,” he said.

For now, Trump said, he thinks that the “best chance of defeating the Democrats” is for him to “win as a Republican because I don’t want to be splitting up votes.” (Read more from “Trump Vows Long Campaign, Won’t Commit to Backing GOP Nominee” HERE)
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Trump Slams George W. Bush for Charging Veterans Group $100,000 to Speak

By Bill Hoffmann. Donald Trump walloped George W. Bush with a verbal haymaker Thursday, slamming the former president for charging tens of thousands of dollars to speak to a group of severely wounded military veterans — soldiers he himself sent to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You mean George Bush sends our soldiers into combat, they are severely wounded, and then he wants $120,000 to make a boring speech to them?” the billionaire developer scolded in a message posted on Twitter.

The slam was seen as an indirect attack on George W.’s younger brother Jeb Bush, whom Trump is neck and neck in the polls with for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

As ABC News reported, Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a fundraiser for U.S. military veterans sponsored by Helping a Hero charity, a Texas-based charity. In addition, Bush was also given a private jet to travel to the event at a cost of $20,000.

ABC also reported that former First Lady Laura Bush commanded a $50,000 fee to appear before the veterans a year earlier. (Read more from this story HERE)

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US: More Than 21 Million Affected by Government Data Breach

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Hackers stole Social Security numbers, health histories and other highly sensitive data from more than 21 million people, the Obama administration said Thursday, acknowledging that the breach of U.S. government computer systems was far more severe than previously disclosed.

The scope of the data breach — believed to be the biggest in U.S. history — has grown dramatically since the government first disclosed earlier this year that hackers had gotten into the Office of Personnel Management’s personnel database and stolen records for about 4.2 million people. Since then, the Obama administration has acknowledged a second, related breach of the systems housing private data that individuals submit during background investigations to obtain security clearances.

That second attack affected more than 19 million people who applied for clearances, as well as nearly 2 million of their spouses, housemates and others who never applied for security clearances, the administration said. Among the data the hackers stole: criminal, financial, health, employment and residency histories, as well as information about their families and acquaintances.

The new revelations drew indignation from members of Congress who have said the administration has not done enough to protect personal data in their systems, as well as calls for OPM Director Katherine Archuleta and her top deputies to resign. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, said Archuleta and her aides had “consciously ignored the warnings and failed to correct these weaknesses” . . .

House Republican leaders — Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise — also called for Archuleta’s resignation and said President Barack Obama must “take a strong stand against incompetence.” (Read more from “US: More Than 21 Million Affected by Government Data Breach” HERE)

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Lesbian US Senator Says First Amendment Protects Free Exercise ONLY INSIDE of Churches, Synagogues and Mosques

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Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI – the nation’s first openly lesbian elected to the U.S. Senate – addressed the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision on June 27 on MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki.

“Should the bakery have to bake the cake for the gay couple getting married?” the host asked. “Where do you come down on that?”

Baldwin responded that the First Amendment gave Americans no right to exercise religion outside the sanctuary of their church, synagogue, or mosque.

“Certainly the First Amendment says that in institutions of faith that there is absolute power to, you know, to observe deeply held religious beliefs. But I don’t think it extends far beyond that,” she said.

Sen. Baldwin then likened the issue to the Obama administration’s contentious HHS mandate, requiring employers to furnish contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs to female employees with no co-pay. (Read more from “US Senator Says First Amendment Protects Free Exercise ONLY Inside of Churches, Synagogues and Mosques” HERE)

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Hillary Clinton Lies Again, Claims She Never Had Been Subpoenaed for Emails While Secr. of State [+video]

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By Jeff Zeleny and Tom LoBianco. Hillary Clinton drew Republican fire Wednesday after falsely claiming she had never been subpoenaed for emails from her time as secretary of state.

When CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked Clinton in an exclusive interview on Tuesday about the decision to delete 33,000 emails while under investigation by a House panel, Clinton said other secretaries of state had done the “same thing.”

Keilar asked if her predecessors had also been subpoenaed, to which Clinton responded, “You’re starting with so many assumptions … I’ve never had a subpoena. Again, let’s take a deep breath here.”

But House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy said Wednesday, “It couldn’t be more plain.”

“To state that you never received a subpoena, you did get one, in March. Your lawyer was on notice months before that, that this committee of Congress wanted your work-related emails,” the South Carolina Republican told CNN Wednesday. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton Lies, Her Subpoena Claim Undercut by Lawyer’s Reply” HERE)


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Gowdy: Hillary Had Three Subpoenas, Two Before Server Was Wiped

By Ian Hanchett. Representative Rep. Trey Gowdy said Hillary Clinton actually had three subpoenas, two of which were sent before her server was wiped on Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show.”

Gowdy was asked, “‘I’ve never had a subpoena,’ her words. Congressman Rep. Trey Gowdy, did Hillary Clinton lie yesterday?” He answered, “It is a fact that there was a subpoena issued to her in March of 2015. But Congressman, it’s also a fact that there was a subpoena in existence from another Congressional committee far before that one. So there are two subpoenas. There are letters from Congress. And there’s a statutory obligation to her to preserve public records.” And “There was a, — think back right after Benghazi, Rep. Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to Secretary Clinton, in fact, saying Congress has the right and the authority to investigate these attacks. That is tantamount to a ‘do not destroy’ request. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in This State

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By Alex Swoyer. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is the leading choice among North Carolina Republican primary voters in a recent Public Policy Poll. Trump received 16 percent, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush received 12 percent.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in tied for second with Bush at 12 percent. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was third with 11 percent. Dr. Ben Carson got 9 percent with Sen. Marco Rubio. Sen. Rand Paul got 7 percent while Se. Sen. Ted Cruz got six percent. Gov. Chris Christie received five percent. Carly Fiorina followed with four percent and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry had two percent.

Sen. Lindsey Graham had one percent, as did Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Sen. Rick Santorum. Gov. John Kasich and George Pataki were under one percent.

President Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, but Republican nominee Mitt Romney took it back in 2012.

“Trump’s favorability rating in North Carolina is 55/32, much higher than we were finding in national polls prior to his entry into the race. Trump’s really caught fire with voters on the far right- 66% of ‘very conservative’ voters see him favorably to only 24% with a negative view of him. Trump is polling particularly well with younger voters (29%) and men (20%),” Public Policy Poll (PPP) reported. (Read more from “Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in This State” HERE)


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Despite Controversy, Trump Believes He’ll Win Latino Vote: ‘They Love Me, I Love Them’

By Fox News Latino. Despite the backlash over Donald Trump’s Mexico comments – and the multimillion dollars deals he’s lost because of companies cutting ties with him – the Republican presidential candidate and former “Apprentice” star still believes he will win the Latino vote.

“They love me,” Trump said. “I love them.”

In a Wednesday interview with NBC News, the real estate mogul and television personality continued to denounce illegal immigration.

“Don’t try and convince me that there’s no crime, that [immigration] is wonderful,” he said.

In fact, the immigration policy favored by the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, he said, would be to “let everybody come in … killers, criminals, drug dealers.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Judge Declined to Marry Couple Over Christian Beliefs

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By The Blade. A Toledo Municipal Court judge who declined to marry a same-sex couple said today his decision was based upon his “personal and Christian beliefs.”

Judge C. Allen McConnell said in a written statement his refusal Monday followed his beliefs developed over many years.

“I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best,” Judge McConnell said. “The court has implemented a process whereby same sex marriages will be accommodated.”

The judge said he will continue to perform “traditional marriages” during his assignment and is seeking an opinion from the Ohio Supreme Court as to whether he can leave the judicial rotation for marriages. He said he will follow the court’s decision. (Read more from “Judge Declined to Marry Couple Over Christian Beliefs” HERE)


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Cardinal Wuerl: Same-Sex Marriage “Is the Law of the Land; We Follow the Law”

By P.W. Adams. The Christian community has split on the morality of homosexuality since the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriages. While one denomination recently held a service in Washington’s National Cathedral celebrating the decision, others have felt the need to request some protection of their religious freedom and have refused to perform same-sex ceremonies. But what side the Catholic Church falls on the issue is still not exactly clear. Especially after a recent comment by one of its eminent Cardinals.

Washington Top News reports that Cardinal Wuerl recently stated that same-sex is the law of the land and that the church follows the law:

“WASHINGTON — The District’s top Catholic leader has weighed in on the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

“The law of the land is the law of the land,” says Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl. “We certainly follow what the law says. That doesn’t mean we change the word of God. That doesn’t mean we change the scriptures, or the church’s millennia-long tradition of what marriage is.”

(Read more from this story HERE)

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South Carolina House Approves Removal of Confederate Flag

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By Fox News. The South Carolina House approved taking down the Confederate flag from Capitol grounds early Thursday, a stunning reversal in a state that was the first to leave the Union in 1860 and raised the flag again at its Statehouse more than 50 years ago to protest the civil rights movement.

The move came after more than 13 hours of contentious debate, weeks after the deadly shootings of nine black church members, including a state senator, at a Bible study in Charleston. The House approved the Senate bill 93-27, and still has one more vote than appeared to be perfunctory since they had met two-thirds approval.

It is possible the flag could come down Thursday or Friday, but the exact timing is unknown.

The bill is set to go to Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who supports it.

“Today, as the Senate did before them, the House of Representatives has served the state of South Carolina and her people with great dignity,” Haley said in a statement early Thursday. “I’m grateful for their service and their compassion. It is a new day in South Carolina, a day were can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state.” (Read more from “South Carolina House Approves Removal of Confederate Flag” HERE)

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Disney World Removes Confederate Flag From Epcot Display

By Sandra Pedicini. Walt Disney World has joined the list of businesses and governments distancing themselves from the Confederate flag.

The resort has removed a version of the Confederate banner from a flag display in Epcot’s American Adventure. Disney acknowledged it took down the flag recently but would not comment further.

The banner, which was among more than 40 displayed from throughout America’s history, was the third flag of the Confederacy. The familiar “Southern Cross” symbol does not take up the entire banner as it does in the Confederate battle flag. Instead the blue cross with white stars on a red background is displayed in the upper-left-hand corner, bordered by a field of white with a thick, red stripe at the other end.

Sheri Labowski, a Connecticut tourist relaxing outside the American Adventure on Wednesday, said she agreed with the flag’s removal.

“I think in this day and age we shouldn’t be promoting a part of our history we’re not proud of,” she said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Poll: Most Don’t Think Confederate Flag Racist

By Jesse Byrnes. Most Americans continue to think of the Confederate flag as emblematic of Southern pride and not inherently racist, according to a new Gallup poll, though views are divided along party lines.

Some 54 percent of Americans say the flag represents not racism but Southern heritage, but Democratic support for the Confederate battle banner has dropped precipitously, according to the survey.

About a third of Democrats, 32 percent, view the flag as symbolic of Southern pride, almost half of the 61 percent who held that view when surveyed in 1992.

Meanwhile, views among Republicans have remained relatively consistent, ticking upward 3 points to 78 percent since 1992, when a full three-quarters of Republicans viewed the flag as a Southern symbol. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Jade Helm 15, Heavily Scrutinized Military Exercise, to Open Without Media Access

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Jade Helm 15, the controversial Special Operations exercise that spawned a wave of conspiracy theories about a government takeover, will open next week without any media allowed to observe it, a military spokesman said.

Embedded reporters won’t be permitted at any point during the exercise, in which military officials say that secretive Special Operations troops will maneuver through private and publicly owned land in several southern states. Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria, a spokesman for Army Special Operations Command, said his organization is considering allowing a small number of journalists to view selected portions of the exercise later this summer, but nothing is finalized.

“All requests from the media for interviews and coverage of U.S. Army Special Operations Command personnel, organizations and events are assessed for feasibility and granted when and where possible,” Lastoria said in a statement released Wednesday to The Washington Post. “We are dedicated to communicating with the public, while balancing that against the application of operations security and other factors.”

The exercise is scheduled for July 15 through September 15 and is expected to include more than 1,200 troops. Army Special Operations Command announced the exercise in March, saying its size and scope would set it apart from most training exercises. For months, some protesters have said Jade Helm is setting the stage for future martial law. Those fears have been mocked by comedians such as Jon Stewart and others, and the U.S. military has tried to reassure people about the exercise.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, called in April for the Texas State Guard to monitor the exercise, drawing a new wave of attention to Jade Helm and criticism from people who said he was fanning the hysteria. He defended the decision, saying it would improve communication between Special Operations forces and civilians in Texas. (Read more from “Jade Helm 15, Heavily Scrutinized Military Exercise, to Open Without Media Access” HERE)

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Air Force Drops Dummy Nuclear Bomb in Nevada in First Controversial Test to Update Cold War Arsenal

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The United States Air Force (USAF) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have completed the first development flight test of a controversial update to a nuclear bomb that has been use since the 1960s.

A ‘safe’ version of the the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb with no warhead was tested at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.

The tests are designed to extend the lifespan of the nuclear weapon by upgrading some of its parts.

‘This test marks a major milestone for the B61-12 Life Extension Program, demonstrating end-to-end system performance under representative delivery conditions,’ said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Dr. Don Cook.

‘Achieving the first complete B61-12 flight test provides clear evidence of the nation’s continued commitment to maintain the B61 and provides assurance to our allies.’ (Read more from “Air Force Drops Dummy Nuclear Bomb in Nevada in First Controversial Test to Update Cold War Arsenal” HERE)

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Oklahoma Governor Rejects Supreme Court’s Ten Commandments Ruling [+video]

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Gov. Mary Fallin on Tuesday said the Ten Commandments monument will stay at the Capitol despite a court ruling that said it violated the state Constitution and must be removed.

Fallin said Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reconsider its 7-2 decision, which was handed down last week after a challenge by the ACLU of Oklahoma on behalf of three plaintiffs.

In addition, lawmakers have filed legislation to let people vote on whether to remove a portion of the state Constitution cited in the ruling. Article II, Section 5 of the constitution reads:

“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such,” according to the Oklahoma Constitution.

The court said the monument was obviously religious in nature and an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths. The constitution bans the state from using public money or property for the benefit of any religious purpose, according to the opinion. (Read more from “Gov. Mary Fallin, Monument Unmoved by Supreme Court’s Ten Commandments Ruling” HERE)

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