Mitch McConnell Leaves Door Open for Republicans to Call Hunter Biden to Testify in Impeachment Trial; Democrats Release New Documents on Eve of Impeachment

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By The Blaze. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) left the door open for Republicans to call key witnesses, including Hunter Biden, in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday afternoon, McConnell remarked that if witnesses are called, “I can’t imagine” only the Democrats having people they would like to hear from appear before Congress.

In other words, if those who favor impeachment call someone they believe will help the case against Trump, such as former national security adviser John Bolton, it can be expected that those opposed to impeachment would be able to call on witness of their own, including Hunter Biden, who Republicans believe has relevant information validating Trump’s concern about corruption in Ukraine involving former Vice President Joe Biden.

NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt broke the news when she asked McConnell whether he would back calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand, as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has recently suggested.

(Read more from “Mitch McConnell Leaves Door Open for Republicans to Call Hunter Biden to Testify in Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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Democrats Release New Documents on Eve of Impeachment Trial

By AP News. House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine’s president to investigate “the Biden case.”

The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani and another attorney before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cell phone use, raising questions about possible surveillance.

Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump’s trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. (Read more from “Democrats Release New Documents on Eve of Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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Airplane Injures Dozens After Dumping Fuel on School in Emergency Landing

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A Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday and upon returning to the airport apparently dumped jet fuel which hit over two dozen people at an elementary school. . .

“70 firefighters and paramedics on-scene and committed to providing care for those injured. FFs working to confirm substance dropped by aircraft, although initial reports stated smell of jet fuel in area,” The Los Angeles County Fire Department tweeted. “17 children and 6 adults (23 patients total) all complaining of minor injuries being triaged by LACoFD Paramedics and Firefighters.” . . .

The Los Angeles Police Department noted that three schools were sprayed with the fuel, including Park Avenue Elementary, Jordan High School, and 93rd Street Elementary.

The Federal Aviation Administration responded the incident by issuing the following statement: “Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency after departing from LAX, returned to the airport and landed without incident. The FAA is aware of and looking into reports that children at a school east of LAX are being treated for fuel exposure.”

The Los Angeles County Fire Department later tweeted: “The All minor injuries w/ no transports to local hospital from school. There are no evacuation orders for the immediate area. Substance was confirmed JET FUEL. Refer to school regarding plans for child pick-up.” (Read more from “Airplane Injures Dozens After Dumping Fuel on School in Emergency Landing” HERE)

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Warren’s Donors Ask for Their Money Back After Bernie Accusations

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The hashtag, “#RefundWarren,” trended Monday night and Tuesday morning as supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) encouraged donors to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) presidential campaign to demand a refund through the Democrats’ online fundraising platform, ActBlue.

The move came in response to a report that Sanders told Warren, during a private meeting sometime in 2018, that a woman couldn’t become president. The Warren campaign was, initially, silent on the matter, refusing to refute the allegations. Later Monday night, however, Warren released a statement essentially confirming the story, but saying that Sanders told her a female candidate couldn’t beat President Donald Trump, not that a woman could never win the White House.

“Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed. I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry,” Warren said in a statement. “I’m in this race to talk about what’s broken in this country and how to fix it—and that’s what I’m going to continue to do. I know Bernie is in the race for the same reason. We have been friends and allies in this fight for a long time, and I have no doubt we will continue to work together to defeat Donald Trump and put our government on the side of the people.” . . .

That was just the beginning, though, for Warren’s online troubles. Newsweek reports that “[s]ome Twitter users posted screenshots purporting to show ActBlue processing refunds of their donations to Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. Several screenshots of refund request emails appeared to show ActBlue stating that they were ‘currently experiencing high volumes.’”

One user, “On This I Am One” even shared a tutorial for Warren supporters who might be looking to get their money back, instructing donors to go to the “contact us” page and locate the “refund” option in a hidden drop-down menu.

(Read more from “Warren’s Donors Ask for Their Money Back After Bernie Accusations” HERE)

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Accused Child Molester, out on Bond, Accused of Intimidating the Victim — and Found at School Bus Stop

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Let me decode the Orwellian trope of “criminal justice reform” for you. It means keeping more violent criminals on the streets so they can further intimidate witnesses and guarantee even fewer convictions and prison sentences. Now, every story you read about crime will make sense.

When New York Democrats passed a law automatically releasing most criminals pending their trials while also giving them access to information about witnesses and victims, they knew exactly what they were doing. Witness intimidation is not a bug of “bail reform” and jailbreak policies; it is a feature designed to ensure that fewer people testify at trial, thereby reducing the likelihood of a conviction that will result in prison time. A recent Georgia case is a perfect example.

While Georgia hasn’t gone as far as New York in prison and jail release policies, many judges throughout the country are releasing extremely dangerous criminals on little or no bond. It’s certainly the latest fad throughout the Peach State. In 2017, Paul Sherwood Lyle Jr., 35, was arrested in Clayton County on charges of child molestation and sexual battery against a child under age 16. Yet he was released on just $75,000 bond, which usually means just 10 percent of it must be paid in cash.

Just those charges alone should have warranted a higher bail, but like most criminals, this was not his first time in trouble with the law. According to Georgia court records, Lyle racked up several dozen criminal charges over the past two decades, including burglary, theft, criminal trespassing, assault, making terrorist threats, and multiple hit-and-run accidents. He was even arrested for a hit-and-run incident earlier this year while out on bond. But the trend in criminal justice to keep repeat offenders out of jail, even when they offend while out on bond or parole, is evidently strong in this allegedly red state.

Fast-forward to last Wednesday. Lyle was arrested by Clayton County sheriff’s deputies for trying to intimidate the victim in the original child molestation case. According to the sheriff’s office, “While out on bond, Lyle made contact with another minor, a 15-year-old, and convinced the minor to go to the home of the victim of the previous incident and attack them in an attempt to intimidate the witness.” After the county DA issued a warrant for his arrest for violation of a protective order, the sheriff’s fugitive squad apprehended Lyle “while standing at an elementary school bus stop with no justifiable reason for being there.” According to the public notice from the department, “It is to be noted that the subject was found to have a bottle of pink fingernail polish in his pocket. We can only speculate as to why.”

Lyle is now charged with aggravated stalking and influencing witness. Thank God in Georgia there is still modicum of common sense left, and he was held without bond. Had this taken place in New York, he would have been released again. In fact, in New York, the prosecution has to turn over all sorts of information on witnesses and victims to the defendants. So now that they are all out on the streets, they will have all the tools they need to ensure that no conviction is secured. This is the future of criminal justice in America now that the concept of pretrial holding is gradually being abolished. Not only will it pose a massive public safety concern, it will ensure that few convictions are made because nobody will want to testify. Prosecutors tell me that the biggest impediment to landing a conviction is the fear of victims and witnesses to come forward, which is why DAs have to arrange plea deals more often than not.

There is a very important lesson here that cuts to the core of the criminal justice debate in America and demonstrates why we actually have an under-conviction and under-sentencing problem. The governing elites have made it clear that they will not spend another penny on enforcement and convictions. As the population grows and they throw endless funding at public education or other poplar services to keep up with the growth, a decision has been made in most states to stop building more prisons and jails and not to add funding to the court system. Doing so conveniently provides them with the talking point that prisons are overcrowded and that trials are backlogged for too long so it’s unfair to hold people in jail either.

Thus, rather than building more prisons to even deal with the repeat violent offenders being released and adding more resources to the county courts so that the backlogs can be cleared, these jurisdictions will ensure that most violent criminals will remain out on the streets indefinitely to commit a dozen other crimes before there is a disposition of the original case. And by the time that trial comes around, the defendant will already have had so many opportunities to intimidate the witnesses and even victims that the case falls apart and the charges are pled down by a mile. This ensures that when the same criminal is inevitably caught for another crime, his rap sheet doesn’t look nearly as bad as it should, and he is treated accordingly, perhaps getting just one year in prison instead of 10.

This is the true problem with our system, and this is what really needs reform. But instead of fixing the problem, both parties in most states are seeking to pour gasoline on the fire. The time has come to reform the “reformers.” (For more from the author of “Accused Child Molester, out on Bond, Accused of Intimidating the Victim — and Found at School Bus Stop” please click HERE)

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Crime Laws Imploding: 7 Insane Prison Release Stories

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Weak-on-crime laws and policies are imploding everywhere they are enacted. New York is now the poster child of jailbreak insanity. Yet Republicans nationwide remain surprisingly muted in their criticism. Why? Because so many of them support the underlying premise behind de-incarceration radicalism.

In October, when he wasn’t busy lobbying for more refugee resettlement, Tennessee’s allegedly Republican governor, Bill Lee, told a group of state senators, “We can empty our jails in the same way that some other states have done. I know we can do that.”

Really, Governor Lee? You want to empty the jails the way other states have done rather than emphatically promising your residents you won’t become like the blue states? Well, here is what it looks like to empty your jails when the system is already too weak on holding, prosecuting, and sentencing even repeat violent offenders.

Jonathan Armand Flores-Maldonado, a 27-year-old resident of Long Island, was killed on Sunday, directly as a result of criminal justice “reform.” Jordan Randolph, 40, had 12 prior criminal convictions, including charges for numerous assaults, robbery, drugs, and three DWIs. He was arrested on January 1, the first full day of New York’s new pro-criminal laws, for not having a court-ordered ignition interlock device in his car. Yet the judge said he was forced to release Randolph without any bond, despite five prior failures to appear in court! The judge claimed that the law prevented him from even requiring Randolph to wear an ankle bracelet. Well, as habitual criminals tend to repeat the same crimes, Randolph was allegedly drunk driving this Sunday when he slammed into Flores-Maldonado, fatally wounding him. And then … he was released from jail again without bail!

While women can’t carry guns to protect themselves in New York City, violent criminals are free to viciously assault them. Eugene Webb, 26, one of the many violent homeless individuals now populating city streets, was arrested last Wednesday for seriously assaulting two women. He allegedly punched one woman in Greenwich Village so hard that she lost two teeth and punched and kicked another woman near Grand Central Terminal. Despite a massive criminal history, including recent assaults on women as well as forced touching, he was released without bail, even though he has a history of failing to appear in court. He was arrested again two days later for reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and obstructing governmental administration. Of course, he was released back onto the streets without any bail.

Gerod Woodberry was arrested for robbing four banks in Manhattan since December 30. He was released last Thursday, and the very next day he robbed a fifth bank … and was released.

Remember the man caught in the viral video sucker-punching a New York cop and then wrestling him to the ground? Well, Steven Haynes, 40, the suspect in the case, was supposed to show up in court on Monday after he was released under the new law. Of course, he failed to appear and was re-arrested, but of course he’ll be released again.

The jailbreak problem is statewide, not just in the city. In December, Dustin Parker was arrested in Seneca County for beating someone seriously enough to put the victim in the hospital for days. After being released on his own recognizance, Parker was arrested again for violating a protective order and confronting that same victim. Intimidation of victims is a big part of the jailbreak agenda, so that it will be harder for perpetrators to get convicted for the original crime.

An enormous amount of crime is committed by illegal aliens. New York is now mixing jailbreak policies with sanctuary policies to create one massive public safety nightmare. Remember the horrific story of the 92-year-old woman found dead in the street in Queens, New York? It turns out the suspect is an illegal alien who was previously released by NY officials in defiance of an ICE detainer. Reeaz Khan, 21, an illegal alien from Guyana, was arrested on November 27 for assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was released without bail after the arraignment, despite an ICE detainer. On January 10, NY cops arrested him and charged him with the murder of that woman.

Not only are the criminals out on the streets pending trial, but even after conviction, they get a slap on the wrist. Remember Courtney Thompson, the man pictured in the viral video this summer dousing two NYPD officers with water? Well, he just got sentenced … to 10 days of community service. And no, he was not a first-time juvenile offender just having some fun. He is a 28-year-old Crips member with 20 prior arrests. At the time of his attack on the cops, he was on probation for a 2015 robbery for which he barely served time.

I can go on and on from the cases I have in my notes, but you get the point. Even many Democrats are clamoring for political cover to save them from the fallout, but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is holding up attempts to change the law. Heastie had his own personal experience with “bail reform” when his chief of staff’s husband was released after being charged with shipping large quantities of cocaine.

The amalgamation of no deterrent against crime, no enforcement of public order laws, and a de facto decriminalization of drugs has led to a rampant homelessness problem, making the city like it was prior to Giuliani’s mayoral tenure. A new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development lists New York as the state with the highest rate of homelessness. The homelessness rate in the Big Apple is 46.4 per 10,000 people, nearly three times the national average.

So, do Republicans like Bill Lee really want to go down the path of New York? Some might suggest red states will do this “responsibly.” But there is no responsible way of reducing the prison population when we already have too many violent criminals not serving enough time in prison. Just look at bright red Oklahoma, which experimented with the same downgrading of crimes. It has led to a growth in crime, theft, drugs, and homelessness.

It’s time for Republicans to push Reagan’s reforms – true criminal justice reform. As Rep. Chip Roy observed on Twitter, how about a criminal justice reform agenda in 2020 designed to “keep bad guys in jail”? With Democrats getting more and more radical on crime and incarceration, the American people deserve a bold contrast, not a faint and pathetic echo. (For more from the author of “Crime Laws Imploding: 7 Insane Prison Release Stories” please click HERE)

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President Taking Major Step to Complete Border Wall Construction; Trump Names Border Wall After Himself

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By Daily Wire. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to divert more than $7 billion in funds from the Pentagon to build an additional nearly 900 miles of border wall along the southern border.

Internal planning figures obtained by The Washington Post allegedly showed that the administration is planning to divert $7.2 billion to construction of the border wall.

“The Pentagon funds would be extracted, for the second year in a row, from military construction projects and counternarcotics funding,” The Post reported. “According to the plans, the funding would give the government enough money to complete approximately 885 miles of new fencing by spring 2022, far more than the 509 miles the administration has slated for the U.S. border with Mexico.”

Trump has struggled to get the funding needed to complete the construction of the border wall from Democrats who do not want to secure America’s borders and from Democrat-appointed judicial activists who have repeatedly sabotaged his immigration agenda. . .

“The decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, lifts an injunction issued last month in Texas that blocked the reallocation plan,” USA Today reported. “In the 2-1 ruling, judges granted the administration’s request to temporarily halt the nationwide injunction from U.S. District Judge David Briones of El Paso. Congress appropriated the $3.6 billion to the Department of Defense for 127 construction projects, Briones had ruled, so the Trump administration shouldn’t divert it to the border wall.” (Read more from “Trump Taking Major Step to Complete Border Wall Construction” HERE)

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Trump Celebrates His ‘Powerful’ Border Wall, Names It After Himself

By NY Post. President Trump pumped up the barrier he’s building along the US-Mexico border, pronouncing it “the powerful Trump wall” in a Saturday tweet.

“Illegal crossing are dropping as more and more Wall is being completed!” he crowed.

A federal appeals court handed the administration a victory Thursday, releasing $3.6 billion in military funding for the construction of new border walls. (Read more from “Trump Celebrates His ‘Powerful’ Border Wall, Names It After Himself” HERE)

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FISA FOLLIES: “I Got This, Beyatch!” Edition

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(For more from the author of “FISA FOLLIES: “I Got This, Beyatch!” Edition” please click HERE)

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Navy: Top-Secret UFO Files Could ‘Gravely Damage’ U.S. National Security

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The Department of Defense has top-secret classified briefings and a classified video about a UFO incident.

The U.S. Navy acknowledged the existence of the information, which concerns a 2004 encounter between the USS Nimitz and strange unknown aerial objects, in response to a public records request from Vice. . .

Responding to Vice’s Freedom of Information Act request, the Navy said it had “discovered certain briefing slides that are classified TOP SECRET. A review of these materials indicates that are currently and appropriate Marked and Classified TOP SECRET under Executive Order 13526 and the Originial Classification Authority has determined that release of these materials would cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States.” (Read more from “Navy: Top-Secret UFO Files Could ‘Gravely Damage’ U.S. National Security” HERE)

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Mueller Witness Pleads Guilty to Child Porn, Sex Trafficking

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A political hobnobber who featured prominently as a key witness in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation faces at least a decade in prison after pleading guilty to charges of child sex trafficking and possessing child pornography.

Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, 60, entered a plea deal Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., admitting to transporting a 14-year-old boy from the Czech Republic to Washington, D.C., in 2000 to engage in sexual activity with him. He also admitted to possessing child pornography depicting infants or toddlers.

Nader is still separately under indictment in Washington along with seven others on charges of conspiring to conceal the source of more than $3.5 million in political donations to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Nader allegedly was reporting to an unnamed Middle Eastern government on that operation, which was intended to curry favor with Clinton, prosecutors in that case said.

In the meantime, the pornography charge itself carries a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. Prosecutors agreed as part of the plea bargain to recommend a 10-year sentence when Nader is sentenced April 10, although the judge will be free to impose a significantly longer sentence of up to 30 years if she chooses.

Nader’s name appears more than 100 times in Mueller’s report. It details Nader’s efforts to serve as a liaison for a January 2017 meeting between a Russian banker with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of President Trump’s transition team. (Read more from “Mueller Witness Pleads Guilty to Child Porn, Sex Trafficking” HERE)

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Warren Claims Bernie Sanders Said a Democratic Woman Can’t Become President

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Elizabeth Warren backed up reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a 2018 meeting that he did not think Democrats could win an election with a female nominee.

“Bernie and I met for more than two hours in December 2018 to discuss the 2020 election, our past work together, and our shared goals: beating Donald Trump, taking back our government from the wealthy and well-connected, and building an economy that works for everyone,” Warren, 70, said in a statement Monday.

The Massachusetts senator continued: “Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed.”

CNN broke the story earlier Monday, citing two people Warren talked to right after the meeting and two others who were familiar with it. The Warren campaign initially did not comment on the story. . .

Sanders, 78, denied the original allegation, saying that “staff who weren’t in the room are lying about what happened.” (Read more from “Warren Claims Bernie Sanders Said a Democratic Woman Can’t Become President” HERE)

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