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Trump Orders Major Military Withdrawal From Afghanistan

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By The Washington Post. President Trump has directed the Pentagon to come up with a plan to withdraw nearly half of the more than 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, a move that many of Trump’s senior advisers and military officials have warned will plunge the country further into chaos.

The order comes on the heels of Trump’s announcement that he will be withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, a surprise decision that the president made against the counsel of his top advisers and without warning any of the allies who have fought alongside American forces in the battle there against the Islamic State.

The Afghanistan directive also comes as the United States attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban, potentially undercutting leverage that American diplomats have. It marks a significant departure from Trump’s August 2017 decision to slightly increase the number of U.S. troops there and keep them in place with conditions on the ground dictating withdrawal. (Read more from “Trump Orders Major Military Withdrawal From Afghanistan” HERE)

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Trump Has Ordered More Than 7,000 US Troops to Leave Afghanistan, Cutting Troops Levels in Half

By Business Insider. President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate withdrawal of more than 7,000 US troops from Afghanistan, according to multiple reports, citing defense officials.

In what appears to be the first major step toward ending America’s involvement in a war fought for nearly two decades, the president has decided to cut the US military presence in Afghanistan in half, The Wall Street Journal reported. There are currently roughly 14,000 American service members in the war-torn country.

News of the withdrawal comes just one day after Trump declared victory over ISIS and announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a move that reportedly drove the president’s secretary of defense to resign from his position Thursday.

“I think it shows how serious the president is about wanting to come out of conflicts,” one senior U.S. official told TheWSJ. “I think he wants to see viable options about how to bring conflicts to a close.”

Another official told The New York Times that the Afghan forces, which have suffered unbelievably high casualties, need to learn to stand on their own, something senior military leaders have suggested they may not yet be ready to do. (Read more from “Trump Has Ordered More Than 7,000 US Troops to Leave Afghanistan, Cutting Troops Levels in Half” HERE)

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Trump Will Not Sign Spending Bill Without Wall Funding, After Conservatives Fought

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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said Thursday President Trump has told lawmakers he will not sign the Senate continuing resolution without border wall funding.

House conservatives have led the fight to help Trump keep his promise and fight for a wall.

Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Thursday that now is the time to fight for President Donald Trump’s border wall, even if that means shutting down the government.

Speaking on Fox News, Meadows said that the American people believe that President Trump is receiving “bad advice” to sign a continuing resolution to fund the government through February without funding the wall. He urged Trump to veto any spending bill that doesn’t fund the wall.

“They know that he’s promised not once, not twice, but three different times that he would get border wall funding, and here we are about to punt,” Meadows said. “And I would argue it’s not a punt. A punt actually helps improve the field advantage. This is a fumble, and we need to make sure that the president stays firm.”

Meadows said that Congress failed in the first two years of Trump’s presidency to keep Republican promises on border security and the wall. He added that House conservatives want to vote on a bill appropriating $5 billion for the down payment on a border wall, but that House leadership has not moved on passing wall funding out of the House.

He dismissed concerns over a government shutdown, noting that the vast majority of the government’s essential functions will remain operational.

“If we’re not going to fight now, when are we going to fight?” Meadows said. “Are we suggesting that when the Democrats have control in February that somehow our position is going to improve? There’s no one in the West Wing that believes that. There’s no one on main street that believes that, and quite frankly now is the time to fight.” (Read more from “Trump Will Not Sign Spending Bill Without Wall Funding, After Conservatives Fought” HERE)

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House Approves Spending Bill With Border Wall Funding

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The House of Representatives approved a spending bill Thursday that includes $5.7 billion to build President Trump’s proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. It passed by a vote of 217-185, with no Democratic “yeas.” The legislation now heads to the Senate.

Among those who voted for the bill were the members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

“Republicans in Congress have continually told the American people that we would fight for wall funding, and today the House of Representatives took its first step toward fulfilling that promise,” the group said in a statement after the vote. “The Senate must follow our lead. It’s time we do what we said and work with President Trump and the American people to secure our borders.”

The Freedom Caucus introduced an amendment Wednesday night and gave a series of impassioned speeches about how the president had a duty to keep his promise to the American people. To have border security, the likes of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said, they had to fund the wall. He called it “common sense.” . . .

Considering Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi already insisted, in front of cameras at the White House last week, they are not paying for the border wall, we seem to be heading toward a partial government shutdown. The deadline is Friday.

(Read more from “House Approves Spending Bill With Border Wall Funding” HERE)

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Why President Trump Is Right To Consider Pardoning Green Beret Matthew Golsteyn

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All too predictably, The New York Times is hyperbolically criticizing President Donald Trump for saying that he would review the case of Maj. Matthew L. Golsteyn, a Green Beret accused of killing an Afghan man in 2010. The New York Times called Trump “impulsive” and accused him of exercising “undue command influence.” But Golsteyn’s case is exactly the situation for which the presidential pardon must be considered. . .

Golsteyn’s involvement in the man’s murder first came to light when he interviewed for a job at the CIA. As part of his application, he was asked to identify any illegal acts or indiscretions in which he may have participated. His confession led to an investigation resulting in withholding Golsteyn’s employment with the CIA, but without charges being brought against him. . .

But then there’s the rule of law, above which none of us can be placed. Golsteyn was given specific orders. He is part of the greatest fighting force in the world, a fighting force whose greatness proceeds from its soldiers’ discipline, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for the chain of command. It is not up to Golsteyn to decide who lives and who dies. No man should have that kind of unfettered authority. He is a soldier, and his job is to follow orders, to carry out his mission faithfully, and to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and, by extension, its laws.

According to the information available, Golsteyn broke the law then made the unforced error of brazenly bringing attention to that fact through a national television broadcast. Unquestionably, there is much more evidence to be uncovered, some of it potentially exculpatory, but if the facts stand as they are, and if there is nothing more of substance to consider, Golsteyn’s choice stood outside of the boundaries of the law, and he must be held to account.

But there are times when the law is too harsh; times when society’s punishment is either illogical or inappropriate for the circumstances. Under these conditions, an escape clause must be configured. Alexander Hamilton said it best, as he so often does, in The Federalist Number 74, “The criminal code of every country partakes so much of necessary severity, that without an easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel.” (Read more from “Why President Trump Is Right To Consider Pardoning Green Beret Matthew Golsteyn” HERE)

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White House Going Wobbly on Border Wall Shutdown? Trump Needs to Keep His Promise

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Tuesday morning on Fox News, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders gave President Donald Trump a way to save face should he cave to Democrats on funding for a border wall.

Democrats have so far refused the president’s demands for $5 billion in wall funding, a compromise from the $25 billion needed to complete construction of wall on the southern border. Congress must pass a spending bill by midnight Friday to keep the government fully operational and Democrats have only agreed to fund $1.6 billion as part of a continuing resolution to keep spending at current levels.

Sanders suggested that if Congress refuses to appropriate the full $5 billion, the president can look elsewhere for those funds and sign a bill that will keep the government open.

“We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion that we will work with Congress if they will make sure that we get a bill passed that provides not just the funding for the wall, but there is a piece of legislation that’s been pushed around that Democrats voted 26-5 out of committee that provides roughly $26 billion in border security, including $1.6 billion for the wall,” Sanders said. “That’s something that we would be able to support as long as we can couple that with other funding resources that help us get to the $5 billion.”

She did not get specific about those “funding resources.” In truth, the administration’s ability to move money around is limited without congressional approval, which Trump will be hard pressed to receive once the Democrats assume control of the House of Representatives.

Yet Sanders said the president is committed to border security and does not want to shut the government down.

“We don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border from illegal immigration, from drugs coming into this country, and make sure we know who’s coming and why they’re coming, and that’s what the president is focused on,” Sanders added later.

That statement contradicts President Trump, who last week proclaimed he would be “proud” to shut down the government for border security. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republican leaders have been urging the president to avoid a government shutdown. Possibly, Trump is acquiescing to the demands of Republican congressional leaders.

Here’s the deal: If Trump signs a spending bill without the full downpayment on wall funding to avoid a government shutdown, he breaks repeated promises to fight for border security but he’ll blame the failure on Democrats and claim his administration is working around Congress. Going this route likely means no wall funding before the 202o election. If Trump keeps his promise, the government will shut down this weekend and Republicans and Democrats will continue negotiations as the media hysterically reports on the government being “shut down” while in reality less than 10% of the government stops working.

To score a win Trump and the GOP need to make a unified argument for border security. Trump should deliver an address to the nation on the hundreds of thousands of criminal convictions of illegal immigrants made in FY2018 and on the illicit drug crisis fueled by international drug cartels taking advantage of our weak borders. Trump ought to demonstrate how a wall works and how Democrats are threatening public safety by refusing to fund the wall. Trump should follow through with the shutdown threat and spend every single day of the shutdown single-mindedly hammering the Democrats until they either give in or keep the government closed indefinitely.

Short of this strategy, what exactly will change in the next two years? A Democratic House will not approve wall funding, or any other of Trump’s priorities. If the case is made to the American people that Republicans should be in control of the House again and Trump is reelected with a GOP majority in 2020, how will anything be different from the past two years of GOP control with no wall funding? Trump has repeatedly given in to demands from Congress to keep the government open and so far he has nothing to show for it. Enough is enough.

If Trump wants the wall, it’s shutdown or bust. If he’s unwilling to fight, he should tell the American people he can’t win and let them find someone else who will. (For more from the author of “White House Going Wobbly on Border Wall Shutdown? Trump Needs to Keep His Promise” please click HERE)

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GOP Operatives Reveal How Key States Feel About Trump 2020

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President Trump’s re-election campaign has yet to place staff in key states, with some Republicans anxious that the plodding pace of hiring for 2020 could squander the advantages of incumbency.

Republican operatives in a half-dozen states critical to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence winning a second term say they have seen few signs of life from the re-election campaign. With the eventual Democratic nominee sure to be mired in a competitive and possibly lengthy primary, some GOP insiders fret that Trump-Pence could miss an opportunity to enter the general election better organized and more prepared to compete.

“We just came through a tough general election here in Pennsylvania and there hasn’t been a lot of focus on 2020 yet. There’s clearly some concern,” said Charlie Gerow, a veteran Republican consultant in a state crucial to Trump’s fortunes. “It’s going to be difficult for President Trump to repeat here, but it’s clearly doable. To beat the odds, as he did in 2016, the campaign will have to have a strong ground game.” . . .

“In my thirty years of working in presidential campaigns, I have never seen a more unified, robust campaign operation than what we established in 2018, which has positioned us to deploy a winning team in 2019 and 2020,” Michael Glassner, CEO of the Trump-Pence campaign, said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “As impressive as our victory was in 2016, we are currently light years ahead in structure and operations today than we were then.”

Trump declared for re-election and started raising money for 2020 earlier than many predecessors. His campaign hired senior staff in the middle of the 2018 cycle and began charting a path to re-election. Despite growing concern at the grassroots, Republicans directly familiar with campaign planning say they aren’t unhappy with the rate of progress, dismissing the nail-biters as needlessly, and unreasonably, impatient. (Read more from “GOP Operatives Reveal How Key States Feel About Trump 2020” HERE)

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Trump Attacks Michael Cohen as a ‘Rat’ and Ramps up FBI Criticism

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By Washington Examiner. President Trump raged on Twitter Sunday morning over his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen and treatment by the FBI in a range of probes into his activities before and during his White House tenure.

Trump attacked his former fixer, calling him a “rat,” and said the FBI raiding the one-time Trump Organization attorney’s office “was absolutely unthinkable” and “unheard of,” before the bureau began its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The FBI raided Cohen’s office and hotel room in New York in April, seizing business records, emails, and documents related to Trump. Cohen on Wednesday was sentenced to three years in prison for bank and tax fraud crimes, including campaign finance violations related to Trump. In the months since the raid, Cohen has turned intensely critical of his former boss.

In his tweet, Trump also questioned why the FBI never broke into the Democratic National Committee offices or those of his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, to get servers believed by the U.S. intelligence community of having been hacked by Russia.

(Read more from “Trump Attacks Michael Cohen as a ‘Rat’ and Ramps up FBI Criticism” HERE)

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Rudy Giuliani Claims Michael Cohen Hush Payments, Possible Russia Collusion ‘Not a Crime’

By NBC News. Hush money during the campaign? “Collusion” with Russia? No crimes here, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani asserted in two contentious Sunday show interviews.

Giuliani was peppered with questions during interviews with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” and Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” about the hush payments to women that contributed to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s three year prison sentence, which he received on Wednesday, and special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Even if” Cohen’s story “were true, it’s not a crime,” Giuliani told Wallace.

In both interviews, Giuliani was asked to respond to Cohen’s Friday interview with Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America.”

“Pathetic. The man is pathetic,” Giuliani told Stephanopoulos in response to Cohen’s interview. “That was a lawyer you were interviewing. … He’s the guy you depend on to determine whether or not you should do it this way or that way.” (Read more from “Rudy Giuliani Claims Michael Cohen Hush Payments, Possible Russia Collusion ‘Not a Crime'” HERE)

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Trump Unconcerned About Impeachment: The People Would Revolt

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By GOP USA. President Trump warned against efforts to impeach him Tuesday, raising the specter of a popular uprising against a Congress that did that.

Mr. Trump issued his caution in an Oval Office interview with Reuters news agency, saying he wasn’t worried that Democrats, more of whom are publicly demanding he be removed from office, will be in control of the House next month.

“I’m not concerned, no,” he added. “I think that the people would revolt if that happened.” . . .

“It’s hard to impeach somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong and who’s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” he told the British wire service. (Read more from “Trump Unconcerned About Impeachment: The People Would Revolt” HERE)

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Dems’ Post-Midterm Strategy to Bring Down Trump Emerges

By Fox News. California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff disclosed in an interview Sunday that Democrats are in talks with counsel for former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to “bring him back” for further testimony, less than two weeks after Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 about an abandoned Trump Tower project in Moscow.

Schiff suggested Cohen will return voluntarily. If Schiff becomes the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Democrats retake the House in January, as expected, he would have the power to subpoena Cohen to testify and provide documents — but Cohen would retain the option of pleading his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. . .

Schiff also suggested Cohen could provide information on potential campaign-finance violations by the president. Cohen separately pleaded guilty in August to several charges brought by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), including five counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution. (Read more from “Dems’ Post-Midterm Strategy to Bring Down Trump Emerges” HERE)

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WATCH: Trump’s Next Chief of Staff Called Him ‘a Terrible Human Being’ Just Before He Was Elected President

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Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Management and Budget Director who President Donald Trump tweeted Friday would serve as acting chief of staff after John Kelly departs in January, has been a loyal Trump supporter — he just didn’t always like it so much.

During a debate with his then-congressional challenger, Democrat Fran Person, on Nov. 2 of 2016, less than a week before Trump was elected president, then- congressman Mulvaney was blunt with those gathered at York Middle School in York, South Carolina.

After decrying the Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a liberal who would take the country in the wrong direction, Mulvaney said he was supporting Trump, essentially by default.

“Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump, but I’m doing so despite the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being,” he said, according to a report in The State newspaper.

(Read more from “Trump’s Next Chief of Staff Called Him ‘a Terrible Human Being’ Just Before He Was Elected President” HERE)

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Will Trump Be Impeached? Here’s What Comes Next.

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This week, it has become clear that House Democrats will likely be forced to vote to impeach President Trump in 2019 on allegations of conspiracy to violate campaign finance law, obstruction of justice, and suborning of perjury. The case that Trump committed such violations isn’t implausible, at least after developments this week concerning American Media Inc. (AMI), parent company of The National Enquirer, and Michael Cohen. That doesn’t mean there’s enough evidence to prosecute — but it does mean that there may soon be. And it doesn’t mean that there’s enough there to impeach — but it’s likely that Democrats will do it anyway. . .

Campaign Finance Violation. The case here is that Trump worked with Michael Cohen, pushing Cohen to pay off former Trump paramour Stormy Daniels in the midst of an election cycle after hearing via AMI that Daniels was looking to tell her story. The alleged crime would be that the Daniels hush money was a campaign expenditure, given that it would not have existed “irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.” How do we know that Trump wouldn’t have paid off Daniels outside the campaign? AMI has now admitted that it paid former Trump paramour Karen MacDougal $150,000 “in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that [MacDougal] did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election. AMI further admitted that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.” Cohen has said that his payoffs were made at Trump’s direction, as well. . .

Surborning Perjury And Obstructing Justice. The crime of suborning perjury requires these elements, according to the Department of Justice: “that perjury was committed; that the defendant procured the perjury corruptly, knowing, believing or having reason to believe it to be false testimony; and that the defendant knew, believed or had reason to believe that the perjurer had knowledge of the falsity of his or her testimony.” Cohen is already setting Trump up for this, having pled guilty to perjury himself in his testimony before Congress. Now all he has to establish is that Trump instructed him to lie for him. Trump’s defense: Cohen is lying to procure a better deal from prosecutors. It’s not merely Cohen who puts Trump in the line of fire for suborning perjury: Michael Flynn, who has pled guilty to lying to the FBI, could theoretically do the same, although we’ve seen no indicators that Flynn will blame his lying to the FBI on Trump. . .

But is this stuff impeachable? . . .

After Bill Clinton’s impeachment and acquittal, the answer is pretty obviously no. (Read more from “Will Trump Be Impeached? Here’s What Comes Next.” HERE)

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