NationalWatch

Retired Gen. Tata to Newsmax: Accountability Needed on Ukraine Spending U.S. President Joe Biden takes questions from reporters, after he delivered remarks in the State Dining Room, at the White House on November 09, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Saturday, 19 November 2022 11:37 AM EST

Congressional Republicans are correct to demand accountability concerning Ukraine aid, particularly considering the Biden family's connection with Ukraine's government, retired U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Anthony Tata, the author of "Chasing the Lion," said on Newsmax Saturday.

"What these audits do after the fact is show that billions and trillions were wasted on things that were never intended," Tata said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."

"Whenever you throw significant money at a problem like this, maybe there's fraud, there's corruption. We know from this president's dealings in Ukraine that it's a corrupt government and they are part of that corruption. This is that's one of the stories that if the if it were a Republican administration, and certainly the media would be running with the corruption."

Biden and his family "has all kinds of tentacles" with Ukraine corruption, including Hunter Biden's employment by the oil company Burisma, Tata said.

"Nobody knows" where the billions of dollars are going, including to defense contractors, lobbyists, and corrupt officials in Ukraine, he added.

Tata also discussed last week's missile strike on Poland, telling Newsmax that the "tendency to overreact and quickly overreact" could have led to a major international conflict had a careful investigation not taken place.

"I actually credit the administration and the president for stepping back, rising above the situation, and letting the facts determine what actually happened," Tata said. "Our satellite capability and other assets give us the ability to note trajectories, the exact point of origin of launch, and an exact impact of launch."

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially blamed the missile strike on Russia, but Tata said he believes that the investigation will show that Ukraine was firing at a Russian missile, and the explosion carried it into Poland and "unfortunately killed two people as collateral damage."

"Whenever you have combat like this, there are casualties that occur like this," said Tata. "You know you don't color within the lines 100% even though you intend to."

Tata noted that the United States has a significant military presence in the war region, with the 101st Airborne in Romania and other units in Poland, Lithuania, and the Baltics.

"I've been pretty consistent in saying that after some significant fumbles early on, this administration has incrementally begun to understand how to handle this," said Tata. "I think the optics were important here to get it right from a public opinion and shaping that peace."

However, there is the issue with the left and the corporate media, who are "eager to go to war" because they see Zelenskyy as the "anti-Putin" and believe that by pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin they are making a stand against former President Donald Trump, said Tata.

"There is a wrong conflation between the two," he said.

"Thank God it wasn't intentional and that we do have a significant military presence over there," said Tata. "I think we're signaling right."

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California-13 GOP Candidate Duarte Leads Back-and-Forth Race (Newsmax)

By Eric Mack | Saturday, 19 November 2022 10:47 AM EST

A wild race in California's newly drawn 13th Congressional District has seen a seesaw battle between Republican John Duarte and Democrat Adam Gray.

Duarte and Gray have been swapping leads in recent days after the Nov. 8 elections closed. Duarte now leads by 865 votes (63,539-62,674) with 126,213 votes counted, according to Newsmax's latest tally.

Gray led on election night before Duarte took a lead for about a week, then Gray led briefly, and now Duarte has held a slight edge.

Republicans hold a 219-211 majority thus far, needing just 218 to hold the House gavels in the next Congress. Republicans have been projected to win two more seats by some analysis, which includes Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who leads in a race headed for a state-law mandated recount and the pending reelection of Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., who was one of 10 House Republicans that voted to impeach Trump after he left office in 2021.

Duarte, Boebert, and Valadao lead three of the five remaining races to be called, potentially giving the GOP a 222-213 majority come January.

Original Article

Bill Barr Speculates: DOJ Will Find 'Basis for Legitimately Indicting' Trump (Newsmax/"Prime News")

By Eric Mack | Saturday, 19 November 2022 09:49 AM EST

Once a potential ally, former Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department might "have the evidence" to indict former President Donald Trump.

"I personally think that they probably have the basis for legitimately indicting the president," Barr told PBS's "Firing Line" on Friday, before admitting, "I don't know, I'm speculating. But, given what's gone on, I think they probably have the evidence that would check the box."

Barr's opinion comes amid the National Archives' pursuit of Trump for documents from his presidency.

Trump has argued the documents in his possession are privileged and declassified by him, but Barr supported the notion President Joe Biden's Justice Department can search for documents and pressure the former president into a potential process crime.

"If the Department of Justice can show that these were indeed very sensitive documents, which I think they probably were, and also show that the president consciously was involved in misleading the department, deceiving the government, and playing games after he had received the subpoena for the documents, those are serious charges," Barr told PBS.

Barr resigned as Trump's attorney general around the time of the deadline to certify the 2020 presidential election – the election Trump sought to challenge through Jan. 6 – but Barr ultimately wants Trump to do what Trump says all the investigations are intended to force him to do: Step away from politics.

"He failed," Barr told PBS. "He didn't do what the whole country hoped – that he would rise to the occasion and rise to the office, and he didn't do that.

"So, he's had his chance. He obviously doesn't have the qualities necessary to unite the party, which is the first step on the road back, and he should stand aside."

Urgent: Dick Morris predicted a DOJ attack on Trump after he announced. Now his bestselling "The Return" warns of more troubles, Get this book with FREE Offer and Save $28! See Offer Here Now

Original Article

Bill Barr Speculates: DOJ Will Find 'Basis for Legitimately Indicting' Trump (Newsmax/"Prime News")

By Eric Mack | Saturday, 19 November 2022 09:49 AM EST

Once a potential ally, former Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department might "have the evidence" to indict former President Donald Trump.

"I personally think that they probably have the basis for legitimately indicting the president," Barr told PBS's "Firing Line" on Friday, before admitting, "I don't know, I'm speculating. But, given what's gone on, I think they probably have the evidence that would check the box."

Barr's opinion comes amid the National Archives' pursuit of Trump for documents from his presidency.

Trump has argued the documents in his possession are privileged and declassified by him, but Barr supported the notion President Joe Biden's Justice Department can search for documents and pressure the former president into a potential process crime.

"If the Department of Justice can show that these were indeed very sensitive documents, which I think they probably were, and also show that the president consciously was involved in misleading the department, deceiving the government, and playing games after he had received the subpoena for the documents, those are serious charges," Barr told PBS.

Barr resigned as Trump's attorney general around the time of the deadline to certify the 2020 presidential election – the election Trump sought to challenge through Jan. 6 – but Barr ultimately wants Trump to do what Trump says all the investigations are intended to force him to do: Step away from politics.

"He failed," Barr told PBS. "He didn't do what the whole country hoped – that he would rise to the occasion and rise to the office, and he didn't do that.

"So, he's had his chance. He obviously doesn't have the qualities necessary to unite the party, which is the first step on the road back, and he should stand aside."

Urgent: Dick Morris predicted a DOJ attack on Trump after he announced. Now his bestselling "The Return" warns of more troubles, Get this book with FREE Offer and Save $28! See Offer Here Now

Elon Musk: Poll on Bringing Trump Back to Twitter Getting Around 1M Votes Per Hour (Getty for Twitter)

Hyunjoo Jin and Sheila Dang Saturday, 19 November 2022 09:14 AM EST

Elon Musk started a Twitter poll late on Friday asking followers to vote on whether to reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump's account on the platform, with early Saturday results showing roughly 52% voting yes with 9 hours left to vote.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted, a Latin phrase that roughly means meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God." He later tweeted that about 1 million people were voting per hour.

Musk, Twitter's new owner, said in May he would reverse Twitter's ban on Trump, whose account was suspended after last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Musk said earlier in the day that a decision to bring back Trump's account was yet to be made, and that Twitter had reinstated some controversial accounts that had been banned or suspended, including satirical website Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin.

Musk's decision to ask Twitter users for guidance on who should be on the platform is part of a huge restructuring of the company, including massive layoffs.

In a memo on Friday to remaining employees that was seen by Reuters, Musk asked those who write software code to report to the 10th floor of the Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco by early afternoon.

The billionaire said in a follow-up email: "If possible, I would appreciate it if you could fly to SF to be present in person," adding he would be at the office until midnight and would return Saturday morning.

He asked employees to email him a summary of what their software code has "achieved" in the past six months, "along with up to 10 screenshots of the most salient lines of code."

"There will be short, technical interviews that allow me to better understand the Twitter tech stack," Musk wrote in one of the emails, and asked engineers to report at 2 p.m. on Friday.

The emails came a day after hundreds of Twitter employees were estimated to have decided to leave the beleaguered social media company following a Thursday deadline from Musk that staffers sign up for "long hours at high intensity."

The exodus adds to the change and chaos that have marked Musk's first three weeks as Twitter's owner. He has fired top management including former CEO Parag Agarwal and senior officials in charge of security and privacy, drawing scrutiny from a regulator.

A White House official also weighed in, saying Twitter should tell Americans how the company was protecting their data.

Tech website Platformer reported on Friday that Robin Wheeler, the company's top ad sales executive, had been fired.

Wheeler, who told employees in a memo last week that she was staying, tweeted on Friday: "To the team and my clients…you were always my first and only priority," with a salute emoji that has been adopted as a send off for departing employees.

Twitter told employees on Thursday that it would close its offices and cut badge access until Monday, according to two sources. Reuters could not immediately confirm whether the headquarters reopened.

On Friday afternoon, the company had started cutting off access to company systems for some of the employees who had declined to accept Musk's offer, three people told Reuters.

Another source said the company was planning to shut down one of Twitter's three main U.S. data centers, at the SMF1 facility near Sacramento, to save costs.

In his first email to Twitter employees this month, Musk warned that Twitter may not be able to "survive the upcoming economic downturn." He also said, "We are also changing Twitter policy such that remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception."

Amid the changes, Moody's withdrew its B1 credit rating for Twitter, saying it had insufficient information to maintain the rating.

Original Article

Elon Musk: Poll on Bringing Trump Back to Twitter Getting Around 1M Votes Per Hour (Getty for Twitter)

Hyunjoo Jin and Sheila Dang Saturday, 19 November 2022 09:14 AM EST

Elon Musk started a Twitter poll late on Friday asking followers to vote on whether to reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump's account on the platform, with early Saturday results showing roughly 52% voting yes with 9 hours left to vote.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted, a Latin phrase that roughly means meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God." He later tweeted that about 1 million people were voting per hour.

Musk, Twitter's new owner, said in May he would reverse Twitter's ban on Trump, whose account was suspended after last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Musk said earlier in the day that a decision to bring back Trump's account was yet to be made, and that Twitter had reinstated some controversial accounts that had been banned or suspended, including satirical website Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin.

Musk's decision to ask Twitter users for guidance on who should be on the platform is part of a huge restructuring of the company, including massive layoffs.

In a memo on Friday to remaining employees that was seen by Reuters, Musk asked those who write software code to report to the 10th floor of the Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco by early afternoon.

The billionaire said in a follow-up email: "If possible, I would appreciate it if you could fly to SF to be present in person," adding he would be at the office until midnight and would return Saturday morning.

He asked employees to email him a summary of what their software code has "achieved" in the past six months, "along with up to 10 screenshots of the most salient lines of code."

"There will be short, technical interviews that allow me to better understand the Twitter tech stack," Musk wrote in one of the emails, and asked engineers to report at 2 p.m. on Friday.

The emails came a day after hundreds of Twitter employees were estimated to have decided to leave the beleaguered social media company following a Thursday deadline from Musk that staffers sign up for "long hours at high intensity."

The exodus adds to the change and chaos that have marked Musk's first three weeks as Twitter's owner. He has fired top management including former CEO Parag Agarwal and senior officials in charge of security and privacy, drawing scrutiny from a regulator.

A White House official also weighed in, saying Twitter should tell Americans how the company was protecting their data.

Tech website Platformer reported on Friday that Robin Wheeler, the company's top ad sales executive, had been fired.

Wheeler, who told employees in a memo last week that she was staying, tweeted on Friday: "To the team and my clients…you were always my first and only priority," with a salute emoji that has been adopted as a send off for departing employees.

Twitter told employees on Thursday that it would close its offices and cut badge access until Monday, according to two sources. Reuters could not immediately confirm whether the headquarters reopened.

On Friday afternoon, the company had started cutting off access to company systems for some of the employees who had declined to accept Musk's offer, three people told Reuters.

Another source said the company was planning to shut down one of Twitter's three main U.S. data centers, at the SMF1 facility near Sacramento, to save costs.

In his first email to Twitter employees this month, Musk warned that Twitter may not be able to "survive the upcoming economic downturn." He also said, "We are also changing Twitter policy such that remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception."

Amid the changes, Moody's withdrew its B1 credit rating for Twitter, saying it had insufficient information to maintain the rating.

Musk: 'People Have Spoken; Trump Will Be Reinstated; Vox Populi, Vox Dei' (Newsmax)

By Eric Mack | Saturday, 19 November 2022 08:21 PM EST

Elon Musk tweeted Saturday night that "the people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated."

The news came after a Musk poll on Twitter poll found a 51.8% majority supporting bring Trump back on Twitter. Former President Donald Trump, who has vowed never to return after he was banned after Jan. 6, has yet to make a statement.

"The people have spoken," Musk tweeted moments after the poll closed before 8 p.m. Saturday night. "Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei."

The @RealDonaldTrump account was viewable against shortly after 8 p.m. ET. Notably, the last viewable tweets are from Jan. 4, 2021, so the tweets about the election and from Jan. 6, 2021 have been removed from public view.

Trump's account on Truth Social, his own social media platform, has yet to post a response.

Musk started a Twitter poll late Friday, asking followers to vote on whether to reinstate Trump's account on the platform, with Saturday night final results showing 51.8% voting "Yes" among 15,085,458 votes.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei" is a Latin phrase that roughly means "the voice of the people, the voice of God." He later tweeted about 1 million people were voting per hour.

It is not clear whether Trump would actually return to Twitter. An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, Trump has said in the past that he would not rejoin Twitter even if his account was reinstated. He has been relying on his own, much smaller social media site, Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.

And earlier Saturday, during a video speech to a Republican Jewish group meeting in Las Vegas, Trump said he was aware of Musk's poll but he saw "a lot of problems at Twitter," according to Bloomberg.

"I hear we're getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don't see it because I don't see any reason for it," Trump said, Bloomberg reported. "It may make it, it may not make it," he added, apparently referring to Twitter's recent internal upheavals.

The prospect of restoring Trump's presence to the site follows Musk's purchase last month of Twitter — an acquisition that has fanned widespread concern that the billionaire owner will allow purveyors of lies and misinformation to flourish on the site. Musk has frequently expressed his belief that Twitter had become too restrictive of freewheeling speech.

The billionaire's efforts to reshape the site have been both swift and chaotic. Musk has fired many of the company's 7,500 full-time workers and an untold number of contractors who are responsible for content moderation and other crucial responsibilities. His demand that remaining employees pledge to "extremely hardcore" work triggered a wave of resignations, including hundreds of software engineers.

Users have reported seeing increased spam and scams on their feeds and in their direct messages, among other glitches, in the aftermath of the mass layoffs and worker exodus. Some programmers who were fired or resigned this week warned that Twitter may soon fray so badly it could actually crash.

Trump lost his access to Twitter two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol, soon after the former president had exhorted them to "peacefully and patriotically" to protest. Twitter dropped his account after Trump wrote a pair of tweets that the company said cast further doubts on the legitimacy of the presidential election and raised risks for the Joe Biden presidential inauguration.

After the Jan. 6 protest, Trump was also kicked off Facebook and Instagram, which are owned by Meta Platforms, and Snapchat. His ability to post videos to his YouTube channel was also suspended. Facebook is set to reconsider Trump's account suspension in January.

In a speech at an auto conference in May, Musk asserted Twitter's ban of Trump was a "morally bad decision" and "foolish in the extreme."

Earlier this month, Musk, who completed the $44 billion takeover of Twitter in late October, declared the company would not let anyone who had been kicked off the site return until Twitter had established procedures on how to do so, including forming a "content moderation council."

Musk tweeted Friday that the suspended Twitter accounts for the comedian Kathy Griffin, the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, and the conservative Christian news satire website Babylon Bee had been reinstated. He added a decision on Trump had not yet been made. He also responded "no" when someone on Twitter asked him to reinstate the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' account.

In a tweet Friday, the Tesla CEO described the company's new content policy as "freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach."

He explained a tweet deemed to be "negative" or to include "hate" would be allowed on the site but would be visible only to users who specifically searched for it. Such tweets also would be "demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter," Musk said.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Original Article

Musk: 'People Have Spoken; Trump Will Be Reinstated; Vox Populi, Vox Dei' (Newsmax)

By Eric Mack | Saturday, 19 November 2022 08:19 PM EST

Elon Musk tweeted Saturday night that "the people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated."

The news came after a Musk poll on Twitter poll found a 51.8% majority supporting bring Trump back on Twitter. Former President Donald Trump, who has vowed never to return after he was banned after Jan. 6, has yet to make a statement.

"The people have spoken," Musk tweeted moments after the poll closed before 8 p.m. Saturday night. "Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei."

The move was not instantaneous, as the @RealDonaldTrump account remained suspended after 8 p.m. ET.

Trump's account on Truth Social, his own social media platform, has yet to post a response.

Musk started a Twitter poll late Friday, asking followers to vote on whether to reinstate Trump's account on the platform, with Saturday night final results showing 51.8% voting "Yes" among 15,085,458 votes.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei" is a Latin phrase that roughly means "the voice of the people, the voice of God." He later tweeted about 1 million people were voting per hour.

It is not clear whether Trump would actually return to Twitter. An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, Trump has said in the past that he would not rejoin Twitter even if his account was reinstated. He has been relying on his own, much smaller social media site, Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.

And earlier Saturday, during a video speech to a Republican Jewish group meeting in Las Vegas, Trump said he was aware of Musk's poll but he saw "a lot of problems at Twitter," according to Bloomberg.

"I hear we're getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don't see it because I don't see any reason for it," Trump said, Bloomberg reported. "It may make it, it may not make it," he added, apparently referring to Twitter's recent internal upheavals.

The prospect of restoring Trump's presence to the site follows Musk's purchase last month of Twitter — an acquisition that has fanned widespread concern that the billionaire owner will allow purveyors of lies and misinformation to flourish on the site. Musk has frequently expressed his belief that Twitter had become too restrictive of freewheeling speech.

The billionaire's efforts to reshape the site have been both swift and chaotic. Musk has fired many of the company's 7,500 full-time workers and an untold number of contractors who are responsible for content moderation and other crucial responsibilities. His demand that remaining employees pledge to "extremely hardcore" work triggered a wave of resignations, including hundreds of software engineers.

Users have reported seeing increased spam and scams on their feeds and in their direct messages, among other glitches, in the aftermath of the mass layoffs and worker exodus. Some programmers who were fired or resigned this week warned that Twitter may soon fray so badly it could actually crash.

Trump lost his access to Twitter two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol, soon after the former president had exhorted them to "peacefully and patriotically" to protest. Twitter dropped his account after Trump wrote a pair of tweets that the company said cast further doubts on the legitimacy of the presidential election and raised risks for the Joe Biden presidential inauguration.

After the Jan. 6 protest, Trump was also kicked off Facebook and Instagram, which are owned by Meta Platforms, and Snapchat. His ability to post videos to his YouTube channel was also suspended. Facebook is set to reconsider Trump's account suspension in January.

In a speech at an auto conference in May, Musk asserted Twitter's ban of Trump was a "morally bad decision" and "foolish in the extreme."

Earlier this month, Musk, who completed the $44 billion takeover of Twitter in late October, declared the company would not let anyone who had been kicked off the site return until Twitter had established procedures on how to do so, including forming a "content moderation council."

Musk tweeted Friday that the suspended Twitter accounts for the comedian Kathy Griffin, the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, and the conservative Christian news satire website Babylon Bee had been reinstated. He added a decision on Trump had not yet been made. He also responded "no" when someone on Twitter asked him to reinstate the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' account.

In a tweet Friday, the Tesla CEO described the company's new content policy as "freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach."

He explained a tweet deemed to be "negative" or to include "hate" would be allowed on the site but would be visible only to users who specifically searched for it. Such tweets also would be "demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter," Musk said.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:35 PM PT – Friday, November 18, 2022

Attorney General Merrick Garland has named a special counsel to see if former President Donald J. Trump should face charges stemming from ongoing Department of Justice investigations.

On Friday, Garland appointed Jack Smith to oversee the probes into Trump. That includes those related to the documents taken from the raid on Mar-a-Lago and the January 6th protest in Washington D.C.

Jack Smith began his prosecutorial career in 1994. He was an assistant District Attorney with the New York County District Attorney’s office.

Since 2018, he has served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague charged with investigating and adjudicating war crimes in Kosovo.

Garland also said Smith will be returning to the United States right away. This information comes as Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the investigations.

Original Article Oann

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:11 PM PT – Friday, November 18, 2022

Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the United States lasting commitment to the Into-Pacific as she addressed regional leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

“Our message is clear,” Harris said. “The United States has an enduring economic commitment to the Indo-Pacific. And there is no better economic partner for this region than the United States of America.”

On Friday, during remarks at the event in Thailand, Harris told attendees that there is no better economic partner for the region than the U.S., as it is a “proud Pacific power” and has a “vital interest in promoting a region that is open, interconnected, prosperous, secure and resilient.”

After former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia, several Asian nations started to doubt the American commitment to the region.

She affirmed the U.S. will continue to bolster its commitment to the region and touted the Biden administration’s work to strengthen ties with several nations. The vice president mentioned that private sector collaboration is of utmost priority.

“Under our administration, the United States is more engaged with the Indo-Pacific than we have ever been,” Harris said. “We have infused new energy and leadership into our unrivaled network of global alliances and partnerships.”

As China’s presence in the Indo-Pacific continues to grow, during her trip, Harris will also travel to Padawan to demonstrate America’s commitment to upholding law in the South China Sea.

She maintains that the U.S’s approach is “based on collaboration, sustainability, transparency and fairness.”

Original Article Oann

Original Article

GOP Presidential Hopefuls Flock to Republican Jewish Conference

(Newsmax/"John Bachman Now")

By Michael Katz | Friday, 18 November 2022 10:12 PM EST

In what is being billed as the first mass audition for the 2024 presidential election cycle, potential GOP candidates will take to the stage — or video screen — for the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership conference this weekend in Las Vegas.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, riding a wave of popularity following his reelection on Nov. 8, will be the keynote speaker Saturday night at The Venetian Resort. Mike Pence, the vice president under Donald Trump, was set to take the stage Friday night with a keynote address.

Trump, who on Tuesday became the first person to declare his candidacy for 2024, will not be in attendance, but will speak via video conference on Saturday, as will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Pence is among several presumptive candidates who have criticized Trump, saying the former president was "reckless" during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and that the GOP has "better choices" in 2024 than his former boss.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, also scheduled to speak, said the former president is standing on shakier ground than in 2016 and 2020.

"Maybe there's a little blood in the water and the sharks are circling," Hogan, a longtime Trump critic, told The Associated Press.

Last week's midterm results, Hogan said, have given more Republican leaders the confidence to voice similar concerns.

"I don't think we've ever gotten to this point before," he said.

Others scheduled to appear include presumptive House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, neither of whom intends to run for president in 2024; Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tim Scott of South Carolina; Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state under Trump; and Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump.

The Venetian, which has held the conference for several years, was owned by Miriam Adelson, the widow of billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who before his death in January 2021 at age 87 was a huge Republican donor and political kingmaker. The AP reported Miriam Adelson, 76, will remain neutral in the Republican primary race, according to the family's longtime political gatekeeper, Andy Abboud.

Original Article

Original Article

Former Rep. Nunes to Newsmax: GOP Congress Must Investigate DOJ 'Corruption'

(Newsmax/"Rob Schmitt Tonight")

By Charles Kim | Friday, 18 November 2022 09:07 PM EST

Former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Newsmax Friday that the only investigation the new GOP House majority should concentrate on when they come into office in January is investigating the "corruption" at the Department of Justice.

"Real investigations need to be done into the corruption at the Department of Justice," Nunes said during "Rob Schmitt Tonight" Friday. "We do not have a country anymore if we have a politicized and weaponized Justice Department."

The former congressman, who is now CEO of former President Donald Trump's media company that owns the Truth Social platform, said that Republicans like Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is to be the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, should form a "9/11-style" commission to look into how the DOJ has become "weaponized" by the Democrats in recent years.

"We need a 9/11-style commission. Like what happened after 9/11, similar to the Church Commission that happened back in the 1970s and 1980s, when the intelligence agencies were being corrupted, in order to get to the bottom of this year's long weaponization of the Justice Department and the intelligence agencies," he said. "Because without it, the whole country goes to hell if people rely on a … non-two-tiered justice system."

Nunes said that the recent appointment of a special counsel to look once again to see if Trump did something criminal is also targeting Republicans as a whole.

"The same thing happened back in 2017," he said. "If you look at this, the Justice Department started investigating Trump. But you know what? It's also the Republican Party. It's any member of the Republican Party that was put under investigation illegally by this government in 2016, and 2017, and 2018, and 2019, and 2020, and 2021, and 2022. Now we're going to have a new special counsel after tens of millions of dollars has been spent. This is criminal."

Nunes said that any Republican elected to public office should be standing up against this now or leave their office.

"Not everybody likes Trump. That's fine. That is your … right to support the candidate that you like," he said. "That's a different situation than what is supposed to be an impartial justice system that is not being weaponized against the political opposition. How much longer is this going to go on?"

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Original Article

Legal Experts Defend Trump Over Special Counsel Pick (Newsmax)

By Michael Katz | Friday, 18 November 2022 06:35 PM EST

Legal experts rallied to Donald Trump's defense Friday in criticizing Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of former federal attorney Jack Smith as special counsel to head the Department of Justice's investigations of the former president.

Smith was the chief prosecutor at The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo and who led the DOJ unit involved in investigating public corruption in the Obama administration. Smith, said to be a political independent, will oversee the investigations of Trump's alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and of his storing presidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump has denied all allegations.

Garland's announcement comes three days after Trump said he would run for president in 2024.

"Jack Smith is well-known and liked in leftist circles because of his role in the IRS scandal, working with Lois Lerner to illicitly target conservative groups," tweeted Mike Howell, head of The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project and former attorney for the House Oversight Committee.

Howell posted a link to a 2014 letter by Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., of the House Oversight Committee about Smith's role in helping Lerner, an Internal Revenue Service official, with the campaign in 2010 against conservative groups in the wake of the landmark Citizens United v. FEC ruling by the Supreme Court that ended federal regulations on campaign financing.

The letter stated Smith "was closely involved in engaging with the IRS in wake of Citizens United and political pressure from prominent Democrats to address perceived problems with the decision."

Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, which advocates for constitutionalist judges, and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, tweeted, "By appointing a special counsel to investigate his boss's political enemy, Attorney General Merrick Garland continues to politicize and weaponize the Biden Justice Department — all while Garland ignores smoking-gun evidence of Biden's foreign corruption."

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, tweeted: "There is no good-faith basis for the any of the DOJ 'investigations' of Trump, let alone a special counsel."

And Will Chamberlain, a lawyer and member of the Article III project, called the move "insane and stupid" in a tweet.

Legal Experts Defend Trump Over Special Counsel Pick (Newsmax)

By Michael Katz | Friday, 18 November 2022 06:35 PM EST

Legal experts rallied to Donald Trump's defense Friday in criticizing Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of former federal attorney Jack Smith as special counsel to head the Department of Justice's investigations of the former president.

Smith was the chief prosecutor at The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo and who led the DOJ unit involved in investigating public corruption in the Obama administration. Smith, said to be a political independent, will oversee the investigations of Trump's alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and of his storing presidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump has denied all allegations.

Garland's announcement comes three days after Trump said he would run for president in 2024.

"Jack Smith is well-known and liked in leftist circles because of his role in the IRS scandal, working with Lois Lerner to illicitly target conservative groups," tweeted Mike Howell, head of The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project and former attorney for the House Oversight Committee.

Howell posted a link to a 2014 letter by Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., of the House Oversight Committee about Smith's role in helping Lerner, an Internal Revenue Service official, with the campaign in 2010 against conservative groups in the wake of the landmark Citizens United v. FEC ruling by the Supreme Court that ended federal regulations on campaign financing.

The letter stated Smith "was closely involved in engaging with the IRS in wake of Citizens United and political pressure from prominent Democrats to address perceived problems with the decision."

Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, which advocates for constitutionalist judges, and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, tweeted, "By appointing a special counsel to investigate his boss's political enemy, Attorney General Merrick Garland continues to politicize and weaponize the Biden Justice Department — all while Garland ignores smoking-gun evidence of Biden's foreign corruption."

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, tweeted: "There is no good-faith basis for the any of the DOJ 'investigations' of Trump, let alone a special counsel."

And Will Chamberlain, a lawyer and member of the Article III project, called the move "insane and stupid" in a tweet.

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Rep-Elect. Hageman to Newsmax: Republicans United in Blocking Biden's Agenda

Rep.-Elect Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo. (Getty)

By Solange Reyner | Friday, 18 November 2022 06:43 PM EST

Republicans are united in blocking the Biden administration's legislative agenda regardless of the majority in the House, said Rep.-Elect Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.

"I think that we always knew that regardless of the margin of victory, the next two years would be a matter of blocking the Biden legislative agenda. And whether we have a majority of two or three or four or 40 that isn't going to change that, because I believe everybody in the Republican conference understands how disastrous the Biden administration policies have been for the United States and, frankly, for the world," Hageman said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax's "Spicer & Co."

"So I think that we're very united in pushing back and stopping [President Joe] Biden from pursuing any further legislative agenda. I don't think that that changes regardless of the size of our conference."

Hageman last Tuesday beat a Native American activist to win Wyoming's lone seat in the House, cementing her place as successor to ousted GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.

The race between Hageman and Lynnette Grey Bull drew little attention outside Wyoming compared with the GOP primary, when voters turned against Cheney for her criticism of former President Donald Trump. But Hageman kept up her campaign pace.

Republicans flipped the House with a small majority despite predictions that a red wave was coming.

Hageman also said she would support Kevin McCarthy as House speaker but warned that "there needs to be some important rule changes made."

"A lot of it has to do with being able to participate in the legislative process," said Hageman.

"We all know that Nancy Pelosi completely shut out Republicans when it came to legislating. She limited Republicans' powers on committees. Basically, they had no voice while she was speaker of the house; and that's been a tragedy not only for the states that they represent, but again for the country as a whole. We have never been able to fully have the debate on a lot of these incredibly important issues that have passed."

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Gordon Chang to Newsmax: America's $1T Debt With China 'Really Frightening'

(Dreamstime)

By Jay Clemons | Friday, 18 November 2022 05:36 PM EST

Gordon Chang, a prominent author and lawyer, finds it alarming that China holds the second-largest portion of the United States' global debt — at approximately $1 trillion.

As the world's No. 1 economic superpower, Chang believes that America should have the easy capacity for managing low debt and realizing high prosperity.

But that's not the case. In times of market fluctuations, anyone from anywhere can purchase Treasury securities at any time.

"I don't like that China owns so much of our debt," Chang told Newsmax Friday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show" with guest host John Tabacco.

Chang continued: "The issue here is, we shouldn't be into debt at all … it's really frightening."

Both Republican and Democrat presidents from the past four decades have largely ignored this country's spiraling debt, reasoned Chang, who's currently promoting a book, "The Great U.S.-China Tech War."

As a result, the present-day American taxpayer is left with the burden of high inflation and being susceptible to extreme market volatility with the U.S. dollar.

"There's only country that can tank the dollar, and it's us," added Chang.

Being in debt to an adversary isn't Chang's only China-related concern. He also worries about TikTok being used for specific data-collection purposes — while being billed as harmless entertainment to American consumers.

"TikTok is China's weapon against the United States," said Chang, while adding that Chinese companies are collecting data from "tens of millions" of unsuspecting Americans.

TikTok also serves a secondary purpose for China, according to Chang. It's used for "propagating narratives" straight from the Chinese government, whether it involves advocating drug use, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war or fomenting violence in American streets during 2020.

"President [Donald] Trump was right to ban TikTok" before leaving the White House, said Chang. "And it was wrong for President [Joe] Biden to reverse that ban."

The above comment then prompted Chang to wonder whether the U.S. and China now have a reciprocal relationship, built on respect.

"China's very restrictive about letting [other countries' tech innovations] into its country, so why are we allowing China to have [TikTok] in the states?" Chang asked.

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