NationalWatch

Mark Meadows to Newsmax: WH Tries to Run Out Clock on Midterms (Newsmax/"Prime News")

By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 10:38 PM EDT

Reports of an El Paso, Texas, mayor being pressured by the Biden administration to hold off declaring a state of emergency on illegal immigration until after the midterms not only smacks of politics, but a potential quid pro quo, according to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Newsmax.

"Controlling the narrative won't work by convincing one particular mayor to suggest that it's not an emergency," Meadows told Tuesday's "Prime News" with Jenn Pellegrino. "Do you think there's probably some kind of quid pro quo there? Which says: 'If you just hold off after the midterms we'll take care of you with more FEMA funding.'

"You know, I think it's ripe for oversight to see exactly the involvement of this particular administration."

Meadows noted this is just the latest case of the Biden administration attempting to use connections to control narratives, comparing this to the work with the teacher's unions in efforts to label conservative parents domestic terror threats.

"They back channeled with the teachers union," Meadows told Pellegrino. "This time, it's all about working with a Democrat mayor to suggest that they don't have an emergency on the border.

"And, you're right, it smells like politics and trying to put a narrative forward before the November midterms."

Meadows noted he would have been dealing with a firestorm if something like this happened when he was in the White House working for Trump.

"If this had been Donald Trump, this would have made news all over, every single headline," Meadows said.

But the midterms is about winning elections and not winning narratives, and Meadows concluded Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is going to help Republicans regain the Senate majority because of his inability to serve the border state of Arizona on controlling illegal immigration under President Joe Biden.

"You've got a senator in Arizona – Sen. Kelly is basically talking about how he can work with this administration," Meadows said. "He can't even get Joe Biden to the border, let alone to control it. So this just more of the same. It's hoping that a problem solves itself, just like they are with inflation, just like they have with gas prices.

"Unfortunately they need real leadership – that leadership has been lacking since January of 2021."

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Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:52 PM PT – Tuesday, October 18, 2022

45th President Donald Trump is defending rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, amid far-left attacks.

In a recent interview, Trump praised Ye for supporting American patriots and the MAGA movement. He said that the rapper has faced a lot of criticism for his political views. The 45th President made it known that he is not familiar with Ye’s recent statements that sparked fury among the far-left mob.

“I’ve always got along with him,” Trump said. “I liked him. I’ve always gotten along with him so I don’t really know what statements he made. Sometimes he’ll make a statement and a lot of people think worse than he means it to be.”

Trump went on to say that he has a strong personal relationship with Ye.

“Well, I haven’t really seen the statements. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me beyond anybody. He was great to me and he was great really, to the MAGA movement which was very impressive,” Trump said. “I think that you know. I was, I was certainly very, you know, what I’m talking about. He was really high on a guy named Donald Trump.”

Trump also admitted that Ye may be making controversial statements, but he does not believe that Ye means anything bad by it.

Original Article Oann

Peter Strzok: '9/11 Is Nothing Compared to Jan. 6' (Newsmax)

By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 08:05 PM EDT

In a statement oft-repeated by Democrats seeking to weaponize Jan. 6 as a political tool, fired FBI agent Peter Strzok called Sept. 11, 2001 a "tragedy" but "nothing compared to Jan. 6."

"I think that's right and I think if you look at the scale in terms of a threat to democracy. 9/11 was a tragedy," Strzok told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Monday. "We lost thousands of lives in a horrific way. We still mourn to this day.

"But when you look at something that is an attack on democracy, something that could bring about a fundamental change to American governance, 9/11 is nothing compared to Jan. 6."

Strzok is calling on his former employer, the FBI, to get on "war footing" under President Joe Biden.

"The fact that the FBI and the rest of the government, if they are not on the same sort of war footing that we were on in the weeks and months and years after 9/11, shame on everyone," Strzok added.

Strzok played a key role in both the squashed Hillary Clinton email probe and the allegations of Russian collusion, both rebuked by Republicans as attempts to keep former President Donald Trump from being elected, if not force his ouster once he took office.

Strzok believes in the Jan. 6 narrative to tarnish Trump.

"This is a far greater threat to our constitutional democracy than anything we've faced in the past 20 or more years," he continued to Wallace, who did not challenge him on his explosive remarks. "We need to be addressing it the same way. I suspect if they were, if we were, we might hear more about it, and I think that's the sort of thing that gives a lot of observers, those of us who have been in the FBI, a little bit of concern whether the same urgency and approach to the situation, whether that approach is on par with the nature of the threat we're facing right now."

Trump denounced the partisan "deep state" as a "cancer" that is "purposely destroying our nation."

"It was during the Trump administration that the 'deep state' corruption, and pure hatred of our country, was fully exposed – no longer just a nasty myth, concept, or idea," Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social. "This is yet another great achievement, but something must now be done to rid us of this cancer that is purposely destroying our nation.

"There is far more danger from within than anything coming from the outside. We must join together and make America great again!!!"

Americans on Twitter also denounced Strzok's comments and past indiscretions.

"Peter Strzok is trending, which is a good time to remember he framed the president of the United States for treason, was caught, was never raided, was never prosecuted, and retired with a full pension," one post read.

"The relationship between Peter Strzok and morality/reality never has been a strong one…," Tricia Flanagan tweeted, with a photo of Strzok from his infamous appearance before Congress.

Original Article

Peter Strzok: '9/11 Is Nothing Compared to Jan. 6' (Newsmax)

By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 08:05 PM EDT

In a statement oft-repeated by Democrats seeking to weaponize Jan. 6 as a political tool, fired FBI agent Peter Strzok called Sept. 11, 2001 a "tragedy" but "nothing compared to Jan. 6."

"I think that's right and I think if you look at the scale in terms of a threat to democracy. 9/11 was a tragedy," Strzok told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Monday. "We lost thousands of lives in a horrific way. We still mourn to this day.

"But when you look at something that is an attack on democracy, something that could bring about a fundamental change to American governance, 9/11 is nothing compared to Jan. 6."

Strzok is calling on his former employer, the FBI, to get on "war footing" under President Joe Biden.

"The fact that the FBI and the rest of the government, if they are not on the same sort of war footing that we were on in the weeks and months and years after 9/11, shame on everyone," Strzok added.

Strzok played a key role in both the squashed Hillary Clinton email probe and the allegations of Russian collusion, both rebuked by Republicans as attempts to keep former President Donald Trump from being elected, if not force his ouster once he took office.

Strzok believes in the Jan. 6 narrative to tarnish Trump.

"This is a far greater threat to our constitutional democracy than anything we've faced in the past 20 or more years," he continued to Wallace, who did not challenge him on his explosive remarks. "We need to be addressing it the same way. I suspect if they were, if we were, we might hear more about it, and I think that's the sort of thing that gives a lot of observers, those of us who have been in the FBI, a little bit of concern whether the same urgency and approach to the situation, whether that approach is on par with the nature of the threat we're facing right now."

Trump denounced the partisan "deep state" as a "cancer" that is "purposely destroying our nation."

"It was during the Trump administration that the 'deep state' corruption, and pure hatred of our country, was fully exposed – no longer just a nasty myth, concept, or idea," Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social. "This is yet another great achievement, but something must now be done to rid us of this cancer that is purposely destroying our nation.

"There is far more danger from within than anything coming from the outside. We must join together and make America great again!!!"

Americans on Twitter also denounced Strzok's comments and past indiscretions.

"Peter Strzok is trending, which is a good time to remember he framed the president of the United States for treason, was caught, was never raided, was never prosecuted, and retired with a full pension," one post read.

"The relationship between Peter Strzok and morality/reality never has been a strong one…," Tricia Flanagan tweeted, with a photo of Strzok from his infamous appearance before Congress.

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:20 AM PT – Tuesday, October 18, 2022

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has warned that House Republicans will not write “a blank check” to Ukraine if the party takes back control of the Lower Chamber.

On Tuesday, McCarthy (R-Ca.) made the statement in an interview. There, he cited issues that need attention in the United States.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” the Minority Leader said. “They just won’t do it.”

He emphasized that while Ukraine is important, taxpayers are hurting by the record-high inflation and the border crisis under the Biden Administration’s watch. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, reports have shown that the U.S. has spent more than $60 billion on economic and military aid.

Many Republicans in the House support Ukraine’s military aid but are unconvinced regarding non-military humanitarian assistance.

Original Article Oann

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:47 AM PT – Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard is campaigning for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
On Tuesday, Gabbard will join Lake at an Arizona Young Republican engagement forum. The event will be attended by other Trump-endorsed Republicans, including Senate candidate Blake Masters and Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh.
Gabbard endorsed Lake in a series of Tweets. The former Democrat said that Lake’s a leader who puts people first, fights for border security and for other policies that make life better for the American people.

This endorsement comes one-week after Gabbard left the Democrat party.

Gabbard said that she looks forward to supporting Lake ahead of the critical midterm elections. Lake thanked Gabbard and said that it’s truly an honor to have the endorsement from an American hero.

Original Article Oann

Jury Acquits Analyst Accused of Lying About Steele Dossier Role

Tuesday, 18 October 2022 04:28 PM EDT

An Alexandria, Virginia, jury on Tuesday acquitted analyst Igor Danchenko, who was accused of lying to the FBI about his role in a discredited dossier that had purported to tie former President Trump to Russia.

It marks the second loss for special prosecutor John Durham.

This is a developing story.

Original Article

Jury Acquits Analyst Accused of Lying About Steele Dossier Role Special Counsel John Durham (AP)

Tuesday, 18 October 2022 04:28 PM EDT

A Russian researcher who contributed explosive details to the discredited "Steele dossier" that alleged ties between former President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia was acquitted on Tuesday on charges he lied to the FBI about the sources of his intelligence.

A federal jury's acquittal of Igor Danchenko represents yet another blow to Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed in 2019 by Trump-era Attorney General William Barr to probe the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation into whether Trump's 2016 presidential campaign had colluded with Russia.

"While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service," Durham said in a statement.

The decision marks the second defeat for Durham and his team of prosecutors. Earlier this year, a jury in Washington, D.C., acquitted Michael Sussmann, an attorney for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, of charges he lied to the FBI when he passed along a later discredited tip about possible communications between Trump's business and a Russian bank.

Trump Special Master Has 'No Patience' for Records Tiff (Newsmax)

By Charlie McCarthy | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 03:12 PM EDT

The special master reviewing documents seized from Donald Trump's Florida estate took a hard line Tuesday with lawyers for the former president and attorneys for the Justice Department.

U.S. District Senior Judge Raymond Dearie encouraged lawyers on both sides to narrow their disputes about the documents so his review can be completed by a Dec. 16 deadline.

Dearie warned Trump's lawyers that their initial efforts to claim certain records were personal and not presidential might be lacking enough detail, Bloomberg reported.

"Where’s the beef? I need some beef," Dearie told attorneys during a telephone status hearing.

The judge said there was a "certain incongruity" to lawyers claiming that at least one document was both personal to Trump and covered by executive privilege.

"Unless I'm wrong, and I've been wrong before, there's a certain incongruity there," Dearie said, USA Today reported. "We’re going to have to deal with that sooner rather than later."

Dearie also scolded Trump lawyers and DOJ attorneys regarding a dispute over a document — an unsigned June 2017 letter from Trump's personal law firm at the time to former special counsel Robert Mueller during his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election — the former president says is shielded by a privilege for legal materials, Bloomberg said.

Both sides argued over who was responsible for confirming whether Trump’s attorneys sent the letter to the government.

"I have no patience for either one of you on this point," Dearie warned, directing the attorney to sort out what he deemed to be a factual issue of whether it was sent or not. "I don’t want to be dealing with nonsense objections."

Lawyers for both sides have until Nov. 12 to provide Dearie with a list of documents that potentially could fall under personal, attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.

The judge also said the number of non-classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago by FBI agents is 21,792, much less than the 200,000 pages estimated, USA Today reported.

USA Today reported that a vendor estimated the larger figure based on the length of typical business documents, according to a DOJ lawyer.

Tuesday's hearing came while the DOJ waits for a decision concerning its appeal asking to overturn a judge's appointment of the special master.

Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at his Palm Beach, Florida, home after leaving office in January 2021. The government also is investigating possible obstruction of the probe.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Original Article

'Facts Matter Most': Ex-N.Y. Gov. Cuomo Launches Podcast Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)

By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 02:38 PM EDT

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned his office in 2021 amid sexual assault accusations by several women, is trying to make a comeback with a weekly podcast that will feature former President Donald Trump ally Anthony Scaramucci.

"People need to separate fact from opinion. You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts. Facts matter most," Cuomo said in a Quake Media press release announcing the new podcast, airing Oct. 20. "In 'As a Matter of Fact… with Andrew Cuomo' you will get no happy talk from me. I'm going to give it to you straight.

"I have worked cooperatively and successfully in New York, Washington, and across the country. My intention is to tell you the unvarnished truth – frank and candid – from a person who's been in the room many times for many years."

According to the release, Cuomo will host Scaramucci as his first guest on the podcast, which will be available through the Quake Media app, the Quake Media YouTube channel, or on Apple Podcasts with the first two weeks being free and then with a subscription.

Quake is a subscription-based podcast network that started six years ago with six exclusive shows featuring media and political "all-stars," according to the company, which is planning to expand into new areas with shows dedicated to sports, religion, and business.

Scaramucci, founder of the global alternative investment firm Skybridge in 2005, is probably best known as the short-lived White House communications director under Trump for 10 days in 2017, his CNBC profile said.

In addition to the new podcast, Cuomo has launched a political action committee "to get the right people elected," and is starting a gun safety organization, CBS News reported earlier this month.

"I have fought the good fight in government and politics my whole life, and I am not done fighting yet," he said in the report.

Cuomo said in the report that he hopes his PAC will find people "who will fight for change and get results" and not be "afraid to take the heat that goes with leadership."

In a video posted on Twitter Sept. 28, Cuomo said he has been spending his time reconnecting with his family, being out in nature, and using his hands on mechanical tasks, including work on a car and old Harley Davidson motorcycle.

'Facts Matter Most': Ex-N.Y. Gov. Cuomo Launches Podcast Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)

By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 02:38 PM EDT

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned his office in 2021 amid sexual assault accusations by several women, is trying to make a comeback with a weekly podcast that will feature former President Donald Trump ally Anthony Scaramucci.

"People need to separate fact from opinion. You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts. Facts matter most," Cuomo said in a Quake Media press release announcing the new podcast, airing Oct. 20. "In 'As a Matter of Fact… with Andrew Cuomo' you will get no happy talk from me. I'm going to give it to you straight.

"I have worked cooperatively and successfully in New York, Washington, and across the country. My intention is to tell you the unvarnished truth – frank and candid – from a person who's been in the room many times for many years."

According to the release, Cuomo will host Scaramucci as his first guest on the podcast, which will be available through the Quake Media app, the Quake Media YouTube channel, or on Apple Podcasts with the first two weeks being free and then with a subscription.

Quake is a subscription-based podcast network that started six years ago with six exclusive shows featuring media and political "all-stars," according to the company, which is planning to expand into new areas with shows dedicated to sports, religion, and business.

Scaramucci, founder of the global alternative investment firm Skybridge in 2005, is probably best known as the short-lived White House communications director under Trump for 10 days in 2017, his CNBC profile said.

In addition to the new podcast, Cuomo has launched a political action committee "to get the right people elected," and is starting a gun safety organization, CBS News reported earlier this month.

"I have fought the good fight in government and politics my whole life, and I am not done fighting yet," he said in the report.

Cuomo said in the report that he hopes his PAC will find people "who will fight for change and get results" and not be "afraid to take the heat that goes with leadership."

In a video posted on Twitter Sept. 28, Cuomo said he has been spending his time reconnecting with his family, being out in nature, and using his hands on mechanical tasks, including work on a car and old Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Original Article

FBI Whistleblower to Newsmax: Agency Showing Bias Against Conservatives (Newsmax?"National Report")

By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 01:38 PM EDT

Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin told Newsmax Tuesday the agency is appearing to show its bias against conservatives in the investigations it chooses to pursue, causing the public to view its actions suspiciously.

"The appearance of impropriety is, in fact, sort of the public perception, and so that's what the public is going to walk around with, that there is impropriety, whether or not it exists," Seraphin said during "National Report" Tuesday. "We only see one side of the aisle, in any really dramatic way, being attacked when it comes to political surrogates for [former] President [Donald] Trump. They're having their phone seized and so on. We're seeing journalists who have been attacked like Project Veritas, that goes back a couple of years at this point, and so it really is a one-sided enforcement."

Seraphin said he was suspended by the agency for losing his security clearance after he was judged by the bureau as being unprofessional to a law enforcement officer in New Mexico, a claim he disputes.

"That was not the case. I've got the body camera footage, which proves that I wasn't [unprofessional with the officer,] and I've had it reviewed by dozens of state, local, and federal law enforcement officers, and nobody sees any issue with it," he said. "So, I'm pretty confident it was a political agenda. The FBI obviously will not admit to something like that, but that's what it feels like from my end."

In a September interview with the Washington Times, Seraphin said the agency tried to entrap alleged "white supremacists" to make cases consistent with the Democrats and President Joe Biden's "danger to democracy" narrative.

"My team was deployed to 20 or 25 different high-profile, national terrorism organization or terrorism investigations between 2018 and 2021," Seraphin told the publication. "And what I saw, as the most obvious statement, is that there are three things about counterterrorism investigations: No. 1, the demand for White supremacy vastly outstrips the supply of White supremacy. No. 2, the FBI's playbook when it comes to counterterrorism investigations is always and unequivocally morally equivalent to entrapment, even if there's a legal definition that allows them to skirt that."

Seraphin said Tuesday that it really doesn't matter if the agency is not acting with bias and just building cases, the appearance of bias is what matters and shapes the perception of the public.

"Whether that's the case because the bureau is choosing to do it, or whether they just happen to be building those cases, it doesn't really matter because that's the way the public is going to take it," he said. "And at least half this country is looking at the FBI very suspiciously."

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Original Article

Bob Woodward Set to Release Audio Book of Trump Interviews Bob Woodward (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Audi Canada)

By Jeffrey Rodack | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 01:20 PM EDT

Famed Watergate journalist Bob Woodward is releasing an audio book that will include 20 taped interviews he did with Donald Trump from 2016-2020, according to CNN.

The audio book, which is slated to be released next Tuesday, is titled: "The Trump Tapes." The interviews — conducted before Trump was elected president and during his years in the White House — last eight hours.

CNN noted that in the book's introduction, Woodward says that he is releasing the recordings in part because "hearing Trump speak is a completely different experience to reading the transcripts or listening to snatches of interviews on television or the internet."

The news network, which obtained a copy of the audio book, said Woodward describes Trump as "raw, profane, divisive and deceptive. His language is often retaliatory."

"Yet, you will also hear him engaging and entertaining, laughing, ever the host," he said. "He is trying to win me over, sell his presidency to me. The full-time salesman. I wanted to put as much of Trump's voice, his own words, out there for the historical record and so people could hear and judge and make their own assessments."

In a June 2020 interview, which came after nationwide protests over George Floyd's death, Trump was asked whether he had assistance in writing his speech declaring himself the "president of law and order," according to CNN.

"I get, I get people," Trump told Woodward. "They come up with ideas. But the ideas are mine, Bob. The ideas are mine. Want to know something? Everything is mine. You know, everything. Every part of it."

Trump had labeled Woodward a "con man" after the journalist's book, "Peril" with co-author Robert Costa, said that the Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, Gen. Mark Milley, twice called his Chinese counterpart in the final months of the Trump administration to reassure him that the then-president had no plans to attack China in an effort to remain in power.

"Does anybody really believe that longtime Con Man Bob Woodward, and his lightweight lapdog assistant Robert Costa, are implying in their book of fiction that I was planning to go to war with China, but that one of the dumber generals in the military called the Chinese to tell them that he will inform them if this action proceeds further?" Trump asked in a statement.

Original Article

Heritage Foundation: US Military Rated as 'Weak' for First Time Soldiers salute (Dreamstime)

By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 12:42 PM EDT

U.S. military strength has hit a decade low, with The Heritage Foundation 2023 review considering the U.S. military "weak" for the first time in the history of its annual report and "at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests."

Military readiness and strength has been a coming warning from former President Donald Trump aimed at his successor, President Joe Biden.

"It is rated as weak relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were," according to The Heritage Foundation review. "This is the logical consequence of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged."

The review measures the country's ability to win two major military conflicts at once in different areas of the world, but concluded the current status is risking being unable to "meet the demands of a single major regional conflict" and is "ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous" military conflicts, according to the report.

"No matter how much America desires that the world be a simpler, less threatening place that is more inclined to beneficial economic interactions than violence-laden friction, the patterns of history show that competing powers consistently emerge and that the U.S. must be able to defend its interests in more than one region at a time," according to The Heritage Foundation.

The Marines scored a "strong" rating, up from "marginal" in 2021, in its individual review, while the Air Force fell to the bottom of the list as "very weak" due to struggles recruiting and retaining pilots, leaving "little doubt that it would struggle in war with a peer competitor," according to the report.

"Of the five services, the Corps is the only one that has a compelling story for change, has a credible and practical plan for change, and is effectively implementing its plan to change," the report read. "However, in the absence of additional funding that would enable the Corps to maintain higher end strength while also pursuing its modernization and reorientation efforts, the Corps will reduce the number of its battalions even further to just 21, and this reduction will limit the extent to which it can conduct distributed operations as envisioned and replace combat losses (thus limiting its ability to sustain operations)."

The Army scored "marginal," while the Navy and Space Force were below that at "weak," as well.

Amid nuclear threats from Russia, if not North Korea and potentially Iran, the U.S. nuclear arsenal scored a "strong" rating with caveats it might be trending toward "marginal," if not "weak" in the future.

"The scoring for U.S. nuclear weapons must be considered in the context of a threat environment that is significantly more dangerous than it was in previous years," according to the report. "Until recently, U.S. nuclear forces needed to address one nuclear peer rather than two.

"Given senior leaders' reassurances with respect to the readiness and reliability of U.S. nuclear forces, as well as the strong bipartisan commitment to modernization of the entire nuclear enterprise, this year's Index retains its grade of 'strong,' but only for now.

"U.S. nuclear forces face many risks that, without a continued commitment to a strong deterrent, could warrant a decline to an overall score of 'marginal' or 'weak.'

"The reliability of current U.S. delivery systems and warheads is at risk as they continue to age and the threat continues to advance."

Rep. Comer to Newsmax: 'Huge Problem' If FBI Covering for Biden Over Hunter Rep. James Comer, R-Ken. (Getty Images)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 18 October 2022 10:28 AM EDT

If the FBI hasn't moved toward charging Hunter Biden because his actions directly implicate his father, President Joe Biden, "then we've got a huge problem here on our hands," Rep. James Comer told Newsmax Tuesday.

"The question is, where has the FBI been all along on the Hunter Biden situation?" said the Kentucky Republican on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Is it because it implicates Joe Biden? That is one of the biggest problems that our country can imagine right now."

His comments come after Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, saying the FBI has records that detail potential criminal activity by the president's family in its foreign business deals.

This includes evidence concerning Hunter and his business and financial relationship with the Ukraine energy company Burisma, and that the president was not only aware of his business arrangements but may have been involved in some of them.
"Grassley's exactly right in asking the FBI for their information because the question that those of us who have been on top of this Hunter Biden investigation for months now have is where's the FBI?" said Comer, adding that the president's son "is a national security risk."

"We all know he's a shady business character," he added. "The problem is he's probably influenced his father in several important decisions, so he's compromised this White House."

The news also shows there is a double standard where the FBI is concerned and how it treated former President Donald Trump compared to Biden, said Comer, who believes if it is determined that Biden was involved in his son's business dealings, that would be grounds for impeachment.

"So much of what they investigated Trump on was based on the Steele dossier, which we now know was complete fiction," said Comer. "Now here we have credible information, not just from one or two whistleblowers. We have emails. We have text messages. We have audio tapes, and I know the FBI has things that I've been requesting."

Any impeachment proceedings, though, would not take place immediately.

"We need to focus on policy in the beginning [so] it's going to take a few months," said Comer. "We're going to have to depose people. We're going to have to get information, and then we're going to have to dig through [it]…I think that we can provide the facts and then the conference can go from there. But it's not looking good for the Biden administration right now when it comes to oversight."

The congressman added that he hopes a GOP-led House will have its Oversight Committee investigate the president's son, not a special counsel, which he said takes too long to make determinations and take action.

"I think we can move fast," he said. "All we need are those bank records and the bank violations, then I think we can move at a rapid speed faster than any committee that's in charge of investigations has moved in the past because we've done so much preliminary work now. So I'm opposed to a special counsel. But I know a lot of my colleagues in the House support one."

Meanwhile, Comer said that if Republicans take the House, he would call to terminate the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 incidents at the Capitol, as he believes it's time to move on, even though the violent protests were "a bad deal."

"We've got to focus on all the crises that the Biden administration created, and we have to hold people accountable," said Comer. "We have to fix the policies that are broken because of Joe Biden."

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Parler Exec Peikoff to Newsmax: 'Pleasantly Surprised,' 'Excited' by Ye Purchase Offer (Newsmax/"American Agenda")

By Charles Kim | Monday, 17 October 2022 10:49 PM EDT

Parler's Head of Policy and Legal, Amy Peikoff told Newsmax on Monday she was "pleasantly surprised" to learn rapper Kanye West, who now goes by "Ye," was interested in buying the social media platform.

She is "excited" to see what that could mean with the musician.

"I found out about this only on Friday, and I told George Farmer, our CEO, 'You know, I thought nothing could surprise me anymore,' but this was, of course, a pleasant surprise, but a surprise," Peikoff told Monday's "American Agenda." "At the same time, he's an artist, and he's a musician. So, one of the things I'm very excited about is that he's going to bring to the platform a lot of nonpolitical content, not just politics anymore, so I'm very excited to see where it goes."

The New York Times reported Monday that Ye would buy the social media platform, which prides itself on a lack of censoring users and protecting the First Amendment's right to free speech, for an "undisclosed" amount.

The rapper approached Parler a week after being restricted on his Twitter and Instagram accounts for alleged antisemitic remarks he made there.

"[Ye will help us] continue the fight against censorship, cancel culture, and authoritarianism," George Farmer, the chief executive of Parler's parent company, Parlement Technologies, said in a statement to the Times on Monday.

Peikoff, who has been with the company for two years, said she witnessed the initial exodus from Twitter to Parler by many conservatives after being banned or restricted from what they could tweet.

Parler, however, was also a victim of cancel culture itself around the same time, losing its cloud services and hosting from Apple, Google, and Amazon in January 2021 after being accused of having a role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Forbes reported in February 2021 – when the site relaunched with a new web-hosting company, Epik, which also hosts Gab and 8chan.

"When Parler was taken offline in January by those who desire to silence 10s of millions of Americans, our team came together, determined to keep our promise to our highly engaged community that we would return stronger than ever," interim Parler CEO Mark Meckler told the publication at the time, adding: "We're thrilled to welcome everyone back."

Parler is among a group of alternative social media sites like Truth Social, owned by former President Donald Trump, and created after he was taken off Twitter in the aftermath of Jan. 6, so conservative voices could still have a voice online.

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Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax: Trump Warrants Praise for Devotion to Israel (Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 17 October 2022 09:35 PM EDT

Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School and one of this country's foremost authorities on the U.S. Constitution, often acknowledges he didn't vote for Donald Trump in either the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections.

That aside, the Democrat-favoring Dershowitz still appreciates what former President Trump has done through the years, in terms of providing unwavering support to Israel.

"The [Zionist Organization of America] just gave Trump its highest award," Dershowitz told Newsmax Monday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show."

For Trump's illustrious award — which has previously gone to such luminaries as Lord Balfour, Winston Churchill, President Harry Truman, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and former Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin — the Zionist Organization characterized the former president as "the best friend Israel ever had in the White House."

And Dershowitz agrees with that sentiment, saying Trump and Truman had the best presidential records for embracing and protecting Israel's ideals and values.

Dershowitz says "I didn't vote for [Trump] … but certainly admire his work" with the Abraham Accords, a series of landmark agreements — made official by the Trump White House in 2020 — in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain both recognized Israel's sovereignty, enabling the establishment of full diplomatic relations.

Or, as Trump referred it to then, "peace in the Middle East."

Despite Trump's appeal with the ZOA, some left-leaning media outlets took exception to the Republican's recent call for American Jews being more supportive of Israel.

"When you make antisemitism into a partisan issue, that really is a terrible, terrible thing," said Dershowitz, author of the book, "The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth The Consequences."

During the interview, Dershowitz seemed chagrined by how Trump's pro-Israel remarks have received more pushback than previous antisemitic statements from Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress.

"The Republicans have done far more" in terms of censuring their own members for making ill-conceived comments, says Dershowitz.

The special Newsmax contributor also expressed disappointment in colleges shutting out Jewish speakers, or establishing "Jewish-free zones," specifically the University of Cal-Berkeley, which recently welcomed a number of different-minded viewpoints to a speakers bureau — minus the Jewish perspective, according to Dershowitz.

"A Zionist speaker? God forbid," said Dershowitz, with a mocking tone. "And those are all left-wing Democrats making those rules" at UC-Berkeley.

Bottom line: Dershowitz says both political parties need to rein in the anti-Jewish discussions. Perhaps take a page from Trump's personal playbook.

"There's too much 'anti' in this country," quipped Dershowitz, alluding to any type of bias that has "anti" in the front.

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Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:22 PM PT – Monday, October 17, 2022

Truth Social topped the charts of free apps on the Google Play store after it was restored to the platform.

Donald Trump pointed to his social media site’s success on Sunday. The 45th President announced that the app has surpassed big name apps like Instagram and TikTok.

This comes after Google Play agreed to allow the platform Truth Social to once again be available to download after moderation policies were agreed on.

Former Representative Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, said that this marks an important moment for online free speech.

Original Article Oann

Sen. Tuberville Blasts Dems' Racism Claims: 'The Issue Is Crime, Not Race' (Newsmax)

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 17 October 2022 08:03 PM EDT

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. has formally addressed the accusations of him being "racist" or "divisive," following recent remarks at a political rally in Nevada.

"The issue is crime, not race, but the liberal media is intent on helping Democrats remain in power," Tuberville said through a spokesperson on Monday. "Crime has spiked nationwide under Democrats and their 'Defund the Police' policies, and I was pointing out the frustration many Americans share when I spoke last weekend."

The remarks that apparently angered the NAACP, civil rights groups, and White House officials:

Tuberville said the Democrats were not just soft on crime, "they're pro-crime. … They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that. They're not owed that."

Shortly after Tuberville's comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "The president used to say, and I'll quote the president right now: 'Hate never goes away, it only hides, but lately, it's just out in the open at these extreme MAGA rallies.'"

As Newsmax chronicled last month, President Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech in Philadelphia — replete with an ominous red background — that seemingly painted all America First Republicans as hateful and dangerous to society.

''I think President Biden owes every patriot American out there that's from a red state that voted for President Trump an apology, and he should do it now,'' Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told ''Rob Schmitt Tonight.''

''The guy ran on unity, and here he is dividing the country by calling us the biggest threat,'' Mullin continued then.

Tuberville offered the following retort to the White House's latest response:

"Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and rioters have caused over $2 billion in damage to our cities since 2020.

"Illegal immigrants and drugs are streaming cross our southern border in record numbers. Progressive prosecutors across the nation refuse to enforce laws they personally disagree with, and our communities are suffering because of it. Even Alabama Democrats want to satisfy the outrageous demands of murderers and rapists currently on work-strike in state prisons.

"Democrats favor criminals over the victims through their actions and policies," added Tuberville. "As a coach, building young people of character was one of my top priorities. As a senator, I want to ensure that we create policies at the national level that reinforce values such as integrity and accountability. I will continue to fight for safer communities and accountability for criminals. Americans should not live in fear."

According to FBI crime data (covering 2020 and 2021), robbery and property crime rates dropped 8.9% and 4.5% respectively.

However, the frequency of murders increased by 4.3%.

And overall, the FBI reported a 1.7% drop in total violent crime nationwide.

Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:55 PM PT – Monday, October 17, 2022

Federal prosecutors are recommending a six-month sentence for Steve Bannon for his contempt of Congress.

In a court filing on Monday, the Department of Justice argued that former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon should get jail time. The DOJ came to the consensus that Bannon should pay a $200,000 fine for his “sustained bad faith of Congress.”

Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress back in July for declining to cooperate with a subpoena from the January 6th Committee.

He will be sentenced later this week.

Original Article Oann