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Charles Cotton to Newsmax TV: NRA Bigger, Better in Texas (Newsmax TV/"Stinchfield")

By Eric Mack | Monday, 18 January 2021 08:48 PM

Do not believe New York's efforts to dissolve the National Rifle Association is due to money mismanagement or filing for bankruptcy, this is a political and unconstitutional attack that will just make the NRA stronger, according to the NRA's first Vice President Charles Cotton on Newsmax TV.

"It will allow us to continue our mission without a corrupt government in New York doing everything they can to put us out of business," Cotton told Monday's "Stinchfield."

Cotton told host Grant Stinchfield the filing of Chapter 11 is a procedural move to reorganize the national's leading Second Amendment lobby in Texas and all vendors are going to be repaid 100% plus interest.

"People understand this move to Texas is the greatest move for the NRA, or gun owners in the United States and the Second Amendment," Cotton said.

"It became so obvious it was the right thing to do for our members."

Cotton called out New York Attorney General Letitia James' effort to dissolve the NRA and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "extortion letters to banks and insurance companies," adding even the left-leaning American Civil Liberties union is taking the side of the NRA in their legal fight against New York.

"That's why the ACLU came in on our side of the issue, and let's face it: They're kind of strange bedfellows, but as they say it, 'if New York can do it to the NRA, then a red state AG can do the same thing to Planned Parenthood or the ACLU,'" Cotton said.

"We're talking about advocacy here and the First Amendment, not the Second Amendment."

New York is failing to dissolve the NRA, Cotton said, instead merely making it stronger in Texas, as over 100,000 new members signed up in less than two weeks in early January.

"The members are responding tremendously," Cotton said. "They are elated we're getting out of New York and can go into Texas."

Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.

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Charles Cotton to Newsmax TV: NRA Bigger, Better in Texas (Newsmax TV/"Stinchfield")

By Eric Mack | Monday, 18 January 2021 08:48 PM

Do not believe New York's efforts to dissolve the National Rifle Association is due to money mismanagement or filing for bankruptcy, this is a political and unconstitutional attack that will just make the NRA stronger, according to the NRA's first Vice President Charles Cotton on Newsmax TV.

"It will allow us to continue our mission without a corrupt government in New York doing everything they can to put us out of business," Cotton told Monday's "Stinchfield."

Cotton told host Grant Stinchfield the filing of Chapter 11 is a procedural move to reorganize the national's leading Second Amendment lobby in Texas and all vendors are going to be repaid 100% plus interest.

"People understand this move to Texas is the greatest move for the NRA, or gun owners in the United States and the Second Amendment," Cotton said.

"It became so obvious it was the right thing to do for our members."

Cotton called out New York Attorney General Letitia James' effort to dissolve the NRA and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "extortion letters to banks and insurance companies," adding even the left-leaning American Civil Liberties union is taking the side of the NRA in their legal fight against New York.

"That's why the ACLU came in on our side of the issue, and let's face it: They're kind of strange bedfellows, but as they say it, 'if New York can do it to the NRA, then a red state AG can do the same thing to Planned Parenthood or the ACLU,'" Cotton said.

"We're talking about advocacy here and the First Amendment, not the Second Amendment."

New York is failing to dissolve the NRA, Cotton said, instead merely making it stronger in Texas, as over 100,000 new members signed up in less than two weeks in early January.

"The members are responding tremendously," Cotton said. "They are elated we're getting out of New York and can go into Texas."

Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.

Biden to Block Trump's Plan to Lift COVID-19 European Travel Restrictions President-elect Joe Biden (Getty Images)

David Shepardson Monday, 18 January 2021 08:21 PM

President-elect Joe Biden plans to quickly extend travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective Jan. 26, a spokeswoman for Biden said.

Trump signed an order Monday lifting the restrictions he imposed early last year in response to the pandemic – a decision first reported Monday by Reuters – after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials.

Soon after Trump's order was made public, Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki tweeted "on the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26."

She added that "With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel."

Until Biden acts, Trump's order ends restrictions the same day that new COVID-19 test requirements take effect for all international visitors. Trump is due to leave office on Wednesday.

Last week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed an order requiring nearly all air travelers to present a negative coronavirus test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 to enter the United States starting Jan. 26.

The restrictions Trump rescinded have barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the 26 countries of the Schengen area in Europe that allow travel across open borders.

The U.S. restrictions barring most visitors from Europe have been in place since mid-March when Trump signed proclamations imposing them, while the Brazilian entry ban was imposed in May. Psaki added that "in fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19." The Biden transition did not immediately respond to a request to comment on if it planned to expand the countries covered.

Biden, once in office, has the legal authority to reimpose the restrictions.

Last Tuesday, Marty Cetron, director of CDC's global migration and quarantine division, told Reuters those entry bans were an "opening act strategy" to address the virus spread and should now be "actively reconsidered."

Airlines had hoped the new testing requirements would clear the way for the administration to lift the restrictions that reduced travel from some European countries by 95% or more.

They had pressed senior White House officials about the issue in recent days.

Many administration officials for months argued the restrictions no longer made sense given most countries were not subject to the entry bans. Others have argued the United States should not drop entry bans since many European countries still block most U.S. citizens.

Reuters previously reported the White House was not considering lifting entry bans on most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in China or Iran. Trump confirmed Monday he would not lift those.

Trump's 1776 Commission Releases 'Definitive' Founding of America (Dreamstime)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 18 January 2021 08:14 PM

A commission formed by President Donald Trump to promote "patriotic education" issued its final report, criticizing how American students are taught about the country's formation, as well as the history of slavery and racial discrimination.

The 1776 Commission released a 45-page report Monday that offered "a definitive chronicle of the American founding," according to the White House.

"States and school districts should reject any curriculum that promotes one-sided partisan opinions, activist propaganda, or factional ideologies that demean America’s heritage, dishonor our heroes, or deny our principles," the report said per the New York Post.

Trump established the commission last year partly in response to a national movement in which statues of slaveholders or colonial figures were removed or defaced. The statues involved Founding Fathers and people long admired for their accomplishments.

In its report, the commission said students should not be taught that slavery is a haunting sin of the founders.

"The most common charge leveled against the founders, and hence against our country itself, is that they were hypocrites who didn't believe in their stated principles, and therefore the country they built rests on a lie," the report said. "This charge is untrue, and has done enormous damage, especially in recent years, with a devastating effect on our civic unity and social fabric."

In fact, the "foundation of our Republic planted the seeds of the death of slavery in America," the report said.

The commission said the creation of the U.S. could not have happened without compromise on the issue of slavery.

"Is it reasonable to believe that slavery could have been abolished sooner had the slave states not been in a union with the free? Perhaps," the report said. "But what is momentous is that a people that included slaveholders founded their nation on the proposition that 'all men are created equal.'"

The report further explained the Founding Fathers did not abolish slavery at the birth of the nation so that the principle of consent would become a basis of "all political legitimacy."

"Patriotic education must have at its center a respect for the rule of law, including the Declaration and the Constitution, so that we have what John Adams called 'a government of laws, and not of men,'" the report said.

The report blamed the education system for adversely affecting society.

"Deliberately destructive scholarship shatters the civic bonds that unite all Americans," the report said. "It silences the discourse essential to a free society by breeding division, distrust, and hatred among citizens.

"And it is the intellectual force behind so much of the violence in our cities, suppression of free speech in our universities, and defamation of our treasured national statues and symbols."

Original Article

Trump's 1776 Commission Releases 'Definitive' Founding of America (Dreamstime)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 18 January 2021 08:14 PM

A commission formed by President Donald Trump to promote "patriotic education" issued its final report, criticizing how American students are taught about the country's formation, as well as the history of slavery and racial discrimination.

The 1776 Commission released a 45-page report Monday that offered "a definitive chronicle of the American founding," according to the White House.

"States and school districts should reject any curriculum that promotes one-sided partisan opinions, activist propaganda, or factional ideologies that demean America’s heritage, dishonor our heroes, or deny our principles," the report said per the New York Post.

Trump established the commission last year partly in response to a national movement in which statues of slaveholders or colonial figures were removed or defaced. The statues involved Founding Fathers and people long admired for their accomplishments.

In its report, the commission said students should not be taught that slavery is a haunting sin of the founders.

"The most common charge leveled against the founders, and hence against our country itself, is that they were hypocrites who didn't believe in their stated principles, and therefore the country they built rests on a lie," the report said. "This charge is untrue, and has done enormous damage, especially in recent years, with a devastating effect on our civic unity and social fabric."

In fact, the "foundation of our Republic planted the seeds of the death of slavery in America," the report said.

The commission said the creation of the U.S. could not have happened without compromise on the issue of slavery.

"Is it reasonable to believe that slavery could have been abolished sooner had the slave states not been in a union with the free? Perhaps," the report said. "But what is momentous is that a people that included slaveholders founded their nation on the proposition that 'all men are created equal.'"

The report further explained the Founding Fathers did not abolish slavery at the birth of the nation so that the principle of consent would become a basis of "all political legitimacy."

"Patriotic education must have at its center a respect for the rule of law, including the Declaration and the Constitution, so that we have what John Adams called 'a government of laws, and not of men,'" the report said.

The report blamed the education system for adversely affecting society.

"Deliberately destructive scholarship shatters the civic bonds that unite all Americans," the report said. "It silences the discourse essential to a free society by breeding division, distrust, and hatred among citizens.

"And it is the intellectual force behind so much of the violence in our cities, suppression of free speech in our universities, and defamation of our treasured national statues and symbols."

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Comey says Trump 'belongs in jail', but Biden should consider pardon

Reaction from former Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., Lisa Boothe and Matthew Continetti on 'Special Report'

Catherine Pugh, the disgraced former Baltimore mayor convicted of using her book sales to help fund a political career, is reportedly among those seeking clemency from President Donald Trump before he leaves office.

A database on the Department of Justice’s website shows that Pugh has filed a petition to have her three-year prison sentence commuted.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh talks about the late-night removal of four confederate statues in the city, on August 16, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Getty Images)

Pugh, 70, was sentenced last year following her conviction on federal tax evasion and conspiracy charges related to the sale of her "Healthy Holly" books.

Pugh’s conviction and prison sentence stem from a fraud scheme surrounding her series of self-published children’s books. Federal prosecutors said Pugh failed to print thousands of copies, double-sold thousands more, and used other copies for self-promotion.

HOW PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS REALLY WORK: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE FACTORS THAT GO INTO IT

Authorities also said Pugh received $500,000 from the University of Maryland Medical System, where she was a board member, for 100,000 copies of her books, but there was no contract. The system described some of the purchases as "grants" in federal filings.

Health care provider Kaiser Permanente also disclosed that it had paid Pugh's Healthy Holly LLC about $114,000 between 2015 and 2018 for about 20,000 copies of her books. Pugh oversaw Baltimore's spending board in 2017, when the city awarded a $48 million contract to the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan for the Mid-Atlantic States Inc.

President Trump is expected to issue between 50 and 100 commutations and pardons before he leaves office on Wednesday.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Two sources familiar with the list told Fox News that the announcement of pardons will likely come in one large batch on Tuesday, but there is a slight chance the White House will wait to make them official Wednesday morning. The president has until noon on Wednesday to do so.

Fox News has reached out to Pugh’s lawyer with a request for comment.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Kristin Fisher, and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Original Article

Rep. Sessions to Newsmax TV: Pelosi's Impeachment a Political Stunt, 'Unprofessional' (Newsmax TV/"Spicer & Co.")

By Solange Reyner | Monday, 18 January 2021 07:55 PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment of President Donald Trump was a political stunt and “unprofessional, at the very least,” done to hide President-elect Joe Biden from taking questions up until he takes the oath of office, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said Monday during an appearance on Newsmax TV.

“It was a political stunt, obviously there were no hearings,” Sessions told Sean Spicer on “Spicer & Co.”

“Obviously, there was not anything that was put in place for committees to be able to engage in this. It went straight to the floor. I think that in the larger sense it was all about Nancy Pelosi and getting votes from members of Congress that she wants to try and hold accountable. It was not ever about a proper process that was serious. It was unprofessional, at the very least. It was done to hide our new president. It was done to hide him for several days while they were developing the content around him and making sure he was ready to go.”

The House last week impeached Trump for a second time for “incitement of insurrection” following the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 that left five people dead, including one police officer.

“I don’t think that it’s legally possible or smart to try and impeach a former president.,” Sessions said. “But these are all things that Mrs. Pelosi has up her sleeve. It is done to the maximum effect for the media to sound out those soundbites and to make sure they win this argument. I think it was all a charade. That was all done to give the president-elect time and shield him from questions up until the time that he actually takes the oath of office.”

Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.

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FBI vetting National Guard troops in Washington ahead of Biden inauguration

Fox News senior strategic analyst Jack Keane discusses security precautions for the event on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., ominously suggested Monday that Donald Trump supporters within the National Guard charged with helping protect Joe Biden "might want to do something" to the president-elect.

In an unprecedented show of security force, 25,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to Washington, D.C., to protect Biden's inauguration this week. The city is on edge after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory and resulted in several deaths. The FBI is vetting Guard service members charged with protecting the Capitol this week.

Cohen told CNN he had been reminded that former India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards and said any Trump supporters within National Guard units were suspicious.

STATES ACTIVATE NATIONAL GUARD, CLOSE CAPITOL BUILDINGS AHEAD OF BIDEN INAUGURATION AND POSSIBLE VIOLENCE

"The [National] Guard is 90 some-odd percent male, and only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden," he said. "You've got to figure that in the Guard, which is predominantly more conservative … they're probably not more than 25 percent of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden. The other 75 percent are in the large class of folks that might want to do something."

CNN's Jim Sciutto pushed back on Cohen, saying being a Trump voter was "far different from being a threat of violence." When asked to substantiate his claim of the possible dangers surrounding Biden, Cohen said he had none but added "you draw a circle first" around Trump voters in the Guard who you should be "suspect of."

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler criticized Cohen for implying any Trump supporter was a possible "seditionist."

"Hmmm, does a Democratic congressman really want to suggest that if you voted for Trump you might be a seditionist?" Kessler tweeted. "What happened to the idea that military people are professionals and do their jobs regardless of political preferences?"

Fourth Watch newsletter editor Steve Krakauer called the comment "absolutely reprehensible" and borderline seditious in its implications.

Others, particularly conservative voices online, piled on Cohen over his remarks.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Cohen also appeared to overestimate the level of white male support for Trump. One exit poll found Biden got about 38 percent of white male voters in the election. Trump's support from white voters decreased from his 2016 win over Hillary Clinton and was key to Biden's triumph.

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Turley: Impeachment trial taking place post-service 'unresolved issue'

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley says there are good faith arguments to be made for post-service impeachments, but also notes there are significant countervailing costs.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley argued on Monday that there is some value in a post-service impeachment trial in terms of dialogue and addressing the issues raised, but there are also "very significant" countervailing costs.

Turley went on to say that holding an impeachment trial after a president leaves office is "a very difficult argument to make in my view given the language of the Constitution."

Turley made the points on "The Faulkner Focus" one day after his Fox News op-ed was published titled: "Trump impeachment trial – why his best defense may be no defense."

JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP IMPEACHMENT TRIAL-WHY HIS BEST DEFENSE MAY BE NO DEFENSE

"It is the future of the Constitution, not Donald Trump, that most concerns me as the Senate is about to try to remove a president who has already left office," Turley wrote.

"On its face, the planned impeachment trial is at odds with the language of the Constitution, which expressly states that removal of a president is the primary purpose of such a trial," he continued.

"At the time, Trump will be neither a president nor in office. He will be a citizen and would be best served legally to forgo the trial entirely as extraconstitutional and invalid."

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Some Republicans are arguing that the Senate cannot hold an impeachment trial once a president leaves office. Trump, his legal team, or Trump-aligned senators may even try to have a court declare that to be the case. But it's unlikely that the courts will weigh in on such a heavy constitutional question that is so intertwined with checks and balances provided to another branch.

Chuck Schumer, the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, has made clear there will be a trial.

"There are good-faith arguments to be made for a retroactive impeachment or post-service impeachment," Turley noted on Monday, stressing that it is an "unresolved issue."

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Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Original Article

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Trump should ‘force the Democrats to come forward’ with incitement evidence: former Colorado senator

Committee to Defend the President Chairman and former Colorado Senator Ted Harvey discusses impeachment efforts on ‘Fox & Friends First.’

Several large moving trucks were spotted at Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where President Trump is slated to relocate ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday.

At least two trucks were parked outside the resort and workers were seen moving boxes inside, WPTV in Palm Beach reported. A nearby security presence included helicopters flying overhead and patrol boats.

Local authorities announced road closures over several days this week. A letter to local residents said the closures were necessary for "safety and security reasons," according to the report.

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Trump is expected to leave the White House on the morning of the inauguration for the flight to Mar-a-Lago, Fox News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts reported. Trump is expected to live mainly at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.

Trump plans to make an early departure and be on the ground in Palm Beach before Biden is inaugurated so he can make a final flight on Air Force One, sources told Fox News. If the flight landed after Biden is inaugurated, the plane’s designation would become "Special Air Mission 29000."

The president will hold a farewell event at Joint Base Andrews prior to the inauguration. He is expected to deliver remarks to service members and base staffers before leaving for Florida.

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Several of Trump’s White House aides are expected to continue to work for him at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has already indicated that he will not attend Biden’s inauguration, breaking a long-standing precedent in which presidents are on hand for the transfer of power to their successor. Vice President Mike Pence will be in attendance.

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The Trump presidency will end in an uncertain climate after House lawmakers impeached him for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump is the only president in history to be impeached twice.

The Senate will not convene an impeachment trial prior to Biden’s inauguration.

Original Article

LA Suspends Environmental Regs on Crematoriums Over COVID-19 A covered empty casket stands in a garage at the Boyd Funeral Home during a surge of Covid-19 deaths on Jan. 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

By Brian Trusdell | Monday, 18 January 2021 07:30 PM

Government officials in Los Angeles have temporarily suspended environmental restrictions on the number of cremations that can be performed in the county due to the number of bodies backlogged due to deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District on Sunday issued an emergency order for 10 days to “suspend certain permit conditions for crematories.”

The AQMD limits the number of cremations of human remains that may be performed per crematorium each month, depending upon air quality.

The order, signed by AQMD Executive Officer Wayne Nastri, specifies that the number of deaths in Los Angeles is “more than double pre-pandemic years” and that officials anticipate “another surge is approaching as a result of the New Year’s holiday.”

It claimed that as of Friday, more than “2,700 bodies are currently being stored at hospitals and the Coroner’s office” and that “the 28 crematories in Los Angeles County have the resources and capability to perform more cremations.” However, they “cannot due to regulatory limits.”

The crematorium must be located within Los Angeles County, or have an agreement with the Los Angeles County Coroner, provide written notice via email to the AQMD about its intent to exceed its limits, and is within 15% of reaching one of its “applicable limits.”

Although set to expire at midnight on Jan. 27, the order can be extended.

While California has the most reported cases of infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 (more than 3 million) and the second-most deaths (33,650), it has the 26th-most cases per capita and the 39th-most deaths per capita, according to worldometers.info.

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President-elect Biden, Dr. Biden mark National Day of Service

With an eye toward reuniting the country after the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden marked the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday by volunteering.

The president-elect and his wife, the incoming first lady Jill Biden, made a short trip Monday from their home in Wilmington, Del., to Philadelphia, to volunteer at Philabundance, a hunger-relief organization, during the official day of service to celebrate the historic civil rights leader’s life and legacy.

HARRIS RESIGNS FROM THE SENATE TWO DAYS BEFORE INAUGURATION

"Service is a fitting way to start to heal, unite, and rebuild this country we love," Biden wrote on Twitter.

The Democratic president-elect's calls to work across the aisle with Republicans to try and unify a bitterly divided country has been a major theme of Biden's presidential campaign and transition for the past two months.

LIVE UPDATES FROM FOX NEWS ON THE BIDEN INAUGURATION

The Bidens' trip to Philadelphia comes two days before the president-elect is inaugurated. The Bidens, along with their daughter Ashley Biden and granddaughter Finnegan Biden, helped load cans into packed boxes that were being moved along a conveyor belt set up outside the building in the parking lot. Fox News was told that the Bidens packed over 150 boxes.

President-elect Joe Biden participates in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, with his daughter Ashley Biden, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, left, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ((AP Photo/Evan Vucci))

The president-elect wore a dark coat and a ball cap, which appeared to be a green Philabundance hat.

Philabundance provides more than 24 million pounds of food each year to those in need, including by providing food to smaller community food banks.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, incoming second gentleman Doug Emhoff, marked the holiday by volunteering in the nation’s capital at Martha’s Table, a non-profit organization that works to increase access to healthy food and high-quality educations.

Fox News' Madeleine Rivera and Allie Raffa contributed to this report.

Original Article

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Mark Morgan: 'Open borders' rhetoric from left is driving new migrant caravans

Among the litany of challenges that will confront President-elect Joe Biden when he assumes office Wednesday — including the coronavirus pandemic, emboldened enemies like Iran, and confirming critical nominees amid a Trump impeachment trial — will be handling a large migrant caravan currently making its way to America's southern border.

Friday, two groups of more than 3,000 Honduran migrants each pushed their way into Guatemala without registering as part of a larger caravan headed to the United States, the Associated Press reported. A third group entered Guatemala on Saturday. The migrants aim to reach Mexico, which is north of Guatemala, and eventually make their way to the United States border.

The organization Pueblos Sin Fronteras called on the U.S., Mexico and Central-American governments to allow the caravan to travel freely and seek asylum in the U.S. It asked the incoming Biden administration to "honor its commitments."

Honduran migrants clash with Guatemalan soldiers in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Guatemalan authorities estimated that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Sandra Sebastian) (AP)

BIDEN TRANSITION OFFICIAL TELLS MIGRANT CARAVANS: 'NOW IS NOT THE TIME' TO CIME TO US

"We recognize the importance of the incoming Government of the United States having shown a strong commitment to migrants and asylum seekers, which presents an opportunity for the governments of Mexico and Central America to develop policies and a migration management that respect and promote the human rights of the population in mobility," the group said. "We will advocate that the Biden government honors its commitments."

Biden has promised to reverse many of the Trump administration's immigration policies. These include a rule that requires migrants to stay in Mexico as they await hearings, called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Critics say the MPP puts migrants at risk.

Biden would also stop building the border wall, offer amnesty to 11 million undocumented immigrants and more, in an ambitious plan announced in recent days.

But those changes will take time.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) ((AP Photo/Matt Slocum))

Domingo Garcia, former president of the League of Latin American Citizens, said Biden warned activists Thursday that the Trump impeachment trial in the Senate may delay immigration changes within Biden's first 100 days, according to the Associated Press. A senior Bident transition official, meanwhile, told NBC News that asylum seekers will not be able to immediately enter the U.S. and that "the situation at the border isn't going to be transformed overnight."

Biden said during the presidential campaign that he would at least ask Congress to grant amnesty within his first 100 days.

MIGRANT CARAVAN DEMANDS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION 'HONOR ITS COMMITMENTS'

"I’ve made it very clear, within 100 days, I’m going to send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people," Biden said in the second presidential debate. "And all those so-called Dreamers, those DACA kids, they’re going to be immediately certified again, to be able to stay in this country, and put on a path to citizenship."

Meanwhile, Republicans are blaming Biden's campaign promises for an expected influx of migrants.

"During the presidential debate, Joe Biden promised mass amnesty," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted Sunday. "The rest of the world noticed."

Cotton added Monday: "He’s unveiling his draft immigration bill this week, and it’s what you’d expect from the party of open borders: Total amnesty, no regard for the health or security of Americans, and zero enforcement."

"11M, 12M, welcoming the caravan with open arms…Pres. Trump was right about Biden!" Trump 2020 campaign Senior Adviser Jason Miller chimed in.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned waves of migrants coming to the U.S. could only get larger.

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"President-elect Biden wants to legalize 11 million illegal immigrants. Between 7,000 and 8,000 Hondurans have formed a gigantic caravan to come to Biden’s pro-illegal immigrant America," he said. "After the first 11 million want to guess how many new illegal immigrants there will be by 2024?"

The Biden transition team did not respond to questions from Fox News about whether they think Biden's campaign rhetoric caused the caravan and whether Biden plans to allow those in the caravan into the U.S.

It also didn't say whether those entering the U.S. from the caravan will be subject to the same coronavirus protocols as air travelers, who currently are required to have a coronavirus test to enter the U.S. Video shows tightly-packed caravan crowds with few wearing masks.

Fox News' Adam Shaw, Griff Jenkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Biden administration proposes $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan

New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz discusses the proposed policy on ‘Fox & Friends First.’

President-elect Joe Biden is considering canceling the cross-border permit for TC energy’s Keystone XL pipeline — and Canadian officials are worried.

Jason Kenney, the 18th Premier of Alberta, said in a tweet that he is "deeply concerned by reports that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden may repeal the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL border crossing."

The project is slated to move 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the province of Alberta to Nebraska, but it's been reported that cancellation of this $9 billion project is one of Biden’s Day One climate change actions.

A source close to the Biden administration and the pipeline project told Fox News, "Biden folks were weighing the decision on the manufacturing jobs numbers, but clearly needed to give an early win to the environmentalists on his team."

The same source went on to say the pipeline company and trade union partners have stepped up their messaging around the environmental offsets with the pipeline moving forward with a net zero emission standard.

TC Energy announced Sunday that the project would achieve net-zero emissions across operations by 2023.

But, Canadian officials still fear that this cancellation will kill jobs on both sides of the border, weaken the Canada-U.S. relationship and undermine U.S. national security.

Richard Madan, correspondent for Canada’s premier newscast, CTV News, said in a tweet that Canadian officials view the expected cancellation as "a punch in the face to Canada."

Keystone XL had become a political symbol of the fight between climate activists and the oil industry.

The project has been controversial since first proposed over a decade ago. Opponents argue its stimulation of oil sands development contributes to climate change. On the other hand, Canada’s oil industry argues Keystone XL is essential to supplying heavy crude U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

Biden is expected to rescind the presidential permit for Keystone XL through an executive order on Inauguration Day, reversing one of President Trump’s first actions in office.

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Domenech: Big Tech are ‘going to collude together to crush conservative speech’

A former Facebook insider argues conservative content should be deplatformed because it is 'extremely radical'; The Federalist publisher Ben Domenech reacts.

Big Tech companies are going to collude together to clamp down on conservative speech, The Federalist's Ben Domenech said on Monday.

"Well, look, I think that it’s interesting that they’re kind of saying the soft part loud now, about opinions they’ve been keeping to themselves for a while," Domenech told "Fox & Friends."

"As a tryout for AOC’s ministry of truth, I think that that was a pretty good performance, but in this instance, I think that we have to see here, what’s really going on which is that Big Tech wants to broaden this crackdown in a lot of different ways and bring a lot of different corporations along with them," Domenech said.

PARLER CEO SAYS PLATFORM WILL ‘COME BACK STRONG’ WITH CHANGES TO KEEP USERS SAFE WHILE RESPECTING FREE SPEECH

Domenech reacted to former Facebook executive Alex Stamos calling for Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon to potentially censor conservative outlets.

"We have to turn down the capability of these conservative influencers to reach these huge audiences," he said, citing right-wing YouTubers who have larger audiences than "daytime CNN." "They are extremely radical, and pushing extremely radical views," Stamos claimed, speaking to CNN's "Reliable Sources."

In the wake of Jan. 6's deadly Capitol riot by a pro-Trump mob, Google dropped Parler's app from its Google Play Store that Friday. Apple followed suit that Saturday by removing the app from the App store, while Amazon Web Services cut off Parler from its web hosting services on Sunday.

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"They are going to collude together going forward, to crush conservative speech, and everywhere that it rises up and they are going to use arguments for it that sound, along the lines of arguments you might have heard in the past, about shutting down ISIS and the like, which is a comparison that this same guest [Stamos] made," Domenech said.

"Those are the kinds of radical comments that are the opposite of any kind of unity message, any kind of coming together, instead it just seeks to crush the speech of people that you disagree with which has never been the American way."

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Original Article

Possible Allergic Reactions to Moderna Vaccine Batch in California (Dreamstime)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 18 January 2021 06:51 PM

A "higher-than-usual" number of apparent allergic reactions prompted California's epidemiologist to recommend the state pause administering one batch of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.

Fewer than 10 people required medical attention during a 24-hour time period after receiving doses from a lot by Moderna administered at a community vaccination clinic, State Epidemiologist Erica Pan said Sunday, per The Hill.

The Associated Press reported six San Diego healthcare workers had allergic reactions to vaccines received Jan. 14 at a mass vaccination center. The site now is using other vaccines after being temporarily closed.

More than 330,000 doses from that Moderna lot had been distributed to 287 California providers and arrived Jan. 5-12.

Moderna had not return a request for comment from The Hill.

Pan said an investigation by the state, Moderna, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration needed to be completed before providers administer more vaccines from the lot.

"Out of an extreme abundance of caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use other available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by the CDC, FDA, Moderna, and the state is complete," Pan said in a statement.

"We will provide an update as we learn more."

The risk of a serious adverse reaction is very small, according to Pan. Data from a similar vaccine showed 1 in 100,000 was the rate in which a severe allergic reaction could be expected.

California was dealing with another record outbreak threatening hospital capacity. The state reported 2.97 million coronavirus cases Monday and more than 33,000 coronavirus deaths.

The state had administered more than 1 million coronavirus doses, according to data from the CDC, or 2,716 doses per 100,000 people.

The state last week expanded vaccine eligibility to anyone aged 65 or over.

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President-elect Biden, Dr. Biden mark National Day of Service

President-elect Joe Biden’s legal team is praising help from unions and nonprofits in their efforts to ensure a secure 2020 presidential election, which led to a Biden-Harris victory.

Bob Bauer, Biden campaign senior adviser and former White House counsel, and Dana Remus, general counsel to the Biden campaign and incoming White House counsel, penned an essay just days before Biden’s inauguration, reflecting on "the extraordinary strength and resilience of American democracy."

WHO'S ATTENDING BIDEN'S INAUGURATION?

Bauer and Remus highlighted the more than 158 million Americans who voted in the 2020 election, noting that voter turnout reached the highest level since 1900.

But the two warned that the outcome "could have been disastrously different," saying that not since the Civil War had the U.S. electoral process "been subject to such overwhelming and potentially crushing pressures."

They highlighted the coronavirus pandemic, "a deluge of both domestic and foreign disinformation," and "divisive politics" in legal battles over voting rights.

"We were charged with developing a voter protection program adapted to these exceptional circumstances," they said. "In more ordinary times, voter protection programs facilitate access to the polls, monitor for and challenge unlawful or groundless burdens on voting rights, and support election officials in their hard work of preparing for and conducting the voting process."

They added: "These tasks were as important as ever this cycle, but they were far from sufficient. We quickly recognized that the 2020 program would require vastly greater resources and different approaches than in past cycles."

The Biden campaign’s legal team began addressing challenges during the primaries in March, when the pandemic hit the U.S., and when it became unclear whether state primaries could occur on schedule. Many of those primaries were postponed.

Bauer and Remus said that for their general election efforts, their tasks were to "support election officials and to educate voters on the confusing and complicated electoral landscape."

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The campaign’s legal team was comprised of more than 100 full-time staff members, and tens of thousands of volunteer attorneys and poll observers.

"Of course, the campaign was not alone in supporting this critical work," Bauer and Remus wrote, adding that "nonprofit and civic organizations mobilized to meet the challenge, by providing emergency expertise and funding to electoral jurisdictions."

"The campaign systematically urged interested supporters to contact these organizations to learn about their programs and assist those who were doing critical work, such as recruiting thousands of poll workers around the country," they wrote. "Campaign voter protection teams referred election officials seeking to solve particular problems to these sources of critical administrative expertise."

GOP SENATORS TO ATTEND BIDEN INAUGURATION WEDNESDAY AFTER OBJECTING TO HIS ELECTORAL COLLEGE WIN

Bauer and Remus also pointed to "unconventional challenges" — specifically "President Trump’s claims that "only ‘fraud’ could cost him the election." They also pointed to disinformation.

"We shared the widespread concern that bad actors would take advantage of potential confusion by spreading disinformation; and that the largest social media platforms were particularly effective propagators of that disinformation," they wrote.

But Bauer and Remus on Monday stressed that "lawyers do not determine the result of elections; voters do."

"In November, voters decided on our next President and Vice President by participating in a process that election officials structured and managed under the most exacting conditions," they wrote. "President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris won the election because of the historic levels of voter participation and these officials’ conscientious performance of their duties."

Bauer and Remus thanked lawyers like Marc Elias from law firm Perkins Coie, and lawyers from law firm Wilmer Hale, as well as the hundreds of volunteers who helped to plan for the election and who supported their "post-election defense of the November 3 results."

"But above all, this election is all to the credit of the voters, and the election officials who did what was necessary for them to be heard," they wrote.

Bauer and Remus’ reflection of their legal efforts to secure the election comes days after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, which sent Congress into lockdown as lawmakers met in a joint session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election for Biden. The riot left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.

The riot came after the president spoke at a rally last Wednesday, telling supporters that he would "never concede." Congress later returned and certified the Electoral College vote early Thursday, formally giving Biden his presidential victory.

Original Article

Michigan GOP Dumps Official Who Voted to Certify Election Results (Dreamstime)

By Brian Trusdell | Monday, 18 January 2021 06:27 PM

The Michigan Republican Party has chosen to drop the member of its party who voted to certify the state's disputed presidential election results, instead putting forth the names of three others for the Board of Canvassers including one who sought to have the state legislature reclaim its authority over the electors.

Michigan GOP Chairwoman Laura Cox submitted the names of Linda Lee Tarver, Tony Daunt, and Tori Sachsin to replace Aaron Van Langevelde, whose term expires Jan. 31, a letter to Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Jan. 8, The Detroit News reported.

Van Langevelde voted with two Democrats on Nov. 23 to certify the vote, making it 3-0 despite numerous claims of fraud and other irregularities.

The other Republican on the board, Norm Shinkle, abstained, saying his home was the focus of Democrat demonstrators and he received 7,000 emails and more than 40 phone calls – many of them threatening – demanding he vote for certification.

"The mentality here was whoever threatens the most wins," Shinkle said.

In a statement Monday quoted by The Detroit News, Van Langevelde said he was never contacted by the Michigan GOP if he wanted to serve a second term and stood by his vote.

"My conscience is clear, and I am confident that my decision is on the right side of the law and history," the statement said.

Whitmer has until Wednesday to select one of the three nominees.

Original Article