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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

Kanye West to Speak With Trump About Joining Parler (Newsmax)

By Luca Cacciatore | Monday, 17 October 2022 07:45 PM EDT

Rapper Kanye West told Bloomberg on Monday that he would sit down with Donald Trump this week to recruit the former president to join his newly-purchased social media platform.

West, who now goes by "Ye," also informed the outlet that he would join Trump's Truth Social network as he weighs abandoning Big Tech following his acquisition of Parler. It comes just one week after the controversial rapper met with billionaire Elon Musk.

"We're using this as a net for the people who have been bullied by the thought police to come and speak their mind. Express how you feel. Express what's tied up inside of you. Express what's been haunting you," West told Bloomberg about Parler.

"The most important resource that our species has is knowledge," he continued. "This is the reason why the compression of thought and free thought has to be overcome to save the human race. It's literally that serious. And that's the reason why I am willing to put everything at risk because they've already taken enough from me for differences of opinion."

Ye's purchase of Parler follows renewed controversy surrounding the artist and businessman. The star adorned a "White Lives Matter" shirt alongside conservative pundit Candace Owens before making a series of comments directed at Jewish people.

"This is my exact point: Jewish people have owned the Black voice, whether it's through us wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt or all of us being signed to a record label or having a Jewish manager or being signed to a Jewish basketball team or doing a movie on a Jewish platform like Disney," West said during a recent podcast appearance.

Ye added: "I respect what the Jewish people have done and how they brought their people together."

Dems Concerned About Losing Independent Women Over Abortion (Newsmax)

By Nick Koutsobinas | Monday, 17 October 2022 07:03 PM EDT

Amidst a turbulent economy, Democrats may lose one of the cornerstones of their voting blocs — independent women.

On Monday, a New York Times/Siena College poll revealed independent women favored the Republican party by 18 points. The figure represents a marked increase in support compared to Sept. polling.

"At the end of the day, voters are paying more for everything from groceries to energy," Karoline Leavitt, New Hampshire's Republican House nominee, told The Hill. "When families are struggling to make ends meet, and are having to decide between heating and eating, they are going to vote for change."

After the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion that allows states to decide their stance on the issue, Democrats began focusing much of their campaign rhetoric on abortion rights. Now, that strategy is being questioned.

According to one unnamed national operative of the Republican party, "Democrats have overplayed their hand so many times when it comes to these cultural issue[s]. [Women] can't afford to think about one issue and we're also smart enough to think about multiple issues."

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision, Democrats saw abortion rights as a winning issue to run against the GOP. And they set their sights on independent women as a key demographic to bolster them forward.

But in retrospect, the strategy was a gamble, which may prove costly given the rising gas prices and inflation.

Currently, Leavitt and her opponent, Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas, are squared off in a virtual tie despite abortion being an important issue.

"The Biden agenda," Leavitt argues, "has been disastrous for Americans across the board. The most effective way to get our country back on track" is by stopping "reckless spending" and giving Americans more "energy independence."

Still, for one Democratic strategist, abortion rights remain a winning strategy.

"I have the same skepticism of this [New York Times] poll that I had of polling in 2016/2020, which is that it doesn't seem to account for a wave of first-time voters who aren't traditionally reached by pollsters," they said. "In 2016, those new voters were people Trump brought out. Now it's voters activated by abortion."

Despite the strategist's comment, other Democrats remain concerned that economic hardships may be piling up in the electorate. The Times' survey showed that 44% of voters placed inflation or the economy as their top concern.

"As we enter the final weeks of the 2022 midterm elections," Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian, "I am alarmed to hear the advice that many Democratic candidates are getting from establishment consultants and directors of well-funded Super PACs that the closing argument of Democrats should focus only on abortion."

Among other pressing issues facing both parties is the war in Ukraine and its surrounding nuclear rhetoric, which only factions of the GOP appear to be against.

On Friday, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted that Democrats attached "billions of dollars" for military aid to Ukraine.

"Why didn't the news cover this," Massie wrote, "Democrats attached billions of dollars of Ukraine war spending to the bill that provided disaster relief for Florida. To vote to send money to Florida, you had to vote to increase chances of nuclear war. Is there no limit to their depravity?"

Last week, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went viral after two attendees at a town hall vehemently requested the congresswoman denounce the war in Ukraine and the threat of a nuclear holocaust.

"You ran as an outsider yet you voted to start this war in Ukraine," one of the attendees, in the video uploaded by Jose Vega, shouted. "You're voting to start a nuclear war with Russia and China!"

Original Article

Rep. Cline to Newsmax: Americans 'Feeling the Heat' of High Inflation (Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 17 October 2022 06:32 PM EDT

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., cannot help but shake his head at prominent Democrats, such as President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who publicly maintain the United States economy is either "strong as hell" or that no recession has yet to occur.

"I think that most Americans are feeling the heat when it comes to rising prices, and Pete Buttigieg is just singing that administration's tune that everything is hunky-dory," Cline told Newsmax Monday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show."

"But voters know better," added Cline, who oversees the state's 6th congressional district, which covers a large vertical swath of Virginia.

With just 22 days until the Nov. 8 midterms, Cline says the House Republican candidates are campaigning hard on the economy and inflation — the two hottest issues heading into Election Night, according to most polls.

Republicans are "making voters realize that Democrats are not focused on inflation — instead, they're trying to cover it up or dismiss it," says Cline.

The Virginia congressman then added, "When CBS calls [Secretary Buttigieg] out for 'political spin' [on the high inflation, recession talk] … you know that you're having real trouble getting your message straight."

The sluggish economy and high inflation may be pressing issues for Republicans, independents, and centrists. But in a recent Harvard-Harris poll, voters who identified as Democrats put more stock in the Jan. 6, 2021 unrest at the Capitol, women's reproductive rights, climate change, and gun control — by a considerable margin over the economy and inflation.

That prompted Cline to emphasize the stark platform differences between Democrats and Republicans, heading into Election Night.

Cline says the Republicans are laser-focused on the economy, inflation, energy independence, curtailing illegal immigration, and backing local/state policing units.

"We're [also] going to confront Big Tech [on antitrust protections]. We're going to restore parental rights [in education]; and we're going to restore election integrity," says Cline.

"We have made a commitment to America that is going to serve as a road map for hitting the ground on Day 1" next year, added Cline, assuming House Republicans reclaim the majority in the midterms.

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Original Article

Dick Morris to Newsmax: Herschel Walker Closing Strong in Ga. Senate Race Dick Morris (Newsmax)

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 17 October 2022 05:28 PM EDT

Dick Morris, a, best-selling author, TV host, and previous adviser to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, said he believes that Republican challenger Herschel Walker remains in a great closing position to pull out a Georgia Senate victory over incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., based on his strong showing in Friday's one-on-one debate.

Walker has "evolved into an excellent candidate," Morris told Newsmax Monday afternoon, while appearing on "American Agenda" with host Bob Sellers.

Morris added that Walker's new polling lead of 2 percentage points could grow even larger, once early voting in Georgia begins.

During the summer months, Morris acknowledged that Trump's pre-primaries strategy of seeking out "not-political" Senate candidates "may have initially backfired," since the general voting public wasn't sure if household names like Walker or Pennsylvania Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz could go beyond athletic greatness, or syndicated TV medical fame.

But over time, Walker and Oz — along with other Senate candidates, such as Blake Masters (Arizona), JD Vance (Ohio), and Adam Laxalt (Nevada) — suddenly have Republicans feeling optimistic about breaking the 50-all Senate tie in the upcoming midterm elections (Nov. 8).

Note: Get Dick Morris' new book "The Return" on Trump's secret plan for 2024. See It Here!

And from one incumbent's perspective, Morris remains confident that Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will hold off independent Evan McMullin in that Senate battle.

"You know what they say about Communists? If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck," mused Morris, while relaying how McMullin acts, talks, and quacks like a Democrat — despite his official "independent" status.

"[McMullin's] a Democrat in sheep's clothing," says Morris.

The Republicans' Election Night optimism runs even higher in the House chamber, where Morris expects landslide-like results on Election Night.

Morris' House prediction: Republicans will enjoy a net positive "north of 40 seats," he says.

"Inflation and the economy" are driving the midterm elections, reasons Morris.

And as he lays out in "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback," Morris addresses how the underlying issues with voters now "are so positive" for the Republicans … and "so negative for the Democrats."

"You'll see a major Republican shift … beyond anyone's predictions" on Election Night, offers Morris, host of "Dick Morris Democracy" on Newsmax.

Among the tide shift in the Republicans' favor, Morris believes the GOP will have "swing-race" success in previous Democrat strongholds, such as Connecticut, Colorado, and Washington State.

And according to Morris, don't be surprised if Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon upends incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the battleground state of Michigan.

Note: Get Dick Morris' new book "The Return" on Trump's secret plan for 2024. See It Here!

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Original Article

White House Hits Trump for Comments on American Jews

Jeff Mason Monday, 17 October 2022 02:45 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump's recent comments that American Jews have offered insufficient praise of his policies toward Israel were "insulting" and "antisemitic," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

"Donald Trump's comments were antisemitic, as you all know, and insulting both to Jews and our Israeli allies," Jean-Pierre told reporters.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Trump on Sunday warned that American Jews need to “get their act together” before “it is too late!”

The suggestion of disloyalty, made on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, appeared to play into the antisemitic trope that U.S. Jews have dual loyalties to the U.S. and to Israel, and it drew immediate condemnation.

“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” Trump wrote before adding that it was somewhat surprising that “our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.”

Last week, President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview that "I believe I can beat Donald Trump again" if both men run for president in 2024.

Original Article

House Oversight Committee: Trump's Business Fleeced Secret Service (Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 17 October 2022 02:40 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump's business charged the Secret Service "excessive nightly rates" at its properties during dozens of trips, according to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on Monday issued a release saying the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service as much as five times more than the government rate for agents to stay overnight at Trump hotels while protecting the then-president and his family.

Maloney released documents that indicate Trump-owned properties repeatedly charged the Secret Service nightly rates as high as $1,185-per room, and that U.S. taxpayers paid the then-president's company at least $1.4 million for Secret Service agents' stays at Trump properties.

"Despite repeated claims that the former President would use his businesses to save the federal government money, including representations from Eric Trump that government employees traveling with former President Trump 'stay at our properties for free,' documents obtained by the Committee show that the Secret Service was charged rates in excess of the government rate at least 40 times from January 20, 2017 to September 15, 2021," Maloney's press release said.

Eric Trump disputed the claims that the Trump Organization profited off Secret Service stays at his family's properties, The Washington Post reported.

"Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free," Eric Trump said in a statement. "The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels."

Maloney wrote Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to request compliance with the committee's request for a full accounting of the Secret Service's spending at Trump-owned properties during former President Trump's presidency

"The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents' frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President's self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump's struggling businesses," Maloney wrote in her letter to Cheatle.

Maloney's press release said the Oversight committee, since Feb. 12, has been seeking information from the Secret Service about its expenditures at Trump Organization properties.

However, the Secret Service's offerings have been incomplete and do not provide the committee with a complete picture of its spending at Trump-owned properties.

"Given the longstanding concerns surrounding the former President's conflicts of interest and efforts to profit off the presidency, the Committee has a strong interest in obtaining a complete accounting of federal government spending at Trump properties," Maloney wrote to Cheatle.

The Oversight committee said then-President Trump visited his properties 547 times, including 145 visits to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the committee.

Original Article

Critics: Border Ouster of Venezuelans a 'Smokescreen' (Newsmax)

By Fran Beyer | Monday, 17 October 2022 12:59 PM EDT

The Biden administration's move to tighten border security by ousting some Venezuelans is a "thin smokescreen" that won't make much of a dent in the migrant surge, critics say.

In remarks to the Washington Times, former Trump administration policy adviser Stephen Miller predicted many Venezuelans who try to jump the border will succeed.

"This is another pathetic misdirection from the open borders zealots running the Biden administration," Miller told the news outlet.

"Between backdoor parole, exempt demographics, arbitrary caps, asylum fraud, and the masses of got-aways [because they aren't going back to Venezuela], it's just a thin smokescreen for yet more open borders."

With migrants from Venezuela becoming a leading source of illegal crossings at the border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlined an avenue for 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the U.S. legally on a short-term basis while pushing other Venezuelans back to Mexico.

Mayorkas didn't say what authority he was using, but immigrant rights groups said it was Title 42, a pandemic-era policy pioneered by former President Donald Trump, the Washington Times reported.

That has triggered the rage of the ACLU, which is trying to end Title 42, an effort that could render the administration's proposal useless.

"People have a right to seek asylum – regardless of where they came from, how they arrive in the United States, and whether or not they have family here," American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt told the Associated Press.

The National Border Patrol Council said agents are aware Mexico has capped the number of Venezuelans it will take back, asserting the number is "a small percentage of what's actually coming in."

"Basically a PR stunt," the council tweeted.

The 24,000 allowance is a fraction of the total flow, the Washington Times reported.

Border Patrol agents nabbed more than 150,000 Venezuelans who were in the U.S. illegally from Oct. 1, 2021 through Aug. 31, the news outlet reported.

Embracing expulsions would mark a significant symbolic reversal for the Biden administration amid its court fights to end Title 42.

But Homeland Security is arguing the Venezuelan program will help tamp down illegal crossings, and said it would look to expand it to people of other nationalities, the news outlet reported.

Original Article

Critics: Border Ouster of Venezuelans a 'Smokescreen' (Newsmax)

By Fran Beyer | Monday, 17 October 2022 12:59 PM EDT

The Biden administration's move to tighten border security by ousting some Venezuelans is a "thin smokescreen" that won't make much of a dent in the migrant surge, critics say.

In remarks to the Washington Times, former Trump administration policy adviser Stephen Miller predicted many Venezuelans who try to jump the border will succeed.

"This is another pathetic misdirection from the open borders zealots running the Biden administration," Miller told the news outlet.

"Between backdoor parole, exempt demographics, arbitrary caps, asylum fraud, and the masses of got-aways [because they aren't going back to Venezuela], it's just a thin smokescreen for yet more open borders."

With migrants from Venezuela becoming a leading source of illegal crossings at the border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlined an avenue for 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the U.S. legally on a short-term basis while pushing other Venezuelans back to Mexico.

Mayorkas didn't say what authority he was using, but immigrant rights groups said it was Title 42, a pandemic-era policy pioneered by former President Donald Trump, the Washington Times reported.

That has triggered the rage of the ACLU, which is trying to end Title 42, an effort that could render the administration's proposal useless.

"People have a right to seek asylum — regardless of where they came from, how they arrive in the United States, and whether or not they have family here," American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt told The Associated Press.

The National Border Patrol Council said agents are aware Mexico has capped the number of Venezuelans it will take back, asserting the number is "a small percentage of what's actually coming in."

"Basically a PR stunt," the council tweeted.

The 24,000 allowance is a fraction of the total flow, the Washington Times reported.

Border Patrol agents nabbed more than 150,000 Venezuelans who were in the U.S. illegally from Oct. 1, 2021 through Aug. 31, the news outlet reported.

Embracing expulsions would mark a significant symbolic reversal for the Biden administration amid its court fights to end Title 42.

But Homeland Security is arguing the Venezuelan program will help tamp down illegal crossings, and said it would look to expand it to people of other nationalities, the news outlet reported.

Republicans Looking to Expand Tax Cuts After Midterms (Newsmax)

By Theodore Bunker | Monday, 17 October 2022 11:39 AM EDT

Republicans hope to make the tax rate changes passed under former President Donald Trump permanent if the GOP takes control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

"The trick is to put the president in a position of either getting defeated in 2024 or signing your stuff into law," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who remains in communication with senior party leaders, told The Washington Post. "Republicans will make it a priority to continue the Trump tax cuts, because it puts the Democrats in a position of being for tax increases and against economic growth."

Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said recently: "We have temporary tax policies that have been good for the middle class — we need to make those permanent."

White House spokesman Andrew Bates pushed back on this idea, saying in a statement that "While President [Joe] Biden and congressional Democrats are fighting to make middle class families the heart of our economy. … Republicans want to sell those families out to rich special interests and by doubling down on their 2017 tax giveaway to the ultrawealthy and corporations."

Stephen Moore, former White House economic adviser during the Trump administration, told the Post that "It'll be a battle royale in Washington over the next year over which of Trump's tax cuts get extended. This will be a central, driving theme of the Republican Congress — making those tax cuts permanent."

Jason Furman, an economist who served in the Obama administration and now teaches at Harvard University, told the Post that "the corporate tax cuts the Republicans are pushing would add to inflation, add to the deficit, and do little or nothing for economic growth. They were a budget gimmick to start with. Extending them without paying for them now would be doubling down on the original gimmick."

Original Article

Most Say Voting Vital Despite Dour US Outlook: AP-NORC Poll Polls (Dreamstime)

HANNAH FINGERHUT Monday, 17 October 2022 10:27 AM EDT

From his home in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Graeme Dean says there's plenty that's disheartening about the state of the country and politics these days. At the center of one of this year's most competitive U.S. Senate races, he's on the receiving end of a constant barrage of vitriolic advertising that makes it easy to focus on what's going wrong.

But the 40-year-old English teacher has no intention of disengaging from the democratic process. In fact, he believes that the first national election since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is "more significant" than in years past.

"This could very well sway the country in one direction or another," the Democrat-leaning independent said.

Dean is hardly alone in feeling the weight of this election. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center of Public Affairs Research finds 71% of registered voters think the very future of the U.S. is at stake when they vote this year. That's true of voters who prefer Republicans win majorities in Congress, and those who want to see Democrats remain in control, though likely for different reasons.

While about two-thirds of voters say they are pessimistic about politics, overwhelming majorities across party lines — about 8 in 10 — say casting their ballot this year is extremely or very important.

The findings demonstrate how this year's midterms are playing out in a unique environment, with voters both exhausted by the political process and determined to participate in shaping it. That could result in high turnout for a midterm election.

In the politically divided state of Michigan, for instance, over 150,000 voters have already cast absentee ballots. A total of 1.6 million people have requested absentee ballots so far, surpassing the 1.16 million who chose the option in the 2018 midterm election.

In follow-up interviews, poll respondents reported distinct concerns about the country's direction despite agreement that things are not working.

Rick Moore, a 67-year-old writer and musician in Las Vegas, said he's dissatisfied with President Joe Biden, and "not just because I'm a Republican." Moore called him "more of a puppet" than any other president in his lifetime.

"It's important to me that Republicans are in control of as much as possible because we're not going to get rid of the Democratic president anytime soon," Moore said.

In general, Moore said, he doesn't like the way Democrat politicians run their states, including Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, adding that Democrats are "using the word democracy to make all of us do what they want."

"I would just like to see my voice more represented," he said.

Since the last midterm elections, voters have grown more negative about the country and people's rights: 70% say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., up from 58% in October 2018.

Republicans have become enormously dissatisfied with a Democrat in the White House. While Democrats have become less negative since Donald Trump left office, they remain largely sour on the way things are going.

Fifty-eight percent of voters also say they are dissatisfied with the state of individual rights and freedoms in the U.S., up from 42% in 2018. About two-thirds of Republicans are now dissatisfied, after about half said they were satisfied when Trump was in office. Among Democrats, views have stayed largely the same, with about half dissatisfied.

Shawn Hartlage, 41, doesn't think her views as a Christian are well represented, lamenting that she'd love to vote "for someone that really stood for what you believe," but that it's very important to her to vote anyway.

The Republican stay-at-home mother of two in Washington Township, Ohio, said the direction of the country is "devastating," noting both inflation and a decline in moral values.

"I'm scared for my children's future," Hartlage said. "You always want to leave things better for them than what you had, but it's definitely not moving in that direction."

Teanne Townsend of Redford, Michigan, agrees that things are moving backward. But the 28-year-old called out abortion, health care and police brutality as especially concerning areas in which rights are being threatened.

"We have minimum progression in the right direction for a lot of areas, especially for people of minority (groups). Their rights are not the same as those of other races and cultures," the Democrat, who is African American, said.

A children's health and mental health specialist, Townsend said she's voting for her constitutional right to an abortion this year. If passed, the state's ballot initiative would guarantee abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution.

"I feel like it's just a lot that's at stake," Townsend said, adding that she's both "optimistic and nervous" about the outcome but that it's "the right thing" for people to be able to vote on it.

The poll showed majorities of voters overall say the outcome of the midterms will have a significant impact on abortion policy, with Democrat voters more likely than Republican voters to say so. Most voters across party lines say the outcome will have a lot of impact on the economy.

More voters say they trust the Republican Party to handle the economy (39% vs. 29%), as well as crime (38% vs. 23%). Republicans also have a slight advantage on immigration (38% vs. 33%). The Democrat Party is seen as better able to handle abortion policy (45% vs. 22%), health care (42% vs. 25%) and voting laws (39% vs. 29%).

Despite the uncertainty in the outcome, Dean in Pennsylvania has faith in the American system to work for the will of the people.

"I think it's important that our representatives represent what the majority of people want," Dean said. "That's what we claim we do in this country and it feels like it is what should happen. And I am hopeful."

The poll of 961 registered voters was conducted Oct. 6-10 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Follow the AP's coverage of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.

Original Article

DOJ Recommends 6-Month Sentence, Fine for Steve Bannon Steve Bannon (Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 17 October 2022 09:52 AM EDT

The Justice Department on Monday recommended that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon receive six months in jail and a $200,000 fine for refusing a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee.

The recommendation was made in a morning court filing to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

"From the moment that the Defendant, Stephen K. Bannon, accepted service of a subpoena from the House Select Committee … he has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt," said the filing, which was tweeted by CBS legal reporter Rob Legare.

"For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months' imprisonment—the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines' range—and fined $200,000—based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office's routine pre-sentencing financial investigation."

Bannon's response was expected later Monday, with sentencing scheduled for this week, Legare reported.

A federal judge on July 27 declined a request to acquit Bannon on two contempt charges for defying a subpoena from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan panel – comprised of Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans – investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack. The judge added that he would consider dismissing the charges instead.

Five days earlier, a jury found Bannon, 68, guilty of two misdemeanor counts for refusing to provide testimony or documents to the select committee.

In Monday's filing, the DOJ cited Bannon's claim that former President Donald Trump had waived executive privilege.

"The Defendant flouted the Committee's authority and ignored the subpoena's demands. The Defendant, a private citizen, claimed that executive privilege – which did not apply to him and would not have exempted his total noncompliance even if it had – justified his actions," the filing said.

"Then, on the eve of trial, he attempted an about-face, representing to the Committee that former President Donald J. Trump had waived executive privilege and freed the Defendant to cooperate. But this proved a hollow gesture; when he realized that his eleventh-hour stunt would not prevent his trial, the Defendant's cooperative spirit vanished."

Reuters contributed to this story.

Original Article

Kemp, Abrams to Debate on 1st Day of Early Voting in Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during his primary night election party at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 24. (Joe Raedle/Getty)

JEFF AMY Monday, 17 October 2022 09:07 AM EDT

Early in-person voting begins in Georgia on Monday, hours before the candidates for governor meet in the first of two scheduled debates. Democrats in particular are trying to push their supporters to cast ballots early in races that include a pivotal U.S. Senate seat.

Republican incumbent Brian Kemp, who has been touting his record of reopening Georgia's economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and assailing Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams as soft on crime, rolled out a batch of crime proposals Monday, signaling that could be a major theme of the debate.

Kemp is proposing to increase the prison sentence for recruiting youths under 18 into a gang to a minimum of 10 years from the current minimum of five years. He's also proposing to make it harder for judges to release people who have been arrested without cash bail, saying judges should have to consider a person's criminal history and to prohibit release without cash bail for people with a history of failing to appear in court.

Both proposals, which would need to be approved by the state legislature before becoming law, are likely to bring attacks from advocates for locking fewer people up in Georgia prisons. Kemp and other Republicans have repeatedly undercut efforts to make Georgia's criminal justice system less punitive in the last four years, even while saying they were honoring the reform legacy of previous Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

Kemp also wants to provide loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 for people who study to become police officers in the state and up to $100,000 for people who become medical examiners.

Abrams, who has been trailing Kemp in polls as the two match up again following Abrams' narrow 2018 defeat, said she wants to use Monday's debate to highlight her plans to expand Medicaid, increase child care subsidies, raise teacher salaries, make housing more affordable and expand small business opportunities.

“I’m going to talk to everyone about what’s at stake, what the opportunities are and why we haven’t received all of the benefits that Georgia is entitled to," she said. "I want to make certain that I make the case that Brian Kemp doesn’t care, he won’t help, and that he spent the last four years attacking our freedoms.”

Kemp campaign spokesperson Cody Hall said Kemp’s goal in the debate will be to “communicate the governor’s record but also make it clear how that record contrasts with where Stacey Abrams wants to take our state.”

Libertarian Shane Hazel will share the stage.

What is likely to be the only debate in the Georgia Senate race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker took place last Friday in Savannah. That was followed by a debate between Warnock and Libertarian challenger Chase Oliver on Sunday in Atlanta.

More than 4 million people could vote in the state’s elections this year, and if past patterns hold, more than half are likely to cast ballots before Election Day. With Donald Trump’s past baseless attacks on mail ballots as fraud-prone, early voting could be tilted to Democrats. Abrams told reporters on Thursday she's hoping to push 100,000 to 200,000 voters to the polls in the first week.

“Everybody you've ever met should know about it: people you're mad at, people who are mad at you, people you owe money to, people who owe you money, people you broke up with, this is a good time to get back together," Abrams said Friday during an Atlanta fundraiser attended by first lady Jill Biden. "But we need everyone across the state to show up the first week of early voting.”

Voters in Georgia are already sending in ballots by mail, with more than 1,000 received by Friday through the mail. More than 200,000 people have requested mail ballots already, with an Oct. 28 deadline to request them. Early in-person voting will run through Nov. 4, with counties mandated to offer two Saturdays of balloting and given the option of offering two Sundays.

Hall said Kemp's goal is to remain “competitive” in early voting. "We feel confident about our ability to do that,” Hall said.

Kemp and Abrams are scheduled to meet for a second debate on Oct. 30.

Original Article

Kemp, Abrams to Debate on 1st Day of Early Voting in Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during his primary night election party at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 24. (Joe Raedle/Getty)

JEFF AMY Monday, 17 October 2022 09:07 AM EDT

Early in-person voting begins in Georgia on Monday, hours before the candidates for governor meet in the first of two scheduled debates. Democrats in particular are trying to push their supporters to cast ballots early in races that include a pivotal U.S. Senate seat.

Republican incumbent Brian Kemp, who has been touting his record of reopening Georgia's economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and assailing Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams as soft on crime, rolled out a batch of crime proposals Monday, signaling that could be a major theme of the debate.

Kemp is proposing to increase the prison sentence for recruiting youths under 18 into a gang to a minimum of 10 years from the current minimum of five years. He's also proposing to make it harder for judges to release people who have been arrested without cash bail, saying judges should have to consider a person's criminal history and to prohibit release without cash bail for people with a history of failing to appear in court.

Both proposals, which would need to be approved by the state legislature before becoming law, are likely to bring attacks from advocates for locking fewer people up in Georgia prisons. Kemp and other Republicans have repeatedly undercut efforts to make Georgia's criminal justice system less punitive in the last four years, even while saying they were honoring the reform legacy of previous Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

Kemp also wants to provide loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 for people who study to become police officers in the state and up to $100,000 for people who become medical examiners.

Abrams, who has been trailing Kemp in polls as the two match up again following Abrams' narrow 2018 defeat, said she wants to use Monday's debate to highlight her plans to expand Medicaid, increase child care subsidies, raise teacher salaries, make housing more affordable and expand small business opportunities.

“I’m going to talk to everyone about what’s at stake, what the opportunities are and why we haven’t received all of the benefits that Georgia is entitled to," she said. "I want to make certain that I make the case that Brian Kemp doesn’t care, he won’t help, and that he spent the last four years attacking our freedoms.”

Kemp campaign spokesperson Cody Hall said Kemp’s goal in the debate will be to “communicate the governor’s record but also make it clear how that record contrasts with where Stacey Abrams wants to take our state.”

Libertarian Shane Hazel will share the stage.

What is likely to be the only debate in the Georgia Senate race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker took place last Friday in Savannah. That was followed by a debate between Warnock and Libertarian challenger Chase Oliver on Sunday in Atlanta.

More than 4 million people could vote in the state’s elections this year, and if past patterns hold, more than half are likely to cast ballots before Election Day. With Donald Trump’s past baseless attacks on mail ballots as fraud-prone, early voting could be tilted to Democrats. Abrams told reporters on Thursday she's hoping to push 100,000 to 200,000 voters to the polls in the first week.

“Everybody you've ever met should know about it: people you're mad at, people who are mad at you, people you owe money to, people who owe you money, people you broke up with, this is a good time to get back together," Abrams said Friday during an Atlanta fundraiser attended by first lady Jill Biden. "But we need everyone across the state to show up the first week of early voting.”

Voters in Georgia are already sending in ballots by mail, with more than 1,000 received by Friday through the mail. More than 200,000 people have requested mail ballots already, with an Oct. 28 deadline to request them. Early in-person voting will run through Nov. 4, with counties mandated to offer two Saturdays of balloting and given the option of offering two Sundays.

Hall said Kemp's goal is to remain “competitive” in early voting. "We feel confident about our ability to do that,” Hall said.

Kemp and Abrams are scheduled to meet for a second debate on Oct. 30.

Walker Opts Out of Second Debate With Incumbent Sen. Warnock Georgia Republican Senatorial candidate Herschel Walker speaks at a campaign event in Carrollton, Georgia, on Oct. 11. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

By Fran Beyer | Monday, 17 October 2022 09:25 AM EDT

Herschel Walker opted out of a second debate against Georgia's incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The Atlanta Press Club debate series was held Sunday — two days after its first, which the former football star attended. Two more are planned, for Monday and Tuesday.

According to the debate series protocol, all candidates are invited to participate, with Warnock and Libertarian Chase Oliver accepting on Sunday — but also representing absent candidates via an empty podium.

"It's important to point out that my opponent Herschel Walker is not here—and I think half of being a senator is showing up," Warnock said at the debate, the Washington Examiner reported.

The former NFL player — who's been backed in his election bid by former President Donald Trump — violated debate rules in his sole appearance, flashing what looked like an honorary deputy badge, the news outlet reported — with the moderator stepping in to criticize Walker for bringing a prop to the event.

The former NFL player claimed he had brought it to prove that he had worked in law enforcement, though the claim has not been independently confirmed.

At the first debate on Friday, Walker and Warnock sparred over a range of issues from abortion and policing to personal integrity. Their race could help determine control of the Senate.

Original Article