The Patriot Post® · Monday Top Headline Summary
Seek and destroy: “The House Judiciary Committee will seek documents from more than 60 people and organizations as it begins investigations into possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Donald Trump, the panel’s chairman said on Sunday. … As evidence of obstruction, [Jerrold] Nadler cited Trump’s May 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russia activities in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. … While the Mueller investigation is focused on specific crimes, Congress’ probes will cast a wider net, Nadler said.” (Reuters)
“Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has announced he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, becoming the second governor to join a crowded field of candidates. … In 2013 Hickenlooper signed universal background checks into law and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, but his pro-business centrist profile could be a turn-off for progressives in the party. He’s also been a strong supporter of Colorado’s oil and gas industry, which is sure to be a point of contention for some Democrats.” (NPR)
National Review reports: “At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday morning, President Donald Trump addressed a crowd of about 9,000 attendees, regaling them with stories about his 2016 election campaign and eventual victory over Hillary Clinton. … The president announced that he plans to sign an executive order requiring college campuses to support free speech, in the wake of an incident at the University of California, Berkeley, where conservative activist Hayden Williams was punched in the face while recruiting students to join the Leadership Institute. Trump also knocked Democrats for supporting the Reproductive Health Act in New York, which legalized abortion for any reason up to 24 weeks, and noted that 44 Democratic senators voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” The Daily Signal provides additional insight into America’s biggest conservative conference.
“Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said on Sunday that he would support a resolution that would overturn President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, appearing to provide the crucial vote needed for the Senate to pass the measure. ‘I stand with the president often, and I do so with a loud voice,’ Mr. Paul wrote in an opinion piece published late Sunday on Fox News’s website. ‘Today, I think he’s wrong, not on policy, but in seeking to expand the powers of the presidency beyond their constitutional limits.’ … Mr. Paul joins three other Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — in backing the resolution. … Mr. Trump has said he would veto the measure, and it is unlikely that either chamber could muster the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.” (The New York Times)
“Tax refunds are up from where they were this time last year by 1.3 percent following the fourth week of the 2019 filing season, according to new Internal Revenue Service data. To be more specific, the average tax refund has increased to $3,143 from $3,103 last February, according to cumulative statistics comparing the 2018 and 2019 filing seasons. Oddly enough, certain newsrooms have responded to this development with total silence. I say ‘odd,’ because it was just a few weeks ago that these same newsrooms rushed to report that tax refunds were smaller this year, suggesting either implicitly or explicitly that the decrease was tied to the Republican Party’s tax reform bill.” (Becket Adams, Washington Examiner)
“The U.S. announced an end to its annual large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea on Sunday,” according to NBC News, which adds that the drills “will be replaced by smaller training exercises.” But The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas Spoehr warns that this “could weaken U.S. and South Korean readiness in a conflict with North Korea.”
“The Department of Defense on Friday released a plan for President Trump’s proposed Space Force, asking Congress for $2 billion to fund it over the next five years. The proposal, sent to Congress on Wednesday, stipulates that 15,000 space-related military and civilian personnel will be transferred from other areas of the Pentagon to the Space Force. … With Democrats now in control of the House, the plan is expected to struggle to pass Congress, as it is not popular among Democratic legislators.” (National Review)
“The Republican National Committee is making a concerted effort to court African-American voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The decision reflects a growing list of accomplishments President Donald Trump can credibly point to in the realm of expanding economic opportunities for minorities. … Despite the president’s success, his administration’s actions are not widely recognized and have received little attention from the national media. To get that message out, the RNC has launched a strategic initiative aimed at recruiting activists within the African-American community.” (The Washington Free Beacon)
Buzzkill: “Less than half of those surveyed in a new poll found Michael Cohen’s public testimony to Congress credible. While more respondents said they found Cohen’s testimony to be credible than those who said it was not, the overall results suggest the high-profile appearance by President Trump’s former personal attorney is unlikely to be a political game-changer. Thirty-seven percent of registered voters … said they found Cohen’s testimony credible, compared to 25 percent who said they did not find him credible.” (The Hill)
“Embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) ignited another firestorm on Sunday when she made anti-Semitic comments to a Jewish member of Congress, accusing the congresswoman of wanting her to have dual loyalties to Israel. … Omar’s latest round of anti-Semitic remarks drew a lot of criticism from notable figures in the media and in politics.” (The Daily Wire)
Humor: “My health care is none of your business,” says woman who demands that you pay for her health care (The Babylon Bee)
Policy: “The Education Freedom Scholarship program proposed by Betsy DeVos and the administration’s congressional allies would be a huge step in the right direction,” John Schilling opines in National Review. Read more about “The Trump Administration’s Bold New School-Choice Plan.”
Policy: Oregon is “the first state in the nation to impose statewide rent controls,” says The Daily Signal’s Joel Griffith, who calls this “a step in the wrong direction.” Read his explanation of why the rent controls will reduce the housing supply.
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.