The Patriot Post® · Friday Top News Executive Summary
Republican lawmakers are putting Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in the spotlight due to his relentless and fraudulent pursuit of Russian-collusion charges. The committee is composed of nine Republicans, all of whom yesterday urged Schiff to vacate his leadership position in the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s hollow probe. In a letter, the GOP wrote in part: “The findings of the Special Counsel conclusively refute your past and present assertions and have exposed you as having abused your position to knowingly promote false information, having damaged the integrity of this Committee, and undermined faith in U.S. government institutions. … As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.” Unsurprisingly, Schiff scoffed at the request.
Unfortunately, Schiff’s show business is only the tip of the iceberg. Other colleagues are following his playbook — even going so far as to lay the foundation for “incriminating” Attorney General William Barr. According to The Washington Post, “House Democrats are ready to accuse … Barr of a ‘coverup’ to protect President Trump if he refuses to detail for Congress the information special counsel Robert S. Mueller III provided the grand jury during his investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.”
Tandra Simonton, the spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx — who implicated herself in the Jussie Smollett hate-hoax ruse by communicating with Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff and Smollett compadre Tina Tchen — made this confession yesterday: “The State’s Attorney did not formally recuse herself or the Office based on any actual conflict of interest. As a result, she did not have to seek the appointment of a special prosecutor under [state law].” The Washington Examiner elaborates, “The spokeswoman said Foxx’s office used the word ‘recuse’ to talk about her involvement in the case as a ‘colloquial use’ rather than the legal definition of the term.” Amazingly, this story gets even more surreal: Jussie Smollett is now a contender for the 2019 NAACP Image Awards. Meanwhile, Chicago, which spent $130,000 on the investigation, wants Smollett to pay up.
Going nuclear: “Senate Republicans took the first step Thursday toward triggering the ‘nuclear option’ and cut down on the amount of time Democrats can obstruct presidential nominees. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell scheduled a test vote next week on a change to Senate rules that would trim the 30 hours of debate allowed on each nominee once a filibuster is defeated. That vote is expected to fail — and the GOP is then likely to use the nuclear option, a shortcut to change the rules by majority vote.” (The Washington Times)
The Commerce Department on Thursday provided a final reading on fourth-quarter GDP, pegging it at 2.2%. Before, the estimate was 2.6%. By and large, however, the economy last year was a sight for sore eyes, with median GDP coming in at 2.9%. According to CNBC, “In all, 2018 was the best year for the economy since 2015 and well above the 2.2 percent increase in 2017. The economy grew 3 percent when compared with the fourth quarter of 2017.”
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan has already said that the “breaking point has arrived … at our border.” But the situation could turn catastrophic if reports from Mexico are correct. “Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a caravan of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala could be forming,” the Associated Press informs us. “‘We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that they’re calling "the mother of all caravans,” and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people,’ Sanchez Cordero said Wednesday.“ Others are downplaying the report as dubious, and the AP states they "suspect the administration of President Donald Trump may be trying to fan fears of a big caravan to turn the U.S. national agenda back to the immigration issue.” But as we noted yesterday, February’s apprehension of 76,000 illegal immigrants is estimated to soon swell to 100,000. The addition of any caravans, regardless of exact numbers, will only exacerbate the problem.
Exhibit A in why spending never gets cut: “President Donald Trump said he would jettison a proposal to slash funding for the Special Olympics, undercutting Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the budget proposal he signed. … Trump’s remarks came after widespread criticism targeted DeVos’ budget proposal to eliminate funding for the program, which is designed to help children and adults with disabilities. … The education secretary has explained her rationale by saying the Special Olympics is a private organization — not a federal program — that is better supported by philanthropy.” (USA Today)
According to NPR, “The Department of Housing and Urban Development is suing social media giant Facebook for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act. HUD says Facebook does so by ‘encouraging, enabling and causing housing discrimination’ when it allows companies that use their platform to improperly shield who can see certain housing ads.” But as The Resurgent’s Erick Erickson explains, “There is a problem — Facebook did not actually do that. Facebook is a platform. People used the tools within Facebook and some people not connected to Facebook did it. But Facebook did not. Facebook’s ad platform is very robust in how it allows advertisers to target anyone and everyone.”
Reuters reports that “Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido will be barred from public office for 15 years, the government comptroller said on Thursday, as it seeks to crack down on the U.S.-backed rival to President Nicolas Maduro.” The Statement Department’s response was succinct: “That’s rich and that’s ridiculous.” Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence visited with Fabiana Rosales, Guaido’s wife, earlier this week. Pence said, “Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and it is the policy of the United States of America, at the direction of President Donald Trump, that Nicolas Maduro must go. … Our message, very simply, is that we’re with you, and the United States is going to continue to stand with you, stand with your courageous husband, and stand with freedom-loving people in Venezuela.”
Despite Brexit’s having been rejected twice, Prime Minister Theresa May was hoping that the third time would be a charm. Well, it wasn’t. According to Fox News, “On the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union, lawmakers continued their impasse, voting down Prime Minister Theresa May’s stripped-down withdrawal agreement for the third time. … Immediately following the latest defeat, Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called on May to resign immediately, asking whether she now ‘finally accepts’ that MPs will not support her deal.” The odds of a “no-deal” Brexit are increasing by the hour.
Humor: AOC calls for recount of 57-0 rejection of Green New Deal (The Daily Wire)
Policy: “There’s a conservative health care plan that could reduce costs and help Americans get better access to medical care,” write Katrina Trinko and Daniel Davis in The Daily Signal. Get the details here.
Policy: “Education was never meant to be values-neutral, and recent decades have shown that the public schools are indeed aggressively teaching a set of values to the almost 90 percent of American kids who travel through their halls.” Independent Women’s Forum senior policy analyst Inez Feltscher Stepman provides insight into why “Public Schools Are No Longer a Foundation of America’s Republic.”
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.