The Patriot Post® · Monday Top News Executive Summary
WARNING SIGNS IGNORED: “Sri Lankan officials failed to heed warnings from intelligence agencies about the threat of an attack by a domestic radical Muslim group that officials blame for Easter Sunday bombings which killed more than 200 people. … International intelligence agencies warned of the attacks several times starting April 4, [Health Minister Rajitha] Senaratne said. On April 9, the defense ministry wrote to the police chief with intelligence that included the group’s name, he said. On April 11, police wrote to the heads of security of the judiciary and diplomatic security division, Senaratne said. It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken in response.” (Associated Press)
SCOTUS TACKLES CITIZENSHIP QUESTION: “The battle over the Trump administration’s efforts to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 census is hitting the Supreme Court. The justices will hear arguments on Tuesday over the administration adding the question, a controversial move that has sparked legal battles throughout the U.S. court system. The Commerce Department, which administers the census, is expected to argue that it has the authority to collect data on citizenship and that the question is needed to help with the Justice Department’s enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.” (The Hill)
NO MORE IRAN-OIL PRIVILEGES: “The United States on Monday said it will eliminate in May all waivers granted to eight economies allowing them to buy Iranian oil without facing U.S. sanctions, as it ratcheted up pressure to choke off all oil revenues of the Islamic Republic. … The sanctions were imposed as Washington pressed Iran to curtail its nuclear program and stop backing militant proxies across the Middle East. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday reiterated that Washington’s goal was to bring down exports of Iranian oil to zero and added the United States had no plans to give any grace period beyond May 1 for countries to comply.” (Reuters)
NO JOKE: UKRAINE ELECTS COMEDIAN: “Increasingly, voters are plumping for reality-TV stars to express their anger and seek solutions to intractable problems. Donald Trump … is the most obvious example. But look at Ukraine: This nation of 44 million people just saw a comedian who plays a fictional Ukrainian president on TV win 73 percent of the vote and become … the president-elect.” (National Review)
TWO YEARS TOO LATE: “The salacious and uncorroborated ‘dossier’ compiled by ex-British Intelligence officer Christopher Steele was used by the media to justify its endless attacks on President Donald Trump and accuse him of treason. … Now, after two years of using the dossier to perpetuate the ‘collusion’ narrative, The New York Times has finally acknowledged what those of us not parroting the collusion delusion have known for years — the dossier was garbage.” (The Daily Signal)
NOW DRIVING THE IMPEACHMENT BANDWAGON: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) became the first 2020 presidential candidate to call for the initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump on Friday, calling it the ‘constitutional duty’ of Congress following the findings of the Robert Mueller report. Warren sent out a series of tweets Friday afternoon saying the partially redacted Mueller report released Thursday had laid out the facts of Russian interference in the 2016 election and wrote Trump ‘obstructed the investigation into that attack.’ There was no other recourse for his actions than impeachment, she said.” (The Washington Free Beacon)
NINTH CIRCUS BOWS AGAIN TO SANCTUARY CITIES: “The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals discarded the Trump administration’s attempt to block two of California’s sanctuary laws and determined Thursday that the laws, which restrict local cooperation with federal law enforcement, will remain in place. … The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did block a portion of a third sanctuary city law that was passed in 2017, known as Assembly Bill 103. The court blocked part of the law requires state officials to examine federal immigration detention facilities in California.” (Washington Examiner)
BORDER MILITIAMEN APPREHENDED: “The FBI on Saturday said it had arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of an armed group that is stopping undocumented migrants after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border into New Mexico. … Hopkins, 69, also known as Johnny Horton, was arrested in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on a federal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. … The [United Constitutional Patriots] describes itself as a ‘patriot group’ helping U.S. Border Patrol cope with record numbers of Central American families crossing the border to seek asylum.” (Reuters)
HUMOR: Trump awards self the Presidential Medal of Not Committing Crimes (The Babylon Bee)
POLICY: This Earth Day, thank America: The world leader in clean air (Washington Examiner)
POLICY: The perversion of the Endangered Species Act (RealClearPolicy)
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.