The Patriot Post® · Tuesday Top News Executive Summary
TRUMP MOVES TO BLOCK SUBPOENAS: The Associated Press reports, “President Donald Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records. … Two House committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the Republican president’s finances.” The lawsuit states, “The subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J. Trump, to rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage.”
ASYLUM OVERHAUL: “President Trump called Monday night for a sweeping overhaul to an asylum system he has long said is rife with fraud — including a new fee to process asylum applicants, and the capacity to rapidly adjudicate applicants’ claims while also barring them from working in the U.S. in the meantime,” according to Fox News. “Immigration courts that process asylum claims currently have a backlog of more than 800,000 cases, and asylum applicants are increasingly staying in the U.S. even after their claims for asylum have been denied.”
BETO’S GREEN NEW DEAL: Via Fortune: “Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke released a $5 trillion plan to combat climate change over the next decade with a goal of achieving net-zero emissions in the U.S. by 2050. The former congressman … said he would put the U.S. back in the Paris Agreement, if elected, and seek legislation in his first 100 days in office to set a ‘legally enforceable’ requirement that the nation remove as much greenhouse gases as it emits, with half of that goal completed by 2030.” Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash lamented, “Beto claims to support the Green New Deal, but his plan is out of line with the timeline it lays out and the scale of action that scientists say is necessary to take here in the United States to give our generation a livable future.”
DEMOCRATS’ INFRASTRUCTURE HIJACK: “The top two Democratic leaders on Monday told President Trump that any bipartisan infrastructure package needs to take into consideration climate change and include ‘substantial, new and real revenue’ — a preview of the coming fight over tax hikes. … Democrats want the measure for roads, bridges, waterways and other projects to be paid for with tax increases, and with a final price tag of at least $1 trillion over 10 years.” (The Hill)
ROSENSTEIN MAKES RESIGNATION OFFICIAL: “U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017 to investigate links between the Russian government and President Donald Trump’s campaign, said on Monday he was resigning from his post. Rosenstein’s departure, effective May 11, was not a surprise. He had been expected to step down in March. The White House had no immediate comment, but noted that Trump had already nominated Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen to replace him.” (Reuters)
NRA’S OLD GUARD AND NEW GUARD: “Wayne LaPierre was re-elected chief executive and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association on Monday, surviving a power struggle in which he was challenged by former NRA President Oliver North, who stepped down over the weekend. The NRA board voted unanimously in favor of LaPierre, who has been with the NRA for 40 years and has helped convert it into one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States. … In addition, Carolyn Meadows, a conservative from Georgia who had been part of the NRA leadership, replaced North as president.” (Reuters)
NEW YORK TIMES ANTI-SEMITISM: “The New York Times deleted a political cartoon over the weekend after acknowledging that it contained ‘anti-Semitic tropes,’ an episode decried as the latest example of rising anti-Semitism on the left,” The Washington Times notes, adding, “The New York Times editor’s note was described by some as an apology, although the message did not actually apologize for running the cartoon.” In a statement, the American Jewish Committee said it would not accept the non-apology. “How many @nytimes editors looked at a cartoon that would not have looked out of place on a white supremacist website and thought it met the paper’s editorial standards?”
AFA COMMANDANT OUSTED: According to The Colorado Springs Gazette, “The first openly gay general at the Air Force Academy has been removed as commandant of cadets, but leaders were mum Monday on the exact cause of the apparent firing.” The reason Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin was tapped for this post is unfortunate. She wasn’t unqualified, but she had a special “qualification” that other equally skilled candidates didn’t — gender dysphoria. Furthermore, she was removed one month before her rotation would have ended, so there must be something there or she would have just finished up.
VENEZUELA QUIVERS: “Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets with activist Leopoldo Lopez and a small contingent of heavily armed troops early Tuesday in a bold and risky call for the military to rise up and oust socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. ‘I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic soldiers,’ said Lopez, who had been detained since 2014 for leading anti-government protests. ‘Everyone should come to the streets, in peace.’” (Associated Press)
ISIS LEADER OUT OF THE SHADOWS: “Almost five years after he was last seen publicly, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made a reappearance in an online video, hailing his fighters for not giving up the remnants of the ‘caliphate’ in Syria without a fight, and urging supporters to carry out attacks in France, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere.” (CNSNews.com)
HUMOR: CNN intern dutifully resets “Days Without a Fake News Story” counter every morning (The Babylon Bee)
POLICY: The Paris agreement and the costly pursuit of the trivial (American Enterprise Institute)
POLICY: Let forests burn, if you truly love them (Foundation for Economic Education)
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.
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