[The Federalist] On Thursday afternoon, New York University Law School hosted a panel discussion on reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a federal law that allows courts to grant federal agencies warrants to secretly spy on American citizens.
The panel was held by Just Security, an online forum for analysis of national security. Moderated by The Atlantic magazine’s Adam Sewer, speakers were Liza Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center; Cato Institute senior fellow Julian Sanchez; Andrew Weismann, a lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office; and recently fired Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
After registration a light lunch was available, then the assembled awkwardly walked into the auditorium, balancing plates and coats, cups and briefcases. Then we sat waiting.
A loud gentleman with a nonspecific New York accent laughed behind me and said, "Why is Andrew McCabe on a panel about FISA? To explain how to abuse it?" No sooner had the panel taken the stage than someone filming with a selfie stick started peppering McCabe with questions about Operation Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s secret investigation of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. He was asked to leave and did, but these two incidents indicated why I was there.
The actual panel began with a brief description of the secretive FISA process through which surveillance of Americans allegedly suspected of being foreign agents operates. Almost entirely lacking in transparency, for claimed national security reasons, the process lacks the accountability of the domestic criminal surveillance process, because there is little no adversarial challenge to it. It must merely jump through more hoops and agencies, which counterintuitively all panelists seemed to agree made the process more, not less, susceptible to abuse because this supposedly diffuses accountability among more nameless actors who cannot then be held to account for their specific actions.
#4
FISA needs to go away. We knew it would eventually get to this. Secret courts for secret police actions under the direction of a crooked president. Sounds like South America...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2020 11:48 Comments ||
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#5
Including foreign governments carrying the FBI's water.
#6
The results of all this nefarious activity with nobody going to jail yet is the total loss of trust of government and its institutions.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/17/2020 15:45 Comments ||
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#7
No it isn't hard. Make it a felony to lie to the FISA court and set up someone to review FISA requests randomly and the abuse will go away as self-preservation takes its course.
[Right Scoop] It appears, according to David Steinberg, that three federal agencies are now investigating criminal allegations against Rep. Ilhan Omar that could lead to her being arrested for committing a number of felonies including student loan fraud and immigration fraud, which we’ve written about here before:
#4
I think some, maybe most, of the fraud committed by Omar may only result in administrative penalties. There is a 5 year statute of limitations on many fraud related issues.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/17/2020 9:48 Comments ||
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#5
In the very unlikely event that these investigations actually result in charges, she will scream Islamophobia and racism, and the MSM will back her.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/17/2020 10:05 Comments ||
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#6
"Juice lies!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2020 10:16 Comments ||
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#7
#4
Not immigration fraud. The U.S. has kicked out Nazis after 50 years because they lied in their application.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/17/2020 11:05 Comments ||
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#8
I would love to see her juice and American hating ass kicked back to Somalia.
[NYT via Zero] The New York Times just published a bombshell report that's faintly reminiscent of the scoops that the Liberal paper of record used to publish during the spring and summer of 2017, when the Mueller probe was in its infancy.
Except this time, instead of the the leak focusing on alleged wrongdoing by President Trump and his inner circle, the NYT is focusing on former FBI Director James Comey, who has increasingly been taken to task by the mainstream press in recent months for his botched handling of both the Clinton investigation and the origins of the probe in Russian interference (remember that?).
This leak, which involves a classified information about Russian intelligence, allegedly surfaced in the Washington Post and NYT some time during 2017.
A report published in September by the DoJ's inspector general found that the fired FBI Director James Comey leaked sensitive law enforcement material in the Trump-Russia investigation. Doing so set a "dangerous example" for the bureau's other employees, Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote. Comey's former No. 2 man, Andrew McCabe, was also fired for leaking, and is also under investigation.
How utterly delightful, though one can see why the Deep State might become vicious in its disappointment..
Whatever this document was (the NYT claims it was also mentioned in a book by James Stewart published last fall), it apparently played a key role in Comey's decision to cut the DoJ out of his announcement that the FBI wouldn't be pursuing charges against Hillary Clinton in the email scandal. Furthermore, it was allegedly obtained by Dutch Intelligence operatives, before being handed over to the US. The NYT says the document was "one of the key factors" that drove Comey's decision to give Hillary a pass.
#1
Furthermore, it was allegedly obtained by Dutch Intelligence operatives, before being handed over to the US. The NYT says the document was "one of the key factors" that drove Comey's decision to give Hillary a pass.
I thought everyone knew the use of Foreign Intelligence data in a US criminal investigation was prohibited.
[NYPOST] Jeffrey Want Some Candy, Little Girl? Epstein ...A high class pimp financier who was alleged to maintain a stable of underage whoressex slaves who were paid big bucks to entertain the rich and/or famous. He is a registered sex offender and made att least 17 out-of-court settlements with former members of his stable, with some cases still ongoing. 2011 court docs reveal that 21 email addresses and phone numbers for Bill Clinton and an aide were found in Epstein's electronic black book, and that Clinton frequently flew with Epstein on his private plane between 2002 to 2005. But really, they were probably just discussing finance or politix or something. While getting massaged. Then things got serious, Jeff was tossed in the slammer in New York and then he killed himself. Really. That's what happened... ’s eyes had burst capillaries after his body was found in his Manhattan jail cell, suggesting that the convicted pedophile was likely murdered through manual strangulation and did not hang himself, a forensic pathologist says in a TV interview.
In a clip provided to The Post from a "Dr. Oz" special set to air Thursday, former New York City Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden discusses his theories and examines graphic photographs.
Among them are the burst capillaries and the fact that Epstein’s lower extremities were pale and not purple or bluish, which he said would have been the case had he hanged himself in August at the Manhattan Correctional Center.
"The blood settles after we die. The so-called lividity, if you’re hanging, the lividity is on the lower part on the legs. These would be like maroon/purple, front and back and they aren’t," Baden tells Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Oz then shows gruesome images of Epstein’s eyes.
"These little hemorrhages, tiny little blood splotches. What do these particular hemorrhages, burst blood vessels, tell you? Why is it a red flag?" he asks the pathologist, who was hired by Epstein’s brother, Mark, to observe an autopsy on the disgraced financier.
#3
Nothing heard lately about the 'sleeping jail guards' that were said to have been arrested. Are the guards still among the living, or have the potential assassins been assassinated ?
A botched job possibly? Jeffrey wasn't hungry and didn't eat his mid-rats laced with zolpidem tartrate. He was wide awake and violently protested his scheduled, jail cell hanging ?
Sorry boss, it just suddenly got very ugly. We are still going to get paid, right ?
I would think there would be lots of 'types' of hangings that might produce different effects. It could have been a nice gentle suffocation or a two foot drop and snap, or some combo.
That plan to run for president on the Democratic ticket is rapidly fading in the rear view mirror.
Actually, he's building his Democrat Resume and Bona Fides
[ABCNEWS.GO] Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' former lawyer and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... , finds himself embroiled in a new round of legal trouble after being arrested Tuesday night in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,.
Already awaiting trial in California and New York, Avenatti was arrested again while leaving a court hearing over revoking his law license. He's due in Manhattan federal court next week over accusations of extorting Nike for millions of dollars.
He's pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." in both cases.
A judge ruled on Wednesday Avenatti would remain in jug and be transported by U.S. Marshals to New York for his court hearing next week.
IRS ...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies... agents took Avenatti into custody for allegedly violating terms of his bail. He's facing a long list of accusations in California, including stealing money from clients and not paying his taxes.
In court documents obtained by ABC News, federal prosecutors allege that while Avenatti, who they said is millions of dollars in debt because of a high-roller lifestyle, was on pretrial release for the California case he was orchestrating complex schemes to hide assets from creditors.
[AP] President Trump's impeachment team will include two former independent counsels, Ken Starr and Robert Ray, and constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz.
The team will be led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and will include Jay Sekulow, a personal attorney to the president.
Starr, who in December said impeachment was "absolutely" an effort to overthrow the president, led the investigation into President Bill Clinton, the second U.S. president to be impeached. Hopefully the Orange Man can keep them on board for a post-Senate Impeachment Trial investigation of one Hunter Biden.
#5
Dershowitz recently wrote a typically brilliantly-argued piece recommending outright dismissal of Peach-Mint Julep on grounds of zero evidence for the allegations.
Combining Dershowitz for criminal defense brilliance, Starr for unparalleled knowledge of the constitutional issues, and McConnell for mastery of procedure, this will be swift and brutal for the Shitshow-mongers.
#7
Dershowitz has already entered the fray - here's his statement, which interestingly uses the third person as if to underscore how incredibly important it is that we kill the Shitshow tendency, now, before rule of law in this country becomes a joke:
"Dershowitz will present oral arguments at the Senate trial to address the constitutional arguments against impeachment and removal.
While Professor Dershowitz is non partisan when it comes to the Constitution — he opposed the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and voted for Hillary Clinton — he believes the issues at stake go to the heart of our enduring Constitution.
He is participating in this impeachment trial to defend the integrity of the Constitution and to prevent the creation of a dangerous constitutional precedent."
But long. I like the six weeks suggested a few days ago. Lamentations and weeping, begging for the end, for the last four week.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/17/2020 16:25 Comments ||
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#10
The intersting thing is Ken Starr was the guy known for somewhat expanding the Clinton investigation. If I were the Biden's I'd be looking for property in Rio for young Hunter about now.
h/t Instapundit
[PJ] - ... Politico reports that the senator from Kentucky has threatened his fellow senators that if four or more Republican senators " join with Democrats to entertain new witness testimony, he’ll make the Senate vote on subpoenaing the president’s preferred witnesses, including Hunter Biden and the whistleblower who revealed the Ukraine scandal."
In an interview with Politico, Sen. Paul explained that "If you vote against Hunter Biden, you’re voting to lose your election, basically. Seriously. That’s what it is. If you don’t want to vote and you think you’re going to have to vote against Hunter Biden, you should just vote against witnesses, period."
#1
Senator Marsha Blackburn has called for 4 Dem senators to recuse themselves as they are running for president and not impartial. Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bennet , Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders. Sanders has said he'd rather be on the campaign trail.
[Daily Caller] Two leading Republican lawmakers pressed the judge presiding over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on Thursday to explain his choice of former Justice Department official David Kris to monitor the FBI’s proposed reforms in response to an inspector general’s report regarding surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser.
"If the FISC’s goal is to hold the FBI accountable for its serious misconduct, Mr. Kris does not appear to be an objective ‐ or likely effective ‐ amicus curiae for several reasons," Rep. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows wrote to Judge James Boasberg, who presides over the FISC, in a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
"At minimum, the selection of Mr. Kris creates a perception that he is too personally invested on the side of the FBI to ensure it effectuates meaningful reform."
Kris criticized Republicans who accused the FBI of submitting misleading information to the FISC in order to wiretap Page. Kris asserted that the bureau would not have misled the FISC in order to obtain surveillance warrants.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2020 06:37 ||
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Link ||
[11131 views]
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#1
"At minimum, the selection of Mr. Kris creates a perception that he is too personally invested on the side of the FBI to ensure it effectuates meaningful reform."
What gave you a clue Sherlock? Someone who is disinterested is not involved in a particular situation or not likely to benefit from it and is therefore able to act in a fair and unselfish way. Major, clear, unequivocal fail here.
#4
Another damned appointment:
The Army Times named a 28-year-old who has been vocal about hating President Donald Trump as its top editor Jan. 10. Sarah Sicard previously worked as a spokeswoman for a New York councilman who describes himself as a “moderate Democrat.” The Army Times is one of the oldest and largest papers catering to the military, which according to the publication’s own polling is overwhelmingly conservative.
Posted by: b ||
01/17/2020 18:10 Comments ||
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#5
b - Pg 2 has a whole post on that
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2020 19:09 Comments ||
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[American Thinker] - Two days ago, we hailed the good news that a trial court judge in Wisconsin held the Elections Commission and three of its Democrat members in contempt because they refused to abide by his December order that they remove 200,000 non-viable names from the state's voting records. One day later, on Tuesday, the state appellate court stepped in to stop the Elections Commission from cleaning out the cemetery vote:
#1
Comply with the court order. Leave the 200,000 names on the state's voting records and simply code them to electronically 'pop up' when the voter requests his or her ballot.
Request the county coroner be present to assist the confirmation of records accuracy and 'proof of life.'
[Red State] -
...while Parnas is trying to paint himself as a lackey of Rudy Giuliani, the opposite is true. Parnas actually sought out and paid for Giuliani’s "services" and was looking to get rid of former Ambassador Yovanovitch for his own reasons. It was Parnas who first brought up the issue, not anyone connected to Trump.
...Vadym Prystaiko, Foreign Minister of Ukraine: "Frankly, I have not spoken with [Lev Parnas], and again, frankly, I don’t trust any word he is now saying."
[NYPOST] Rep. Ilhan Omar ...Somali-American Dem representative from Minnesota. She is apparently married to her brother and may be her own grandmaw on her mother's side... is facing another GOP challenger in November’s election ‐ and she’s also a Moslem refugee.
Dalia al-Aqidi, a former White House correspondent from Iraq, said she felt compelled to run against the Somali-born politician, calling her a divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... figure who has neglected her Minneapolis district.
"She’s spreading hatred, and she is spreading racism throughout not only her district, not only her state, but throughout the whole country, and this is very important," al-Aqidi, 51, told The Post on Thursday after announcing her GOP run.
"She’s hurting the moderate Moslems; Moslems like myself. She doesn’t represent me as a Moslem," she continued.
One strength of her candidacy, al-Aqidi said, is that she couldn’t use her background as a Moslem woman refugee to the US as they share the same basic backstory.
Al-Aqidi and her family fled Iraq to escape Saddam Hussein’s regime when she was in her 20s and became US citizens in the early 1990s. Omar fled war-torn Somalia with her family at age 9.
The challenger established a prestigious career as a political news hound, working for Voice of America and then as a White House correspondent for Middle Eastern television networks where she traveled around the world, covering conflicts in her native Iraq and neighboring Leb.
When asked about the fact she had only moved to Omar’s downtown Minneapolis congressional district months ago, al-Aqidi said she had spent every day talking to locals who were concerned the freshman politician wasn’t representing them.
"I’ve done my homework for months and months before I decided to move here," she said. "On Thanksgiving, I helped feed more than 250 homeless people in Minneapolis, which she doesn’t remember. She doesn’t even talk about homeless situation in Minneapolis, which is extremely cold and there are not enough places of shelters for them to sleep in.
[NEWSBUSTERS.ORG] It’s no question MSNBC has been begging for President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s impeachment. So, how does MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks handle the issue of impeachment? By giving money to a Democratic Party House member who would later vote for impeachment.
FEC records revealed that MSNBC Legal Analyst Jill Wine-Banks gave $500 to Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL.) on May 13, 2019. Underwood voted for Trump’s impeachment in December, though she represents a district in Illinois that backed Trump in 2016.
Underwood said she was initially undecided on the matter of impeachment, worrying about a "power-grab" move by her party, according to Vox-Recode Aug. 5. During an Apr. 24, 2019 segment on MSNBC Chris My Thigh is Tingling! Matthews ... the late Tip O'Neill's former gopher who has magazines with centerfolds of Barack Obama in his bathroom... ’ Hardball (19 days before her contribution), Wine-Banks said, "Let me just say that there is enough evidence in the Mueller report to draw a conclusion that there are indictable offenses. That means there are impeachable offenses" [emphasis added]. Wine-Banks listed MSNBC as her employer.
[BREITBART] Kyle Jurek, a field organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders ...The only first openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated out of it by Hillary Clinton, then went back to being a socialist, waiting for 2020 to roll around... ’ (I-VT) presidential campaign, was arrested just days before Project Veritas released undercover footage of the self-described "anarcho-communist" suggesting that Trump supporters require re-education in Soviet-style concentration camps.
Jurek was arrested on January 8 by Iowa state police, according to Polk County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Department. Jurek was charged with violation of probation, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to provide proof of financial liability, as well as operating while intoxicated ‐ his second offense. The 38-year-old was previously arrested in September 2019 for possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a prescription drug, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jurek is at the center of Project Veritas’s latest sting targeting 2020 Democrat candidates.
He was filmed arguing that gulags were beneficial for the Soviet Union and suggesting they could be used to re-educate both Trump voters and billionaires.
"In Nazi Germany, after the fall of the Nazi Party, there was a shit-ton of the populace that was fucking Nazified," says Jurek. "Germany had to spend billions of dollars re-educating their fucking people to not be Nazis," Jurek is seen explaining to an undercover Project Veritas staff member. "We’re probably going to have to do the same fucking thing here. That’s kind of what all Bernie’s whole fucking like, ’hey, free education for everybody’ because we’re going to have to teach you to not be a fucking Nazi."
"[The] greatest way to break a fucking billionaire of their privilege and their idea that they’re superior, go and break rocks for 12 hours a day. You’re now a working class person, and you’re going to fucking learn what the means, right?" he adds.
In another part of the video, Jurek warns that Milwaukee, host of this year’s Democratic National Convention, will "burn," and police will be "beaten" if the Vermont senator loses the nomination.
"If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination or it goes to a second round at the DNC convention, fucking Milwaukee will burn," Jurek is seen saying. "It’ll start in Milwaukee and then when the police push back on that, other cites will fucking [explode]."
"We’re going to make [1968] look like a fucking girl’s scout fucking cookout," he then warns, referring to the 1968 DNC convention in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... , where left-wing activists engaged in violent riots in the streets. "The cops are going to be the ones fucking beaten in Milwaukee."
Despite Jurek’s statements, he still appears to have employed by the Sanders campaign, which has yet to address Project Veritas’s explosive footage.
Kyle Jurek, Iowa Field Organizer, Sanders Campaign, Says That Stalin Had a Legitimate Reason to Use Gulags, Claiming Gulags Were “Better Than What the CIA Has Told Us They Were.”
Jurek Claims That “…Our Prisons, in the United States Right Now, Are Far Worse. Far Worse Than Anything That They Experienced in a F***ing Gulag. Like People Get Raped. People Get F***ing, Work Twelve Hours a Day. People Have to go Fight Fires in California for a Dollar. You Know What I Mean? That’s F***ed up. That’s Super F***ed Up. Soviet Union Didn’t do That S**t.”
Believes That Americans Opposed to Socialism Must be Re-Educated.
Jurek: “Like and No Matter What Country and What Laws Were, That Exist, They’re Irrelevant to, There Are Things Greater Than Those Systems, Right? There Are Things That Are More Important Than the Rule of Law in the United States, When it Comes Down to the Existence of the Human Race.”
Admits to Participating in Antifa Events, Reveals That “A Lot of Them Are Probably on the Bernie Campaign.”
Tip From People Who Know Jurek Personally: Worried He Might Try to Assassinate President Trump
#3
“There Are Things That Are More Important Than The Rule Of Law In The United States”
For sure. Like...
- the "narrative"
- transgender rights
- black lives (which really matter, if you didn't already know)
- Believing Her
- the Struggle
- Outcomes That We Desire
#5
She skated on the financial crimes for the College she led
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2020 5:46 Comments ||
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#6
More "best and brightest" evidence...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/17/2020 8:36 Comments ||
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#7
Is this a human or an animatronic bot speaking?
"Our Prisons, in the United States Right Now, Are Far Worse. Far Worse Than Anything That They Experienced in a F***ing Gulag. Like People Get Raped. People Get F***ing, Work Twelve Hours a Day. People Have to go Fight Fires in California for a Dollar. You Know What I Mean? That’s F***ed up. That’s Super F***ed Up. Soviet Union Didn’t do That S**t.”
[CLICKORLANDO] President Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... took steps Thursday to give religious organizations easier access to federal programs and he reaffirmed students' rights to pray in public schools.
Under orders from Trump, nine Cabinet departments proposed rules intended to remove "regulatory burdens" on religious organizations participating in federal programs by eliminating a requirement that they refer people to alternative providers upon request. Much of that follows through on an executive order Trump from 2018 that aims to put religious groups on equal footing when competing for federal grants and other funding.
At the same time, the Education Department issued its first updated guidance on school prayer since 2003. While Trump promised "big action" this month, the new guidance appears to make few major changes.
The expansion of faith-based groups’ ability to participate in government programs is a significant show of support for an evangelical constituency long a vital part of Trump’s base and it follows a Christian magazine's call for his removal from office.
Trump planned to announce the guidance on school prayer at a White House event later Thursday. A directive orders states to verify that school districts have no policies limiting constitutionally protected prayer and to refer violators to the Education Department. That's much like the 2003 guidance, but the directive goes further in requiring states to provide ways for making complaints against schools.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
Anyone who thinks there isn't prayer in school, hasn't been there for a major test. Maybe that's why the Progs want to do away with testing. (do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Right Scoop] It appears, according to David Steinberg, that three federal agencies are now investigating criminal allegations against Rep. Ilhan Omar that could lead to her being arrested for committing a number of felonies including student loan fraud and immigration fraud, which we’ve written about here before:
[NYT via Zero] The New York Times just published a bombshell report that's faintly reminiscent of the scoops that the Liberal paper of record used to publish during the spring and summer of 2017, when the Mueller probe was in its infancy.
A 
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
[AP] President Trump's impeachment team will include two former independent counsels, Ken Starr and Robert Ray, and constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz.
...Somali-
...The 
...the Nailer of NAFTA...
