Month: July 2018

In the wake of the Helsinki summit when liberals and their mainstream media allies were hurling everything including the kitchen sink in the form of the charge of treason at President Trump, it turns out that all their attacks only resulted in a bump in Trump’s poll ratings. This caused MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt to express shock at that result on her Kasie DC show on Sunday to the extent that she claimed that we are now “living in a different space-time continuum” where “even gravity works differently.” 

 

KASIE HUNT: It’s hard to believe that this time last week we were previewing the president’s meeting with Vladimir Putin. But, of course, we are apparently living in a different space-time continuum here in 2018 where even gravity works differently. But more on that in a moment. All of that happened before Friday when The New York Times dropped that bombshell report about Michael Cohen and his recording of President Trump. Then came Saturday when the D.O.J. made the documents about surveilling former Trump campaign aid Carter Page public. And don’t forget about Paul Manafort whose trial begins this week in Virginia. Along with a reminder that the president’s former campaign chairman has been sitting in jail for over a month as he prepares to face a jury. But back to that part about gravity. The president’s approval rating is ticking up, not down. A brand-new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal conducted before and after the Helsinki summit shows the president approval rating at 45 percent. That is up 1 point from June. Among Republicans, that number is 88 percent, the highest ever his entire presidency.

But how can that be? Why doesn’t the public react to our constant attacks upon Trump? Well, later MSNBC contributor Katty Kay agreed with Hunt’s suggestion that perhaps it is because Trump supporters just don’t believe the “fact checkers” in the media. They believe there’s a “witch hunt.” Or maybe they realize there is no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

HUNT: It strikes me that this is sort of the endgame for talking about fake news and casting doubt repeatedly on the media, right? This is a situation where he has created a universe where nobody believes anything any of the fact checkers say.

KATTY KAY: Every single time the president tweets fake news or witch hunt, all of the polling suggests it’s working. This is a very smart strategy from the president’s point of view. He is leading public opinion in a different direction. One of the more startling shifts in public opinion that we have seen — we haven’t seen it on tariffs, but we have seen it on general attitudes with Russia, with more Republicans generally more favorable — take the Mueller investigation aside, take election meddling aside. Views have changed in the Republican Party. That is almost entirely due to Donald Trump.

Sniff! President Trump has brought about a rip in the space-time continuum by causing people to be a mite skeptical about “objective” media that dump all over him daily and nightly. 

Is this just a case of legal semantics having little effect on actual prosecutions and casework? Of course, but it’s still worth mentioning. The Washington Times reports that the Justice Department has sent an email to its attorneys instructing them to stop using the progressive, inaccurate term “undocumented immigrants” and instead follow the federal legal code and say, illegal alien. You know this is another “own the libs” maneuver, but they’ve got a point.

No more “undocumented” immigrants, just “illegal aliens.”

CNN reported Tuesday evening that the Justice Department has told its attorneys that the term “undocumented” is inaccurate according to U.S. immigration law and that they should start using the legally correct term.

“Illegal alien” is the accurate term used in the U.S. Code, the email reportedly says.

The use of the term “illegal” in the nation’s immigration debate has come under increasing attack from immigrant-rights activists, who can frequently be seen holding signs saying “no person is illegal.”

We can tackle this issue from a question of common sense or immigration law terminology and still arrive at the same answer. As I’ve said repeatedly, if you go into a bank, stick a gun in the teller’s face and tell her to fill the bag with money, you are not making “an undocumented withdrawal.” You’re robbing the bank. Words such as “deposit” and “withdrawal” have very specific meanings in the banking world. So too does the term “alien” in a court of law.

For those who have never checked, you simply need to browse through Title 8, Chapter 12 and read some of the laws such as 8 U.S. Code § 1324 – Bringing in and harboring certain aliens

Any person who— knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).

Alternately, you can also use the term “unauthorized alien” if you wish, though it really doesn’t roll off the tongue. But no matter which “alien” terminology you go with, the phrase undocumented immigrant is meaningless in legal terms and nonsensical in common usage. Anyone coming from another country who was not born in the United States or naturalized can be considered an immigrant if they cross our borders by any means. But “undocumented” implies that they are no different than anyone else entering America but we somehow simply forgot to give them their papers. That’s incorrect.

Under the Obama administration, we saw attempts to begin changing the language of the Justice Department to suit the social justice warriors. But doing so without amending the laws covering the term was a pointless exercise in executive action. And now the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction.

Twelve audio files recorded by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen were handed over to federal prosecutors on Friday, according to a document filed Monday in federal court.

Barbara S. Jones, who is serving as special master in a review of documents seized from Cohen in an April 9 FBI raid, said in the court filing that the 12 recordings were provided to the government as part of its investigation into Cohen’s financial dealings.

Federal prosecutors in New York are in possession of 12 audio recordings seized during raids of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, according to new court filings. https://t.co/1OBG8ucPOj pic.twitter.com/ixKQ26J66N

— ABC News (@ABC) July 24, 2018

“On July 20, 2018, the parties withdrew their designations of ‘privileged’ as to 12 audio items that were under consideration by the Special Master,” Jomes wrote.

TRENDING: Winning: Trump Stuns MSNBC, Scores Highest Approval Rating of Presidency in Latest Poll

“Based upon those de-designations, the Special Master released the 12 items to the Government that day.”

Jones, a former federal judge, is reviewing the hundreds of thousands of documents seized in the raids to see what can be released to the government and what is protected by attorney-client privilege.

Cohen recorded a conversation he had with President Donald Trump in 2016 about possible payments to a media company for a story about Karen McDougal, the Playboy playmate who claims to have had an affair with Trump in 2006, The New York Times reported Friday.

It is unclear whether the 11 other recordings are of conversations between Trump and Cohen.

Trump said on Twitter Saturday that Cohen’s recording of him was “totally unheard of & perhaps illegal.”

Inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer’s office (early in the morning) – almost unheard of. Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client – totally unheard of & perhaps illegal. The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2018

“The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!” Trump wrote.

The FBI seized documents and recordings from Cohen’s home, hotel and Manhattan office in a series of raids on April 9.

RELATED: David Hogg Could Have a Special Visit from the Secret Service After Openly Threatening Trump

He is under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan over payments he made to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump.

Cohen made a $130,000 payment in October 2016 to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who claims she had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006.

A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.

Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers’ newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.

The South Korean military intends to begin disarming and withdrawing troops from the demilitarized zone as a confidence-building measure amid the detente with North Korea.

The Ministry of Defense said Tuesday it plans to withdraw troops and equipment from guard posts at the DMZ as part of broader efforts to effectively implement the Panmunjom Declaration, the agreement signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the landmark inter-Korean summit in April, KBS World Radio revealed.

“The two sides agreed to transform the demilitarized zone into a peace zone,” the agreement read, with both Koreas agreeing to cease “all hostile acts and eliminating their means, including broadcasting through loudspeakers and distribution of leaflets, in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line.”

North and South Korea tore down the loudspeakers, weapons of psychological warfare used to blast propaganda over the border, at the start of May, just days after the conclusion of the April leadership summit, the first of two so far in 2018.

South Korea has also taken steps to prevent activists from dropping counter-propaganda leaflets in North Korean territory, actions that have long infuriated Pyongyang.

TRENDING: Winning: Trump Stuns MSNBC, Scores Highest Approval Rating of Presidency in Latest Poll

While border troops tend to carry small arms, guard posts at the DMZ reportedly house heavy weaponry, such as machine guns.

The South Korean defense ministry said Tuesday that current withdrawal plans would be on a trial basis, adding that it will consider a full-scale withdrawal as both sides work to realize the goals identified in the Panmunjom Declaration, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

The ministry is also considering reducing the number of guards on duty at the Joint Security Area, as well as allowing people to move freely between the two sides in that area. Withdrawals and disarmament are reportedly expected to be carried out in a phased manner.

Speaking before the National Assembly’s defense committee, a defense ministry spokesman also explained the South Korean military hopes to cooperate with Washington and Pyongyang to excavate the remains of soldiers buried at the DMZ.

A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience.

For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers’ newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.