Despite doom and gloom from voices on the left, the U.S. oil industry is booming — and it may be about to get even bigger.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Interior made a major announcement: Some of the largest oil and gas reserves ever discovered have been assessed in the western United States. Even better, experts believe that much of the newly discovered oil is accessible, which could mean a rich future of Americans.

U.S. Geological Survey estimated the untapped areas in the Delaware Basin hold about 46 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and nearly 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

Despite having the name of an East Coast state, the oil basin covers a wide area in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke couldn’t hide his enthusiasm in announcing the historic discovery.

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“Christmas came a few weeks early this year,” he declared in a statement. “American strength flows from American energy, and as it turns out, we have a lot of American energy.

“Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States. Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation.”

It’s no secret that Middle Eastern oil has played a major role in geopolitical conflicts. When it comes to oil, many people think of places like Saudi Arabia, but the new discovery could help keep the U.S. energy independent for many years.

“In 2016, independent oil and gas consulting firm Rystad Energy released data that revealed Texas held 60 billion barrels of shale oil, more recoverable oil than in Saudi Arabia,” Breitbart explained. The latest information from the USGS appears to confirm that.

“Knowing where these resources are located and how much exists is crucial to ensuring both our energy independence and energy dominance,” USGS Director Jim Reilly said.

In many ways, the Delaware Basin discovery is the icing on the cake for America. Even before the stunning assessment was released, the U.S. was making major gains compared with competing countries.

“U.S. oil exports reached a record 3 million barrels a day last week — a greater amount than is pumped each day by all but three OPEC countries,” CNBC reported back in June. “U.S. oil and related products exports totaled 8.5 million barrels a day last week, the most ever.”

On the same day that the Delaware Basin news broke, Reuters also reported that in a historic first, America was exporting more oil than it was having shipped in.

“The United States last week exported more crude oil and fuel than it imported for the first time on record,” the news service said.

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“When adding in all imports and exports of crude and refined products, the U.S. exported a net 211,000 barrels per day for the week through Nov. 30 — the first time that has happened, according to U.S. Energy Department figures dating to 1973,” Reuters continued.

Americans are already seeing the positive results. With gas prices under $2 per gallon in many parts of the country, the latest news will no doubt put a smile on many people’s faces, and leave more cash in their wallets.

Are you tired of all the winning yet?

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

The legal dodge used by James Comey to exonerate Hillary Clinton from her prima facie crimes in using an unsecured server for official business won’t be any help to the Clinton Foundation as it faces charges coming from whistleblowers.

Clinton Inc. criminal defense lawyers trying to hide behind the word “intent” won’t work because the Clintons were previously warned early and often about improper compliance:

.. internal legal reviews that the foundation conducted on itself in 2008 and 2011.

Those reviews flagged serious concerns about legal compliance, improper commingling of personal and charity business and “quid pro quo” promises made to donors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State.

“With a cloth?”

There is a great line in the fun movie, National Treasure, spoken by the accomplished, former Marine, Harvey Keitel, who was playing a very solid FBI Special Agent “Someone has to go to prison Ben.”

Sadly, as both the first Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Public Affairs and then in a reorganization  as being in charge of  Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Veterans Administration, I did experience many scammers and real criminal types that actually did not go to prison but  walked away without being charged after running truly horrific veteran charity scams.

The lesson I learned in trying to bring many veteran charity scams to justice was, sadly, that a legal strategy adopted by defendants often worked. Two FBI Special Agents who were investigating a $ 6 million scam out of the $ 7 million collected said DOJ Attorneys prosecuting charity cases have to respect the power of the word “intent”. Thus the cases were often dropped.

But now the  FBI/DOJ does not have that excuse to withhold a prosecution going forward.

One of the elements of a crime is that the criminal behavior has to be documented as being undertaken knowingly and purposeful which is exactly what the whistleblower documents prove.

Often, charity scammers walk away clean because the Government cannot prove “intent”  because the defendant if taken to court will simply say; look at our good work we are just bad managers.

Anyone watching cable shows have by now seen Clinton, Inc. supporters focus on all the “good works” the Clinton Charity supposedly has accomplished. However, whistleblowers now tell us it was willful criminal conduct on the part of the Clintons, thus legally spiking the no criminal intent defense.

I know that the “no criminal intent but we are just bad managers”, would be an audacious defense strategy by a former governor and president and his wife, a former Senator and Secretary of State. However, I have learned in over two decades of investigating all things criminal with Clinton, Inc, to never ever count them out in their powering through real criminal behavior. It is almost like a big game to them.

One can finally hope that the recent whistleblower revelations will tell us that a legal prosecution fuse has finally been lit to embrace the legitimate campaign chant of Trump Nation supporters to “Lock Her Up,”

Finally one can only hope that Bill and Hillary Clinton may legally have no way out.

Edward  Timperlake was the Co-author of NYT Best Seller; Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash

The legal dodge used by James Comey to exonerate Hillary Clinton from her prima facie crimes in using an unsecured server for official business won’t be any help to the Clinton Foundation as it faces charges coming from whistleblowers.

Clinton Inc. criminal defense lawyers trying to hide behind the word “intent” won’t work because the Clintons were previously warned early and often about improper compliance:

.. internal legal reviews that the foundation conducted on itself in 2008 and 2011.

Those reviews flagged serious concerns about legal compliance, improper commingling of personal and charity business and “quid pro quo” promises made to donors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State.

“With a cloth?”

There is a great line in the fun movie, National Treasure, spoken by the accomplished, former Marine, Harvey Keitel, who was playing a very solid FBI Special Agent “Someone has to go to prison Ben.”

Sadly, as both the first Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Public Affairs and then in a reorganization  as being in charge of  Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Veterans Administration, I did experience many scammers and real criminal types that actually did not go to prison but  walked away without being charged after running truly horrific veteran charity scams.

The lesson I learned in trying to bring many veteran charity scams to justice was, sadly, that a legal strategy adopted by defendants often worked. Two FBI Special Agents who were investigating a $ 6 million scam out of the $ 7 million collected said DOJ Attorneys prosecuting charity cases have to respect the power of the word “intent”. Thus the cases were often dropped.

But now the  FBI/DOJ does not have that excuse to withhold a prosecution going forward.

One of the elements of a crime is that the criminal behavior has to be documented as being undertaken knowingly and purposeful which is exactly what the whistleblower documents prove.

Often, charity scammers walk away clean because the Government cannot prove “intent”  because the defendant if taken to court will simply say; look at our good work we are just bad managers.

Anyone watching cable shows have by now seen Clinton, Inc. supporters focus on all the “good works” the Clinton Charity supposedly has accomplished. However, whistleblowers now tell us it was willful criminal conduct on the part of the Clintons, thus legally spiking the no criminal intent defense.

I know that the “no criminal intent but we are just bad managers”, would be an audacious defense strategy by a former governor and president and his wife, a former Senator and Secretary of State. However, I have learned in over two decades of investigating all things criminal with Clinton, Inc, to never ever count them out in their powering through real criminal behavior. It is almost like a big game to them.

One can finally hope that the recent whistleblower revelations will tell us that a legal prosecution fuse has finally been lit to embrace the legitimate campaign chant of Trump Nation supporters to “Lock Her Up,”

Finally one can only hope that Bill and Hillary Clinton may legally have no way out.

Edward  Timperlake was the Co-author of NYT Best Seller; Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash

When President Donald Trump referred to illegal aliens in less than flattering terms, he was roasted by the left. However, recent reports have shown that he had a point and was right to be so tough on illegal alien immigration.

The latest ‘proof’ of his accuracy comes from an Associated Press report. In a five-day sweep across New England, police arrested 58 illegal aliens, the majority of whom have some kind of criminal charge previously or pending.

ICE arrests 58 in New England enforcement action https://t.co/5dW2eMcEvs pic.twitter.com/gYFwfnQjY1

— ICE (@ICEgov) December 7, 2018

The Associated Press reported that of the 58, according to immigration officials, “Thirty of the people have prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, and 33 have criminal charges pending.” Additionally, “Nine had been previously deported, and 15 had been previously released by local authorities despite the agency’s request to hold them.”

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The sweeps were conducted in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. They concluded on December 4.

Some of the examples cited included individuals wanted for murder in other countries. Two men, one in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut, were both wanted in Brazil on murder charges.

In addition, an ICE press release about the roundup noted that, “9 of those arrested had been previously removed from the United States and returned illegally. And 4 had active Interpol Red Notices.”

Because a number of cities across New England have adopted “sanctuary city” stances, immigration officials must take independent action. Acting director of ICE’s Boston’s field office, Todd Lyons, explained the situation in the press release.

“ICE officers in New England continue to enforce immigration laws as they have always done, targeting criminal aliens and removing them from our streets. Despite unjustified criticism, our officers continue to work daily with professionalism and integrity to enforce immigration law and protect our communities from criminal aliens.”

He added that, “Ultimately, efforts by local politicians have shielded removable criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and created another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect. Despite the severe challenges that local policies have created for ICE, we remain committed to our public safety mission and we will continue to do our sworn duty to seek out dangerous criminal aliens and other immigration violators.”

“ICE seeks straightforward cooperation with all local law enforcement and elected officials.” In his statement he gave other examples, not reported by the Associated Press, of the criminal behavior related to the illegal aliens who were picked up.

One such example involved drugs and identity theft. “In Methuen, Massachusetts, a 23- year old national of the Dominican Republic who had assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen with prior convictions for drug trafficking, identity theft, and resisting arrest, who is facing current pending drug trafficking charges.

Another example included extreme violence. “In Brockton, Massachusetts, a 41-year old national of France with previous convictions for cocaine possession and multiple instances of assault and battery whose history also includes 30 adult arrangements with arrests for kidnapping, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and other felony charges.”

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Other cases cited included drugs and drug trafficking, identity theft, money laundering, embezzling, and gun trafficking. The illegal aliens picked up came from a wide variety of countries, including Antigua, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, and Jamaica.

Federal criminal prosecution will apply to some of the individuals due to illegal entry and illegal re-entry after deportation. Lyons explained that,”Any individual that returns to the United States illegally after being deported, is subject to immediate removal from the United States.”

A quick perusal of press releases from ICE shows that this is just one of such sweeps being conducted across the United States. On a regular basis, ICE is picking up illegal aliens, many of whom have other alleged criminal activity to their names, including child pornograpy and child sexual abuse.

ICE arrests 105 in New Jersey operation targeting criminal aliens and public safety threats https://t.co/KRSGN9T1aU pic.twitter.com/IArCelYmVz

— ICE (@ICEgov) December 7, 2018

The threat to public safety is real. Despite the choice by some cities to ignore the law and shield illegal aliens regardless of their other alleged crimes, Lyons made it clear that ICE will continue to pursue, arrest and deport them.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

On more than one occasion, former President Barack Obama and others have referred to his presidency as “scandal-free,” or “not having any significant scandals.” In the video below, Obama claims that his presidency has not had “the kinds of scandals that have plagued other administrations.”

But the facts about his presidency paint a very different picture in regards to scandals. Words and phrases such as “IRS,” “Fast and Furious,” and “Benghazi” bring to mind scandals of significance that occurred under his watch.

In the latest example of significant scandals of his presidency, The Washington Examiner has reported that he approved “$310 million in free legal advice to illegal aliens.” Giving aid to law breakers, via tax payer funds, isn’t exactly a non-scandal.

The Washington Examiner wrote that this was done despite the fact that it is against federal law to use tax payer funds to help illegal aliens avoid deportation. But the Obama administration okayed it and did it, anyway.

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The Immigration Reform Law Institute explained that the funds were directed at helping unaccompanied illegal alien minors. The monies were “awarded (to) multiple high-value contracts.”

The contracts and monies were given “for the purpose of providing legal representation” to the minors. Again, this was against federal law.

Under The Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 292, it is written that while illegal aliens are allowed to have legal representation during removal proceedings, it cannot be at tax payer expense. This means they would have to find another way to pay for or obtain the legal assistance.

They may have the money themselves. Or they may obtain the funding or representation from an activist group. There are options available to them.

Despite multiple challenges to this act’s barring of government funding for illegal alien legal representation, special interest groups have filed lawsuits, claiming a violation of rights with such an act. Consistently, their claims have been rejected by federal courts, wrote the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

In a post published on the Institute’s website, executive director and general counsel of IRLI, Dale L. Wilcox said, “When the federal government pays for illegal alien minors to receive direct legal representation, it does more than flout the law. These unauthorized payments have undoubtedly speeded-up UACs’ release from detention facilities to join their families, relatives, or fellow gang members – or help them reconnect with and pay ‘pandillas,’ the criminal cartels that make enormous profits from controlling human trafficking over the southern border.”

He went on to share why the average citizen might be upset about what happened. “My guess is that average voters would not be pleased to know that such vast amounts of their tax dollars are being spent in aid of this giant criminal enterprise.”

BizPac Review noted about the scandal that, “Obama was sympathetic to the illegal immigrants steadily flowing to our southern border and used an executive order in June 2012 to establish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The program granted amnesty of sorts for many unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors — which sometimes include MS-13 gang members.”

In January 2017, Breitbart listed 18 separate scandals associated with the Obama administration, some of which relate to things involved in this scandal. They include the use of taxpayer money and aiding criminal enterprises.

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One example is the Operation Fast and Furious scandal. “The Obama administration’s insane program to use American gun dealers and straw purchasers to arm Mexican drug lords, is a scandal with a huge body count, prominently including Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata, plus hundreds of Mexican citizens.”

The news of this latest scandal is just one more example, like so many before it, of an administration that appeared to be more concerned about agenda than rule of law. The legacy created by President Obama may well go down as the most corruption seen in an American president’s time in office.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

It’s been said that firearms are “the great equalizer.” The Second Amendment gives citizens a fighting chance against thugs, and that advantage is amplified when criminals don’t know who is quietly armed.

Two would-be robbers in Ohio found out the hard way that in America, there’s no such thing as an easy target. The men were just sentenced to decades in prison after they tried to commit armed robbery at a Cleveland barbershop.

“Judge Daniel Gaul sentenced Ross Sumlin Jr., 28, to 18 years in prison. He ordered Rayshaun Perkins, 36, to spend 25 years in prison,” reported The Plain Dealer, a major Cleveland newspaper.

A third accomplice named Deshon Pennyman had previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced to between five and ten years behind bars.

“Pennyman, a 16-year-old who tried as an adult, testified against Sumlin and Perkins and could be released after five years if he has no disciplinary issues behind bars,” the newspaper stated.

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There’s a good chance their crime, which took place back in 2016, would have succeeded except for a key factor: Not one but two of the barbers in the shop were also armed, and quickly responded to the attempted robbery.

The dramatic incident was captured on security video, which can be seen online at LiveLeak.

“The video showed Sumlin walk in, ask for a haircut and sit down in a chair while one of the barbers unpacked his bag to give Sumlin the haircut. A second barber was cutting another man’s hair, and a different man sat in the corner with the 5-year-old boy,” The Plain Dealer explained.

“(A)bout 90 seconds later, Pennyman and Perkins walked into the barbershop with guns drawn and demanded cash,” the paper continued.

They got lead instead. Both barbers drew their own concealed handguns and fired. With their plan turned upside down, the robbers fled. Both criminals were inured, as was the young boy who was in the shop. He survived.

Although it may not be a textbook example of self defense, the eye-opening footage nevertheless shows just how quickly a criminal plan can be foiled by armed citizens. Contrary to what many on the left would have you believe, this kind of defensive gun use is surprisingly common.

“When the Centers for Disease Control researched gun violence two decades ago, it found that firearms are used to protect citizens more than 2 million times per year,” The Western Journal reported earlier this year.

“CDC’s findings indicated that an average of 2.46 million U.S. adults used a gun for self-defense in each of the years from 1996 through 1998,” Gary Kleck of the Florida State University of Criminology and Criminal Justice found after digging into government data.

“(D)efensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year,” the CDC itself reported.

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That evidence flies in the face of anti-Second Amendment leftists who seem to believe that disarming law-abiding citizens will magically stop criminals. And it doesn’t even take into account instances of deterrent, when would-be thugs think twice about their actions because they know “victims” may be armed.

Hopefully, other potential criminals will see this same video and realize that actions have consequences … and their next targets might be even better armed than they are.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Have they fallen into the sea yet? Sounds like they’re well on their way.

Via Washington Examiner:

A California lawmaker has pledged to re-introduce a bill that would allow adults who live in the state illegally to receive medical care paid for by the government.

State Assembly member Joaquin Arambula, a Democrat and a doctor, announced the plans Monday as the legislature convened at the state capitol, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Should the bill advance, California would become the first state to extend Medicaid coverage regardless of immigration status. State projections for last year’s bill found that 1.8 million people in California are uninsured and reside there illegally; roughly 1.2 million would qualify for Medi-Cal, the name of the state’s Medicaid program.

Keep reading…

Claims for asylum have more than tripled despite the fact that most don’t qualify. But they know they will then be released into the U.S. and can just disappear.

Via Daily Caller:

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a temporary restraining order against a Trump administration policy that denies asylum to illegal aliens.

The 2-1 decision is the latest setback the 9th Circuit has rendered to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

“Just as we may not, as we are often reminded, ‘legislate from the bench,’ neither may the executive legislate from the oval office,” Judge Jay Bybee wrote for the majority. Former President George W. Bush appointed Bybee to the bench, and the judge has a conservative reputation.

Read the 9th Circuit’s decision

U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar entered an injunction against President Donald Trump’s new asylum rules on Nov. 19.

Keep reading…

A Google software engineer revealed concerning details about the company’s efforts to please the government China before it launched its latest entry into the country — the censored Chinese search app “Project Dragonfly” — which allegedly included the company blacklisting Chinese dissidents from its buildings for fear of upsetting the Chinese government.

In a series of Twitter posts, Thursday, Google software engineer Mike Wacker discussed Project Dragonfly — Google’s controversial censored Chinese search app — and claimed Google refused to allow Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei on the company’s New York City campus for fear of upsetting the Chinese government.

“A story relevant to Project Dragonfly, the censored search engine Google is building for China: back in September 2016, Talks at Google snubbed [Ai Weiwei], an artist and activist who has criticized the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights,” declared Wacker. “The decision to not host [Weiwei] at Google’s NYC campus back then was related to Google’s (unsuccessful) attempts to launch Google Play in China. As one could imagine, hosting a political dissident such as [Weiwei] would probably upset the Communist Party of China.”

“This decision set a disturbing precedent for two reasons. First, it is one thing to play by China’s rules on Chinese soil (where China recently demolished [Weiwei]’s Beijing studio). It is a whole nother thing to play by China’s rules on *American* soil,” he continued. “Second, I later learned that [Weiwei] would only have been coming in his capacity as an artist, not as an activist. Not that that there was anything wrong with his activism, but it was stunning that Talks at Google would not host him in *any* capacity because of that activism.”

“As for how I discovered this story, in an interesting plot twist, I only learned about it when Talks at Google also snubbed [Jordan Peterson]. In May 2018, Talks at Google had rejected my pitch to invite him to speak on his new book ’12 Rules for Life’. In a follow-up conversation with someone from Talks at Google, he tried to assuage my disappointment by listing other proposals that they had snubbed, and it was in that context he mentioned [Weiwei] and Google Play,” Wacker explained. “A few hours later, I realized what I had just stumbled upon. If Google didn’t have the moral courage back then to let a Chinese political dissident speak on American soil for the sake of launching Google Play in China, then one can only imagine what sort of moral compromises they will make—and have made—for Project Dragonfly.”

Wacker, who also identified himself as the owner of an internal Republican mailing list at Google, then claimed that “bipartisan opposition exists internally” against Project Dragonfly, and added, “For those worried about censorship of conservatives by the tech industry, I have emphasized this message internally: imagine the worst case scenario there, and know that Project Dragonfly would be at least 10x worse than that.”

“There has been a lot of great press coverage on the disturbing persecution of Uighur Muslims by the Chinese government, and I would add that the Chinese government’s disturbing persecutions extend to Christians as well,” he concluded. “I’m left wondering if people who speak the truth as to what is happening in China, such as [Weiwei] or [Dr. Michael L. Brown], will no longer be welcome to speak at Google…”

730 Google employees have currently signed an open letter calling on the company to end development of Project Dragonfly.

“Many of us accepted employment at Google with the company’s values in mind, including its previous position on Chinese censorship and surveillance, and an understanding that Google was a company willing to place its values above its profits,” the letter proclaimed. “After a year of disappointments including Project Maven, Dragonfly, and Google’s support for abusers, we no longer believe this is the case. This is why we’re taking a stand.”

“We join with Amnesty International in demanding that Google cancel Dragonfly. We also demand that leadership commit to transparency, clear communication, and real accountability,” the employees expressed. “Google is too powerful not to be held accountable. We deserve to know what we’re building and we deserve a say in these significant decisions.”

When Breitbart Tech reported on the open letter last week, just over 300 employees had signed it.

Project Dragonfly has also faced opposition from human rights organization Amnesty International, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Vice President Mike Pence, who claimed the project would “strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers,” and called on Google to end development immediately.

In September, a former Google research scientist called the company “unethical,” and claimed oversight of Google was “urgently needed.”

The Facebook and Google approved fact-checking service Snopes has once again made a serious error when weighing the factuality of a recent popular meme, claiming the “general idea” of the meme was “correct,” despite it having been debunked.

A new meme has been making the rounds across social media recently, featuring a photo of President Donald Trump alongside a group of Republican lawmakers and other members of his administration. The photo was taken following the House’s vote to repeal Obamacare in 2017, and in the meme, a red X has been placed over the faces of 33 individuals. The caption of the photo reads: “Everyone with an X has since been voted out of Congress.”

This, of course, is incorrect and has now been debunked by many across social media — but the popular fact-checking website Snopes has stated that the “general idea” of the meme was “correct.” The meme came to the attention of multiple high-profile Twitter users after being retweeted by former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer Nicholas Kitchel.

Business Insider reporter Joe Perticone pointed out that despite having a red X placed over her face indicated that she had been voted out of Congress, Seema Verma never actually served in Congress:

Lol at this dumb viral tweet full of inaccuracies. Aside from the many other wrong ones, he has an ‘X’ over Seema Verma’s face. She’s never even served in Congress 🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/mPXIbI4rj1

— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) November 17, 2018

Politico reporter Jake Sherman tore apart the meme stating that it was “insane fake news” and was in fact “more incorrect than correct.”

Errors in this goofball photo: Jodey Arrington, Ron Estes, Liz Cheney, Michael Burgess, Patrick McHenry, Jason Smith, Bradley Byrne, Markwayne Mullin, Paul Mitchell, Glenn Grothman, Doug Lamborn, Tim Walberg all won reelection. https://t.co/uTxVm0uG9b

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 18, 2018

DeSantis ran for gov. Tom Price went into the Cabinet. Steve Pearce didnt run for the House

This is quite literally insane fake news.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 18, 2018

Amazing. This photo illustration — posted by @nicholaskitchel — is actually more incorrect than correct.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 18, 2018

Kitchel later deleted the tweet and admitted that it was inaccurate in a tweet:

While a number of GOP Members of Congress who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act are crossed out in this image, it has been pointed out that there are several errors, so I have taken it down. pic.twitter.com/QC5Di5ZUfY

— Nicholas Kitchel (@nicholaskitchel) November 18, 2018

Three weeks later, Snopes fact-checker Bethania Palma fact-checked the meme and decided that it was accurate — despite being proven to be wildly inaccurate by this point. Palma stated that it was “true” that “The Congressional seats of almost three dozen Republicans who voted to repeal Obamacare were lost to Democrats in 2018,” which is not the claim made in the meme.

Palma states in the fact-checking article: “In the meme, red ‘X’ marks were drawn through the faces of 33 lawmakers who purportedly were rejected by voters in the 6 November 2018 midterm elections,” but fails to note that not everyone in the photo was a lawmaker, and many lawmakers that were crossed out in the photo actually won re-election.

Palma inaccurately states: “Although memes are frequently grossly inaccurate, this one got the general idea correct. By our count, at least 34 Republican legislators who voted to repeal or partially repeal Obamacare will not be returning to Congress when the new session begins in January 2019.” The meme did not claim that 34 Republican legislators who voted to repeal Obamacare would not be returning to Congress, it claimed that “Everyone with an X has since been voted out of Congress,” which is demonstrably false.

Speaking to The Daily Caller, Snope co-founder David Mikkelson defended the websites fact-check stating: “The overall point offered by the meme in question is that some 33 Republican members of Congress who voted to repeal the ACA lost their seats. And as our fact check documents, that point is correct.” Mikkelson continued: “The meme isn’t really about the specific persons who appear in the accompanying photograph, as they weren’t identified by name and are largely unrecognizable to viewers as shown due to the small size of the photograph and the fact that their heads are obscured with red X’s.” Mikkelson stated: “Our audience is intelligent enough to understand the difference between a literal representation and a symbolic one.”

Snopes has a long history of leftist bias, and the fact-checker of this meme, Bethania Palma, has even contacted Breitbart News directly in the past to ask a number of odd questions about factually accurate articles. Breitbart News Editor Matthew Boyle published his correspondence with Palma recently after receiving an email relating to an article about the Black Panther organization campaigning for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in Georgia.

Boyle writes in his article:

Over the weekend, Breitbart News–among other media outlets–published explosive photographs of armed Black Panthers campaigning for Abrams, holding up her campaign sign while also holding up various guns. In the story, Breitbart News included a quote from the campaign of her GOP opponent, Brian Kemp, calling on her to denounce the radicals campaigning for her.

The story went viral. Many other national outlets and outlets across Georgia, including a local CBS News affiliate, picked it up and carried the damning images of Abrams’ radical supporters. Since then, President Donald Trump held a rally in Macon, Georgia, for Kemp and the latest polls in the race show Kemp leading Abrams by as many as 12 points.

On Monday, a self-identified “reporter” for Snopes, Bethania Palma, reached out to Breitbart News with a series of questions about the Black Panther report. None of the questions implies anything was inaccurate about the report Facebook relies on Snopes as an official “fact checker” to detect fake news and misinformation on the platform, along with a small group of other primarily left-wing organizations including Politifact.

In her email, Palma asked a number of questions about the story stating:

The story says Breitbart “obtained” images of the Black Panthers. Where did Breitbart obtain the images from?
– Why does Breitbart quote the Kemp campaign with no obvious effort to get comment from the Abrams campaign?
– Why did Breitbart use the term “lobby” in the headline?
– Breitbart normally takes a pro-gun stance. Does Breitbart maintain that stance when the gun owners are black?
– Did anyone at Breitbart make an effort to contact the New Black Panther Party for comment?

In the article, Boyle gives a brief background on Palma and her “fact-checking” credentials, stating:

Just a quick glance at Palma’s Twitter account or at her history of writing for radical leftist outlet Alternet shows a hard leftist mentality, one quick to accuse Trump of being “racist” (the latest is a series of tweets attacking the president’s campaign ad on the migrant caravan as such) or linking Trump to the Ku Klux Klan any way she can–a history dating back years, as Breitbart News has reported about Palma before.

Breitbart News responded to Palma’s questions with a number of our own, asking:

1.) Why can anyone trust Snopes to be an independent authority on fact-checking when you personally are so clearly biased in favor of leftists?
2.) You implied in your questions to us that our story had something to do with race. The story clearly did not. What made you think that? Please be specific.
3.) In your questions to us, you did not indicate that there was anything even close to inaccurate in our story. So, again, please be specific: what exactly are you “fact checking”?
4.) Do you send similar lists of questions to outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and others on their reporting?

Palma did not respond to Breitbart News’ questions.